Megapot Dead Space Under False Bottom

tophmck said:

I have the same pot, so I know exactly what you're talking about.

Within reason, it doesn't matter much, since the water/grist ratio isn't really that critical. But you're right that if you go too thick on your mash you won't cover the grain.

I do a single batch sparge so I follow denny's advice of aiming for equal runnings from the mash and the sparge. So let's say I'm shooting for a pre-boil volume of 7 gallons, which means I'm shooting for 3.5 gallons of first runnings. Say my grain bill is 14.5 lbs, so I add 14.5*0.125=1.8 to account for grain absorption. Finally, I add the dead space of my kettle (i.e., how much water is left behind after I drain), which for me is about half a gallon. So I end up with 3.5+1.8+0.5=5.8 gallons of strike water. Then the sparge water calculation is easy -- just half the pre-boil volume, or 3.5 gallons.

Hope that helps!

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Nitcomb said:

I have a question about the 10 gallon Megapot and it's false bottom as used for mashing a 5.5 gallon brew. Sorry if this is a ridiculously obvious question. Just hoping to settle all doubts. Any and all advice appreciated!

The space below the false bottom holds about 2 gallons of water/wort.

- should this quantity of water be included or not in the formula of 1.5-2.0 quarts of water per pound of grain? (i.e.- a 12 lb grain bill uses 4.5 gallons of water at 1.5qt/lb.) Should I really be adding another 2 gallons of water to reach the bottom of the false bottom? (6.5 gallons total?!)

-if so, it seems that there will there be less sparge water used to reach about 7 gallons for a pre-boil level? I know the grain absorbs a lot but....

-if not, then using only 4.5 gallons of water, only 2.5 gallons will be in contact with the grain during mash

Thanks in advance

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