Almost ready for first AG brew.

[insp79]

Just finished building my cooler tun. The manifold is made from 1/2" copper. Instead of cutting slots, I drilled 1/16th" holes 1/4" apart on the bottom half of each tube. It is installed in a 50qt. Coleman cooler with a stainless ball valve.

I have never brewed an all-grain batch. How can I predict my efficiency using the drilled manifold?
Please comment about my Mash Tun.

 

[erkwist]

Using it will be three only way to begin to figure that out, good luck with your move to ag.

 

[insp79]

I guess I need to learn how to post images

 

[sammy33]

Pics look fine. Awesome job! :rockin:

I am also getting geared up for my first all grain batch. I wouldn't worry so much about "predicting" your efficiency. I think it will vary with your recipe and many other things.

Best bet is to take the Captain Kirk approach and just go for it. Mix in a little bit of Spock and take good notes.

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

The manifold looks good. Very similar to the manifold I made for my rectangular cooler.

Assuming that you are batch sparging ........ your manifold design will not have as much of an effect on your efficiency as you might think. Basically, as long as it filters out large grain chunks and doesn't get you stuck that's all you need to ask from it.

Factors having a larger effect on efficiency are grain crush (definately number one cause of variance IMO), sparge process, excessive post boil trub losses (affects "brewhouse efficiency"). Make sure you stir well after each sparge round.

For your first batch, I would plan for 70%. If you ordered crushed grains from any of the big vendors on the site, my guess would be that you'll hit right around 70%.

 

[insp79]

The manifold looks good. Very similar to the manifold I made for my rectangular cooler.

Assuming that you are batch sparging ........ your manifold design will not have as much of an effect on your efficiency as you might think. Basically, as long as it filters out large grain chunks and doesn't get you stuck that's all you need to ask from it.

Factors having a larger effect on efficiency are grain crush (definately number one cause of variance IMO), sparge process, excessive post boil trub losses (affects "brewhouse efficiency"). Make sure you stir well after each sparge round.

For your first batch, I would plan for 70%. If you ordered crushed grains from any of the big vendors on the site, my guess would be that you'll hit right around 70%.

Thank you for the comments. This forum is awesome.

I plan on batch sparging. I guess my concern is with the drilled holes instead of cut slots. The tubes are drilled on the lower sides only. It should create a suction down to 1/2" of the grain bed.
My grain is crushed by my LHBS (Home brew Headquarters.)
I have only soldered the upper joints. The rest of the manifold can be separated for cleaning. I may end up having to solder more joints to prevent suction leaks.
I am planning to brew an IPA (Red's Rye PA clone) this weekend. I haven't quite figured out about the sparge process yet, to achieve the goal OG. Strike temps, and Strike water quantities and sparge water quantities and drain rate? Single or double sparge?
As far as trub loss, I do not see how to control that.
I will adjust my recipe for 70% efficiency.

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

I plan on batch sparging. I guess my concern is with the drilled holes instead of cut slots. The tubes are drilled on the lower sides only. It should create a suction down to 1/2" of the grain bed.

Perfect. Bottom half is all you need. It will pretty much suck your tun dry..... this is a good thing.

My grain is crushed by my LHBS (Home brew Headquarters.)

I'm sure it will be fine. The only reason I mentioned the online vendors is because I have used them before.

I have only soldered the upper joints. The rest of the manifold can be separated for cleaning. I may end up having to solder more joints to prevent suction leaks.

I doubt it. Just dry fitted you should get sufficient suction. I have never fully soldered a manifold. I like being able to disassemble the thing for cleaning. I would almost guarantee that it will suck the tun dry without being soldered. Test it with water if you haven't already and you will know.

I am planning to brew an IPA (Red's Rye PA clone) this weekend. I haven't quite figured out about the sparge process yet, to achieve the goal OG. Strike temps, and Strike water quantities and sparge water quantities and drain rate? Single or double sparge?

Hmm ..... there really isn't much to figure out. Single vs. double - both work. Double batch theoretically yields slightly higher efficiency. Whether its enough to justify another "step" is personal preference and trial and error.

Drain rate - no effect on efficiency with batch sparging..... too fast may get you stuck though so be slightly cautious. There is no benefit to draining slow and dragging the sparge out for a half hour when batch sparging IMO.

Strike temp and volume, let beersmith or software of your choice worry about that for you.

Sparge temp - heat to 170-180 (assuming no mash out) and sparge till you have desired preboil volume.

As far as trub loss, I do not see how to control that.

Exactly, you can't. If doing a big IPA with excessive amounts of hops just plan accordingly and increase your batch size. This only effects "brewhouse efficiency" (overall efficiency of your entire process) and doesn't have anything to do with your mash/sparge process.

I will adjust my recipe for 70% efficiency.

 

[insp79]

Well I brewed my first AG brew this weekend.
I had several problems. My mash got stuck in the cooler.
My efficiency was very low and as a result my OG was only 1.040 instead of the target of 1.065.
I am going to try this manifold again this weekend. I am going to drill the holes up from 1/16" holes to 1/8" holes. It should work great.
The wort flowed very well from the cooler mash tun, until it got clogged. By the time I freed the clog, the mash temp had dropped to 145°F from target 150°F.
I am glad that I got my first AG brew behind me.
I learned a lot about sparging.
This beer is not going to be to good, with 60 IBU hops @ 4.3% ABV. I'll feed it to my Brother in Law. He will drink anything.