Full mash questions

[brucestevenson916]

1. What are 1st runnings? How much do you take and what do you do with it?

2.do you drain the mashed fluid direct to your boiler then do your 90 min boil?

3. And do you have a separate hot liqueur tank with pre-boiler water to sparge with?

 

[dennisking]

1st runnings are the 1st few litres from the mash tun which are normally cloudy. For this reason they are poured back in to the mash tun to filter through the grain. Yes you drain direct into the boiler. And yes it is best to have a separate HLT, just for ease and less flapping about.

 

[brucestevenson916]

Cheers pal, 1 last thing, I'm gonna do a partial mash using a coopers English bitter kit, adding 1kg lager malt, 500g crystal malt. What aroma hop woul you use to improve? Was maybe thinking fuggle or Golding

 

[dennisking]

Both good hops.

 

[Dave1970]

Although it is easier to have a separate HLT it's not necessary. I have a single boiler that operates as HLT and Boiler. During the sparge water flows from the boiler, through the grains in the mash tun (coolbox) and into an FV. I use 2 FV's usually collecting about 15 ltrs in each, once the sparge is finished and the HLT empty splitting it across the 2 FV's makes it easy to lift and pour back into the boiler for the boil.