Mash pan too small?

[surferosa]

Hi, I'm pretty new to brewing. I've made one extract brew so far, it's bottled, but not ready for drinking yet...

I'm considering making another brew, using the boil in a bag method in the meanwhile. I've found a kit on malt miller that comes with all the grains etc. which i though would be handy (https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/belgian-blonde-leffe-clone), however my pan for making the mash in is a bit small (10l at most). would i be ok to use the this pan with a smaller amount of water to steep the grains, and then add water after putting it in my fermenter, or do i have to get a larger pan?

Cheers!

 

[London]

I don't think there will be much room for water after you put 5.5kg of grains in a 10l pot.

 

[surferosa]

Good point! What if I made up half of the ingredients?

 

[MyQul]

You dont have to use your pot to mash in. You can use anything really. I normally do 10L batches and mash in my 15L pot. Very occasionally I do a 23L batch. I dont have a pot big enough to mash that much grain, so I use a 23L FV. You could do the same. Just wrap the FV in towels to insulate it (which is what i do)

 

[Drunkula]

I've been mashing in a fermenter with some foam tied around it balancing on top of a pan of hot water on the cooker and I've got it so it loses nothing. You've got to make sure there's a lack of mobile imbeciles in the vicinity.

 

[MyQul]

I've been mashing in a fermenter with some foam tied around it balancing on top of a pan of hot water on the cooker and I've got it so it loses nothing. You've got to make sure there's a lack of mobile imbeciles in the vicinity.

That's insane! Just wrap it in towels and make sure you fold a smaller town and sit it on top (as heat rises of course and this folded towel I've found really helps keep it in), then chuck a blanket over everything and you only lose about 1C over an hour

 

[surferosa]

You dont have to use your pot to mash in. You can use anything really. I normally do 10L batches and mash in my 15L pot. Very occasionally I do a 23L batch. I dont have a pot big enough to mash that much grain, so I use a 23L FV. You could do the same. Just wrap the FV in towels to insulate it (which is what i do)

Ok cool, what about the boil after the Mash? With the hop addition etc?

 

[Drunkula]

@MyQul - that reeks of common sense. Common sense scares me!

 

[MyQul]

Ok cool, what about the boil after the Mash? With the hop addition etc?

So you the separate the mash from the wort by lifting the bag (then sparge if you want to/normlly do that). Then boil in you pan as normal. If it doesnt all fit in (mine usually doesnt) you can use a second smaller pan to boil alongside the main boil. I usually use a 5L pan. As the main pan boils off, add more wort from the second pan to the main. Do your hop additions as normal in the main pan. If when you get to the end of the boil and you havent added all the wort from the second pan to the main. Just chuck it in the FV.

 

[MyQul]

@MyQul - that reeks of common sense. Common sense scares me!

Crazy man brewing. I like it!