Mash and Boil for 250.00

[berryman]

I am gona' tell you all, the M&B brought me from the point do I want to brew again and it became like a chore to I can't wait to do another one. Yes not the best electric system out there and many others that are better. but for the price and what it does, Excellent. I wanted a change and was thinking 3 tier or horizontal 3 piece. This all in one is Like BIAB but I sparge on mine, but a lot of ways can use it. Louie posted a link to it when first came out and it really got my interest and bought it. It is far from being a set and forget machine, hands on but all there.

[mashani]

It's why I'm brewing AG exclusively again. It makes brewing AG fun for me instead of a drag.

[berryman]

Working on a idea to do a whirlpool arm. Not much room to put one in and still have the grain tube go in for the mash and I really don't like the idea of drilling and sealing the double wall either. Have been thinking something like this I could modify https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Home-Br ... rlpool-Arm or maybe better just custom build one that fits. I see all the benefits of whirlpool as I do it with a spoon, but I already have a good pump setup and might as well use it for that too...............And we thought this epic M&B thread was dead...

[Beer-lord]

Check this out:
https://www.exchilerator.com/the-hangover/

[berryman]

TY BL. that looks interesting. I will check in to that...................

[mashani]

I had some crud I couldn't get off the burner, so gave my M&B and the malt pipe a well needed soak in PBW. It now is all shiny like new. Still is the best piece of kit I've spent my $$$ on as far as how it simplifies my brewing and lets me do AG without actually spending a lot of actual interactive time. (yes it takes many hours, but mostly I'm just ignoring it).

[bpgreen]

I had some crud I couldn't get off the burner, so gave my M&B and the malt pipe a well needed soak in PBW. It now is all shiny like new. Still is the best piece of kit I've spent my $$$ on as far as how it simplifies my brewing and lets me do AG without actually spending a lot of actual interactive time. (yes it takes many hours, but mostly I'm just ignoring it).

I agree. It was the best bang for the buck I spent on brewing equipment.

[Kealia]

Mine was looking a bit grim even though I always soak it in PBW post-use. I gave it a few hours of soaking and then brought the water/PBW solution to a boil and now it looks brand-new.

[bpgreen]

I could've created a new thread for this, but it seems to fit here.

There's an upgraded basket. It looks like it has many advantages over the original and it fits older models. These downside is that it's a little pricey.

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Home-Br ... -3vqBVq2sU

[mashani]

The old ones have been going on sale for $20 or so at times on Williams. But that new one looks like the feet are much better designed and more sturdy. I know that a common problem for some folks is the feet busting off the old style ones. (I have one that is slightly bent, but it hasn't broken off).

[Kealia]

I saw that, too. I do a poor job of pre-brew water volumes so I generally sparge until I hit the volume I want (then toss the wet grains to the chickens).

Seeing the interior volume markings is near impossible with the basket in place, so the new basket is tempting for that alone. And I see that they called that out as part of the benefit of the new one, so I'm clearly not the only one doing that.

[berryman]

I seen that to and thought could be nice. Might be less apt to get a stuck sparge and feet look better. Wonder if would be easier to put on the sparge position? But $$$

[mashani]

I saw that, too. I do a poor job of pre-brew water volumes so I generally sparge until I hit the volume I want

Maybe I'm weird, but if my mash/sparge and boil doesn't work out to the volume I'm going for, I'm totally OK with topping up during the boil if I am targeting a volume to fermenter and I boil down below where it will happen. I see no harm in it, but I'm not worried about being "exact" every time like some folks.

[berryman]

I saw that, too. I do a poor job of pre-brew water volumes so I generally sparge until I hit the volume I want (then toss the wet grains to the chickens).

What I do also, I shoot for 6.5 and sometimes end up with a little more, so I boil down to the mark and start from there.

[Kealia]

I saw that, too. I do a poor job of pre-brew water volumes so I generally sparge until I hit the volume I want

Maybe I'm weird, but if my mash/sparge and boil doesn't work out to the volume I'm going for, I'm totally OK with topping up during the boil if I am targeting a volume to fermenter and I boil down below where it will happen. I see no harm in it, but I'm not worried about being "exact" every time like some folks.

The only 'issue' doing it that way is that you're topping off with water which dillutes the wort. By doing it pre-boil I can ensure that I'm getting more wort in (vs just water). As you said, if you're not concerned about hitting numbers then this is a non-issue. I do try to hit my numbers and be consistent brew-over-brew so I can replicate things. I just need to stop being lazy and go back to calculating how much sparge water I need ahead of time.

If/when I have an issue with by basket I'll likely buy the new one but I won't buy one now. My current one works just fine - with the viewing exception I mentioned.