help identify possible treasure: old a&w root beer tank

so a buddy of mine calls me up and asks me if I would be interested in this huge brew kettle of sorts that he found. he sent me a couple pics. I am not sure if its a boil kettle or some sort of mixing tank? it has a couple lines coming out of the bottom of it, not sure if it has a cooling jacket or what. figured you guys might know.






that's all I have for now. ill be taking a ride later next week, so I will be able to check it out a little more.

Go get that s**t bro........

That is pretty cool. That looks like a thick pot! My guess is the lines carried hot water between the inner and outer walls? Like a double boiler...? If so, that might make a pretty badass mash tun!

jiggs_casey said:

That is pretty cool. That looks like a thick pot! My guess is the lines carried hot water between the inner and outer walls? Like a double boiler...? If so, that might make a pretty badass mash tun!

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seems to be a good 3 inches thick, so I am assuming it is insulated too. that would make a pretty awesome mash tun, might have to climb inside of it to clean it though! I really have no clue, I googled the hell out of this thing and cannot find anything. if I could get some numbers off the tag I might be able to find something. im guessing its pretty damn old.

no ideas eh?

I say if the price is right, get it and ask questions later. I'm sure if you find you no longer want it, you can get some one on here or in the local brewing community to sell it to.

So I just purchased this tank off Craigslist for $75. the claimed that it would keep a keg of beer surrounded by ice cold overnight with no ice melting because of the 2 in. thick insulation. It is about 45 gal capacity all stainless with 2 inch think insulation on the bottom and sides with a stainless lid.

I was thinking of cutting a hole in the side for an element and go all electric but then I searched the logo and discovered they stopped using the red/black logo in 1948. Now I am not sure if I have an antique tank or a modern tank with a repro logo. I lean towards antique because the metal label and the welds inside look old but I can;t find any info online about it.

Anyone know anything about it?

Anyone know if there is a heating element that will connect through the hole in the back and swing down into the bottom for boiling?

The other link didn't show on my mobile app so here are the pics again.

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Looks like it'd make a great mash tun! :rockin:

That thing is sweet! I think I'd use it for a tun in an eherms setup, running the tubing in through that big hole in the back.

...with a fitting for it to connect the hose to.

Just took the spigot out last night and determined that the spigot was screwed on a 3 in. piece of copper pipe which was threaded into the hole. I figure I'll get a piece of stainless pipe and a ball valve, and keep the original in case the thing is valuable.

Yep...kickass mashtun right there!

So some more detailed research on the Web brought me to this page:
http://kpolsson.com/awhistus/
Which helped me determine that it became "A&W Root Beer Company" in 1950 and they stopped using this logo in 1961. It is my opinion that given the oxidation on the aluminum data plate and the chrome spigot that it does date from 1950-1961. I am posting this here for anyone in the future that might find one and wonder how old it is.

I still want to know what it was used for (I assume it was the mixing tank used at a stand) and I want to find an electric element that can hang over the side vs cutting a hole. Anyone has any ideas let me know.

Looks kinda like an ice chest for bottles that you would be able to grab a cold root beer at the gas station. When the ice melts, drain the water from the bottom. Though looking at the picture again there probably would have been a handle or something on the lid. Sweet find though.

I have contacted the Dr. Pepper museum (also the A&W museum) to see if they know anything.

Brewhardware.com has a heat stick kit. Best off the shelf solution

the liner on the inside looks like galvanized steel, have you confirmed what the liner is made of?

It is stainless, just has hardware stains from the last guy. I haven't cleaned it yet.