killian
Well-Known Member
Im trying to figure out the largest grain bill I can use with my 10 gallon cooler, mashing with 1qt/lb. How much space does the grain take up?
grain space
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magno
Sound Level Technician
This is not a great answer to the question, but....
Unmilled grain weighs about 5 lbs to the gallon. I have not attempted to max out my cooler yet, but I would think that it would hold upwards of 20 lbs of grain plus mash water.
Unmilled grain weighs about 5 lbs to the gallon. I have not attempted to max out my cooler yet, but I would think that it would hold upwards of 20 lbs of grain plus mash water.
dblvsn
Well-Known Member
I have a round 5 gallon cooler that I did a 10 lb. mash in last weekend. It pretty much maxed it out. By that calculation I would say you probably aren't gonna get much more that 20 lbs of grain in your 10 gallon cooler. 
Here are two resources for you. The first is an online calculator:
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml
Or, if you prefer old school equation technique, there is an equation in John Palmer's "How to Brew" that calculates the volume of your mash.
Mash Volume (qt) = grain (lb) * (water to grain ratio + 0.32)
Hope that helps!
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml
Or, if you prefer old school equation technique, there is an equation in John Palmer's "How to Brew" that calculates the volume of your mash.
Mash Volume (qt) = grain (lb) * (water to grain ratio + 0.32)
Hope that helps!
killian
Well-Known Member
Khirsah17 said:
Thats perfect gotta love those rackers:rockin:
thanks
killian
Well-Known Member
confused again, can the rackers be wrong?or am I f 'ing up my math
their calculations not accounting for dead space is giving me,
20lbs of grain at 1qt/lb= 6.6 gallons of total space taken up by the mash
4 gallons of the mash is water so 2.6 gallons of the mash is the grain
20lbs of crushed grain = 2.6 gallons, so then 20 divided by 2.6 makes every lb of grain = .13 gallons of space + .25 gallons of water per lb then total space for every lb in the mash is .38 gallons. then I could mash with my 10 gallon cooler with out accounting for dead space 26lbs of grain. this realy does'nt sound right from my experience.
if 5lbs = 1gallon then 20lbs = 4 gallons
with a grain bill of 20lbs I would need 20qts of water=4 gallons
so then the total mash with out accounting for dead space is 8 gallons.
this sound a little more like it.
so 5lbs divided by 1gallon is .2 gallons of space for 1lb of grain and .25 gallons of water= .45gallons of space for every lb
then with a 10 gallon cooler I could mash 22lbs
their calculations not accounting for dead space is giving me,
20lbs of grain at 1qt/lb= 6.6 gallons of total space taken up by the mash
4 gallons of the mash is water so 2.6 gallons of the mash is the grain
20lbs of crushed grain = 2.6 gallons, so then 20 divided by 2.6 makes every lb of grain = .13 gallons of space + .25 gallons of water per lb then total space for every lb in the mash is .38 gallons. then I could mash with my 10 gallon cooler with out accounting for dead space 26lbs of grain. this realy does'nt sound right from my experience.
if 5lbs = 1gallon then 20lbs = 4 gallons
with a grain bill of 20lbs I would need 20qts of water=4 gallons
so then the total mash with out accounting for dead space is 8 gallons.
this sound a little more like it.
so 5lbs divided by 1gallon is .2 gallons of space for 1lb of grain and .25 gallons of water= .45gallons of space for every lb
then with a 10 gallon cooler I could mash 22lbs
krispy d
Well-Known Member
sounds right to me. I can get a 12 lbs grain bill in my 5 gallon gott cooler...
I personally rely on Palmer's equation more than the website calculator. FYI, I have a 10 gallon mash tun, and once I had wanted to max it out and make the strongest beer known to man. I was able to fit 36 lbs of grain in there at a water to grain ratio of 0.75. That was the absolute max, as i put the lid on, i had a bit of water/grain stream out the side. I would probably never go quite that high again, maybe cut it down 2-3 pounds.
