Hit 72% efficiency dead-on... but not without some hiccups.
I quickly found that my chugger pump is a pain in the butt to prime, and I lost a good deal of sparge water and wort due to that.
the other slightly annoying thing is I couldn't get the mash to stabilize at a good temp. Fired, it wouldn't hold, just climb. Unfired and recirculating, and I'd lose about 2 degrees every 10 minutes. It became one of those deals where I had to babysit it throughout the mash. I'm going to insulate the mash tun this week to see how that helps as well.
It was also my first go around with my counterflow chiller. Holy awesome. Single pass to 68 and into the carboy. Can't hate that.
So, with that said, here are some questions I have though about what you guys do-
- How do you recover the wort in all of the hose/tubing once the chugger sucks dry? Mine won't push the lines clean. I used compressed air, which worked well, but I'm sure that isn't the most sanitary method out there. I can't bear to waste or spill it everywhere.
- What is everyone using for mash tun insulation?
- Is the 1.25-1.5:1 water to grist ratio still in play with false bottoms. It seems like I should go higher, considering there is probably 4+quarts of liquid under the FB and not really doing anything there.
- Do you recirculate the mash constantly, or just when you are heating?
Thanks a lot for any help you can provide.
I quickly found that my chugger pump is a pain in the butt to prime, and I lost a good deal of sparge water and wort due to that.
the other slightly annoying thing is I couldn't get the mash to stabilize at a good temp. Fired, it wouldn't hold, just climb. Unfired and recirculating, and I'd lose about 2 degrees every 10 minutes. It became one of those deals where I had to babysit it throughout the mash. I'm going to insulate the mash tun this week to see how that helps as well.
It was also my first go around with my counterflow chiller. Holy awesome. Single pass to 68 and into the carboy. Can't hate that.
So, with that said, here are some questions I have though about what you guys do-
- How do you recover the wort in all of the hose/tubing once the chugger sucks dry? Mine won't push the lines clean. I used compressed air, which worked well, but I'm sure that isn't the most sanitary method out there. I can't bear to waste or spill it everywhere.
- What is everyone using for mash tun insulation?
- Is the 1.25-1.5:1 water to grist ratio still in play with false bottoms. It seems like I should go higher, considering there is probably 4+quarts of liquid under the FB and not really doing anything there.
- Do you recirculate the mash constantly, or just when you are heating?
Thanks a lot for any help you can provide.