Taking the leap!

alee · 03-20-2009, 11:33 PM

I've got almost all my equipment to take the leap into all grain. I converted my own 10gal cooler with instructions from this site. I have a false bottom on the way, have a chiller and will start with batch sparge. One question though. I have an aluminum pot from my turkey fryer which I calculated to be about 7.5 gallons. Is this going to be enough to prevent boil overs?

mandoman · 03-20-2009, 11:35 PM

i used a 7.5 gallon al turkey pot for a long time. Yes you can have boil overs but if you watch it and stir it and spray it with water you can control them. Once you get past the initial boil, the 4% increase in volume, and the hot break, adjust the heat to just keep it boiling and you're good. Watch again whenever you add hops or put the chiller in. Pre heat the mash tun with a bit of boiling water. When batch sparging mix the mash well and let it sit for 15 minutes or so before draining.

Good on ya!!

alee · 03-20-2009, 11:46 PM

Thanks mandoman, that really takes some worry away.
Another question is how fast do I drain the mash water and then the sparge water? So you do more than one sparge?
Thanks.

GunnerMan · 03-20-2009, 11:59 PM

I just did my first AG, I used a 7.5 gal turkey fryer pot. My boil volume happened to be 6.41 gallons, So I had about 2" left at the top of the pot. After hop addition and protein break I had zero foam. Just watch carefully during additions of anything and protein break. I was able to eat dinner and boil at the same time no problem.

I batch sparged with 2 equal sparges. I waited 15-20 mins for each sparge before I drained. When I drained I opened the tap all the way and let her flow(although people recommend 1 qt a minute to prevent a stuck sparge). Worked out awesome, I got 76% BH efficiency.