BeerSmith Mash Tun Weight

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LiquidFlame

LiquidFlame

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Hello,

Trying to setup my equipment profile and had a couple questions. Does the mash tun weight include all the ball valves, couplings, etc... that are attached to the keg? If not, I was wondering if anyone new how much a 15.5 gal Budweiser sankey keg that is setup for bottom draining weighs. Wasn't sure if I should just use the 20lbs that is in the "Stainless Kegs" equipment profile.

Thanks.
 
I believe Beersmith asks for mash tun weight so it can do some calculations on heat loss. If your mash tun weighs more, then it has more insulation. This is entirely dependent on the materials of your mash tun, of course.

Ergo, you should probably leave out the extra stuff, since the valves and what-not aren't going to help with the heat retention.

I never bothered to do any of this and just tested my system for heat loss. I learned that if I don't pre-heat the mash tun then I lose about 17 degrees from right before I start draining the HLT to the time I'm ready to close the lid of my MLT for the beginning of the mash rest. If I do pre-heat the mash tun, then I lose about 15 degrees.
 
Pretty sure Beersmith is using the mash tun weight to calculate strike water temperature, meaning anything that comes in contact with strike water and will absorb some of its heat should be included. Thus I would include valves, FBs/manifolds/mesh tubes, etc - anything that will make contact with the mash...

Cheers!
 
Weight + material = thermal mass and is used in beer smith to calculate temperature targets.

I too would include all metal connected to the keg that would increase the thermal mass.
 
LiquidFlame said:
Two conflicting answers, anyone one else?
Click to expand...

You want the total weight. BS is looking at total mash and the MT specific heat to determine strike and sparge water temps. You may need to tweak these if you find that your actual measured mash temps come in low or high.
 
So if I strap a 50 pound steel bar inside my mash tun, I should include that too?

Yeah, no. Beersmith is trying to figure out how much heat you're going to lose, and it's doing that by a) asking what your mash tun is made of and b) how much it weighs. Including various extra parts is not going to help the already inadequate equation.

From Beersmith's website:

Mash Tun Weight - Enter the weight of your mash tun (excluding extra equipment/tubes/etc) This parameter is used to calculate the thermal mass of your mash tun when adjusting mash temperatures for your equipment.

But seriously...you really should just do a test of your own and see how many degrees you lose. Don't trust Beersmith for this one, because there's a number of factors that can't be accounted for in the equation.
 
LandoLincoln said:
So if I strap a 50 pound steel bar inside my mash tun, I should include that too?

Yeah, no. Beersmith is trying to figure out how much heat you're going to lose, and it's doing that by a) asking what your mash tun is made of and b) how much it weighs. Including various extra parts is not going to help the already inadequate equation.

From Beersmith's website:

Mash Tun Weight - Enter the weight of your mash tun (excluding extra equipment/tubes/etc) This parameter is used to calculate the thermal mass of your mash tun when adjusting mash temperatures for your equipment.

But seriously...you really should just do a test of your own and see how many degrees you lose. Don't trust Beersmith for this one, because there's a number of factors that can't be accounted for in the equation.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info, I thought I had read that somewhere, but couldn't find it again.

Also while on the topic of MLT, for the "Mash Tun Volume", I'm assuming this is the exact amount that your MLT can hold?* So even though my MLT is a 15.5 gal budweiser keg that is setup for bottom draining, I should enter 14 gal, since this is the amount of water it can hold without over flowing.
 
LiquidFlame said:
Thanks for that info, I thought I had read that somewhere, but couldn't find it again.

Also while on the topic of MLT, for the "Mash Tun Volume", I'm assuming this is the exact amount that your MLT can hold?* So even though my MLT is a 15.5 gal budweiser keg that is setup for bottom draining, I should enter 14 gal, since this is the amount of water it can hold without over flowing.
Click to expand...

I can get close to 16 gallons in my keggle, if memory serves correctly. I'd carefully calibrate a one-gallon pitcher and then find out for sure just how much it can hold. But sure, you could always go on the safe side and just plug in 14 gallons.
 
LandoLincoln said:
I can get close to 16 gallons in my keggle, if memory serves correctly. I'd carefully calibrate a one-gallon pitcher and then find out for sure just how much it can hold. But sure, you could always go on the safe side and just plug in 14 gallons.
Click to expand...

I've already done that, just making sure that "Mash Tun Volume" is the actual amount of water the MLT can hold. So in my case 14 gal.
 

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