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Question for all brewers using urns

Post #1 made 13 years ago
by Lars
Guys, after my first brew with my 40litre buffalo I ended up with a load of scorched material on the element which caused the boiler to cut out a few times during the boil.
Image
It looks like my strainer stopped the buildup where it hangs over the element, lookin at the pic. A brewer I know reckons that my custom BIAB bag isn't find enough and there's more flour getting through than I should have. I've bought but haven't used an scr based dimmer switch to reduce the boil ferocity if needed. Can anyone tell me what the solution is? I could
1. Reduce the boil ferocity using my scr .
2. Place some SS mesh over the element connected to the trivet I use to keep my bag up.
3. See if I can get a bag made with finer material.
Or I could do all 3. I'd love to know the experiences of others brewing in boilers??

Thanks

L
Last edited by Lars on 16 Mar 2012, 05:24, edited 3 times in total.

Post #2 made 13 years ago
by joshua
Good Day, I don't have an urn, But, my kettle had the same condition.....A finer bag or coarser grind will help a little. The Stainless strainer may help.
I found a few stirs every 10-15 minutes to keep the "crap" (A technical term) and hops stuff from settling.
The boil wont keep the debris off the bottom.
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Question for all brewers using urns

Post #3 made 13 years ago
by Lars
Thanks Joshua, I thought the boil would keep debris off the element particularly as it's such a vigorous boil from the buffalo. Coarser grain isnt an option as I buy it ground (and have about years supply). I love my BIAB bag and how well it's made and since I have the scr I think I'll go for reducing power to the element combined with SS mesh on my trivet.

Thanks

L

Post #4 made 13 years ago
by PistolPatch
I'm a gas brewer Lars so am probably ho help.

The only thing I can think of is having a SS plate (maybe with a silicone ring attached to it) to drop over that hole after you fill the hole with water :scratch:.
Last edited by PistolPatch on 16 Mar 2012, 23:01, edited 3 times in total.
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Post #5 made 13 years ago
by deebo
I have an exposed element so not much help as I don't have any problems yet. I would try a finer bag and and the ss mesh idea.
I would be careful with buying large amounts of pre-cracked grain, I have heard it has a fairly short shelf life compared to uncracked.

Question for all brewers using urns

Post #6 made 13 years ago
by Lars
Thanks guys, Deebo I have all my grain in airtight containers. Bought some last September and there's still a great aroma and nice crunch when chewed so it seems to be workin out. I was recently involved in another group buy. Beoir, our craft brewers website in Ireland, one of the guys organises group buys off uk maltsters. For €30 I got 12.5kgs each of roast barley, pils and mo. It's a large saving from retail prices here. I had some unopened bags of grain from my hbs when I got my first delivery and I couldn't believe the difference. The group buy stuff had a stronger colour and a much stronger fragrance. Seemed so much fresher. Seems to be storing well, so far so good.

Thanks

L

Question for all brewers using urns

Post #7 made 13 years ago
by rens
My buffalo 40l seems to accumulate this same crud. Even when just boiling London water, there is scale left behind. I'm making a habit of using steel wool and vinegar between brews.

Just did my first BIAB in it and same story.
Thankfully it's not resulted in any cut-outs for me.

Given I had this crud issue even with an extract brew and just as a HLT previously I doubt that changes to the mesh, etc will help. Do you clean it down to metal before starting a batch? Works for me.

Post #9 made 13 years ago
by thughes
Lylo wrote:Try soaking in a fairly concentrated StarSan solution.I am always finding new things it will clean.
Do you mean oxyclean, not StarSan? StarSan is a sanitizer not a cleanser, correct? I wasn't aware you could clean stuff with it.

Confused,

---Todd
Last edited by thughes on 19 Mar 2012, 05:27, edited 3 times in total.
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Post #11 made 13 years ago
by housecat
Starsan is Phosphoric acid, roughly 37.5% from memory, with an added surfactant to make it stick to surfaces better.

* Here is the MSDS that has the ingredients

Phosphoric acid is used in many applications, pacification of stainless steel and sanitising being just a couple!

HC

Edit: to supply the MSDS
Last edited by housecat on 19 Mar 2012, 16:46, edited 3 times in total.
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Post #12 made 13 years ago
by dick
I used to get the same charred build up with my urn, where the concealed element was in contact with the base. About every 15 minutes during the boil I scrape the base with a long spatula and this prevents the material building up.

Post #13 made 13 years ago
by stux
I think starsan is supposed to be good against beer stone, any acid rinse will be, whereas alkaline cleansers will actually make it worse
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Post #16 made 13 years ago
by Beachbum
Try citric acid, available from the baking section of supermarkets and mix it really strong - it rips the scale off my exposed element urn.

Edit: citric acid, of course, is the active ingredient that God puts in lemons :thumbs:

Post #17 made 12 years ago
by stm
Having just tried the lemon juice trick from a few posts above, can I just say that it is incredibly effective at cleaning the crud off my Crown urn concealed element cover. A bit of juice squeezed on, leave for a few hours, then just wipes off. Very simple and cheap, and very effective.
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Post #18 made 11 years ago
by Yettiman
Just wanted to thank you guys for the great intel, I have been scrubbing my Burco element down at the end of a brew day. Lots of work, the lemon trick (and the washing soda) both work great.

And ....

They work away, while I relax with a brew.

Thanks chaps
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