Mash Tun, Thermopot difference?

[LeeH]

I was looking at a tun from Mr Lard (HBB) but he seems very busy at the moment and there is a 4 week wait for anything.
http://www.homebrewbuilder.co.uk/mashing.html

I found these from a place called Powel Brewing that look the same (to me) but cheaper and ex stock.
http://powellbrewing.co.uk/index.php?ro ... ry&path=67

I'm assuming you can use a thermopot as a tun but just wanted to check. So if I put a false bottom or strainer in these it will be a good for a tun?

Also its 40L which is what I'm after, HBB only do a 30L or 50L

It looks like the PB ones don't drain from the center but I'm nor fussed about that at all and certainly not worth a 4 week wait and extra £80.

Next question is, false perforated full size bottom or hop strainer? Are the false bottoms worth the premium?
http://powellbrewing.co.uk/index.php?ro ... ry&path=68

Thanks!

Lee

[Fil]

YES a thermopot should make a very good tun, i was lucky enough to get mine when the ebay.rf -> email -> private sale option was viable.

with a bottom drain tun you can minimise the deadspace inside, with a side drain your internal syphon tube defines the deadspace , and if u stick (not that u will) below the valve point your F**ked

BUT... Looking at the prices, if buying/building now i would be looking at the coleman extreme cold boxes much more closely the ones that boast keeping ice for a week, as insulation is the KEY factor in a tun without active heat. and its no longer just about £ for £ for the raw material .. is shiny that attractive and important???

not endorsing this site just #1 in a google http://www.camping-intl.com/details/Col ... goDm7w_wcB

[LeeH]

Hi Fil, I was looking at them and the igloo 10 gallon round pots before I came across the shiny pots.

Are the thermo pots not that well insulated in comparison then? Will they not hold the required heat for 60 mins?

[Fil]

thermopot insulation is upto the job ok, Cost is the reason i would consider other options now, Not performance. but getting as good or better insulation for less £ may give u more £ for ingredients

[hophit]

Hi Fil, I was looking at them and the igloo 10 gallon round pots before I came across the shiny pots.

Are the thermo pots not that well insulated in comparison then? Will they not hold the required heat for 60 mins?

I have a thermopot for a mash tun. I converted it myself and use a copper manifold at the bottom. Usually loses less than 1C over the hour.

[YeastWhisperer]

A 10-gallon Igloo beverage cooler will hold 1C over the period of 90 minutes; however, if a Thermopot will hold the mash to within 1C over the period of an hour, that's good enough. The Thermopot wins hands down in the looks department.

With that said, if you are planning to continuous sparge (a.k.a fly sparge), you want to use a proper false bottom. Unlike batch sparging, continuous sparging is sensitive to channeling; therefore, one wants to do everything possible to promote equal resistance to fluid flow through the entire mash bed. I have used all of the major mash filter designs that are used in home-based breweries over the last twenty-one years, and a proper false bottom is the key to the efficiencies that are possible with continuous sparging. If I really pay attention to the sparge, I can hit 35 points per pound per US gallon (293 points per kilogram per liter), which is about as high as one can go in a home setting. At that efficiency, one can make a one Imperial gallon wort with an S.G. of 1.029 using only one pound of grain. A 23L batch made with 4 kilograms of malt would result in an O.G. of 1.051. A low efficiency with a proper false bottom is around 30 points per pound per US gallon, which is 251 points per kilogram per liter or 25 points per pound per Imperial gallon (the extract from 1 pound of grain in a one Imperial gallon solution has an S.G. of 1.025) .

[Mr. Dripping]

I use a 50 litre thermopot and I think they are very good. It will easily cope with 50 litre brewlengths at up to 6% ABV and bigger beers when fly sparging.
I don't lose any temperature on a 90 minute mash, and it used to drop by 5-7 degrees when I mashed overnight.

It has a false bottom made from perforated stainless - 2mm holes. Batch or fly sparging works equally well.
A bottom drain has been fitted and that gives a dead space of around 300ml .