Posting 3: Extracted from file: 1792
Date: 26 Jul 1995 07:32:18 U
From: "Palmer.John"
Subject: Scientific Mashing Breakthru!
Well, Not really. But I did find out something that should be very helpful to many of you. I have been asking a few eminent homebrewers how much grain can be mashed in a fixed volume Cooler ex. a 5 gallon Gott. The answers have been helpful, but anecdotal, i.e. "I did X lbs for this batch". So, last night on the way home from work, I had a brainstorm. Why not mash 1 lb in 1 quart and see what the volume is?! Well, I did. I carefully weighed 1 lb of Great Western 2 Row malt, crushed it in my Maltmill and added it to 1 quart of 120F water. I let this sit for about 5 minutes. Since I only have a 1 quart pyrex measuring cup, I poured 24 oz of mash into the measuring cup and discarded it. I then poured in the remainder and measured it. It came to about 18 oz.It occured to me that because the first measurement was more fluid, and the second pretty stiff, I might be experiencing compaction, and not getting a good measurement. So, I measured out 2 more cups of hot water (16oz) and added it to the 2nd measure of mash in the quart measuring cup. If I had been paying better attention, I would have only added 1 cup. The liquid level rose to just over the 32 oz mark. Comparing the two measurements, I determined that the addition of 16 oz of water to the 18oz looked to be a change in volume of 16 oz, meaning that I had negligible compaction. So! We now have a brewing constant for figuring how much grain can be mashed in a fixed volume. 1 Pound of 2 Row Malt mixed with 1 Quart of Water produces a volume of 42 fluid ounces. If you are figuring a 1.5 quart per pound mash, then add in the additional half quart per pound as my measurements show that 1 quart per pound is already a saturated condition. In summary, 10 lbs of Malt at 1.5 qt/lb would fill just over 4.5 gallons, which would be do-able in a 5 gallon cooler. This would yield a 1.060 beer.
John J. Palmer - Metallurgist for MDA-SSD M&P
Huntington Beach, California
Palmer House Brewery and Smithy
