# 25 Litre Mash Tun/esky



## fergi (14/11/09)

i am close to doing my first ag, i have a 25 litre esky that i will use for my mash, what size brew can i make from this size esky using it as a mash tun, i am looking to make my batches to 20/22 lites in fermenter.
fergi


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## Cocko (14/11/09)

My thoughts go like this:

You wanna mash at 2.5L per kg of grain....

So for a recipe of 1040-1050 you would need about 5-6kg of grain.

Thats about 12-15 litres of mash water + grain displacement - I reckon it would fit!

You may not be able to achieve mash out by adding water but you can just sparge hot and it shouldn't affect your efficiency too much!  

Batch sparge to volume and all should be fine IMO - Just 2c.

I am sure others will have better advice but thats my thoughts!

WTF, give it a run and see how you go.. It will be beer!

:icon_cheers:


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## manticle (14/11/09)

I have a 26 L esky tun. I regularly mash 5-6 Kg of grain with around 15 L of strike water. I drain first runnings, add 8-9 L of mash out temp water, drain then batch sparge with another 15 L of water.

My evaporation loss with a boil is generally between 7 and 10 L.

So taking into account 1 litre per kilo of grain absorption I get roughly 32- 34 Litres pre-boil and 22 - 25 L post boil.

My understanding is that I should probably be adding the mashout water before I drain first runnings (someone may be able to correct/confirm) but the hot water will still stop the conversion and the extra volume is welcome. Otherwise you could just drain then do two smaller sparges. Either way - yes you can do full volume batches with what you have.


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## chadjaja (15/11/09)

Pretty much most batches except the high gravity beers. Wish I had a slightly larger esky as I also have a 26lt and would like to do some belgians. I mash and then top up with about 8lts before mash out and its pretty much to the brim just perfect. A full esky holds temp so much easier too so you should hold your target temps easier.


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## Flash_DG (15/11/09)

I got a 44L esky here that has a busted catch, is this too big for a Mash Tun?


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## manticle (15/11/09)

No. You will have a bit more headspace for single batches so maybe cover the top of the mash with aluminium foil and insulate during the mash. You may want something to weigh the lid down as the busted catch may allow heat loss.


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## Flash_DG (15/11/09)

manticle said:


> No. You will have a bit more headspace for single batches so maybe cover the top of the mash with aluminium foil and insulate during the mash. You may want something to weigh the lid down as the busted catch may allow heat loss.



cool  looks like I got me a possible Mash tun


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## fergi (17/11/09)

fergi said:


> i am close to doing my first ag, i have a 25 litre esky that i will use for my mash, what size brew can i make from this size esky using it as a mash tun, i am looking to make my batches to 20/22 lites in fermenter.
> fergi




so now i have poured 18 litres water, and 5 kg wheat into my esky, this leaves 2 inches to the top. would this be about the amounts if i were doing 22 litres into my fermenter after mashing and boiling.

fergi


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## fergi (17/11/09)

manticle said:


> I have a 26 L esky tun. I regularly mash 5-6 Kg of grain with around 15 L of strike water. I drain first runnings, add 8-9 L of mash out temp water, drain then batch sparge with another 15 L of water.
> 
> ,
> 
> ...


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## warra48 (17/11/09)

I use a 25 litre Willow cooler for my mash tun, fitted with a copper manifold.
My average grain bill is between 4 to 5 kg, and i use about 2.5 litre per kg to mash in.

Post mash, I top up my mash tun to the bottom of the handles, stir and immediately vorlauf and drain.
I fill it up again to the same level, stir and vorlauf and drain. 

I check my measure in the kettle as to how much I've collected so far. Whatever other volume I need to make up to my desired volume is the final volume of water I add again, stir and immediately vorlauf and drain.

I normally aim to get about 31 to 32 litres into the kettle and get 90%+ mash efficiency with this method.
It's enough to get 23 litres into the fermenter.


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## Pennywise (17/11/09)

fergi said:


> so now i have poured 18 litres water, and 5 kg wheat into my esky, this leaves 2 inches to the top. would this be about the amounts if i were doing 22 litres into my fermenter after mashing and boiling.
> 
> fergi



If you have 5kg of wheat malt in your tun I hope you've got some rice gulls in there to stop it getting stuck :icon_cheers:


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## manticle (17/11/09)

fergi said:


> after you drain your first runnings then you add another 8/9 litres of water how long do you leave it before you drain that lot out of mash tun. then when you say batch sparge is that where you add the other 15 litres of water into your mash tun , what rate do you add that 15 litres and what temp is the added water.
> fergi



I leave it for around 10 minutes. Batch sparge is when you add a batch of water, let the grain bed settle, then drain. I leave that for around 10 minutes as well, then begin recirculating.

It drains out slowly into a fermenter (my pots are little so I do 2 boils although that's soon to change) until the hose end is covered by wort, then the tap is slowly opened until it's running out at full bore. I use a brass garden tap rather than a ball valve thingy.

