gonzo brewer

Recipes 

I am making my 10 gal brew sculpture (natural gas) and already have Sanke kegs for the HLT and BK.
I am debating buying a 15 gal SS pot that is 20" dia and 12" high for my MLT instead of using a Sanke Keg. My Sculpture will be a HERMS with no burner on the MLT. I'll have a false bottom made like the one B3 sells.

My sense is this is a better size because of the larger surface area of the false bottom, less compaction of grain bed and I'll get better eff fly sparging.

Has anyone done this?

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Primary:Black Friday Pale
Secondary:
Bottled: Founder's Breakfast Stout, Preto Branco (Black Orchard clone)
Kegged:Brown, WCIPA, orange cascade, Amber, Vanilla Porter
On Deck: APA, RyeIPA, Kolsch

Ewalk02

Recipes 

I use 3 sankey kegs for my HERMS setup with a false bottom on my mlt just like you were talking about (except a sankey keg for the mlt instead of the pot). I usually get around 85% efficiency so in my opinion a MLT from a sankey keg works wonders.

ChemE

Recipes 

Actually, you should get superior lautering efficiency from a tall narrow grainbed all other things being equal.

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My Super Efficient 5-Gallon Mash Lauter Tun • Graduating Carboys • Leaf Hop Absorption Measured
Primary - Bemused Bitter, Munich Saaz SMaSH
Secondary - Air
Bottled - Oatmeal Stout 2011, Apfelwein, Withdrawn Wheat, Bourbon Barrel Barleywine SMaSH, Christmas Ale 2010, Perplexed Pale Ale

gonzo brewer

Recipes 

Maybe I am overthinking this. When I toured the AB plant, the Mash Tun was about 70 feet diameter and the grain bed was about 14"-18" thick. They use differential pressure instrumentation to determine how compacted the grain bed is. Plus they rake the top of the grainbed to prevent channeling.
I know this is overkill, but if the Hight to Dia. ratio is mimiced I think it should help. I have even toyed around with the idea of of an adjustable height grain bed rake.

__________________
Primary:Black Friday Pale
Secondary:
Bottled: Founder's Breakfast Stout, Preto Branco (Black Orchard clone)
Kegged:Brown, WCIPA, orange cascade, Amber, Vanilla Porter
On Deck: APA, RyeIPA, Kolsch