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mash tank screen


clwestphal

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Can anyone recommend the size of screen for the bottom of a mash tank in which is use ground corn, rye and barley?

The one I have seems to be too small and gets clogged up. I tried using rice hulls and it really plugged everything up.

Any help would be appreciated.

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Our false bottom came with 0.5mm slits though we took it our and are on-grain. If you are going to lauter and then cool through a plate heat exchanger, make sure you don't go with too big a false bottom gap or you will clog your heat exchanger.

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............................. ground corn, rye and barley?

The one I have seems to be too small and gets clogged up. I tried using rice hulls and it really plugged everything up.

The big question is how fine are you grinding it? If it is too fine then any screen will clog.

Of those 3 grains the only one that is easily lautered is the barley, and then only if it is coarse ground.

Quite a few barley pieces need to be about 1/4 of a full grain, and very little flour. The pieces of barley remain firm and there are spaces between these pieces that let the wort filter down between them.

Even a small amount of rice husk in a barley mash could help if the grind is just a little fine.

You would probably get more precise answer from a beer brewers forum.

I have lautered rye for over 5 years and it is a pain. Again you need coarse grind but it still clogs because the chunks of rye become soft and the gaps close up. I use a wooden paddle to keep scraping the 2 inches of cake off the screen and stack it to the side. Not very efficient, takes too much time and lets quite a lot of flour through.

I have tried several types of seed husks to open it up but see very little difference. You need a huge volume of husk, a small volume could make it clog quicker. From my experiments I think you would need about double the volume of husk to volume of rye grain. That volume of husk will soak up a lot of your sugar so you would end up with reduced yield so I have not even tried it.

Never done corn but I assume it would be similar to rye. I think that when corn is boiled to release the starch it would end up with very soft particles, and that is the same with rye that causes blockages.

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What are you making ? That sounds like a bourbon grain bill. But then you shouldn't be putting your corn through a lauter tun. You need to keep the corn separate from malt initially as you cook it at higher temp to gelatinize it (that temp would denature the enzymes in malt). Then cool it and add the wort from malt to convert your sugars.

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What you really need is a jacketed mash cooker. Corn mashes work best when you cook, ferment and distill on the grain. We have jacketed mash tuns that are designed for doing corn mashes and we have mash tun stripping still combination vessels. Here is a link to our 200 gallon Pro Series Mash Tuns: https://distillery-equipment.com/200_gallon_pro_series_mash_tun.htm Please scroll down the page to see the pics. Here is a link to our 200 gallon Pro Series Combination Mash Tun Stills. https://distillery-equipment.com/200_gallon_mash_tun_stripping_st.htm If these do not fit your budget that is okay. We have other equipment that will fit almost any budget. That is what we are here for. If you have questions just email paul@distillery-equipment.com We have equipment in over 130 distilleries.

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Thanks everyone for their input. I'm heating up corn, letting sit for 2 hours, adding rye, barley and barley malt, letting sit a couple of hours, cooling down with a cooling coil and adding yeast, then draining out to finish fermenting. Not possible for me to use steam jacketed equipment. I started operation at 65 years of age, am 68 now, would never get a return on the money it would cost to do that.

Special situation. I have drilled some larger holes in my screen randomly and if that improves the draining, will put in more.

I double screen/filter before it goes into the still. I get some decent returns so will just keep plugging (no pun intended) along.

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You don't need steam jacketed equipment. I have self contained oil jacketed mash tun stripping stills starting at less than $5,000.00 These units are electrically fired and have cooking oil in the jacket instead of steam. One of these units will save you a ton of labor and you will make better corn spirits with the on the grain distillation. However, I do understand where you are coming from and I know that sometimes it is just not possible to upgrade. paul@distillery-equipment.com

417-778-6100

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Hi Blue star,

I have the still below with the optional agitator, NEMA1 VFD drive and the 11,000 watt manual heating system, is a little less than $5,000.00 There is a picture of the 45 gallon with our optional reflux vodka section in place at the bottom of this post. The packed stainless vodka section is removable, so that the customer can run just the 4 bubble plates if they like, or they can remove the plates and run it as a pot still. I don't have it on my web site yet. I have been so busy that I have not had a chance to get the rest of the Standard series stills listed. I find it absolutely unbelievable that one of my competitors is charging over $25,000.00 for a 50 gallon still without an agitator or heating system.