If you want a water to grain ratio of 1, lets see. 10 gallon mash tun allows a maximum of 40 qts. From palmers equation:
26 lbs grain = 34.3 qts (mash volume)
27 lbs grain = 35.6 qts
28 lbs grain = 37.0 qts
29 lbs grain = 38.3 qts
If I were you, i wouldnt go higher than 28 lbs of grain. Otherwise, youll have some issues putting the lid on.
Just out of curiousity, what OG are you shooting for on this beer? I recently went through a big beer series of brews, I wouldnt mind comparing notes!
If you want a water to grain ratio of 1, lets see. 10 gallon mash tun allows a maximum of 40 qts. From palmers equation:
26 lbs grain = 34.3 qts (mash volume)
27 lbs grain = 35.6 qts
28 lbs grain = 37.0 qts
29 lbs grain = 38.3 qts
If I were you, i wouldnt go higher than 28 lbs of grain. Otherwise, youll have some issues putting the lid on.
Just out of curiousity, what OG are you shooting for on this beer? I recently went through a big beer series of brews, I wouldnt mind comparing notes!
killian
Well-Known Member
khirsah, I brew a lot of 10 gallon batches often 5 for me and 5 for asst brewer. I like really malty beers, stout, porter, scotch ales, Irish and Belgian's etc... so I am looking for a grain bill that isn't to big for a 10 gallon batch but big enough to yield a nice malty beer. I think I might need a bigger mash tun. I also brew 5gal's sometimes and I'm always looking for big beers any suggestions?
à Flannagáin
Well-Known Member
You hav to remember the grain is going to suck up a lot of the water, so it's not an exact ratio of grain takes up x amount space and water takes up y amount of space.
New2HomeBrew
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I just did my first all grain this past weekend. I was able to fit 24 pounds of grain with 6 gallons of water and there was still about 1.5 to 2 gallons worth of head space in the MLT. After my mash out, I collected just over 5 1/2 gallons of wort. Put in another 6+gallons in for the batch sparge. This was without a doubt the capacity for the 10 gallon MLT when batch sparging.
the_Roqk
Well-Known Member
New2HomeBrew said:
From the amount of water you added for sparging I'm guessing you did a 10 gallon batch? Assuming you boiled it down to 10 gallons. Just trying to figure what you did. I'm about ready to start my AG recipe and will sometime in the future do 10 gallon batches.
New2HomeBrew
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Yes, I did a 10 gallon batch. With my system I had to learn the hard way that I loose rouhgly between 1.5 - 2 gallons during my 1 hour boil. I decided to shoot for a 12 gallon volume preboil. I ended up with just over 10 gallons. My first and second runnnings were just about equal.
killian
Well-Known Member
I should have mentioned that I am also working on a plan for a small-scale mash. I just converted a 2.5 gallon cooler to a mash tun. there was an article in byo that got me thinking about small batch brewing.
byo's calculations are 2lbs of grain for every gallon of space available in the mash tun, but they don't give a volume of water used in the mash.
By byo's numbers a 10 gallon cooler can hold a 20lb grain bill?
seefresh, how about at strike wouldn't x amount of grain + y amount of water take up a certain amount of space before absorption.
then at least I can plan my strike and go from there.
Are all of these calculations(byo/Palmer and the greenbayrackers) all trying to account for absorption?
I haven't been using a mash out when batch sparging but if I lose space from absorption may be on the small scale i should top off with a mash out before I recirculate.
byo's calculations are 2lbs of grain for every gallon of space available in the mash tun, but they don't give a volume of water used in the mash.
By byo's numbers a 10 gallon cooler can hold a 20lb grain bill?
seefresh, how about at strike wouldn't x amount of grain + y amount of water take up a certain amount of space before absorption.
then at least I can plan my strike and go from there.
Are all of these calculations(byo/Palmer and the greenbayrackers) all trying to account for absorption?
I haven't been using a mash out when batch sparging but if I lose space from absorption may be on the small scale i should top off with a mash out before I recirculate.
