Mashtun dead space?

[Andyhull]

Hi all,

I drilled my 28lt coolbox/mashtun and fitted the tank connector and ball valve.
I filled it just beyond the bottom of the hole then opened the valve to let the water out when it stopped running i measured what was left (dead space) and there was 2.5ltr left.
Is this too much dead space as i can re drill it at the other end and plug the previouse hole.

If im honest i just guessed where to put the original hole and could have dropped it down by another 2cm probably.

Thanks

Andy

 

[evanvine]

Worry not, my MT has 4 litres dead space, just remember to add it to your litres/Kg calculation.
Dead space also acts like an underback (especially with a false bottom) holding back the mash crud when recirculating and sparging.

 

[Andyhull]

I'll leave it then.
I supose there won't actually be 2.5lt of wort as the grain will take up so much of the volume.

Thanks for the reply :thumb:

Andy

 

[Muddydisco]

Was that with the grain filter in? It may be lower if it wasn't.

But not to worry those figures are normal think my first cool box was around 3ltr.

 

[wilsoa1111]

yeah, u can leave it be, but it freaked me out the first brew i did, i was like wtf wheres my beer gone staring at 17.5 l not the 20l i hoped for, anyway i had left a gd bit of the rubber in the ss braid showerhose and was all comp fit so i just bend it down with some garden wire and use a siphon effect. now i only have .2l deadspace not 2.5l which is supposed to help efficency but tbh ive not noticed but then ive only done 2 brews so far

 

[marksa222]

Sorry to drag up an old post.

Just wondered would there be any negative in adding more water to make up for deadspace? Say if I had 5kg of grain, I'd plan on using 12.5L, but would need to add maybe another 3L to this making the ratio 3.1. Is that a no no?

 

[kev]

That's how beersmith works.

K

 

[marksa222]

Sorry mate, do you mean if you enter in to BS the dead space, it adds it on to the initial water used for the mash?

 

[kev]

Yes.

You input the desired mash water ratio and your tuns dead space is added to it. K

 

[marksa222]

Sound. Cheers...

Need to get beersmith... but a laptop first

 

[kev]

You can get it for phones and tablets too if that helps?

 

[marksa222]

Yeah i notice that. With other "mobile" versions, I've found them to be a water down version of the normal program. Also, i've no idea why, but when an app goes above 69p, it makes me think it's pricey. :lol:

Have you used the mobile one yourself? If so, is it any good?

 

[kev]

I have the computer version and the mobile. They both do exactly the same thing.

What's great is that they talk to each other so if I design a recipe in the house, I can go out to the garage and brew it using my phone or iPad. Then if I tweak the recipe it updates the computer version too.

K

 

[marksa222]

Cool... ill have a look at that then.

I've measure the dead space and its actually 7 litres! The tap is pretty high on it and when open, it takes 7L before anything trickles out. Would it be best to patch it up and drill a new hole?

If so, the hole is drilled on a square indent into the cooler. Thered not room underneath to accomodate another hole, so it would have to be on the body of the cooler. Would this cause any problems at all?

 

[airymary]

Like another poster implied, syphonage is your friend! You don't mention what your grain filter is, but whatever you're using, ensure it sits on the bottom of your MT. Then whatever hose/pipe/tubing you attach to the ball valve should hang well below the bottom of the MT. Syphonage will then reduce your dead space losses significantly.

Mash liquidity affects the ratio of maltose/dextrin. It should be determined by beer style, not equipment!

Cheers,
Chris

 

[marksa222]

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to get some kind of fitting to attach to tap so a hose can be attached and test again.

Its a steel braid type filter so i'm not sure if a syphon effect would work, and it does lye on the bottom of the mt. Its got 2 copper elbows fitted together that leave the fitting to create an 'S' sort of shape. The lowest part of this then pushes in to a T copper joint, either side attached to the braid by jubilee clips.... if that makes sense.

After looking again, I think it is possible to drill a hole directly underneath. It should lye flush with the bottom of the mt then, and I could just use a straight bit of copper pipe to go from the T joint to fitting.

 

[airymary]

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to get some kind of fitting to attach to tap so a hose can be attached and test again.

Its a steel braid type filter so i'm not sure if a syphon effect would work, and it does lye on the bottom of the mt. Its got 2 copper elbows fitted together that leave the fitting to create an 'S' sort of shape. The lowest part of this then pushes in to a T copper joint, either side attached to the braid by jubilee clips.... if that makes sense.

After looking again, I think it is possible to drill a hole directly underneath. It should lye flush with the bottom of the mt then, and I could just use a straight bit of copper pipe to go from the T joint to fitting.

An off-subject cautionary note. I found braid grain filters in the MT didn't work too well. I used steel mesh cannibalised from tap connectors. I believe the weight of the grain compressed the mesh, stopping the flow, so I got a stuck mash rather too often. Improving the grain filter was one of my earliest upgrades! They make good hop filters, tho'.

Cheers,
Chris

Edit: Your arrangement as described to get the mesh filter to the bottom of your MT sounds fine, except for the caveat as mentioned above.

 

[rpt]

Mash liquidity affects the ratio of maltose/dextrin. It should be determined by beer style, not equipment!

I don't think it makes much difference. BIAB uses a very thin mash but can still make different styles of beer.