45 Gallon Jacketed Standard Series Still with 4” Copper Bubble Plate Column

This 45 gallon still is great for Bourbon, Whiskey, Brandy, Grappa, Rum and many others. It will distill between 130 and 170 proof.

This Still has a beautiful 4" Diameter Copper Bubble Plate Column with four 4" diameter sight glasses, Gatling Gun (Tube & Shell) Dephlagmator on top of the Column and a 3" Gatling Gun (Tube & Shell) Condenser on the right side of the column. The column can be ran in Pot Still Mode to make Whiskey and Moonshine or it can be ran in reflux mode to make high proof light Whiskey or Rum. The boiler has three 2" Tri Clamp ports, with Tri Clamps and Cover Plates. The port can be used to install an electric element with controller (please see the heating system option listed below).

The Best thing about this 45 gallon still is that it is jacketed. Cooking oil or water can be ran in the jacket. This gives you the ability to run grain in mashes and other mashes such as potato mashes, grappa mashes and fruit mashes with the solids left in, without the worry of scorching. This makes this still perfect for craft recipe research and development. If you are running a production sized still with a pot still head/column or a plate column up to 4 plates then this still will give you results that should closely match your larger still. We have options below for agitators etc

The next best thing about this 45 gallon still is that it can be used as a mash cooker for grain in mashes or potatoes etc. You can stir by hand until you reach boiling or you can use the optional agitators listed below

45 Gallon operating capacity

53 Gallon Total Capacity

13 Gallon Jacket Operating Capacity

16 Gallon Total Capacity in the Jacket

2" Sanitary Butterfly Drain valve for Mash

Carrying handles.

3" tri clamp column connection

½” 5 psi Pressure Relief Valve on the jacket

½” 5 psi Pressure Relief Valves on the inner boiler

4” Diameter Copper Packed Bubble Plate Column

The column is completely modular with Sanitary Tri Clamp Connections throughout

It is very simple easy and fast to disassemble the Column for Cleaning

Plates can be added or removed from the column to run different proofs

The Column can be Set up to Run as a Pot Still Head in a Matter of 5 to 10 Minutes

Top quality construction with beautifully rounded curves.

Built from heavy gauge 304 food grade stainless steel

Commercial grade thermometer in the oil Jacket

1”x1.5” triclamp port for a temperature probe in the oil

Polished to a mirror finish inside and out.

Thermowell and Commercial grade thermometer with a 3" face.

Copper packing is included for the column.

Copper packing removes the nasty tasting sulfides from the alcohol vapor.

This item comes with a 1 year warranty which covers manufacturing defects and leaks

Options

Explosion Proof single speed 45 RPM 1/2hp 3 phase 240vac Food Grade Agitator

NEMA1 WEG VFD drive for variable speed control on EX. Agitator above which can be connected single phase 230VAC or 3 phase 240VAC

NEMA4X WEG VFD drive for variable speed control on EX. Agitator above which can be connected single phase 230VAC or 3 phase 240VAC

Manual proportional control 11,000 watt heating system Not NEMA 4x for hazardous environments.

11,000 watt heating system with digital programmable heating control. Control panel and element enclosures are NEMA4X.

Manual proportional control 16,500 watt heating system Not NEMA 4x for hazardous environments.

16,500 watt heating system with digital programmable heating control. Control panel and element enclosures are NEMA4X.

post-3459-0-13537200-1462473727_thumb.jp

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