New setup

Its time to spruce up the brewing equipment some. I've got a new 15 gallon kettle, to be used as a mash tun. This will increase my capacity significantly; previously, I was limited to a maximum of 13-15 pounds of grain, enough for lower gravity and alcohol beers, but for bigger beers I had to do 3 gallon batches. a 15 gallon kettle will let me mash 10 gallon batches of big beers even.

To complete the kettle, I also have a fitted false bottom for it, a Blichmann Brewmometer for accurate temperature control, and a ball valve.

Also today, my Autosparge (another Blichmann product, they're great) came in, it was previously backordered. The Autosparge  is the only sparging solution that I really like. This system give you the exact same wort out: sparge water in ratio, whereas others rely on the sparge water in being the best control.

It uses revolutionary toilet tank technology, a stainless steel ball float attached to an arm attached to a valve. Water flows in through a tube, creating a gentle swirling action on top of the mash. You set the valve a certain height off the top of the mash, and as it nears that height, it slows and stops. As the wort drains from the kettle, the sparge arm adds water at the same rate.

To commemorate these new equipment add ons, I've decided to share a photo of my sparge arm installed and ready to go: