Mash Caps... Let me see what you got!

[Bobby_M]

<cough> You have three of these still in stock
I'll be using mine soon.

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I periodically continue my search for a pan that fits my 20 gallon G1 kettles. A 17-1/2" diameter SS pan or lid or whatever that'd float would be perfect but I've yet to find one. My notion of a diffuser is pretty much embodied by your example. Nicely done!


Cheers!

It's just a question of whether I want to throw a $150 piece of hardware at it to enable the use of the cap. Well, that in addition to another tee and sample valve for pH and EasyDens gravity readings.

 

[day_trippr]

Talk to the owner, I'm sure you can get that meter at his cost

Cheers!

 

[mabrungard]

It's a can 'o worms question. The general consensus is that oxygen is detrimental to wort, full stop. The debate is around "to what degree?" and "will you notice?"

Detrimental? Yes. Appropriate for all beer styles? No.

I make a number of English styles and found that LODO techniques don't make those beers better. There are probably other styles that rely on a more oxidized malt flavor as their signature too.

But for beer styles that rely on fresh and unoxidized malt flavor, I find that LODO definitely is worth the effort.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

Wouldn’t O2 permeate the silicon? It might slow down splashing while at the same time permitting what a mash cap tries to prevent.

I suppose it would, but right now I just put a cover on my MT, so i would like to believe something at/on the surface would be better then the lid i use now. No splashing on my recirc or sparge. I use a hose (not silcone) that floats/lies on the surface.

I guess the same question regarding silicone hose apply to folks who recirc with multiple feet of silicone hose. My system is hard piped except for the last piece of pipe in the keggle, lying on the surface of the mash.

 

[Bobby_M]

Detrimental? Yes. Appropriate for all beer styles? No.

I make a number of English styles and found that LODO techniques don't make those beers better. There are probably other styles that rely on a more oxidized malt flavor as their signature too.

But for beer styles that rely on fresh and unoxidized malt flavor, I find that LODO definitely is worth the effort.

It's kind of like Bollywood vocal recordings still sounding like a junkyard microphone is plugged into a fisherprice tape recorder. It's how the style was created so engineers are intentionally nerfing the sound.

 

[Bassman2003]

I like how the low oxygen beers are brighter in flavor and stay fresh longer in the keg. If you tend to take a while to empty kegs, low oxygen even on the English styles is good because the beer starts at a better place and improves as you go. Where if you start at an oxidized state it can only go down from there.

To answer the specific question, no. Using a mash cap will show no improvement unless other more potent low oxygen steps like de-aerating your strike water, underletting the mash and using sulfites are already in place. Mash caps are closer to the "fine tuning" steps along with using a PWM control to slow down your recirc pump etc...