I just did a french saison two days ago and thought I would throw this out there for anyone who might buy one of these.
Simple setup. SS pot with perforated basket, outdoor propane burner and grain bag.
I brought 24 qts up to temp and infused 11 lbs of grain to yield 4.5 gal of 6.3 % ABV, circa 69.5% mash efficiency. This is the best efficiency I've gotten after 4 batches by 5 points. I drain the grains for just a few minutes and then squeeze in a separate pot. The basket makes this a no brainer. I sparge with a kettle full of boiling water, less than 2 qts.
I have a batch of pale ale mashing right now with 26 quarts and 10 lbs of grains. Shooting for a 5% session beer. I'm going to sparge with a gallon of cold water to try and get up to a 5 gal yield. Just pour it over the grains and let it drain while the wort comes up to temp, and squeeze it out through the basket.
Plenty of room for a few more pounds of grain, but I would add it after the first 10 lbs to minimize doughballs and mess.
Creating an equipment profile for this in BeerSmith was a big help, but it took me trial and error to find an optimal infusion volume. I used 4.5 gal batch sizes and 65% BH efficiency to design the recipes.
If you are one of those that has to push capacity to the edge, I'm sure 28 quarts can be done, but for me 26 qt - 10/13 lb ratio seems to be the sweet spot. I'll post the efficiency on this batch when I'm done.
My cooler / keg setup is retired. This process couldn't be much easier. One person by hand end to end. No welding, kits, parts, pumps, hoses, dealing with hot sparge water, hoists, and five gallons is the heaviest lifting. The beers are fantastic and half the volume means double the choices.
Simple setup. SS pot with perforated basket, outdoor propane burner and grain bag.
I brought 24 qts up to temp and infused 11 lbs of grain to yield 4.5 gal of 6.3 % ABV, circa 69.5% mash efficiency. This is the best efficiency I've gotten after 4 batches by 5 points. I drain the grains for just a few minutes and then squeeze in a separate pot. The basket makes this a no brainer. I sparge with a kettle full of boiling water, less than 2 qts.
I have a batch of pale ale mashing right now with 26 quarts and 10 lbs of grains. Shooting for a 5% session beer. I'm going to sparge with a gallon of cold water to try and get up to a 5 gal yield. Just pour it over the grains and let it drain while the wort comes up to temp, and squeeze it out through the basket.
Plenty of room for a few more pounds of grain, but I would add it after the first 10 lbs to minimize doughballs and mess.
Creating an equipment profile for this in BeerSmith was a big help, but it took me trial and error to find an optimal infusion volume. I used 4.5 gal batch sizes and 65% BH efficiency to design the recipes.
If you are one of those that has to push capacity to the edge, I'm sure 28 quarts can be done, but for me 26 qt - 10/13 lb ratio seems to be the sweet spot. I'll post the efficiency on this batch when I'm done.
My cooler / keg setup is retired. This process couldn't be much easier. One person by hand end to end. No welding, kits, parts, pumps, hoses, dealing with hot sparge water, hoists, and five gallons is the heaviest lifting. The beers are fantastic and half the volume means double the choices.
