What to do when your mash tun isn't big enough?

[urg8rb8]

I have a 10 gallon mash tun and my recipe calls for like 27 lbs of grain. What to do? Two mashes?

 

[RM-MN]

You change up the efficiency of your system and reduce the amount of grains. Just because someone made this recipe and only got 55% efficiency doesn't mean that that is all you can get. What efficiency do you normally get?

The way grains are milled determines to a great extent the efficiency you can get. Poorly milled grains won't completely gelatinize so conversion doesn't complete and you leave a lot of starch in the grain that could have become sugars. Mill finer and your particles are smaller so they gelatinize quickly and convert very well. There is a down side to milling too fine with a conventional tun. It leads to problems draining the tun. Adding rice hulls to the mash will help with that. Mashing in a polyester bag also works as it has such a great filter area that it won't clog up. You can put a bag in your mash tun and at the end of the mash you can just lift it up to get it to drain.

 

[Willee]

I have a 10 gallon mash tun and my recipe calls for like 27 lbs of grain. What to do? Two mashes?

If the recipe water volume is 10 gallons then you need to get a bigger tun.

That is a lot of grain for 10 gal of wort.

 

[urg8rb8]

You change up the efficiency of your system and reduce the amount of grains. Just because someone made this recipe and only got 55% efficiency doesn't mean that that is all you can get. What efficiency do you normally get?

The way grains are milled determines to a great extent the efficiency you can get. Poorly milled grains won't completely gelatinize so conversion doesn't complete and you leave a lot of starch in the grain that could have become sugars. Mill finer and your particles are smaller so they gelatinize quickly and convert very well. There is a down side to milling too fine with a conventional tun. It leads to problems draining the tun. Adding rice hulls to the mash will help with that. Mashing in a polyester bag also works as it has such a great filter area that it won't clog up. You can put a bag in your mash tun and at the end of the mash you can just lift it up to get it to drain.

I usually get like 75% efficiency. And I do mash in a bag so I use a large grain bag in a non-modified igloo cooler.

 

[urg8rb8]

If the recipe water volume is 10 gallons then you need to get a bigger tun.

That is a lot of grain for 10 gal of wort.

It's a barleywine so it's got a high OG.

 

[Yooper]

You can fit about 24 pounds of grain in a 10 gallon igloo cooler if you mash at 1.25 quarts water per pound of grain. It's a close fit, but you can do it (I've done it, with a very shallow false bottom).

You can mash the other 3 pounds in a pot if you want, and then put the runnings together.

or, you can reduce the grain amount and make it up with 3 pounds of DME.

 

[PADave]

I usually get like 75% efficiency. And I do mash in a bag so I use a large grain bag in a non-modified igloo cooler.

I doubt you will get 75% efficiency with that big of a grain bill.

 

[ITV]

I have a 10 gal mash tun for my normal gravity beers. I acquired a 70 quart mash tun for my high gravity beers. When I did a 10 gallon batch of a RIS I ended up using both mash tuns and two boil kettles. If you plan on doing more high gravity beers, I recommend getting a larger mash tun which you can use for 10 gallon batches of normal gravity beers.

 

[chickypad]

I'd just make up the difference with DME as Yooper mentioned. That way you can also wait and see what your actual efficiency is and add what you need, given that it might drop with the big grainbill.

 

[urg8rb8]

Thanks for all the responses. I agree that your suggestions make the most sense. What I will do is just fill the cooler with the strike water until it reaches the top, regardless of what that water/grain ratio is. Then after the sparge I will measure the gravity and then adjust from there.

 

[olotti]

I make a big RIS with a 10 gal cooler and mash in with 7 gal and it maxes out the cooler but then I use 2 lbs of dme in the boil to make up the gravity. i also double sparge with the first at 3 gal then the next at 2 gal and I usually hit y predicted og if I boil of enough whi is usually 90 min for a big stout.

 

[Easycreeper]

Thanks for all the responses. I agree that your suggestions make the most sense. What I will do is just fill the cooler with the strike water until it reaches the top, regardless of what that water/grain ratio is. Then after the sparge I will measure the gravity and then adjust from there.

Make sure to leave enough space for a boiling water or ice addition to hit target mash temp. Mash calculators are based on several variables including volume of strike water.

Build a second mash tun for future high gravity batches. Had to use both my 5 & 10 gallon tuns for a grain bill about the size you're dealing with a couple months ago. Or, like others have said, use DME to hit desired OG.

Good luck!

 

[urg8rb8]

If the recipe water volume is 10 gallons then you need to get a bigger tun.

That is a lot of grain for 10 gal of wort.

I am making the usual 5 gallons of wort going into the fermenter.

 

[jan_b19]

I used 15lbs of grain in a 5 gallon mash tun once.
However I had to do 2 mashes, worked like a charm.

 

[brewbama]

Just add some DME to the kettle.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Get s****** mash tun.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Just get a bigger mash tun.

 

[Paps]

You could try lowering the amount of strike/sparge water and do a 3rd running (strike/sparge/sparge again) provided that you don't go below 1.010
Sure it makes the brew day longer. But if you want those big beers it's the sacrifice that you make.

 

[madscientist451]

You have a couple of options:
-Reduce your grain/water ratio to 1 qt/lb, and you'll be able to mash in the 10 gallon cooler.
-Do you really want 5 gallons of barleywine? Reduce the recipe for a 3 gallon batch.

 

[urg8rb8]

You have a couple of options:
-Reduce your grain/water ratio to 1 qt/lb, and you'll be able to mash in the 10 gallon cooler.
-Do you really want 5 gallons of barleywine? Reduce the recipe for a 3 gallon batch.

Why not? I plan to share so I don't mind making a lot of it.

 

[Nico93]

I made a month ago 5 gallon of Ris using 30 pounds of malt and a wee heavy with 27pound of malt (my mash tun is 33lt) I simply made a double mash: you make the first mash and after you use the wort to make another mash. I lost approximately 10 points of efficiency, from 80% to 70 %, the brew day is a little longer but not infinite!
In the other ris I made, I always used dme but I find doing it all grain more satisfactory