Building a Coleman mashtun

[Daveye]

Hi everyone, haven't posted for a long time, only brewed once or twice last year .

Anyway, to get started again I'm planning to build a new mash tun. I've been using an 5 gallon Electrim Boiler with a thermostat which I'm starting to find less than ideal. I find the element never keeps the temperature stable or consistent and the collar on the element popping off mid mash is getting annoying . It also leaves me slowly heating up the sparge water with a kettle where I could be using the boiler to do that.

After some reading I've decided to use one of these Coleman coolers and kit it out with a copper manifold. But what size and where is the best place to buy them from in the UK?

I've found these...

http://www.garden4less.co.uk/coleman-co ... cooler.asp
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/50qt-extrem ... er-p175405

I normally get about 20-22L of beer after the boil, but sometimes find the mash in the boiler is quite 'full' for higher gravity beers. Is it worth going for the 50 qt then? Or will the extra space just make it harder to control the temperature for regular mashes?

It is tempting to look at building a larger boiler too, hmmm more beer

Cheers for any input!

[Matt12398]

Mine is 45 litres and with a 5% beer there's still loads of space when I do a 25 litre brew so could potentially do a larger batch or a bigger beer. 36 quarts is just over 40 litres so I would have thought would be ok.

Obviously the more head space you have the more chance to lose temp. That said, you might want to think about how big you want to go in future.

If you want something in between the Igloo Ice Cube is the 45 litre one I have and holds its temp well.

[chris172]

I have the 34qt Colman and was a simple job to put a tap and manifold on it. Holds temp fine over 90mins with no sign of drop. I fill with hotter than strike temp so it warms all the pipes and box and wait a few mins to settle before I dough in.
I usually do a 23ltr brew with about 5.5kg of grain and is not even 2/3rds full and thats 3ltr/kg.

+1 for the Colman

[Daveye]

Thanks for the suggestions, the 36qt Coleman is sounding good. It is a few litres larger than the 5gal (~25l) bucket I'm using so it's probably plenty big enough.

Now to find one in stock... ebay from the states perhaps.

[Fil]

if your considering the cost of shipping and vat on a us import, you might want to check out the price of a ebay.fr thermopot? they also hole temps and are also shiny

[leedsbrew]

I know he used an igloo cooler but have you seen this?

[Dave S]

I know he used an igloo cooler but have you seen this?

I made a Coleman job and didn't use half the tools used there. I certainly didn't solder anything. I imagine a soldered manifold, apart from the health aspects unless using silver solder would be a nightmare to clean. I didn't use a Q cutter either, a simple 25mm wood bit on an electric drill did the job splendidly.

[Matt12398]

Mine isn't soldered either. Just slots together with slightly crimped joints and it pops apart for easy cleaning. Seems to maintain a good siphon and drains the tun.

[masterosouffle]

Have you seen the one in the for sale section?

[Dave S]

Mine isn't soldered either. Just slots together with slightly crimped joints and it pops apart for easy cleaning. Seems to maintain a good siphon and drains the tun.

Mine doesn't even have crimps, just the normal solderless 15mm joints. once it's in place it stays there and works a treat.

[pads72]

+1 for the PDTNC 45L Igloo build, I followed his excellent build guide and was well chuffed with the finished tun. My manifolds are also not soldered, just ever so slightly crimped for a snug fit, but easily come apart at clean up time!

[Matt12398]

Mine isn't soldered either. Just slots together with slightly crimped joints and it pops apart for easy cleaning. Seems to maintain a good siphon and drains the tun.

Mine doesn't even have crimps, just the normal solderless 15mm joints. once it's in place it stays there and works a treat.

Yeah I weighed it up and soldering seemed unnecessary. My crimps are just very light.

[Underground Joe]

Is this what you're after? viewtopic.php?f=8&t=64022

[Daveye]

Mmm the Igloo build looks interesting. I like the in between size but it looks quite tight at the bottom? I'm not sure how the depth vs area affects the mash though? Also can't seem to source one as easily as a Coleman.

Will try order something up this week and take a trip to B&Q for the copper fittings. I'm not keen on soldering either (partly having never soldered pipes before!). Are the push-fit connectors the way to go then. Do they get loose if you take them apart to clean them often?

Thanks again for the replies, will keep you all up to date with the build

--- I thought I'd hit submit oops!

Joe, yeah that's pretty much what I'm aiming to build. Interesting but I'm in Glasgow so that could be pricey to send?

[Underground Joe]

I reckon it would cost about £10 to send.