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2.1 gallon space under false bottom

rudylyon57

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Hi Folks, New to BeerSmith but out of the gate I have one seemingly simple question. My MLT has a 2.1 gallon space under the false bottom. I have always just added this volume to strike water volume rate of 1.25 qt/lb. How is this accounted for in BeerSmith? At first I thought the Mash Tun deadspace in equipment setup was what I needed but that is a loss adjustment. In my case I just have 2.1 more gallons in the mash than it suggests.
 
You can account for that in your equipment profile. Look for Lauter Tun Deadspace at upper right. Beersmith will then account for it automatically so you have the correct mash, sparge, pre-boil and post boil volumes you want.


Mark
 
Hi Mark, Thanks. I originally thought the same. However, the directions in BS is says "Lauter Tun Deadspace - Represents the deadspace in the lauter tun - how much wort will likely be lost to the lauter tun screen and piping. In my case, the wort in the dead space is not lost. I would think that "dead space" volume would be added to the 1.25 qt/lb strike volume and then substracetd from sparge volume.
 
Dead space represents unrecoverable wort. If you can recover the water, then it isn't dead space but actually additional mash water.

You'll see this as a first wort reading (after vourloff) in line with what's expected from the additional volume. A 1.25:1 ratio should yield first runnings of 1.096 once full conversion is achieved. If you have 10 lbs of grain, that's 12.5 quarts for the ratio, plus another 8.4 quarts for a combined ratio of about 2:1. This isn't a problem, but you should see it as first runnings topping out closer to 1.064. You'll likely also see that volume raising mash pH a little, too.

The easiest thing is to set your equipment profile for the actual amount of wort left after you sparge (actual dead space). Then create the recipe using your usual 1.25:1 ratio. Once all the ingredients are settled, just add 8.4 quarts to the first mash step and BeerSmith will recompute the water needed for strike.
 
brewfun said:
Dead space represents unrecoverable wort. If you can recover the water, then it isn't dead space but actually additional mash water.

You'll see this as a first wort reading (after vourloff) in line with what's expected from the additional volume. A 1.25:1 ratio should yield first runnings of 1.096 once full conversion is achieved. If you have 10 lbs of grain, that's 12.5 quarts for the ratio, plus another 8.4 quarts for a combined ratio of about 2:1. This isn't a problem, but you should see it as first runnings topping out closer to 1.064. You'll likely also see that volume raising mash pH a little, too.

The easiest thing is to set your equipment profile for the actual amount of wort left after you sparge (actual dead space). Then create the recipe using your usual 1.25:1 ratio. Once all the ingredients are settled, just add 8.4 quarts to the first mash step and BeerSmith will recompute the water needed for strike.

Thanks brewfun, that's exactly what I'll do. I figured there may wind up being some messing around to account for this missing program input. I had, perhaps erroneously, assumed that many MLT's are of similar configuration to mine and would have been a consideration in the BS software.
 
rudylyon57 said:
I had, perhaps erroneously, assumed that many MLT's are of similar configuration to mine and would have been a consideration in the BS software.

I think it's a consideration for a future version. Until just 7 or 8 years ago, MLTs used to be overwhelmingly made from coolers with no "Wort Gap" in them. Now, it's no longer rare to have a stainless pot with a false bottom.

I didn't say you made an error, nor did I mean to imply it. Home Brewers have been fiercely DIY, with software being used to record recipes and basic procedures. It seems with the massive data power available in cell phones, more calculation and data points are being requested, even expected, by new brewers. For example, it wasn't very long ago that Mapquest and other apps were no substitute for a map book or just knowing the neighborhood. Now it's few that would rather use a map book for city driving.
 
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