A few months ago I posted an idea for making beer with a wood fired boiler. I did my first batch two weeks ago, and it worked BEAUTIFULLY. I got my boiler (wood gun) up to about 205F. I ran water through the domestic hot water coil; by the time it got to my basement the water was around 175F, which is the perfect temperature for mixing with grain to make a 155F mash. I then used the same temp water to rinse the grains. We were able to make 20 gallons of beer in a little under 4 hours, which is 2 hour faster than what it normally takes me.
The thermostatic mixing valve was a total flop, however. It was unable to handle the system (don't know exactly why.) I replaced it with a very cost-effective copper T pipe with two valves to control how much hot water to mix with cold to get the right temp. Works great and costs a lot less.
The other benefit here is that I could scale up to practically any volume of beer with minimal outlay of money for hardware. Having an ubiquitous supply of hot water, I am only limited by the size of my brew-kettle.
Andrew
The thermostatic mixing valve was a total flop, however. It was unable to handle the system (don't know exactly why.) I replaced it with a very cost-effective copper T pipe with two valves to control how much hot water to mix with cold to get the right temp. Works great and costs a lot less.
The other benefit here is that I could scale up to practically any volume of beer with minimal outlay of money for hardware. Having an ubiquitous supply of hot water, I am only limited by the size of my brew-kettle.
Andrew
