Brewing Master

Question:

I’m looking to make the plunge into all-grain soon and have a few short questions. First and formost is a keg the best option as a mash tun for a brewery that does mostly 5 gallon batches, but I do plan on doing 10 gallon. I may even go more into 10 gallon batches if all goes well. The grain bed is my main concern, would you be able to get a good grain bed with a keg doing a light to medium gravity brew? I was also thinking of using the zymico product for a false bottom. during the stirring of the mash are these thing durable if hit with the paddle? My goal is a 3-tier system but for now I just wanna get brewing all-grain. Thanks, Ken

Response:

ken, i have been using the bazooka screen without problems, i stir with a long handled spoon. if you use one in a keg, with twice as much grain you may need a paddle, i don’t know if that would create aq problem or not, i mash in a kettle and it works great for me, i have used up to 18 lbs in a batch. — Cheers Jerry Barkley "It’s not a popularity contest, it’s beer!" Mike Dixon

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m looking to make the plunge into all-grain soon and have a few short questions. First and formost is a keg the best option as a mash tun for a brewery that does mostly 5 gallon batches, but I do plan on doing 10 gallon. I may even go more into 10 gallon batches if all goes well. The grain bed is my main concern, would you be able to get a good grain bed with a keg doing a light to medium gravity brew? I was also thinking of using the zymico product for a false bottom. during the stirring of the mash are these thing durable if hit with the paddle? My goal is a 3-tier system but for now I just wanna get brewing all-grain. Thanks, Ken

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Response:

I’m looking to make the plunge into all-grain soon and have a few short questions. First and formost is a keg the best option as a mash tun for a brewery that does mostly 5 gallon batches, but I do plan on doing 10 gallon.

Maybe, maybe not.  It can cost quite a few coins if you purchase a keg mash tun.  You could put two different tuns together yourself from coolers for much cheaper, or you could make the keg on yourself. I may even go more into 10 gallon batches if all goes well. The grain bed is my main concern, would you be able to get a good grain bed with a keg doing a light to medium gravity brew?

No problems…. I was also thinking of using the zymico product for a false bottom. during the stirring of the mash are these thing durable if hit with the paddle?

Dunno.  I mash in a kettle and then transfer to a cooler for lauter.  I show how I do it on my page…. My goal is a 3-tier system but for now I just wanna get brewing all-grain.

For just beginning basics, check out my page, you might get an idea how to brew using stuff you already have… Cheers, Mike www.ipass.net/~mpdixon/homebrew.htm

Response:

I use my old 5 gallon brew pot as my HLT, I have a 7.5 gallon boil kettle now (although I am upgrading, just ordered a converted sanke keg for a brew kettle to do 10 gallon batches).  For my mash tun I use a 10 gallon gott cooler with a SS false bottom. It will hold upwards of 25 lbs of grain. This will get you somewhere around a 1.074 SG for a 10 gallon batch.  You can get them on line if you research enough for about $70 with a false bottom and spigot (including shipping).  I haven’t had a problem holding temp for 90 minutes. I lose only 1 or 2 degrees at most.  Others use rectuanglar coolers for mash tuns and make their own copper manifold. It was a lot easier to move up to all grain than I thought. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m looking to make the plunge into all-grain soon and have a few short questions. First and formost is a keg the best option as a mash tun for a brewery that does mostly 5 gallon batches, but I do plan on doing 10 gallon. I may even go more into 10 gallon batches if all goes well. The grain bed is my main concern, would you be able to get a good grain bed with a keg doing a light to medium gravity brew? I was also thinking of using the zymico product for a false bottom. during the stirring of the mash are these thing durable if hit with the paddle? My goal is a 3-tier system but for now I just wanna get brewing all-grain. Thanks, Ken

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