Best way to mash small batches (1,5 gallons/6 liters)?

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Sol_Om_On

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I'm trying to find out how to go about mashing as I only want to brew small batches, basically around 1,5 gallons/6 liters. Is it possible to make a good mash tun from a cooler or something for such small batches? Palmer talks a lot about the importance of the mash thickness in the tun not being too thin or thick, so I'm not sure if I could build a small enough mash tun. Is BIAB a better way? Or some other way? I would like to be able to sparge, but as I understand it even some BIABers sparge.

Thanks for the help! :mug:
 
Sol_Om_On said:
I'm trying to find out how to go about mashing as I only want to brew small batches, basically around 1,5 gallons/6 liters. Is it possible to make a good mash tun from a cooler or something for such small batches? Palmer talks a lot about the importance of the mash thickness in the tun not being too thin or thick, so I'm not sure if I could build a small enough mash tun. Is BIAB a better way? Or some other way? I would like to be able to sparge, but as I understand it even some BIABers sparge.



Thanks for the help! :mug:
Click to expand...


IMO, BIAB might be good a solution for you only mashing for 1.5 gallons. BIAB still gives you the all grain experience with little more equipment i.e. a mesh bag.

However, I'm sure it's possible to build a small mash tun. The trick would be to make a false bottom or manifold small enough for the cooler. That might be something DIY you would want to consider.

Good luck with whatever you decide and keep us updated!

Cheers!
 
I mash 1.5 gal test brews in a 3 gal kitchen pot and put it in my preheated oven (turned off) for most of the mash. I'm able to maintain my mash temp pretty well. Strain mash into my boil pot with a double strainer. Works very well for me.
 
For my smaller batches (1-1.5 gallon) I do BIAB. I looked at doing a mash tun for smaller batches so I'd have some consistency of technique since I use a 5 gallon mash tun for my "bigger" 3-6 gallon batches and the problem I ran into was cost. I couldn't find a suitably cheap smaller cooler to make the mash tun out of. So depending on your budget and desire you can certainly do a mash tun, but a mesh bag (I use a paint strainer bag from Lowe's) will do the trick and is cheap.
 
I miab for my 3-5g brews. Strike water goes in a heated cooler with the bag then I mash 1.5qt/lb. I sparge to 168f and if I'm topping the cooler I drain a little and add what's left in my sparge bucket as ot drains. I hit 70% efficiency this way.

I'm thinking if upping my qt/lb strike ratio. I just want enough to stop conversion and rinse as I've heard tasty and jamil talk about the tail of the runnings being where all your tannins and other dirty stuff come from.
 
clint404 said:
I'm thinking if upping my qt/lb strike ratio. I just want enough to stop conversion and rinse as I've heard tasty and jamil talk about the tail of the runnings being where all your tannins and other dirty stuff come from.
Click to expand...

Does different qt/lb ratios give variations in tannins also with BIAB?

-------------------------

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll do the BIAB dance me thinks. How long and how do you all sparge when you BIAB?
 
For small batches like that BIAB is a now brainer.
In fact, you can heat your over , let it cool a little, and put your mash pot in it, so the ambient temperature is 150 instead of 70, and it will stay at teh correct temperature for longer.

Also - since this is BIAB - with a small amount of grain - I'd grind it into dust. It will mash very quickly (5 - 15 minutes will be enough for most conversion) and will be easy to squeeze.

You wont have a problem with Tannins either.
 
clint404 said:
I miab for my 3-5g brews. Strike water goes in a heated cooler with the bag then I mash 1.5qt/lb. I sparge to 168f and if I'm topping the cooler I drain a little and add what's left in my sparge bucket as ot drains. I hit 70% efficiency this way.

I'm thinking if upping my qt/lb strike ratio. I just want enough to stop conversion and rinse as I've heard tasty and jamil talk about the tail of the runnings being where all your tannins and other dirty stuff come from.
Click to expand...

This is utter hogwash in my opinion.......... whatever is soluble in water at a given temperature is going to come off as the water flows through the grain bed. If there are tannins and other undesirable components coming off at "the tail" it can ONLY be a result of higher temperatures. Just like distilling....... undesirable fractions come off at the beginning (heads) and the end (tails), but this is because of the temperature only. People sparge with hotter water than they mash with, and through the course of sparging, the grain bed will most likely increase in temp, and thus the sparge water will not drop in temp as much during the sparge. This is obviously NOT a matter of "order" but of temperature.

In any case, BIAB brewers do not have these kinds of issues normally, but the downside is the amount of trub as it is not filtered out by lautering / sparging. More trub is not a problem except that it replaces beer in your fermenter. BIAB is fast and easy, and time becomes an increasingly large issue as batch size is reduced. Think "time per bottle".

H.W.

H.W.
 
I read that you want your sparge water below 170deg so you do not want extract tannins from the husks.

