tonyolympia
Well-Known Member
I'm getting ready to brew my first all grain batch, and I performed a test run with my picnic cooler MT to measure its heat loss. I was surprised to see that after one hour, the cooler lost 10 degrees F. However, it was filled ONLY with water--no grains.
My question is this: does the presence of grain during the mash slow down the heat loss at all? Or can I expect the same drop of ten degrees to happen even when there's grain in there (that is, a 10 degree drop on top of the normal 10 - 15 degree drop when the grain and the strike water equalize)?
For the purposes of this analysis, I think I did everything right: I warmed the cooler up beforehand, left very little head space, and wrapped it in a blanket during the hour rest.
One possibly relevant piece of information: my cooler holds only two gallons. I am planning a half-batch stovetop mini-mash, and I'm testing this cooler to see if it can hold mash temps for an hour without the constant attention that a monitored brew pot requires. I'd like to use the cooler, if possible.
My question is this: does the presence of grain during the mash slow down the heat loss at all? Or can I expect the same drop of ten degrees to happen even when there's grain in there (that is, a 10 degree drop on top of the normal 10 - 15 degree drop when the grain and the strike water equalize)?
For the purposes of this analysis, I think I did everything right: I warmed the cooler up beforehand, left very little head space, and wrapped it in a blanket during the hour rest.
One possibly relevant piece of information: my cooler holds only two gallons. I am planning a half-batch stovetop mini-mash, and I'm testing this cooler to see if it can hold mash temps for an hour without the constant attention that a monitored brew pot requires. I'd like to use the cooler, if possible.