Mash Tun Problems

Hello, having issues with mashing and looking for input. Sorry to be wordy here just trying to give as much info as possible.

I did my 3rd all grain batch yesterday and I love brewing this way but it is getting frustrating. The mash tun is a 10 gallon cooler with a 10 inch or so metal false bottom, looks just like every other one of this style I have seen. All 3 batches I have done in this tun have been with 12 lbs of grain. BTW I have done the all grain stovetop method for a few brews before I got the mash tun and they turned out great with 75% efficency. I HATE math I am not an engineer but I like figuring out as many formulas related to brewing so that is a step forward

The first batch I did in it, just wanted to try it out. Did 1.25 quarts per pound of grain, mashed for an hour, temps were perfect all the way through, went to open the valve to vorlauf. Nothing nothing came out, I even started blowing in the valve I know that is probably not the right way to do it but whatever. Ended up straining the grain to get as much wort as possible out of there.

I decided on that one not enough strike water, and well, there was no sparge to speak of really I just dumped by sparge water in there to try and unclog it. I opened the valve too fast and didn't have a utensil to get all the way to the bottom of the tun. Lesson learned.

Last two batches I did in the carport of my new house. Love brewing here already. Heated water, put water in tun, stirred in grain, checked temp and let er rip. This time used 1.5 qts per lb 2nd batch and 1.75 qts per lb 3rd batch. More water seems to work better...

Basically, I don't understand the point of vorlaufing and establishing a good grain bed if this thing just gets clogged. I might as well batch sparge. But my point is I screw with the grain bed to get the thing unclogged to try to vorlauf so I think I am defeating the point of vorlaufing? Anyone follow my rambling?

What it comes down to is I got the 10 gallon tun because I love to brew, want to brew 10 gallon batches eventually, I also want to make high gravity beers (never made over a 1060 wort). My efficency sucks, maybe like 60 percent? I started with 5 gallons of strike water and 4 gallons of sparge and ended up with almost 5 gallons of wort, after boil. On last nights batch (3rd batch in tun) my gravity was 1.043 and I used 10 lbs of Pilsner .5 lbs of Crystal 60L and .5 of carapils. I would assume I could do better than that.

Just wondering if there is something I am missing here or if I am on the right track or what.

batch sparge. Replace false bottom with a home depot braid. your efficiency will blow your mind and you won't every have a stuck sparge again. you're welcome.

passedpawn said:

batch sparge. Replace false bottom with a home depot braid. your efficiency will blow your mind and you won't every have a stuck sparge again. you're welcome.

Click to expand...

+1 Gotta spread some love for batch sparging!!!

There are a lot of things that can make your runoff stick like this. The primary thing is draining too fast too soon. Try opening the drain 1/4 to 1/2 for the first quarter or so of the runnings then you can open it up all the way. It could also me your mash being too thick for the set-up. Adding 1lb of rice hulls per 10lbs of grain will help loosen things up and get things flowing again.

I have a 10 gallon HD water cooler and use a stainless braid from a supply line. I have not had one stick yet (knocking on wood). I batch sparge as well. It is easy, I get 78-85% effeciency, and no worries. Try it, you will like it!

Wow ok, this case it is better to go cheaper than buy a screen. I bought the tun like this so I just assumed because it looked fancier it would look better. But this weekend I will get the supply hose and see how she works!!!

Thanks for the advice I am stoked! If I didn't have to get up early tommrow I would run and get the hose right now!

I am lazy so just ordered the braid from Bargain Fittings, saw it in another post...going to be awhile til I can brew again so it will be here by then, and I can't wait to try it out.

Batch sparging...vorlauf, drain my wort, close valve, dump in sparge water?

I see a lot of different temps and what not for sparging. 170F and 1/2 gallon per pound of grain is what my consensus was. How long to let it sit in the cooler to sparge? I did 10 mins when I used the stovetop method.

I have a 10g cooler with a SS false bottom. Works like a charm. If I just add the water, stir in the grains, mash, and then try to drain; then occasionally I have difficulty getting any runnings out. If I drain about a cup of water through the outlet after adding the strike water, but before adding any grain (thus flooding the outlet with water), then I don't have the problem.
You say you have a 10g cooler and a 10 inch false bottom? For a 10g cooler, you need a 12 inch FB. If your FB is too small, you stand a good chance of getting grains underneath it, and this could be the cause of your problem.

-a.

