Lesson 7 - Wort Separation Process Control SAQ
This lesson provides the opportunity for you to test yourself on the material covered in Lesson 6 on ‘Wort Separation Process Control’. It will allow you to determine the level to which you have attained the learning outcomes.
Suggested Response - Q7
**List the mash tun, lauter tun and mash filter in order of increasing air entrainment. (Lowest first – highest last.) Provide your reasoning.
Response:
Mash Filter : Lauter Tun : Mash Tun
Initially, there is some contact with air as the chambers are filling, but otherwise, the mash filter is an enclosed system. It is then only exposed to the low levels of oxygen in the sparge water.
The lauter tun is an open vessel, so there is significant air exposure during filling. This exposure is reduced by mash low level entry. There is potential air entrapment as sparge water sprays fall through the air. This is reduced if sparge falls onto a flooded grain bed, so that any air bubbles can escape at the liquid surface. The first worts recirculation needs to return below the surface of the wort supernatant layer to minimise air entrainment. If too high a DP is created, the under-floor vacuum breaker will drag in air.
The mash tun is also an open vessel. It deliberately entrains air using the Steel’s masher. It too has sparge water sprays falling through the air, and is more likely to be entrained when it falls onto an exposed grain bed. If too high a DP is created, the under-floor vacuum breaker will drag in air.