Mash Tun Suggestions??

O.K. As some of you know, I want to progress to All Grain. Have been reading and researching mashing, etc. I think I have settled on making my own mash tun out of a 10 gallon water cooler, with brass fittings and valves. Do you all think this is better than the ice chest type?? Anyone know anything about the setup from minibrew people?? Worth the money to just go buy the setup?? Should tun be out of metal so that it can be heated by a burner? Are getting to exact temps that important??? Your thoughts please????
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Tim

On Edit: Minibrew tun will cost about $210 with the sparge arm.

My LHBS has a mash tun with false bottom and sparge arm and all the fittings for $85. Even with shipping that out to be a lot cheaper than $210.

Just personal preference, I like the retangular coolers over the round ones. They are much cheaper (by about 1/2), they hold more (for larger batches and high gravity beers), and the larger aspect ratio means a bit shallower grain bed which will yeild fewer potential stuck run-offs.

Again, personal preference, I like the slotted manifold over the perforated false bottom. There are way too many people sucessfully using perforated false bottoms for me to say that they don't work, they certainly do. I'm just saying I've seen better results with a slotted manifold.

I wouldn't worry too much about heating the mash tun. You will only lose a couple of degrees over the course of an hour. As for hitting your temps accurately, practice makes perfect. It's not the end of the world if you miss your temps by a few degrees, but you should take notes so that on your next brew you can come closer than the time before.

Prosit!

timmy63 said:

O.K. As some of you know, I want to progress to All Grain. Have been reading and researching mashing, etc. I think I have settled on making my own mash tun out of a 10 gallon water cooler, with brass fittings and valves. Do you all think this is better than the ice chest type?? Anyone know anything about the setup from minibrew people?? Worth the money to just go buy the setup?? Should tun be out of metal so that it can be heated by a burner? Are getting to exact temps that important??? Your thoughts please????
_________________________
Tim

On Edit: Minibrew tun will cost about $210 with the sparge arm.

Click to expand...

How about something like this from Williams Brewing?
Mashing system

Hey thanks guys. I have a lot to think over. Have just finished a bit of "plumbing" on my conical. Been soldering some copper. Was more work than I thought!!!
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Tim

For years I used the round Gott cooler with a phils false bottiom. I made some of my best beer with this method. You can often find these coolers at a second hand store, that is where I got mine, best $4.00 I ever spent.

I'm another one that likes my rectangular cooler and slotted CPVC manifold. I had some minor mishaps with it during my 1st AG brew, but the fix was easy and I've been very pleased ever since. Here's a link to it.

I use a converted stainless keg. It works like a champ and holds heat well. I wrap it in a water heater blanket that I cut to fit. The thing I like most about this setup, is if I do not hit my mash temp, I can fine tune it with the propane burner.

Rhoobarb said:

I'm another one that likes my rectangular cooler and slotted CPVC manifold. I had some minor mishaps with it during my 1st AG brew, but the fix was easy and I've been very pleased ever since. Here's a link to it.

Click to expand...

I'm evolving to a rectangular cooler for a mashtun real shortly. I'm going to start doing 10 gallon batches for my favorite beers and I need a larger mash-tun. Right now in my 5 gallon round one I can only do a 1.068 or less. Just not enough!

Pretty soon the brewery is going to see wholesale changes--new HLT converted from a keg, a new mash-tun, and possibly a brew-stand. Father-in-law is going to help out.

One question--how do you guys sparge with the rectangular MLTs? Do your links have pics for your sparge manifiolds/methods?