I use the HD 10 Gallon beverage cooler with the stainless tube fitted with a copper pipe with lots of slits cut into it. I used to crush my braid when doing heavy grain bills (and yes, I have the real SS braid), but since sliding in the copper support I never had one again. Get 70-85% efficiency.

If you have an extra $25 I would highly recommend Beersmith. It gives you the exact amount of water to use for your mash, mashout, step, etc. so you will have the right amounts without trying to guess how much to use to avoid a stuck sparge. It also gives you all sorts of other cool information, like efficiency, SRM, IBU, calories, and more. Download the free demo and give it a try.

Sorry for quick reply. I was in the middle of watching a baseball game.

Here's a few more tidbits:

• If you go the braid route, get the longest one at home depot (30"). I also use a bazooka screen (basically a very strong braid), which I prefer because it won't crush (easily). That's what I would buy online. Making a loop with it will help keep it at the bottom (I didn't do this, but should have).
• I add enough water to cover my braid before I add grains.
• I don't ever use rice hulls, even when making wheat beers. Still no stuck sparges.
• I only pump from the mash tun at valve about half open, or less. I've opened it all the way up before and it wasn't a problem, but I don't want to tempt fate. I vorlauf for about 5 minutes before I pump to the boil kettle.
• I mill my own grain (Schmidling Malt Mill). I think it is a fairly fine grind, (not flour though). I've measured it at about 0.035" with a feeler.
• I don't trust fly sparging. If everything is perfect, the efficiency there will be slightly better than batch sparging. However, batch sparging is quite foolproof, and I am perfectly OK losing a bit of efficiency. In fact, I really don't care about efficiency at all. I hit > 80% on most grain bills (less with big beers).
• I've batch sparged in 4 different mash tuns, all with similar success: sanke, 10g round igloo, 10g square igloo, giant (100+ qt) long boat cooler.

agroff383 said:

I am lazy so just ordered the braid from Bargain Fittings, saw it in another post...going to be awhile til I can brew again so it will be here by then, and I can't wait to try it out.

Batch sparging...vorlauf, drain my wort, close valve, dump in sparge water?

I see a lot of different temps and what not for sparging. 170F and 1/2 gallon per pound of grain is what my consensus was. How long to let it sit in the cooler to sparge? I did 10 mins when I used the stovetop method.

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In regards to your sparge water. There is no set amount per pound you need. Your sparge should be enough to give you what you need to boil. you take the amount of grain you are using, multiply by the thickness you want to use, such as 1.25Q/lb. This will give you the amount of water you need for your mash. Your grain will typically absorb .1 to .2 gallons per pound, with .2 being your best bet. So, the amount of grain, multiply by .2, and subtract that from the amount of mash water you are using to get the volume of your first runnings. From here, you are going to sparge with the volume needed to get up to your pre-boil volume. Just remember, during sparging, what you add in will come out. Hope that helps.

i always have an extra few gallons of hot water around, too. during the mash in case i calculated wrong and it's too thin or my temp drops. then i turn the heat on again to get it close to the sparge water temp for sparge time, in case i calculated wrong again. i only had one stuck sparge and it was from a super thick mash. the water saved it quite easily.

passedpawn said:

batch sparge. Replace false bottom with a home depot braid. your efficiency will blow your mind and you won't every have a stuck sparge again. you're welcome.

Click to expand...

Wow this statement couldn't be more true. Got a ready to go braid from bargain fittings (worked with stainless hose before with automotive applications, would rather not waste time with making my own) for 19 bucks.

Did 75 percent efficency, I was about to jump up and down seeing that wort flow from the mash tun. Man did that ***** empty fast...nothing like the false bottom. Couldnt believe it. Started my boil got rid of grains and hosed out tun...DONE.

So yeah, passedpawn, THANK YOU lol. Makes this all grain endeavour about 10 times easier not dealing with what i now know was the wrong size false bottom. ill keep it i guess but this braid works wonders.

only thing is when i emptied my grain out i saw that the braid was somewhat vertical...need to weight it down somehow but dont want it too bulky to get in the way of my mixing grain.

You can get a cheap T from home depot and turn it into a loop. Eventually, the braids get a bit bungled from stirring, and they can get stretched out when you dump your grains, so look out for that.

Like I said before, you might consider at some point getting a "bazooka screen". They are super strong and really are ideal.

Glad to hear you are rocking the AG now.