mash tun??

[beer gut]

Hi all I am having a bit of a dilemma over which mash tun to buy? I don't know which type should I buy steel or insulation cool box, then where to buy from. I have seen the cool box type from brew packs deluxe or to buy the one from hop n'grape own made variety which has good feed back then there is the cool box from the homebrew company saying there's has a better filtration and that it drains better than the other cool box varieties. I have seen a steel pot type mash tun from the homebrew company which is nice but if the pot is thin steel it will bleed heat like a split artery which is no good for infusion mashing. I am very confused.

[daf]

Avoid plastic!!!!

[beer gut]

Can I ask why?? a lot of brewers use them?

[Goulders]

And don't eat yellow snow...
Nothing wrong with the cool box mash tuns. I have an igloo 48qt from The Homebrew Shop. Very happy with it

[beer gut]

Thanx Goulders how does your mash tun hold the heat?

[Goulders]

Very well, loses max of 1 degree over 90 mins. Plenty use them without any problems

[daf]

My stainless steel masher loses 1c in two hours, and doesn't leech plastic into my wort. All conversion takes place in the first 30mins anyway so you could lose 20c and it wouldn't matter.

[Goulders]

And which chemical(s) is it you're concerned about daf? Bisphenol-A? Because that isn't in the materials. Any evidence of leeching or just making throwaway comments?

[Goulders]

And I see you haven't provided any evidence in your other threads. We are talking about mash temps here not boiling. You even say chefs sous vide at temps lower than mash. Well actually some products are cooked sous vide at temps up to 75c

[beer gut]

I use a bru packs boiler and that's plastic and yet I have never experienced any plastic flavours in my beers. In my early years of brewing I wasn't rinsing properly and I was getting chemical off flavours in my beer and I now use a chlorine based sanitizer then I use sodium met to kill the chlorine and too second sanitize, I am now going over to star san. I have been in loads of competitions and I have never had a judge put down plastic flavours in the flaws section. I like the plastic mash tun on the homebrew shop website.

[Goulders]

Daf is talking rubbish. He says don't use plastic but on other threads advises using a no chill cube..!

[daf]

Moved to copper chiller now. Trying to eliminate plastic from the cycle.

It's not the plastic taste which is the concern.

[chris2012]

Err, why should we avoid plastic?

I've seen a microbrewery that used a _massive_ plastic conical fermenter, and their
beer is awesome.

Also HDPE is used for many food products, such as those plastic milk containers.

[Fastline]

I have seen lots of concerns on the American sites regarding using plastics with food, I believe there are concerns over chemicals being released over time from plastic and warning there may be links with Cancer

I'm on the fence about it really I don't know enough to be able to say if there justified or not, I suppose some plastics are worse than others hence there being some recommended as food grade, but bit late to start worrying now look at the amount of food and drinks that come in plastic containers.

I personally like the the Bergland or Brewbuilder Thermo pots, not because of any safety concerns but the shiny factor is pretty cool and should last a lifetime (However long that is these days)

One thing that will kill you if you don't take care is big red london buses, always make sure you look both ways when crossing the road

[Fil]

No one will argue a Stainless steel thermopot tun is a rolls royce solution. but will carry a premium cost even if built yourself. a single skin stock pot tun imho isnt worth the investment as you will need to cover up all the nice shiny surface with insulation to retain the mash heat.

the off the shelf igloo coldbox mods have good feedback, and have a healthy volume too.

Off the shelf tho your options are limited. And imho its worth making your own, select a good coldbox with a volume circa 30l minimum (bear in mind most cold box volumes include the lid volume!!)

some premium coldboxes come with a drain (score) (coleman extreme range iirc)
making the diy job a little easier. there are lots of how to build a tun posts here and elswhere, its not a difficult build if your confident with basic diy

if you want a thermopot tun ( its the best option imho ) buy the thermopot direct from the ebay.fr German seller bergland , Catering-Portal.Bergland@msg.afterbuy.de email them for a quote for delivery to the UK and pay via thier paypal link it will be with you in days..
A perforated ss false bottom cut to size from the homebrewbuilder will set you back about £40 (or less i paid about £40 for my 80l tun fb). the tricky bit is the fitting of a bottom drain but if you have a belt sander its a do-able job..
(you need to sand/grind down a SS deck fitting and an elbow to fit in the base cavity and point out the skirt centrally.. again all do-able and chaps here n elswhere held my hand through the procedure