5 gal gott mash tun - pushing the limits

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

sonvolt

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2006
Messages
900
Reaction score
13
I just mashed in - 14.5 lbs. of grain . . . in a 5 gallon Gott cooler. I was worried about getting this much in, but I made it. I hit it with 1.03 quarts per pound. It is a pretty thick mash, but I think I will be alright.

Brewing a maibock.
 
Are you fly sparging or batch? I bought a bigger cooler because I wanted to be able to make beers with that much grain, and was worried I wouldn't be able to batch sparge in it.
 
the_bird said:
Are you fly sparging or batch? I bought a bigger cooler because I wanted to be able to make beers with that much grain, and was worried I wouldn't be able to batch sparge in it.

I will fly sparge, but I can't think of why I couldn't batch sparge it.

BTW, FWIW . . . I found this bit about mash thickness in Palmer's book. It verifies that I was wrong in a much earlier thread about mash thickness.

The grist/water ratio is another factor influencing the performance of the mash. A thinner mash of >2 quarts of water per pound of grain dilutes the relative concentration of the enzymes, slowing the conversion, but ultimately leads to a more fermentable mash because the enzymes are not inhibited by a high concentration of sugars. A stiff mash of <1.25 quarts of water per pound is better for protein breakdown, and results in a faster overall starch conversion, but the resultant sugars are less fermentable and will result in a sweeter, maltier beer. A thicker mash is more gentle to the enzymes because of the lower heat capacity of grain compared to water. A thick mash is better for multirest mashes because the enzymes are not denatured as quickly by a rise in temperature.

As I am brewing a Maibock and looking for a good malt character for this one, I think that my thick mash may be a nice accident.
 
Personally, I like having extra room in my MLT so that when batch sparging, I can stir it up nice, get some of my sparge water in there before taking my first runnings, and give it plenty of room to dissolve the sugars. That's what made me nervous about doing big beers in that cooler. Power to you, man!
 
the_bird said:
Personally, I like having extra room in my MLT so that when batch sparging, I can stir it up nice, get some of my sparge water in there before taking my first runnings, and give it plenty of room to dissolve the sugars. That's what made me nervous about doing big beers in that cooler. Power to you, man!

Yeah . . . we'll see how it works?
 
wow... nice one on 14lbs in the five gallon... a few weeks back we stuffed our ten gallon mlt with 21 lbs of grain and fly sparged for ages... it almost was too much for it...
 
Just for the record :mad:

5 gal mash tun + 14.5 lbs. grain = heavy grain bed/stuck mash :mad:

Then, I stirred the hell out of it trying to get the grains in suspension, hoping this might unstuck the mash . . . . knocked off my mainifold/false bottom :mad:

Anyway . . . I am back to sparging now . . . after a big mess.
 
I did about 13 pounds in 5 gal cooler. it was the longest sparging time of my life. I had the valve wide open and it just slowly dripped out.
 
Just an update. Threw this in the fermenter a few minutes ago. Despite the sparge problems, I hit my target gravity on the money - 1.072. My efficiency was also really good.

:mug:
 
sonvolt said:
Just an update. Threw this in the fermenter a few minutes ago. Despite the sparge problems, I hit my target gravity on the money - 1.072. My efficiency was also really good.

:mug:

holy ****! Nice dude. I didnt think that much was possible in a 5 gallon
 
Good to hear. I've done 14 lbs in mine to hit something clost to that OG. I wouldn't want to push it much more than that.
 
Back
Top