To work out amounts use this as a rough guide

1. Add water to grain at a ratio of between 2.5 L/kg - 3 L/kg. So 5 kg grain will be between 12 and 15 L

2. 1 kg of grain will absorb around 1 L of water

So the first 15 L will release 10 L of wort.

3. you can mash out - it's not a necessity. Around 8 -9 Litres should up your temp into the right region

So 8-9 L mashout will give another 8 - litres of wort.

4. Your sparge should then make up the rest of your desired volume. Again very little loss will occur due to absorption as the grain will be saturated.

So first runnings + mashout + sparge = totla volume. If you don't do a mashout then just add the 8 L to the sparge but at sparge temps.


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## fergi (17/11/09)

Homebrewer79 said:


> If you have 5kg of wheat malt in your tun I hope you've got some rice gulls in there to stop it getting stuck :icon_cheers:




no the wheat is just some grain i feed the chooks with, i am just doing a dummy run on volume etc.
fergi


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## fergi (21/11/09)

well my homemade mash tun has failed in its first trial. i put 8 litres of water into it @ 66deg, put the lid on and just put a pillow ontop of it. i didnt go to the extent of wrapping it all up nice and tight because i just wanted to see how the temp held. no grain just water, maybe the grain will hold the heat better , and when i wrap it this will probably help, went in @66 DEG AND AFTER 60 MINS IT WAS DOWN TO 61 DEG,ALSO I HAD THIS IDEA OF USING A MEAT THERMOMETER with the round dial and a 6 inch spike, now i drilled a hole through the esky ,then inserted a three inch pice of copper tube, to sit through the hole.i used silastic to hold it into the side of the esky then i squeezed silastic into the copper tube, pushed the fermometer through the copper tube up flush to the outside of the esky,wiped the probe as it came through into the esky and let it harden overnite,"IT LEAKS"IT DRIPS OUT FROM THAT THERMOMETER HOLE IN THE ESKY, PROBABLY LOST 300 ml., back to the drawing board
fergi


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## glaab (21/11/09)

did you pre heat it fergi?


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## fergi (21/11/09)

glaab said:


> did you pre heat it fergi?



no i didnt preheat, i guess thats putting some boiling water into the esky first, then putting mash water in, how much preheat water do i need glaab, 
i will post some pics up shortly of my bits n pieces.
fergi


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## glaab (21/11/09)

not sure, but if you want your strike water at 70C, you might try adding it at 74ish and it'll probably be at 
70 5-10mins later, most of that 5C you lost was probably warming the tun in the first few mins. 8L isnt much either


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## fergi (21/11/09)

this is my collection of AG gear that i am accumulating

3 ring burner /50 litre stainless pot, /esky i am making into my mash tun /you can seee the thermometer on the front of the esky, i have to refit that as it drips water, the thermo going through the copper tube/ and a shot of the thermo inside the copper tube and fitting through the esky., its not flash but hopefully i can start on biab and all grain stuff.
fergi

how the hell did he get there, my jack russel being stressed, and the glass of beer is coopers pale ale with little creatures adda pack and coopers rehydrated yeast, its a great kit beer.


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## fergi (21/11/09)

glaab said:


> not sure, but if you want your strike water at 70C, you might try adding it at 74ish and it'll probably be at
> 70 5-10mins later, most of that 5C you lost was probably warming the tun in the first few mins. 8L isnt much either



ok i will do that next time i try the tun, i have to put the tap through yet and think up a way to do the false bottom bit, i cant weld and not much at metal work but i will come up with something to get started.
fergi


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## warra48 (23/11/09)

fergi said:


> well my homemade mash tun has failed in its first trial. i put 8 litres of water into it @ 66deg, put the lid on and just put a pillow ontop of it. i didnt go to the extent of wrapping it all up nice and tight because i just wanted to see how the temp held. no grain just water, maybe the grain will hold the heat better , and when i wrap it this will probably help, went in @66 DEG AND AFTER 60 MINS IT WAS DOWN TO 61 DEG,ALSO I HAD THIS IDEA OF USING A MEAT THERMOMETER with the round dial and a 6 inch spike, now i drilled a hole through the esky ,then inserted a three inch pice of copper tube, to sit through the hole.i used silastic to hold it into the side of the esky then i squeezed silastic into the copper tube, pushed the fermometer through the copper tube up flush to the outside of the esky,wiped the probe as it came through into the esky and let it harden overnite,"IT LEAKS"IT DRIPS OUT FROM THAT THERMOMETER HOLE IN THE ESKY, PROBABLY LOST 300 ml., back to the drawing board
> fergi



With only 8 litres of water, you have a huge amount of dead space above the water.
Mashing say 5 kg of grains with say 2.5 litres per kg will only leave about 6 or so litres of dead space.
Either way, unless you insulate the mash from the dead space inside the mashtun, you will lose temperature.

I insulate my mashtun with a precisely fitted piece of yoga mat on top of the mash. I lose .5C over 90 minutes.
Your experiment with only 8 litres of nothing but water is not typical of normal mash conditions.

I heat my HLT to 9C above my desired mash temperature, and it works fine for me in a 25 litre Willow cooler.

Edit: Speillinkg


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