Found a little about it here http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/06/19/phenolics-and-tannins-in-home-brewed-beer/

"Mashing and Sparge Process
Another form of phenol is called polyphenols, which are more commonly called tannins. Tannins (polyphenols) tend to manifest themselves as an astringent or bitter flavor in the finished beer, and may also lead to a permanent haze or chill haze (haze that shows up when the beer is chilled).

Tannins can be extracted by oversparging (continuing to sparge too long when mashing), sparging at too high a temperature (greater than 170 F or 77 C), or mashing at too high a pH level. pH levels above 5.5 are particularly prone to tannin extraction, with 5.1 or 5.2 being an ideal pH level during the mash. Any of these can lead to cloudy beer, chill haze and an astringent or bitter flavor in the beer."
 
Stove top all grain can be done easily. I brew in a bag, but I also have made a simple 2.5 gallon all grain system. They both make really good beer. For the simple system, I use a 40 cup coffee urn for my hlt. I use an induction burner (as seen on tv) to keep my mash at temp. Then everything goes into a 24 quart stainless stock pot. Easy. I can vorlof and sparge (with a spaghetti strainer mind you) right in my kitchen.
One way isn't right or wrong, they're all fun. They all make great beer.

Cheers
 
Owly055 said:
This is utter hogwash in my opinion.......... whatever is soluble in water at a given temperature is going to come off as the water flows through the grain bed.
Click to expand...

You are misunderstanding something. Tannin extraction is also a function of pH.
As you extract more of the sugars due to a long sparge, the pH will gradually rise (because water is close to a pH of 7). This can extract Tannins at 170F or whatever your temperature is.
 
Sol_Om_On said:
I'm trying to find out how to go about mashing as I only want to brew small batches, basically around 1,5 gallons/6 liters. Is it possible to make a good mash tun from a cooler or something for such small batches? Palmer talks a lot about the importance of the mash thickness in the tun not being too thin or thick, so I'm not sure if I could build a small enough mash tun. Is BIAB a better way? Or some other way? I would like to be able to sparge, but as I understand it even some BIABers sparge.

Thanks for the help! :mug:
Click to expand...

I have the perfect solution for you...The mini mash tun!

I picked up a 2 gallon cooler and converted it into a mash tun so that I could mash about 5 pounds of grain for 5 gallon partial mash batches. All together the parts ran me about $20, so a little pricier than BIAB, but IMO it's a little easier cleanup than BIAB. It would easily be able to do 1-2 gallon all-grain batches. Check out the link in my signature for the write up if you are interested.
 
If you don't want to do the oven bit, you could pick up any good two gallon cooler with no modifications if you use a modified brew in a bag.

1) preheat it with some hot water
2) line it with a paint strainer bag
3) dump in your crushed grains
4) put in your full volume of water
5) close the cover and mash
6) pull the bag, and dump the rest into your boil pot
 
When I first started biab I was only doing 1-2 gallon batches. I just used my bk and would turn a bakery from a turkey fryer upside down. Mash, wait, rinse grains with storage water and just let it drip for 30 minutes. It's not the most efficient in terms of time but I've always hit my og doing it that way. It's logistically different when scale it up to 5.5 gallons but I'm still using my bk and the basket. Still hitting all my numbers. My average effeciency is 78%. If you go with biab make sure you mill the crap our if the grain too, that was the turning point when I was still doing the small batches.
 
I'm cheap. I picked up a garage sale 2 gallon cooler for a couple bucks. I then steal the ball valve and braided hose from the 10 gallon cooler for test batches.

I fly sparge using a gravity setup in the kitchen. It's liberating not having to haul out the 10 gallon cooler, 10 gallon hot liquor tank, burner, a 15 gallon boil pot, pump...

My system is a mini version of my primary. The best part is I can scale recipes after putting in the variables for each system in Beer Smith.
 
Owly055 said:
This is utter hogwash in my opinion.......... whatever is soluble in water at a given temperature is going to come off as the water flows through the grain bed. If there are tannins and other undesirable components coming off at "the tail" it can ONLY be a result of higher temperatures. Just like distilling....... undesirable fractions come off at the beginning (heads) and the end (tails), but this is because of the temperature only. People sparge with hotter water than they mash with, and through the course of sparging, the grain bed will most likely increase in temp, and thus the sparge water will not drop in temp as much during the sparge. This is obviously NOT a matter of "order" but of temperature.

In any case, BIAB brewers do not have these kinds of issues normally, but the downside is the amount of trub as it is not filtered out by lautering / sparging. More trub is not a problem except that it replaces beer in your fermenter. BIAB is fast and easy, and time becomes an increasingly large issue as batch size is reduced. Think "time per bottle".

H.W.

H.W.
Click to expand...

Really? Because I had harsh tannic beer and did it again and didn't run the tail into it and Viola problem solved.
 
I brew 1 gallon batches and do close to the same thing Jawbox0 posted, but mash in the 2 gallon cooler and batch sparge in my kettle.

Most small coolers don't have an insulated lid so it was still hard for me to control temps. After you dough-in, put aluminum foil on top of the mash and then close the lid; doing this I only lose 1-2* over an hour long mash.
 

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