Stout Tanks 20G Bottom Outlet MLT

[theonetrueruss]

I just got a Stout Tanks 20G MLT with Bottom Outlet.

It is beautiful. Everything was packed well and arrived without a scratch.

Everything seems to fit well together. The way the false bottom seems like it should work very well with the bottom outlet. The false bottom curves so it sits flat on the bottom at the edges and is about an inch or two off the bottom except at the edges. Seems like it should work really well.

I won't be able to brew again until the end of Feb so once I do I'll report on efficiency etc. Kinda bummed that I have to wait.

Definitely has that bling factor.

 

[BeerguyNC61]

Pictures ?

 

[theonetrueruss]

so here are some pictures

 

[cfrazier77]

Definitely need pictures

 

[theonetrueruss]

Ok, I finally got to use the thing.

It worked fabulously.

This was my first time using equipment with tri-clamps and I must say that I am in love with them. The ability to take things apart and clean them super easily is great. The bottom outlet and false bottom beats my old copper manifold hands down. It held 40 lbs of grain with plenty of room to spare. I could easily have fit another 5 lbs or more.

The beer was a 1.095 OG RIS

My efficiency came out right at 75% For this gravity beer I feel that is a good number. There was still plenty of good wort left to drain after I reached my pre boil volume. If I had a larger pre-boil and boiled longer I am sure I could have hit 80% or higher... not that I really care about that - outside of needing to be consistent. I think when I do a smaller gravity beer I will be getting a higher gravity.

I did not have any problem with grain getting past the false bottom or any stuck sparge issues.

I do need to do some calibration of the thermometer.. it seems to be slightly off. There is a screw for this so no big deal.

The thing is solid. I should have this for the rest of forever.

 

[herman2011]

Any updates you might be willing to share? I am thinking of buying one of these but my only hesitation has been the width-to-height ratio possibly requiring slower recirculation speeds. Have you had a stuck-mash with this yet?

 

[HDIr0n]

The pics aren't working for me.

 

[theonetrueruss]

ok.. let's try the pics again

 

[luhrks]

Any updates you might be willing to share? I am thinking of buying one of these but my only hesitation has been the width-to-height ratio possibly requiring slower recirculation speeds. Have you had a stuck-mash with this yet?

I have a 2bbl version (not stout, but same design) there's no issues with recirc, in fact you'll probably want to run HIGHER flow rates due to the taller grainbed.

I'm getting over 90% efficiency.

 

[HDIr0n]

What is that tube in the first pic, some sort of sparge arm?

 

[theonetrueruss]

HDIrOn - yep that is the sparge arm.

The whole thing is soooo much easier to clean than my old ice chest with copper manifold and copper sparge arm.

The bottom drain is awesome. Not sure if would be awesome if you fired it with a burner burner but since I am HERMS it works awesome for me.

Working on my CIP process... Thinking I am eventually going electric in my boil kettle as well.. just a lot of projects ahead of that.

 

[herman2011]

Do you find that you have to slow down the recirculation rate to avoid stuck-mashes due to the tall width-to-height ratio? Seems like such a tall grain bed could also result in temperature stratification. It surprises me Stout makes their mash-tuns so tall when it seems most commercial systems have short/wide mash-tuns (presumably to increase efficiency). Maybe at these small homebrew scales it doesn't matter. I'm curious about your first-hand experience along these lines.

 

[theonetrueruss]

I haven' had any effeciency problems. Now I am not going for 90% or anything like that. I consistently get 75 to 80%. I only have a few batches in it. Remember it does look taller than it really is because the bottom of the mlt is several inches above the bottom rim it sits on. The drain output is actually just below the bottom. I have done batches from 28 lbs to 40 lbs and all have fit well and worked out for me.

I haven't had any stuck mashes in it and I recirculate just as fast as my pump will push it through. I do also throw in some rice hulls in every batch. I have not done a batch without the addition of at least a half lb of rice hulls... and I haven't done a wheat beer in it yet.

I suspect that on our scale the ratio is a little less important because the depth of the mash never gets all that deep compared to commercial brewing.

 

[Crito]

I got theirs 19.8 gal mash tun

 

[luhrks]

HDIrOn - yep that is the sparge arm.
The bottom drain is awesome. Not sure if would be awesome if you fired it with a burner burner but since I am HERMS it works awesome for me.

I'm doing HERMS as well. The answer is yes, you can direct fire it - Just make sure the fluid is always moving or you'll scorch what's in the drain.