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After our third brew of two Extracts and one BIAB kits, we are eager for our first all grain brew. As such, and to be cost effective to start with (re purposing in mind), we purchased the 10 gallon cooler/mash tun from Northern Brewer. The kit comes with the cooler, valve assembly and false bottom/assembly, and even the cooler spigot for when we decide on an upgraded Mash Tun down the road, and want to use the Fermenter's Favorite mash tun as a cooler.
So prior to our first all grain brew day, I wanted to test out the mash tun for temperature loss. Long story short, I ran two tests in the same day. One test in the garage that was 27 degrees (f) and so was the mash tun (not preheated). The test was to heat 5.5 gallons of water (simulating the volume of an all grain) to 170 degrees (f), then transfer directly to the Mash Tun and take temperature readings at 20 minute intervals for the first hour and then after the first hour, one more temperature reading at the 90 minute mark (For those 90 minute mashes down the road). The second test was in the basement at 68 degrees (f). For the basement test (as a result of the garage test), we filled the mash tun with hot water from our house water supply (roughly 125 degrees (f)) and let it sit in the mash tun for a while until we had our 5.5 gallons of strike water up to 170 degrees (f). Also as a result of the garage testing, we covered the lid of the mash tun for the entire test time with a blanket.
The test results surprised me in that they both dropped 6 degrees over the one hour time period. In fact, the basement test dropped 7 degrees over an hour. However, at the 90 minute mark, the garage test lost 12.5 degrees (f), where the basement test lost 10 degrees (f).
This left me wondering if the Thermal mass of water is less than the thermal mass with a same volume of saturated grains.
That lead me to ultimately reaching out to Northern Brewer, to which they confirmed my suspicions and that they felt a 2 degree per hour would be likely what I can expect with an all grain mass vs plain water.
Curious on everyone else's opinion on that thought process.
The plan is to purchase some cheap milled grains from LHBS and test it again and the blog will be updated accordingly.
Ps. We started a blog for our new found obsession, er uh hobby, and here's a link to my unboxing/assembly/testing of the Fermenter's Favorite Mash Tun with the testing details expanded from what I discussed above: http://www.barrelridgebrewing.blogspot.com
So prior to our first all grain brew day, I wanted to test out the mash tun for temperature loss. Long story short, I ran two tests in the same day. One test in the garage that was 27 degrees (f) and so was the mash tun (not preheated). The test was to heat 5.5 gallons of water (simulating the volume of an all grain) to 170 degrees (f), then transfer directly to the Mash Tun and take temperature readings at 20 minute intervals for the first hour and then after the first hour, one more temperature reading at the 90 minute mark (For those 90 minute mashes down the road). The second test was in the basement at 68 degrees (f). For the basement test (as a result of the garage test), we filled the mash tun with hot water from our house water supply (roughly 125 degrees (f)) and let it sit in the mash tun for a while until we had our 5.5 gallons of strike water up to 170 degrees (f). Also as a result of the garage testing, we covered the lid of the mash tun for the entire test time with a blanket.
The test results surprised me in that they both dropped 6 degrees over the one hour time period. In fact, the basement test dropped 7 degrees over an hour. However, at the 90 minute mark, the garage test lost 12.5 degrees (f), where the basement test lost 10 degrees (f).
This left me wondering if the Thermal mass of water is less than the thermal mass with a same volume of saturated grains.
That lead me to ultimately reaching out to Northern Brewer, to which they confirmed my suspicions and that they felt a 2 degree per hour would be likely what I can expect with an all grain mass vs plain water.
Curious on everyone else's opinion on that thought process.
The plan is to purchase some cheap milled grains from LHBS and test it again and the blog will be updated accordingly.
Ps. We started a blog for our new found obsession, er uh hobby, and here's a link to my unboxing/assembly/testing of the Fermenter's Favorite Mash Tun with the testing details expanded from what I discussed above: http://www.barrelridgebrewing.blogspot.com
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