I am currently mashing in a 100qt igloo cooler and i am using a ordinary round igloo false bottom. this only covers a little less than half of the area of the bottom of the tun. it seems to be working ok, but I'm finding i keep getting low efficiency when i make high gravity beers. I'm wondering if its because of my setup or simply something else in my mash process??has anyone else used this setup?
round false bottom for rectangle cooler
- Thread starter cliffy
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
I started brewing doing a similar method but then I switched to a manifold I made for the bottom of my cooler. Being able to extract wort from all corners and the center of the cooler is DEFINITELY going to give you better efficiency.
check this out
http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD-1.html
after you've checked that out, search on HBT on how to build a manifold for your cooler.
check this out
http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD-1.html
after you've checked that out, search on HBT on how to build a manifold for your cooler.
d3track
Are you sure about that?
Are you batch sparging? For high gravity with my rectangular cooler I split my batch sparge into 2-3 rounds, and it keeps my efficiency consistent. I will also typically do a 90 min min for those, probably placebo effect but it works for me.
Cliffy,
Does your rectangular cooler have a drain channel? I have a 52qt Xtreme cooler by coleman and it has a drain channel. I use a stainless steel braid and place it in the channel and I get all of my wort...no deadspace...etc. Like someone said before, if you are batch sparging (which I recommend with a rectangular mash tun), split the sparge amounts in equal amounts. I usually mash in for 60 mins, drain, then 1st half of batch sparge...stir...let sit 4-5 mins...then drain...then repeat.
Does that help?
BTW - I'm getting 85% or consistently on the mash eff. I use a monster mill 2 roller mill set at 0.39 gap.
Does your rectangular cooler have a drain channel? I have a 52qt Xtreme cooler by coleman and it has a drain channel. I use a stainless steel braid and place it in the channel and I get all of my wort...no deadspace...etc. Like someone said before, if you are batch sparging (which I recommend with a rectangular mash tun), split the sparge amounts in equal amounts. I usually mash in for 60 mins, drain, then 1st half of batch sparge...stir...let sit 4-5 mins...then drain...then repeat.
Does that help?
BTW - I'm getting 85% or consistently on the mash eff. I use a monster mill 2 roller mill set at 0.39 gap.
