Mash Tuns

[farleyman]

I now use a Rubbermaid 8 gallon insulated
water cooler. Its insulation properties are staggering
and it is ROUND. Much easier for stiring.
No need to step or decoction mash these days.

farleyman

[Cheshire-cheese]

Hello fellow Cheshire brewer. Where do you get your malt and hops from BTW?

[garwatts]

I now use a Rubbermaid 8 gallon insulated
water cooler. Its insulation properties are staggering
and it is ROUND. Much easier for stiring.
No need to step or decoction mash these days.

farleyman

Hi where did you source it from?

Cheers

[Spin]

I would like to have a stab at All Grain brewing for my next batch. However, I am currently out of work an hence I'm a bit skint

For a mash tun, would I be able to use just a fermentation bucket that has a tap and contain all the grain in a cotton pillowcase or something within the bucket???

[edit1now]

Spin - use nylon or polyester net curtaining from Dunelm Mills (look some distance down my post). About £1.50, but you need access to a sewing machine.

[BarnsleyBrewer]

For 10 years I used 2 buckets to mash, but with the help from people at JBK I built this using a 36lt Coleman Xtreme!


My Copper Manifold




John

[Cheshire-cheese]

Did the cool box come with the sump and aperture at the bottom? I guess it did for draining condensed water.

[escapizm]

John that is a very sexy manifold you've got there...

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Did the cool box come with the sump and aperture at the bottom? I guess it did for draining condensed water.

Yes, the box already had the sump with a basic type tap that I removed to fit a brass gate valve tap!

The box was around £49.00...

http://www.shop-com.co.uk/Coleman_36_Qt ... urceid=309

[Swoonara]

This will be my mash tun once I've finished cleaning it!

[BarnsleyBrewer]

You should have kept it whole and made some moonshine!

[mac]

What do you all use?
Who uses insulated mash tuns?
Who uses a boiler and thermostatically heats the mash?

You wont go far wrong with a regular cooler box. I didn't like the look of a scabby blanket wrapped around my lid so I stuck some high tec silver bubble wrap to it. I only gained 0.1 deg C on my last brew
My old cooler box gives me 85 to 90% efficiency.
You can spend as much as you like on kit, it depends how attractive you want it to look. It may look the dogs bo110cks but it wont necessarily give you better results.

[farleyman]

Hello Cheshire Cheese.

That was the name of my one time local in Wheelock.

My bulk grains I collect from Thomas Fawcett in Castleford
pretty much everything else comes from either Hop and
Grape or Leyland Homebrew. There is also
The Jolly Brewer at Kidsgrove but he doesn`t carry
any mashing grains etc.

The Rubbermaid came from More Beer.com
ready fitted for use.You can see them on their web site.
cheers farleyman

[Subsonic]

Propane fired stainless steel beer keg. Its 50 litres and due the the thermal mass of the steel and the fact you are pre heating it with gas, once its at mash temp it holds rock solid for 90 minutes with just a lid on and a blanket over the top - no probs. I used to use picnic boxes but never got 'regular' efficiency. Could have just been my method but since switching to stainless and propane I am spot on each time. Plus ...... its shiney porn Subsonic

[mac]

Propane fired stainless steel beer keg. Its 50 litres and due the the thermal mass of the steel and the fact you are pre heating it with gas, once its at mash temp it holds rock solid for 90 minutes with just a lid on and a blanket over the top - no probs. I used to use picnic boxes but never got 'regular' efficiency. Could have just been my method but since switching to stainless and propane I am spot on each time. Plus ...... its shiney porn Subsonic

Stainless steel has a thermal conductivity 16 W/m2k,
And expanded polystyrene 0.03 W/m2k
Given a thickness of 5mm for the steel and 15mm for the polystyrene, a surface area of 1.3m2 and an inside to outside temperature difference of 45 deg C, the values should be:
(16 W/m2k) x (1.3 m2) x (45 degrees) / (0.005 metres thick)
= 187,200
And;
(0.03 W/m2k )x (1.3 m2) x (45) / (0.015 m t)
= 117
That should make a cooler box 1600 times more efficient than a stainless tun.
If you were to put a few temperature probes from tight against the inner wall to the middle of the mash, there should be a temperature gradient from room temperature, getting hotter as you get to the centre. This is because the mash has a combined thermal conductivity of 0.08 for the grain and 0.58 for the water.
Give it a go. It would be interesting to know if it’s true.
If its not true, I’m all for the shiney porn