10 Gallon Mash tun capacity question

[Beehemel]

I'm working on a Russian Imperial Stout recipe (5 gallon batch) and I had a question about Mash Tun capacity. The grain bill I have is 21.5 lbs, which Brewtarget says I can pretty much only mash at .75 qt/lb if I want it to fit. The Green Bay Rackers site which is referenced often, says that a 1.25qt/lb mash will only take up 8.44 gallons. My tun doesn't have a false bottom, just a braid, so space loss is minimal. Just wondering what everyone else's experience is with this. How much have you mashed at one time in a 10 gallon mash tun? If someone wants me to post the recipe, I can.

P.S. - I tried the search and found plenty of info on 5 gallon MLT's, but nobody seems to lay out how much a 10 gallon can hold.

 

[surreal_trip]

1 hint..... search: This is how big your Mash Tun needs to be

 

[Revvy]

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Scroll down to the third calculator "Can I Mash It?" and follow the instructions....

 

[Beehemel]

1 hint..... search: This is how big your Mash Tun needs to be

Thanks for this, that's exactly what I was looking for. Guess I'll have to contact the dev of brewtarget to see what the deal is, why it gives such a discrepancy.

 

[Beehemel]

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Scroll down to the third calculator "Can I Mash It?" and follow the instructions....

I had used this, but the difference between these results and the results I was getting from my software (brewtarget) were confusing. Brewtarget says I'm at 10 gallon capacity with only .75qt/lb, so I don't know why it's so much different than the results of the rackers site.

 

[Mischief_Brewing]

I regularly do 24# in my 10-gal igloo round cooler. I have to dough in at a little less than 1qt/# to leave room for any adjustments. I also regularly can't put the lid on all the way due to the mash being right up at the top...

 

[stachiestach]

With a ratio of 1.25-1.3 qts/lb, I usually max out with 23 lbs of grain with the lid on. Even with that amount, be careful putting your lid on, because some liquid will squeeze out. You can add a couple more pounds during the summer when its warmer and mash with the lid off. Hope this helps.

 

[Hermit]

Thanks for this, that's exactly what I was looking for. Guess I'll have to contact the dev of brewtarget to see what the deal is, why it gives such a discrepancy.

I think his system is kind of in as a default system. Did you enter YOUR system?

 

[Beehemel]

I think his system is kind of in as a default system. Did you enter YOUR system?

I have entered the values for my equipment, I'm not using the standard. Looking at it again, I never entered a value for "Mass" in the Mash Tun. I'm not sure if that will affect the calculators or not.

 

[ejearn]

I haven't done a big brew in my 10 gallon yet. What kind of pre-boil volumes do you get for a reasonable efficiency (say like 60% or so)? Would an 8 gallon brewpot be sufficient (I intuitively feel like it is not be enough...)?

 

[stachiestach]

I collect 7.8 gallon and do a 90 min boil. I make my recipes for 6 gallons and end up with about 5.5 or so in my caboy.

 

[rico567]

The last batch I did was the Founders Breakfast Stout clone (see Recipe section) that has a 20 lb grain bill. I think I ended up mashing between 1 and 1.25 qt / lb, and it was within 1.5" of the top of my Rubbermaid "Big Orange" 10 gal. cooler MLT.... so I regard that as "maxed out" in my situation. I batch sparge, and the cooler is just using the Bargain Fittings SS braid kit.

Apart from the fact that I almost couldn't lift that sucker from the chair where it was mashing up onto the workbench I lauter from, everything went fine.