Filling Dead Space in MLT

[snu164]

Based on the height of the spigot on my Igloo style MLT, I figure I have about 2/3 gallon dead space, which is a significant volume of sweet wort goodness to waste.

I'd like to fill a portion of the bottom of the cooler with epoxy resin to reduce the dead space. Then cap the layer of resin with the more expensive drinking water safe epoxy resin to make it safe.

Will this work, or am I missing something critical?

 

[dcbw]

Maybe instead stick a dupe tube into a bazooka screen or use slotted tubing? Not sure what kind of epoxy you'd use but you'd want to be sure it was food grade at mash temps. A dip tube seems more sanitary.

 

[Bobby_M]

Right, not only would a hardware based solution be more food safe but much cheaper too.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I would just simply tilt the cooler to drain the last quart. While you measured 2/3 of a gallon of dead space, most of that volume is taken up by the grain and not the liquid wort. Also, if you are batch sparging, the quart of wort that is left behind during the last runnings is of a lower gravity and therefore not much of a loss!

I think you are way over thinking this! I brewed with a cooler that had a lot of dead space a while ago...tipping the cooler did not produce as much wort as you would think.