Depth Of Grain Bed.

[Ester Trub]

So I've just constructed myself a manifold for my new mash tun, and I'm using a 50ltr esky.
However, when reading through some John Palmer stuff, he says that the grain bed should be at least 4 inches deep. I'm guessing that for a standard 23ltr brew, I'm not actually going to get this depth in a 50ltr esky.
So my question is, does it really matter that much?

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Are you sure you won't get 4" ?

I've got a 44L tun and I'm sure it's at least 4" when I do 19L batches

Will you be batch or fly sparging?

Cheers

 

[Gavo]

I use a 50 lt esky MLT and no problem on a single batch, still around 83% efficiency into the fermenter.
A water to grain ratio of 2.5 to 1 for a single batch with 4kg of grain will give you 10lt of water + the grain volume will most likely put your grain bed above 100mm.

Gavo.

 

[Kieren]

So I've just constructed myself a manifold for my new mash tun, and I'm using a 50ltr esky.
However, when reading through some John Palmer stuff, he says that the grain bed should be at least 4 inches deep. I'm guessing that for a standard 23ltr brew, I'm not actually going to get this depth in a 50ltr esky.
So my question is, does it really matter that much?

If batch sparging it shouldn't hurt efficiency too much but you may find it won't filter out the wort as clearly as it might with a grain bed depth greater than 4". If fly sparging efficiency can drop I believe.

K

 

[Ester Trub]

Thanks guys.
I will be batch sparging, so it I guess it doesn't make that much difference.
And I'm not sure I won't get 4" anyway, It was just a guess.

 

[Kai]

I used to use a 55L rectangular esky for 23L batches, no worries. No problems on poor efficiency or cloudy lautering. Gopher it.

 

[Wolfy]

I will be batch sparging, so it I guess it doesn't make that much difference.
And I'm not sure I won't get 4" anyway, It was just a guess.

If you're batch sparging it really wont make any difference at all, however the larger mash tun will allow you to make bigger batches if/when you want to, so it's much more flexible.

 

[Beerbuoy]

Yup +1 Stick to batch sparging it will be fine. Depth of the grain bed is more important if you where fly sparging.