hawktrap74

Recipes 

i dont have alot of money but good with the hands. i was wondering if i could make myself a mashing unit. what could i use. also i want to learn more about mashing, but i have gone endless places on the net and cant find anything to enlighten me about it. i would love to learn as much about it before jumping right in.ive done a few kits but its not what i want. i want beer that jumps out at me .

Janx

Recipes 

All-grain will definitely improve the quality of your beer.

Personally, I'd get one of the homebrew books that teach all-grain and read that, but there's probably good stuff on the web.

In short, mashing is just holding water and grains at about 150 degrees for about an hour and then, without disturbing them at all, slowly rinsing them of the sugar they have created.

So, you need a vessel that can hold heat for a mash tun. A cooler is many people's first step. I like those big orange Gott coolers you see at job sites. They make a 10 gallon one that's nice to have for bigger/stronger batches.

You also need a way to pull the wort out of the bottom. Many people use a false bottom, which is just a perforated circle of stainless that the grain sits on and you draw liquid out from below it. I prefer to make a loop of tubing (copper, cpvc, etc), cut some holes in the bottom side of it and plumb that into the outlet of the mash tun. No matter what, you need a valve of some sort at the bottom of your tun. Those Gott coolers are easy to dismantle and refit the plastic valve with whatever you want.

There's a picture of my converted keg mash tun on here somewhere (a converted keg is much nicer than a cooler because it's stainless). It shows my cpvc manifold at the bottom too.

I make and have made all my brew gear for a long time. Let me know if you have any other questions. It's all real do-able once you know what you're shooting for. Cheers!

__________________
Oh don't give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit
No, don't you give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit
For my head will fly, my tongue will lie, my eyes will fry and I may die
Won't you pour me one more of that sinful Old Janx Spirit

D-brewmeister

Recipes 

I made my mash tun out of a 10 gal rubbermaid cooler, a length of stainles faucet supply hose (fittings cut off and hose pulled out) a 4 inch piece of 3/8" OD copper tubing, a clamp, a rubber stopper (the right size for the hole where the cooler's tap was), a plastic inline valve and a few feet of 3/8" ID food grade tubing. Pretty simple and cheap, the most expenseive item was getting the cooler, and if you can find a used one, even that should be cheap. Basic assembly: SS hose screen clamped to the copper pipe and crimped on the other end, pipe through stopper, stopper in hole, tubing and valve on outside end of pipe, voila! Worked like a charm, even was able to draw off wort after the grain bed had packed down onto the filter (I've heard this can be a problem for false bottom or other designs).

__________________
O, guid ale comes, and guid ale goes,
Guid ale gars me sell my hose,
Sell my hose, and pawn my shoon -
Guid ale keeps my heart aboon! -- Robert Burns

George

Recipes 

I would definitly go stainless on the mash tun. You should be able to pick up a used half barrel for not much money. I like the stainless because you can add heat directly. You will probaly have difficulty on your first several batches with hitting your target mash temp. Cooling it is pretty easy with cold/ice water. Adding heat is more difficult/time consuming. It's a lot easier if you can just turn the burner on low and stir till you're there. I've done 100's of batches and occasionally still have to adjust. I suppose it just depends on how much homebrew you're enjoying while you're brewing.
However you do it, all grain is the way to go.

hawktrap74

Recipes 

well cool guys i think i might have the equip down but i need to read up on the whole process of mashing, i need something i can revert back to if i have problems, can anyone lead to a place if not web or a book that i can buy. i just comprehend the process everybody keeps talking about unless iread it myself. and thanks for the help fellas

Uncle Fat

Recipes 

Here ya go:

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/index.html

__________________
Our beverage that art in kegs,
Hallowed be thy tap,
With thee supplied, we will imbibe,
At home as we do in the public house.
Give us this day our liquid bread
And forgive us our spills
As we forgive those who spill upon us.
Lead us not unto hangovers
But deliver us from overindulgence.
Ahh Malt.

Buy a man a beer and he wastes an hour. Teach a man to brew and he wastes a lifetime.
-annonymous

DeRoux's Broux

Recipes 

hey, try http://cruisenews.net/brewing/index.php
he has pic's that go along with each step of his brewing. plus he has a good index of links to get info. he has pics and parts of the cooler mash/lauter tun that d-brewmeister was talking about too.

Cheers!
DeRoux's Broux

hawktrap74

Recipes 

thanks deroux very helpful in seeing the set-up. one more question if i used a bucket instead of one of those gott coolers would it be a problem. i mean all i see that would change would be at keeping the water up to temp[/QUOTE]

__________________
If you have to buy the watered down version then why drink in the first place.

Janx

Recipes 

Yeah, but holding the water at the proper temp is important to mashing. Something insulated will definitely make your life easier, especially if you're only doing 5 gallon batches.

__________________
Oh don't give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit
No, don't you give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit
For my head will fly, my tongue will lie, my eyes will fry and I may die
Won't you pour me one more of that sinful Old Janx Spirit

DeRoux's Broux

Recipes 

[/QUOTE]

Janx is right. You can use a bucket, but you'll lose alot of heat. I think I spent a tota lof $29 on my mash/lauter tank cooler converson. The Rubbermaid cooler was the most expensive part ($18 @ Wal-Mart). Works like a charm too. My temps were dead-on through the mash and sparge.
Take the jump! The water's fine

DeRoux's Broux