Seperateequipment for small/test baches?

[chumprock]

This weekend I tried making a 2gal. batch to test out some crazy ideas I had milling about.

I found out the hard way that a 3lb grain bill and sparging with 1.5 gallons using a 10 gallon igloo with a false bottom seems to have it's own set of problems. I had a stuck sparge that I just couldn't figure out and I'm only left to assume that the low volume and wide surface area were the contributors, since the crush was the same as every other batch I've made.

When you make partial or test batches, do you use the same equipment for mashing, or do you use something on a smaller scale?

 

[samc]

from Palmer -

"The shape of the cooler is only important in that it determines the grainbed depth. It is important to have a minimum grainbed depth of at least 4 inches. The optimum depth at this scale is probably about 1 foot. If it is too shallow, it won't clear sufficiently; too deep and it will tend to get stuck. A five gallon round cylindrical Gott cooler works well for 5 gallon batches; it can hold 12 pounds of grain and the water to mash it. Naturally, the 10 gallon size is good for doing 10 gallon batches. These coolers have convenient spigots which can be removed to make it easy to drain the wort. "

 

[chumprock]

I use a 10 gallon round igloo for all my 5 gallon batches without an issue.

I know 3 lbs. of grain spread out across that cooler isn't much of a grainbed at all. The first runnings came out just fine, but the sparge was a filthy mess that I couldnt un-stick.

 

[GearBeer]

I also use a 10 gallon round cooler for my 5 gallon batches. My current 5 gallon KISS system will eventually become my experimental/mobile brew system.