Tried a 2 gallon mini batch yesterday with my little 2 gallon cooler.

I have used this a few times before with excellent results. Not so much this time.
I think I trusted Beersmith too much.
I set everything up as best In could. But dipshit me trusted the software like my regular batches. I ended up mashing for an hour at 135. Not cool.

So I spent and extra half hour vorlaufing at 160 to help it.
I guess something must have converted as I had a target of .032 a managed a .028. Off, but not the end if the world.

I punched in a 1.5 gallon boil off, but had close to a 2 gallon boil off.
My idea of using a mash bag instead of a manifold kinda works. But cannot get the bed to set. Even with an hour o settling time before going into fermenter left about a two inch layer of sediment.

I started with a boil of 3.5 gallons and I will be lucky to get 1 gallon to bottle.

If I am to do these minis, even just now and then, I will need to tighten it up.

Things I will need to fix.
-thermal mass fix
-boil off
-put the braid or something back in

But I did like the way I could get a boil in like 10 minutes and cools to 80 in the same.