Is my tun too big?

[will_raymo2000]

I've recently received and converted a 50L thermobox into a bottom draining tun and am awaiting a false bottom for it. Haven't decided on a boiler yet but have a 50L HLT with elements fitted.

The end goal is to brew 46L batches to fit two cornies at a time but then I thought that a 50l mash tun might be too big for batches this small, how do they cope with dead space? Should I just bite the bullet and upsize before I've started and get a 70/80L boiler & HLT? (Would a 50L HLT be big enough for 70L batches?)

I'm stuck with what to do!

 

[jaymondo]

firstly to fill 2 cornies you only need to brew 38l thats what i normally brew with my 50l mash tun and 50l boiler. if you wanted to brew 46l batches the mash tun would stiil be ok but you would need a 70l+ boiler :thumb:

 

[theboytony]

I've just used my 50l thermopot for a 20l batch and although it looked a bit empty it worked great, it lost about half a degree over the 90mins. Just make sure to pre-heat properly. When I upgrade my boiler and hlt in the future I'm going to get 70l pots

 

[will_raymo2000]

Shows how good my maths is!

I'm tempted to just go 70L boiler from the off despite not using to full capacity as the price difference in the pots is negligible and future proofs me in case I wanted to do larger batches down the line.

Looking forward to using it in anger in the new year

 

[gaz]

I've recently received and converted a 50L thermobox into a bottom draining tun and am awaiting a false bottom for it. Haven't decided on a boiler yet but have a 50L HLT with elements fitted.

The end goal is to brew 46L batches to fit two cornies at a time but then I thought that a 50l mash tun might be too big for batches this small, how do they cope with dead space? Should I just bite the bullet and upsize before I've started and get a 70/80L boiler & HLT? (Would a 50L HLT be big enough for 70L batches?)

I'm stuck with what to do!

hi will

Im pretty new to ag myself and have recently been in the same position as yourself , so ill try to help a bit.

I started with a 32l hlt and a 30l coolbox mt and i soon found the boiler wasnt really big enough for a 23l brew without making a bit of mess with boil overs ,so i started looking for upgrades almost from the off.

I also decided i wanted to do double batches so i upgraded to a 45l igloo cube coolbox mt and a 72l boiler, i still use the 32l for heating mash and sparge water ,although i generally need about 40 ish litres for sparge so i have a second pan on the go to get the volume up.

I find after sparging i have about 56l of wort in the boiler,i add 13l of water almost brimming my pot and boil for 90 mins outside on gas, ending up with 44l in the fermenters.

The numbers above are not exact but as close as i remember off the top of my head,just to give you a idea.
My opinion is a 50l hlt ,45l mt and 70l boiler is a good double batch setup, obviously things are not the same for everyone but i hope this helps a bit.

cheers gaz

 

[Fil]

a sealed thermopot should hold a good temp,

so the only concern is the cooler air inside once closed.

i doubt u will notice a significant drop in temp durring the mash, but if so a nominal increase in strike temp by 0.5C or less even may be enough to cater for it, the thermal mass of the grain and liquor far outweighs that of any air in the tun, so the equilibrium shouldnt detract any significant temp from the mash

in a cold draft the metal exit valve could radiate off internal heat so wrapp that up too if your concerned about loss during the mash

opening up during the mash will allow more energy/heat loss than anything else.

 

[Lanark]

I have the same mash tun and did an 18 litre batch in it the other day with no problems. I just made sure I warmed it up properly. I don't know how much it has to say but it could be useful to put the lid on for 5 mins when, say, 80% of the mash is mixed inside the pot. That way you can make sure even the lid is warm so as not to loose anything to that.

 

[Vossy1]

A 50ltr mash tun is spot on for 46ltr medium strength brews, that was my preferred set up a while ago for a few years.
I use a 80ltr mash tun and don't think twice about doing 23ltr brews in it, the size of the mash tun isn't as important as having a reasonable mash depth to act as a 'filter'.