All in one system - Dead space and mash thickness/volume

Brewer #334237

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Hi all!

I've had a search, but my apologies if this issue has been tackled elsewhere - I couldn't find it!

I've been all grain brewing for a few years now, but recently did my first brew on an all in one system. The issue I found is at the mash stage. The grain basket sits above the bottom of the unit and between the bottom of the grain basket and the collection pipe there is around 3l "dead space" now, it isn't dead space a such as the wort will be collected almost to the bottom. But, I am used to mashing in a separate mash tun with a false bottom.

My challenge is, if I add an extra 3l of water into my mash to accommodate for the "dead space", surely I am then not getting the desired mash thickness - how do I account for this? as on my last brew it called for 15l of mash water, but this didn't even cover the grain. So I had to put just over 18l in, which not only of course messed my desired mash thickness up, but also sent my PH way out.

Hope that all makes sense, again brewing on an all in one system is new to me! hoping some more experienced members can offer some words of wisdom here.

Thanks in advance.
 
Add your extra water as a "mashtun addition", since it is part of the mash and would affect efficiency/mash pH/etc.
 
I have been running #s for the 65L 220v Digibrew. There is a 3gal space below the mash tube + 3/4inch outside the mash tube. This is a variable according to how much mash and water you strike. Will brew tomorrow and see how it goes. I have elected to brew a 12 to 13gal into fermenter so will have some sparge anyway. Will repost after the maiden voyage :eek::D
 
Was a rough maiden voyage!
45 min into the boil we got a nasty wind and rain storm. Lost power for over 4 hrs. As I was trying to figure out what to do the neighbor called and our dock had broken partly loose with the boat swinging much to close to a crash on the rocky shore. Got it untied from dock and ran to the launch and got it out of the water. Tied the dock off which will need some repairs and popped open a beer at 10am. Waited the storm out so to speak. Mean time the wort... It had cooled to 160f so I just added 6oz of homegrown centennial and whirled it around. As far as I could tell I was around 75% efficiency but as all this went on I'm just hoping it's drinkable. The cooler air and sprinkle of rain is acceptable but it could have arrived at 5mph not 50!
 
Was a rough maiden voyage!
45 min into the boil we got a nasty wind and rain storm. Lost power for over 4 hrs. As I was trying to figure out what to do the neighbor called and our dock had broken partly loose with the boat swinging much to close to a crash on the rocky shore. Got it untied from dock and ran to the launch and got it out of the water. Tied the dock off which will need some repairs and popped open a beer at 10am. Waited the storm out so to speak. Mean time the wort... It had cooled to 160f so I just added 6oz of homegrown centennial and whirled it around. As far as I could tell I was around 75% efficiency but as all this went on I'm just hoping it's drinkable. The cooler air and sprinkle of rain is acceptable but it could have arrived at 5mph not 50!
Well that stinks for your 1st brew on the new set up! Glad everything ended up panning out ok and fingers crossed for the tsunami beer. We've got a big early storm blowing in tonight.
 
Tried another brew yesterday with 65L digiboil. This thing has entirely to much extra space with use of mash pipe. 62l of useable space in kettle and 36l in mash pipe. This is reduced with batch size by a little. To much space below pipe,12.5l and 3 centimeters diference in radius between pipe and kettle leaves over 13l outside of pipe when maxed out. Poorly thought out obviously. Pretty sure it should put out a good batch with using false bottom and a bag. Even with hiccups it will simplify brew day eventually. From 64f to 155f in 30min works for me. Maintains strong boil with 2500w and I can throw lots of homegrown hops right in there.
 
They did not have a listing for my Pico Pro /Pico C. Just input the data as your primary system and save it.
No biggie!
Trust me on this. I am cinder block stupid and if I can do it, Ray Charles would have no problem!
 

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