Upgraded Fermenter, Small Pot

[skitter]

Hey all,

My wife bought me a 6.5G Fermonster for my birthday. While this is excellent and highly exciting I'm stuck with a 4G pot.

My last brew day I did a 5.5G AG batch and attempted to do a partial boil. Issue 1 being it damn near overfilled my pot trying to keep the 1.25q/lb ratio. Issue 2 being my efficiency sucked and I ended up with a 3% beer over what was supposed to be a 5%.

I do have a 5G Igloo cooler that I can use as the mash tun, but I'm trying to get a handle on the whole process as this is the first time I've done anything other than 2.5G batches for my LBK's. I've been doing 2.5G AG BIAB batches for over two years, and so now doing a full batch is requiring some tweaking.

No, I do not have the money for any additional equipment, I will be upgrading my pot, just can't at the moment and I would like to brew again this weekend. I have had a hard time meeting my mash temps in the cooler before so I stopped using it and went back to insulating my pot.

So...

Would it be better to try to get the cooler thing working, or take another gamble insulating the pot and hoping my efficiency doesn't suffer as bad? I did do a rinse of the grain, and I was contemplating putting 2G of warm/hot water in the cooler to use as a dunk/swirl rinse station between mash and boil.

 

[JohnSand]

Hi. I might do partial mashes in your place. But I have done 5 gallon batches in a 5 gallon pot, stovetop BIAB. I mashed in the pot with a cooler bag inverted over it, or in the oven on warm. When I pulled the grains they went into another pot (pasta pot, maybe 12 or 16 quarts) with warm water for a dunk sparge. The boil started in the first pot. After hot break, I topped it off to about 4.5 gallons and watched it like a hawk. Add sparged wort as it boils down, top off before chilling and again in the fermenter. You can probably mash and sparge in the cooler, topping off as you go. I did not adjust my hops, or worry about the last bit not boiling enough. Any boil will sanitize it in practice. Even though you will eventually want a bigger pot, you could buy a 20qt tamale pot for about $20. You could also do four gallon batches. If you are nearby, you can have one of my old pots. There is always a way.

 

[skitter]

Issue I had with the cooler was adjusting for the coolers thermal capacity BrewTarget didn't seem to give me the right strike water temp, now I'm just wrapping my pot. If I calc for a 4% beer there is so much grain it's at 1.10qt per lb mash instead of 1.25. Can't afford to buy DME lol

 

[JohnSand]

I get that. I don't mind mash temps too much, and always aim for about 152. My method now (with a big kettle) is to heat all the water to about 165 adding it to the grain in the cooler until it reaches 152. Then I close the cooler. I generally check the temp at a half hour, and if it still 149 or more, I leave it. If it has cooled, I add more hot water. Brewing can be precise, but it doesn't have to be. Great beer was made before hydrometers and thermometers were invented.
I find that a used styrofoam cooler box from Omaha Steaks or similar makes a great thermal insulator for a modest pot. I have seen them thrown away at the curb.
Good luck, let me know what you work out.