This assessment is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert. Brad is an engineer, knowledgeable homebrewer and skilled reviewer. Seize a hyperlink to Brad’s web site on the finish of this assessment.
Blichmann Engineering Mash Tun
When deciding on a mash tun, there are many selections on the market. There are all-in-one electrical methods, transformed Igloo coolers, aluminum stovetop pots, and lots of various kinds of chrome steel kettles. Should you’re not taking place the trail of the all-in-one unit, chrome steel is often the predominant selection. That’s as a result of it’s sturdy, straightforward to scrub, has a really broad temperature vary, and doesn’t comprise questionable stuff that comes with that California Prop 65 warning.
Blichmann BoilerMaker G2 Kettle
This mash tun is constructed round Blichmann’s G2 Kettle. See our Arms on Overview of the G2
When deciding on a mash tun, there are many selections on the market. There are all-in-one electrical methods, transformed Igloo coolers, aluminum stovetop pots, and lots of various kinds of chrome steel kettles. Should you’re not taking place the trail of the all-in-one unit, chrome steel is often the predominant selection. That’s as a result of it’s sturdy, straightforward to scrub, has a really broad temperature vary, and doesn’t comprise questionable stuff that comes with that California Prop 65 warning.
Blichmann’s kettle providing is the BoilerMaker G2. It’s constituted of 304 Stainless Metal and has a brushed end. In response to Blichmann, though each inside & out have a brushed end, the within is a bit smoother to make stuff much less prone to cling to it. The kettle has quantity markings on it, however as a substitute of etched or stamped markings, it makes use of a borosilicate sight glass with quantity markings on the surface of the kettle. The handles are positioned on the entrance and rear of the kettle, so once you’re carrying it, you don’t have the drain valve protruding in entrance of you liable to banging into issues or going through the opposite approach and digging into your leg.
The kettle comes with both welded 1.5” TC ports or weldless ½” NPT Threaded fittings for a drain valve attachment and a thermometer port. For the thermometer port you will get both an analog dial thermometer with an adjustable angle face, or a digital BrewVision. The kettle comes with the Blichmann Linear Circulation Valve for the drain, however the TC kettle additionally has an possibility for a butterfly valve. The Linear Circulation Valve’s exit comes out at a 90-degree angle from the inlet, and you may level it in no matter course you need to get rid of tight hose bends or having so as to add a further 90-degree elbow becoming.
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The Boilermaker comes with many customization choices. If you’d like it to be an electrical boil kettle, you may order it with the Blichmann Boil Coil. You may even take the customization additional and choose extra ports and add-on extra Blichmann kettle equipment. Past the add-on options, you may choose the size- from as small as 7.5 gallons to as huge as 55 gallons.
Should you plan to make use of the kettle as a mash tun, the Blichmann Button Louver false backside is made to suit contained in the kettle and join with the pickup tube that feeds the drain valve. The false backside sits on the stepped backside rim within the kettle, and the pickup tube passes via a gap within the false backside, drawing wort from beneath it. The false backside is roofed with small 1” round stampings (the place the “button” a part of the title comes from) that are slit alongside the edges (for the “louver” a part of the title). With this design, the gaps are on a vertical edge, not on the flat horizontal face. Meaning you don’t have gallons of water and grain pushing down in your cracked grains, attempting to push them via slits or holes like most false bottoms do.
Final on the listing of nifty options is the lid. Lids don’t do a lot on kettles, and customarily are fairly boring. Blichmann made their lid do one thing others don’t. As a substitute of the conventional deal with bracket welded on each ends, they left one finish open, so it kinds a sort of hook/hanger. With the cantilevered hanger design, not solely are you able to hook it to the kettle deal with, however you may cling it from any facet of the kettle, just by hooking it over the rim.
Arms on Overview
I evaluated a ten Gallon G2 kettle with the Button Louver false backside, to make use of as a Mash Lauter Tun in my 2-vessel brewing setup. The ten Gallon measurement labored nice for 5-gallon batches. The look of the kettle instantly stood out as totally different. The brushed end made it much less shiny than extremely polished kettles I’ve used earlier than when pulling it out of the field. Nonetheless, the brushed completed meant it stayed vibrant and constant after a number of brews. I discovered the brushed end inside appeared to require a bit extra effort to scrub afterwards than my clean kettles. But when I in contrast the quantity of effort to get my clean kettles shiny and new wanting, the brushed end was simpler to get it again to “like new” end. So what initially appeared like a draw back, was really a profit.
The opposite factor I seen when pulling it out of the field was its weight. It felt lighter than different kettles. Typically there are legit causes to brag about gauge thickness of your kettle. The beefier it’s, typically the extra proof against put on & tear and potential denting. Nonetheless, once you’re speaking about kettles within the area of 5-gallon batches, clean-up often means lugging them someplace to scrub/rinse them. And once you’re doing that, you admire a kettle that isn’t thicker only for bragging rights. The Blichmann kettle appeared strong sufficient to be thought of sturdy, and it appeared steadiness when lugging it round for cleansing.
Arms down essentially the most spectacular function of utilizing the Blichmann BoilerMaker as a mash tun was the Button Louver false backside. Technically that is an add-on, and never a part of the kettle. However if you happen to purchase the kettle to make use of as a mash tun, you in fact purchase the false backside. I’ve used totally different designs of false bottoms in numerous mash tuns, however none have labored in addition to the Button Louver one. I had beforehand optimized my grain crush on one other mash tun to be at a degree that I didn’t get a caught mash, however nonetheless had good mash effectivity. I used to be milling my grain at a 0.033” hole on a 3-roller MM-3 Monster Mill. On my different mash tun this resulted in good mash effectivity, no caught mashes, and a small quantity of grain fragments that made their approach into the boil kettle. This similar grain crush setup on the Blichmann false backside gave me the identical mash effectivity, no caught mashes, however I used to be shocked to see no grain bits within the boil kettle. I believed this was a fluke on my first batch, however I watched it on a complete of seven take a look at batches with the identical outcomes.
The one exception to this “grain free” efficiency occurred as soon as throughout my trials. I discovered later that what occurred was I dislodged the washer on the pickup tube the place it goes via the false backside. The washer is a unfastened piece that has a good clearance across the pickup tube and blocks an outsized gap within the false backside. Whereas stirring the grains throughout mashing in, I stirred too deeply and scraped this washer up. Grain bought below it, and I then had a big gap the place grain may get via whereas recirculating the mash. By the tip of my 60-minute mash, the grain was in a position to arrange an honest filter mattress, and I solely bought a number of particles within the boil kettle throughout sparging. However I did must do some clearing of my recirculation tubing at first of the mash to get the enormous slug of grain out of there. Now I do know to not stir so deep as to scrape throughout that washer.
Conclusions
The G2 BoilerMaker kettle labored effectively for me. The lighter weight made it nicer when it got here time to cleansing and shifting the kettle over to the sink. The brushed end grew on me after a number of batches, as I acknowledged it saved the kettle wanting nearly as good after a number of brews because it did after I pulled it out of the field. The Button Louver false backside earned a spot in my unofficial listing of “favourite brewing gear” with its stellar efficiency of conserving grain particles out but nonetheless offering loads of pass-through liquid slots. With the power to custom-order the kettles with the kinds of fittings, variety of fittings, and site of fittings, it may be a terrific instrument for a lot of kinds of use.
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Particular Because of Blichmann Engineering for offering the unit used for analysis on this assessment.
By Brad Probert. Take a look at Brad’s web site – beersnobby.com
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