15 litre stock pot

[samnorfolk]

Will i get away with using a 15 litre stock pot for doing a 10 litre brew?

 

[HarrowBrewer]

I've been using one with good results. I usually mash with seven litres and batch sparge in 8 litres, so I have about 12 to 13 litres pre-boil, and that works fine in a 15 litre pot.

 

[samnorfolk]

Im still new to this what do you mean by batch sparge

 

[HarrowBrewer]

I use Clibit's method here, scaled up for ten litres. Basically, after mashing all my grains in a bag in the 15 litre pot, I lift the bag up, let it drain off into the the pot, then dunk it in 8 litres of 80 degree water in an old preserving pan. Let it sit for ten minutes, give the grains a stir half way through, then squeeze any more goodness out of them and tip the dunked-in water back into the 15 litre pot to boil with the rest of the wort. It does mean I need another big-ish pan, and I'm sure there are more efficient ways to do it, but it's been working well for me so far.

 

[Sandimas]

I do similar: I've got 2 pots, a 12L one for the mash and a 15L for the sparge/boil. Although there's no reason why you couldn't mash in a 15L pan then sparge in an FV, and tip that back into the 15L pan.

With a 15L and the right amount of ingredients, plus some careful topping up during the boil, I can just about manage a 12L brew.

 

[samnorfolk]

I've been using one with good results. I usually mash with seven litres and batch sparge in 8 litres, so I have about 12 to 13 litres pre-boil, and that works fine in a 15 litre pot.

Does the 7 litres you start the mash with become less due to absorption through the grains etc and then when you add the sparged water it totals up to 12-13 litres?

Also is the sparge essential?

 

[clibit]

You lose about a litre of mash water for every kg of grain to absorption. You need to sparge to rinse the sugars out of the grain, and so that you have enough liquid to boil. To do a 10-12 litre brew without sparging you need a larger pot. 20 litres ish.

 

[samnorfolk]

ah ok hence why if you wouldn't sparge you would start off with the full amount of water, gotcha! Thanks

 

[Spapro]

I use a fermentation vessel for a batch sparge - you don't need a 2nd shiny stainless stockpot for the batch sparge if you have a 15l stockpot for boiling all the wort together.

 

[clibit]

You could use another vessel for the mash too. An FV with a tap, insulated well. Or a coolbox. You can pick cool boxes up for around a tenner at some of the supermarkets. Either fit a tap and strainer or just use a grain bag. Then you can either do a mash and sparge or a full BIAB with all the water in the mash.

 

[samnorfolk]

I use a fermentation vessel for a batch sparge - you don't need a 2nd shiny stainless stockpot for the batch sparge if you have a 15l stockpot for boiling all the wort together.

So how do you get the water up to 80c in a FV for sparing?

 

[Spapro]

I use a couple of kettlefuls of boiling water dumped into the FV then pop my bag of grain in for the batch sparge, open the bag to let the grains 'rest' down into the water, quick stir, then use another kettleful of water to rinse the grains while they are sitting in the FV in hot water. then lift the bag out, squeeze the grain bag a little to ensure not too much water is lost to absorption then add the wort from the FV to my stockpot for the boil.

I wear thick rubber gloves while handling/squeezing the bag to avoid burning my hands !

 

[samnorfolk]

ok brilliant, I'm going to give this a go! Many thanks

 

[HarrowBrewer]

Check out the recipes on the "Complete and Brewed Recipes" thread. Lots of great 10 litres brews there.