efficiency

[tomas77]

I had just purchased a 10 gallon round orange cooler for a mashtun equipped with a 12" false bottom. What were some of the efficiencies you guys get from this type of mash tun? 70's or higher?

 

[bd2xu]

That's what I'm usually hitting but only done maybe 8 batches. My false bottom is the kind that has feet and sits up off the bottom. It drains very well and never had a stuck sparge but the downside is that since it sits on legs there is a full gallon of liquid under the false bottom so you have to add a gallon to the strike. But I think this design also makes the lautering work very well. I added a bazooka screen under the false bottom as well for secondary filtering of particles that get through. I've been hitting 67-72 efficiency.

 

[tomas77]

Nice. But if your false bottom has feet wouldn't grains find thier way in the kettle?

 

[TrubHead]

I've got a 5 gallon round cooler with CPVC manifold and got low/mid 70s extract efficiency when first brewing. So if grain crush is acceptable then imagine your numbers should be in 70s.

 

[brycelarson]

I usually get 80-ish mash efficiency, 70-ish system efficiency.

 

[bd2xu]

Nice. But if your false bottom has feet wouldn't grains find thier way in the kettle?

The false bottom goes to the edge of the cooler and has a plastic edge, so no. The feet keep the FB up off the bottom and above the drain hole. I added the bazooka below the FB attached to the bulkhead to catch small particles that sometimes get through the FB. the big thing with this setup is adjusting the strike volume by adding a gallon to compensate for the gallon below the grain. The first time I used the setup I just followed the beer smith calculated strike volume and was wondering why the mash was so thick I couldn't stir it.

 

[tomas77]

Now i see how you do it. Nice job.