kanzimonson

Recipes 

I found a guy with a few legal kegs he wants to sell me. I've been pretty set on getting a morebeer heavy duty mashtun, but I can definitely save some money by converting a keg into a mashtun without any loss of quality.

I've found so many freakin' options for false bottoms - what do y'all recommend? I definitely want a false bottom, with a diptube, that attaches to a coupler on the inside of the keg, and then runs out through a ball valve.

As a side note - if I combine the labor and parts for the keg, a ball valve, sight gauge, and thermometer, it's still probably going to be about $200 to turn this thing into a mashtun and I won't be completely guaranteed of the quality. Maybe I'm buying too expensive here...

RM-MN

Recipes 

Why don't you save yourself about $195 and learn to do a Brew in a Bag first. It does the same job with fewer containers that have to be cleaned and stored and you never have to worry about a stuck sparge or milling your grains to fine. If after you have done a few like this and decide you still want to buy a keg and convert it to a mash tun, I'll bet there will still be some around and you will have a few more paychecks to apply toward them.

kanzimonson

Recipes 

Because I'm already doing all grain with a Zapap bucket thingy. Waaaaaay easier than BIAB.

The money's not really the problem - I can afford either one, but everybody likes saving $100. I've been through the cheap homebrewer phase, now all I care about is quality and value.

samc

Recipes 

I've got keggles and also one 15 gallon SS kettle. The keggles are initially cool to have but in the end the SS kettle is easier to clean. At to false bottoms, as it turns out the FB options at MoreBeer were by far the cheapest for my kettle. Things have changed for the keggles since I made them so you really just need to look around and try and get a folding one that covers the entire bottom.

Funny about the BIAB comments, I've been doing the single tier 3 keggle thing for a while and am heading back to simpler times with a single vessel BIAB setup. It will be quality and it ain't cheap.

kanzimonson

Recipes 

Good info. I guess I'm just ready for a little more automation in my system now. Currently I'm mashing in my kettle, then pouring into the Zapap lauter tun, and then running back into the kettle. I'm done with getting sticky wort all over the place.

Good point about cleaning - I hadn't been considering that as a con. You may be swaying me back to the heavy duty kettle.

graduate

Recipes 

http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/abt-false-bottom/4,7663.html
This one works great for me. Fits perfectly and it is formed to fit the bottom of Sanke keg. Hooked to my ball valve.

redman67

Recipes 

On the matter of cleaning, I picked up one of those shop vacs that fit a five gallon bucket and have been cleaning my keggels in place

suck up all the trub etc. rinse, scrub wash and revac very easy

Wayne1

Recipes 

One of the problems of mashing in a keggle is temperature control. That is why people came up with RIMS, HERMS, etc.

If you are interested in quality and can move beyond the "Bling" factor of mashing in a thin shell of stainless, look into converting a Gott cooler into a mash tun.

There are some great stainless false bottoms made for cooler conversion. There is also never a need to step mash with today's grains. Follow the KISS principle.

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kanzimonson

Recipes 

With that one, do you have to perfectly position the ball valve so that the diptube fits into the fitting?

graduate

Recipes 

The cleaning is nothing. I guess it depends where you are doing it. The kegs are a little heavy to be banging off the kitchen counter. If you have a bigger space like I do brewing and cleaning is just part of the process. I like the kegs. I clean them right after the brew session and stack them in the corner.
My mashtun is an insulated keg. I used foil backed duct insulation and metal tape. Works great. Boil kettle is the other. They a good choice for equipment.