I went ahead with the purchase of the hot beverage server for my second partial mash, NBs Speckled Heifer. Brew went off almost without any hiccups. I had wanted a target mash temperature of 154°F. Forgot to have some hot water on hand to adjust the temperature upward. Mash started at 152°F. I sealed the grains from the open volume above with an aluminum foil cap and a zip lock bag filled with bubble wrap for insulation.
I checked internal temperatures after the 60 minute mash time. At the wall of the hot beverage server the wort temperature was 146°F. One inch into the grains the temperature was 151°F.
Sparging was fairly easy. Lifted the grain bag and tied it off to the servers handle. Opened the serving tap to collect the wort in a kettle as I added the sparge water.
Checked the OG in the fermentor after aeration. 1.046 for an estimated recipe OG of 1.042. I checked the calibration of the old hydrometer used after considering how I may have been able to extract more sugars than the recipe was designed for. The hydrometer which I haven’t used in about 15 years was reading 0.004 points high in distilled water.
The happy yeast is fermenting this beer at 69°F.