Mash/Lauter Tun Design

We spend a lot of time working with existing breweries to increase brewhouse efficiency. When we're working with equipment that we didn't originally design, we spend most of our time on process control, milling, and pipework designs. Unfortunately, there are a few items that need to be designed right from the beginning, such as the Mash/Lauter Tun.

Most brewers understand that hydrators, tank diameters, rake design, and false bottom layouts have an impact on sugar extraction. Yet, the demand for quality designs in the industry does not always push manufacturers to make the best decisions. 

Details Matter

Here are a couple of rules of thumb when it comes to Lauter Tun Design.

• Avoid horizontal bars across your rake assembly
• Look for a false bottom with v-shaped slots positioned with radial-symmetry around the tank center
• Rakes with smooth curves help keep channels intact
• Your plow should not interfere with the top of your grain bed
• Check that the sparge ring is designed to evenly distribute a light liquor spray across the top of the bed

A Few Features to Look For

Lauter Tun design can have a significant impact on both the quality of your beer and your bottom line.

We've found that several suppliers are undersizing their Lauter Tun's by more than 10%. This might save a few thousand dollars today, but it costs an extreme amount of money in the long run, even during the first year of operation.

An experienced brewer using familiar equipment should be able to produce 1,000 barrels of beer at 12-15 Plato with about 100 batches on a 10 BBL Brewhouse. A 10% loss in efficiency means that brewer needs to do 12 additional batches over the year. The losses can lead to more than $200,000 in lost revenue in your taproom!

If you'd like to learn more, feel free to send us an email at info@craftkettle.com. We're always happy to chat.