jefferym09

Recipes 

So i need to make a mash tun becuase im sick of using home depot strainer bags. I bought the valve and strainer rod, but i need to know what vessel to get. My friend uses a 10 gallon cooler which works well, but i figure if your mash temp is not right, it's much harder to fix it easily since i can't put a cooler on a burner. I also have my brew kettle which can be converted into a mash tun. That would make it easier to correct temp i suppose because it can be on a burner. Which choice is best? cooler or brew kettle?

Pappers_

Recipes 

I think mashing in the cooler is easier overall. I use Beersmith to get my temps right and pretty much hit them.

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jefferym09

Recipes 

whats beersmith?

Golddiggie

Recipes 

I converted a keg into my mash tun. I direct fire it on a propane burner to get to strike temp, then heat it to sparge temp (with the burner) before sparging. I did use coolers initially, but had issues getting the mash to sparge temps reliably. Now, it's not an issue.

I also use BeerSmith to figure out the mash strike temps (more a factor of grain temp than anything else).

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bobbrewedit

Recipes 

Beersmith is a beer brewing program for your computer...they have a trial edition that is free, give it a shot. I use a cooler, but I have a hellova time hitting stepped mash temps and have considered switching to a kettle.