wtf is a mash tun?

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I'm trying to learn about different parts of brewing equipment, and I came across a thread describing how to build one. What's the purpose of these, and can someone tell me about some other kinds of equipment besides primary/secondary/ect? :confused: Thanks in advance
 
When you start to use malted grains, rather than extract, you need a way to extract the sugar from the grain.

The first step is to use water around 154 degrees and let the grain sit in the water for about an hour. This converts the starches and enzymes in the grain into fermentable sugars. This is called the Mash. The vessel used is called a Mash Tun.

Then you have sugars, but it's still in the grain. So next you wash the grains, washing away the sugar with the water. This step is called Lautering. The vessel is called a Lauter Tun. It's german.


Do those two steps in the same vessel and it's called a Mash Lauter Tun.


Have you ever been to www.howtobrew.com?
 
Yeah, I've been there before, but since I just started brewing I haven't paid much attention to anything much but liquid extract information. So in other words I have a while to go until I have the skill to use equipment like this?
 
clearlysuburban said:
I'm trying to learn about different parts of brewing equipment, and I came across a thread describing how to build one. What's the purpose of these, and can someone tell me about some other kinds of equipment besides primary/secondary/ect? :confused: Thanks in advance
We could be here all night.

I'd suggest you pick up a comprehensive intro to brewing book like "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing".

To answer your question:

A Mash Tun is a container (usually a cooler) used in all-grain brewing to steep malted barley and other grains in order to convert starches in the grains into sugars and then extract that "sugar water" into a kettle for boiling.

If you're doing extract brews right now, this would not be a component of your process. All grain brewing takes the long way around and intead of using extracts (powdered or liquid) uses large amounts of crushed grains to create the liquid wort from the grains.

Again, I'd suggest getting the book and reading through the different forms of the homebrew process.
 
BierMuncher is right and that is the prefect book. That is what got me started. Then after I read a butt load of old threads on this forum I filled in the gaps with threads of my own.
:off: Tip: Build big so you don't have to build twice.
 
Complete Joy of Homebrewing is a good book and is one of the first I purchased.
How to Brew by John Palmer is just as good if not better because the info is a little more up to date. Also you can read much of his book online for free at www.howtobrew.com

Another good book is Brew Ware which is about equipment, what it's used for and how to find it cheaply or build it yourself.

Also one of the best things you can do for yourself is search this forum to look for deals, good ideas, DYI projects, reviews of products and merchants and a host of other ideas, recipes, ect.
 
clearlysuburban said:
Yeah, I've been there before, but since I just started brewing I haven't paid much attention to anything much but liquid extract information. So in other words I have a while to go until I have the skill to use equipment like this?
Maybe not as long as you think. With some reading of a site like howtobrew.com and a little research on this site you can be ready to use an MLT in no time. I did two extract + grain kits then made my cheap and easy MLT and did a partial mash before moving on to an all-grain batch for my 4th beer. Its not a whole lot harder than extract+grain and only requires a little extra equipment. I added a turkey fryer (to do full boils), an immersion chiller (to cool the larger boil), and the cheap and easy cooler MLT (for the mash). Total investment is just over $100. The immersion chiller is half of that and not totally necessary but is very useful and makes things easier.
Craig
 

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