This should be a really simple question to answer . .

I made my MLT from the directions on here with a 10 Gallon rubbermaid home depot cooler. I have the ball valve and everything. I am going to be doing my first all grain soon, but I have a Partial Mash with about 5.5 lbs of LME and only 2.5 Lbs of grains. I don't know if it would be a good idea to even think about doing the PM inside the MLT because of it being soo large. . . any ideas?

I have a 10 gallon brew pot and a 7 gallon brew pot, and last time I used the 7 gallon for the entire brew, everything seemed to work . . . allright. I actually just checked the FG of my last PM using the 7 G kettle and i was 0.001 point over the expected FG. So, it turned out allright. What do you think I should do guys?

The main reason I want to use the MLT is because the 7 gallon lost a TON of heat through the 60 minute mash. It was ranging from like 144 to like 165 because I had to keep turning it on and off all the time.

Couple of suggestions:

* Make sure you preheat your MLT, this will minimize heat loss during the mash.
* Add your water first, and adjust your temp using either boiling or cold water.
* Use Beersmith to calculate your strike temps. Never failed me so far.
* Cut out a circle of inch-thick styrofoam that will fit loosely over your mash in your MLT. This will also help prevent heat loss. Make sure it's loose, or you'll have problems getting it out when you want to sparge. Maybe jerry-rig some sort of handle on it.

Another thought is to just do your recipe with all grain. You can save your LME for making starters, priming, etc.

hmm, never thought about the LME for starters. I usually just use extra light DME for my starters. But I make mostly wheat beers so it might be a good idea to use the LME for my starters from now on since it is wheat LME.

The only problem is that I don't know the correct recipe for the beer I would make into All grain. it is the Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier (Bayer Staats Brauerei) from AHS. I checked out recipes section and only the dunkle was there.

Also, do you know the amount of LME I should use for a starter? I know it is usually a 1:10 ratio of 1g DME to 10ML water, but with LME I'm guessing its different.

I think you'd need to multiply the amount of extract by 1.25 to convert from DME to LME. I'm pretty sure 1 lb of grain=.75 lb LME=.6 lb DME.

the only thing that just popped into my head, was that this LME kit was pretty expensive haha. I'm going to have to purchase more grain and so forth which will equal more $$ for me. I already have a lot of extra light DME for my starters so I don't think it would be worth it for me to do the AG switchover.

If anyone feels like I should do otherwise please jump in, I'm still new to this AG stuff.

If you bought it as a kit, then keep it as a kit. Especially if it's a pain to get more grain and if you've got plenty of DME for a starter.

so back to the original Q . . . Since the kit is a PM and the grains only equal 2.5 lbs the amount of water would only be 3.3 quarts of water. this, in a 10 gallon rubbermaid cylindrical MLT would be barely enough water to cover the drainage. Do you think I should even use the MLT or just bite the bullet for the last time and use the 7 gallon kettle and deal with the ranging temps?

On a side note . . . Thanks for your help as well! You're the only one who's been answering me!

Actually doing the calculations its not really a huge deal if you use the MLT but I think it would be easier just to toss the grains in your bag and enjoy after all you run the risk of losing sugar in the MLT. But don't listen to me I haven't brewed in 6 months unfortunatly.

haha, I'm thinking the same thing. The MLT won't get all the sugar from the drain since the grain bill is so small and the pickup tube leaves stuff behind. I think I'm going to just do it with my kettles and then move forward from there with all grain. Not a big deal.

The mash will lose a lot of heat to the 9 gallons of headspace in the Rubbermaid MT, even with a styrofoam plug. It's probably a wash between the heat loss there and your stockpot. Making it worse is that you can't readily heat the MT. Sure, you can use boiling water to keep temps stable but that's probably a little *more* work and math than direct heating the 7 gal kettle.

I'd recommend doing one last partial mash either in the kettle or in a large stockpot that can hold 4 or 5 quarts and put it in a preheated oven for an hour. ProMash calculated 2.5# of grain at 1.3 qt/lb at 1.01 gallons.

Other random thoughts:
- GLoBaL had it right - the mash will barely cover the screen. I don't have high expectations for your efficiency.
- Depending on the beer style, you could mash high. Like 158°F high. Conversion at this temperature is very fast, around 20 minutes.

Good luck.

I had a similar problem when I first started brewing. Since I was doing full volume boils anyway, I calculated the LME as if it were grain and just added the appropriate amount into the MLT with the grains. This allowed me to rest the appropriate amount of water minimizing my headspace and heat loss.

EDIT
I did however mix the LME with the water prior to doughing in. Off the heat of course

MikeSzwaya said:

The mash will lose a lot of heat to the 9 gallons of headspace in the Rubbermaid MT, even with a styrofoam plug. It's probably a wash between the heat loss there and your stockpot. Making it worse is that you can't readily heat the MT. Sure, you can use boiling water to keep temps stable but that's probably a little *more* work and math than direct heating the 7 gal kettle.

I'd recommend doing one last partial mash either in the kettle or in a large stockpot that can hold 4 or 5 quarts and put it in a preheated oven for an hour. ProMash calculated 2.5# of grain at 1.3 qt/lb at 1.01 gallons.

Other random thoughts:
- GLoBaL had it right - the mash will barely cover the screen. I don't have high expectations for your efficiency.
- Depending on the beer style, you could mash high. Like 158°F high. Conversion at this temperature is very fast, around 20 minutes.

Good luck.

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I think I'll be sticking with the 7 gallon kettle and oven idea. That seems like the best idea for this last PM since the heat loss issue. It should be soo much fun after this to start up on my AG brews. I can't wait to grab my first grain bill over 10 LB!! Its going to get crazy up in here!