[Beer Monger]

I'm working on a recipe for an imperial IPA, and I've hit one small problem.  If I allow for 1.12 quarts of water per pound of grain for the mash, I'll have a mash volume that's about 1 1/2 gallons larger than my 10-gallon mash tun (I still use a 10-gallon drink cooler as my tun). 

What problems might arise if I decide to mash with a total volume of only 10 gallons (.94 quarts of water per pound of grain) and just increase the sparge water to compensate? 

Alternatively, has anyone ever experimented with having to do 2 mashes in order to fill the boil kettle?  In other words, what if I split my mash into 2 mashes - each with 1/2 the grain/water?  Are there any problems with leaving 1/2 the wort in the boil kettle while I mash the other 1/2 of my grains? 


Finally, what type of vessel do you all use for your mash tun when making higher-gravity beers?  Perhaps I need to look into a new/bigger mash tun. 

[denny]

I do 10 gal. batches of high gravity beers in a 152 qt. cooler.  This is 68 lb. of grain at 1.5 qt./lb.  Note the guy stirring with a lacrosse stick!

[tschmidlin]

You can just supplement this batch with a few pounds of DME if you're not ready to buy a new mash tun (how often do you think you'll need a larger capacity?).  I would probably take the DME route over mashing really thick or doing two mashes.  On the other hand, you can get a blue 70 qt Coleman Extreme for cheap on Amazon . . .

[Beer Monger]

You can just supplement this batch with a few pounds of DME if you're not ready to buy a new mash tun (how often do you think you'll need a larger capacity?).  I would probably take the DME route over mashing really thick or doing two mashes.  On the other hand, you can get a blue 70 qt Coleman Extreme for cheap on Amazon . . .

Yeah, I guess I'd better substitute some DME.  That cooler won't really fit into my current setup.  I think when I design my next system I'd better make it capable of 20-25 gallon batches.   

[Beer Monger]

Here's the adjusted grain bill, using some DME:

22.5lbs American 2-Row Pale Malt
1.5llbs Cyrstal 30L (30 SRM)
1.lb Crystal 10L (10 SRM)
1lb Cara-Munich Malt (56 SRM)
4lbs Extra Light DME (3 SRM)

For a 10-gallon batch, that gives me an estimated OG of 1.088 (@ 75% efficienty - estimated).  My mash tun should still be pretty full, but this should take care of my mash tun size issue.  Thanks for the suggestion - I haven't used extract in so long, I'd almost forgotten about it!  lol   

[gordonstrong]

Note the guy stirring with a lacrosse stick!

Are lacrosse sticks made with jute?

[denny]

Note the guy stirring with a lacrosse stick!

Are lacrosse sticks made with jute?

I have no idea.  I just know that he told me he couldn't ever play lacrosse with it again.

[Beer Monger]

Note the guy stirring with a lacrosse stick!

Are lacrosse sticks made with jute?

I have no idea.  I just know that he told me he couldn't ever play lacrosse with it again.

Hopefully he didn't play much w/ it before sticking it into your mash either!   (Slight blood & mud flavor?     lol )