keggle mash tun
 

I am sure this has been beat on like a dead horse, but hey Im new here. LOL
I am going to start slowly building a nice 10 gal brewery and decided to start with the mash tun. I picked up a couple of 15 gal kegs for 50 bucks each and I have already cut the top out of one of them with my plasma cutter.

From all the posts that I am reading I will probably build a rims. So should I run the drain out of the bottom? It would seem that I would get all the wort out that way. I picked up some weld bungs on ebay but I still need to figure out what kind of valves. Lots of options. :confused:

honestly, i prefer a dip tube poking down through a false bottom. it will make it more convenient for a ball valve also. i recommend this for weldless. I don't have this exact setup but i'm sure its great:

http://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/False_Bottoms_Keg_Keggle.html

I'll dissent and say bottom drains are awesome on a non-fired keg. Why have a diptube in the way when you don't have to? Why chance losing the siphon (it happens)?

If I go with a bottom drain would 1/2 inch be the right size? I dont have a problem welding so I will weld a bung in. As far as the heat the electric hwh element looks like the way to go.

hey, I'm new here too and I have the exact same situation. Did you put the drain on the bottom of the keggle? If so, what did you think?

I sucked through an aluminum foil wrapped tube last sunday. sucked the big one. :cross:

Both setups work well. Since you're here in the Houston area, PM me. There are several of us using electric HERMS systems here that would be more than willing to show you their rigs.

Yep, I put the drain on the bottom for both the HLT and the Mash tun. I just got finished building the HLT and ran some water through it. It works great! Now I have to finish up the Mash tun and the BK. I will post some pictures later.

I bottom drain all my keggles. LOVE it! The only one that I have to watch is the BK. I have to keep the drain valve closed during the boil to keep the hops in the kettle. However, once the boil is done, I circulate the boil through my HERMS coil to sanitize it and then back into a hop spider to screen out the hop matter. Works like a champ.
Bottom drains are SO very nice to clean also. Especially the MLT. And as BobbyM said, there is no dip tube to get in the way!
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/123996655/BREWERY%20ANGLE.jpg

why does your boiled wort go through the inside of the herms coil? i'm confused on that part. what exactly is your cooling process? are you going BK -> HERMS coil in ice water -> BK? you recirc through the hop spider, does that catch cold break as you cool?