jeepinjeepin
Well-Known Member
mattyb85 said:
But start with water. If you start with ice you will have melted ice and half chilled wort.
Cheap & Easy 10 Gallon Rubbermaid MLT Conversion
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But start with water. If you start with ice you will have melted ice and half chilled wort.
I suppose I could buy something like this and rig the chiller to it (if I can find garden hose attachments) and plop into a full sink.
Thanks for all the help, being forced to move into a less than ideal apartment with little to work with, isn't fun.
Edit: Added photo for reference
Thanks for all the help, being forced to move into a less than ideal apartment with little to work with, isn't fun.
Edit: Added photo for reference
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jeepinjeepin
Well-Known Member
mattyb85 said:
Yup, my summer water can be quite warm though. I try to chill to 100 and then switch to recirculating ice water. 5 gallons of 212F wort can turn 40 lbs of ice to bath water.
jeepinjeepin
Well-Known Member
ianskate said:
That's what I would do. Do you have a dual basin sink? If so, put your pump in the full side and pump through the IC to the other drain. When your temp comes down add your ice to the supply and move your outlet to the supply basin and recirculate.
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Well, finally built the Lowes brand Rubbermade MT and it leaks, as others have encountered. Still has a lot of play in the rotation of the handle.
Had to put a bunch of O-rings between the washers and original gasket, as well as the outside between the washers (took 6 washers!) and cooler. I don't know if they're heat resistant (or food safe) so it may be a problem. No information on the package of O-rings. May have to find another solution before brew day.
Edit: More washers and more o-rings did the trick, although 170 degree water just warped the crap out of it. Thought it was going to crack and melt like the first BB I melted with hot water when I started years ago.
Had to put a bunch of O-rings between the washers and original gasket, as well as the outside between the washers (took 6 washers!) and cooler. I don't know if they're heat resistant (or food safe) so it may be a problem. No information on the package of O-rings. May have to find another solution before brew day.
Edit: More washers and more o-rings did the trick, although 170 degree water just warped the crap out of it. Thought it was going to crack and melt like the first BB I melted with hot water when I started years ago.
fluidmechanics
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Mark
Newbrew12
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Quick question... For a 48 qt rectangular cooler, is the 3/8 ball valve the correct size or is 1/2 needed. I have read both ways, just curious on it. Forgive my lack of engineering knowledge.
It's completely dependent on your cooler. They differ in size and shape greatly. I really haven't noticed too much difference in size of 1/2" or 3/8" valves, so which size you go with is more of a personal preference than a geometric issue.
For either size, if your valve's handle hits the cooler wall, just add a few more fender washers to the outside (this will likely require a slightly larger pipe nipple as well).
user 146556
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Did my conversion today. Ended up needing 7 washers on the outside to get the valve to reach right. Filled it with water and after an hour got a few drips. It's not perfect, but I think I'll be OK with a tsp loss over an hour.
I was thinking of doing this but my friend says "to do it right" I need an industrial 10 gallon igloo ($50-$60) and a nice false bottom (~$50) plus another ~$50 in hardware to plumb it. That puts me at ~$150. I can buy one from my LHBS assembled for $160. What do you guys think?
jeepinjeepin
Well-Known Member
dongemus said:
It depends on what you want. For batch sparging a false bottom is overkill but is also future proof. I have no issues with brass, but stainless is pretty and makes some people feel better. It's all up to you.
Newbrew12
Well-Known Member
I figure its not a beauty contest just about the finished product. Personally I like that ill have built everything that I can in my brew set up even if it is a little rough around the edges. The beer is what I'm after 
Some people get joy from buying what they percieve to be the best at any price.
You can make excellent beer w/ a cheap walmart cooler and $10 in parts...your process means a lot more than how much you spent on a MT.
If you want simple turn key, go ahead and buy something ready to brew...it's your dime!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/ten-minute-cooler-mash-tun-conversion-125108/
Check out Denny's MT linked below, your friend would likely not approve, but Denny don't care!
http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/
FloridaCracker
Well-Known Member
So, sometime ago (IDK, ~8 months?) I built my MLT using this thread. I was/have ben very pleased with it. Espeacially since I haved ~$80 compared to my LHBS. I did use the sink line coil as a strainer and I can tell you that my first couple batches took a long time to drain... Those batches were only using about 12#.
After an evening of brewing with a buddy on his first time using a MLT, and drinking a lot of beer, the strainer got destroyed from the drunken plundering. I went to my LHBS and purchased the false bottom, and the 4" of tubing to conect for a little over $30.
My next couple batches went amazing... Now I recently have moved to 25+ # grain bills and its strugling. But it works, works well, and most importantly -gets the job done.
If you are interested in this, DO IT. But, a word of advice from experiance, go ahead and buy a false bottom.
-FloridaCracker
After an evening of brewing with a buddy on his first time using a MLT, and drinking a lot of beer, the strainer got destroyed from the drunken plundering. I went to my LHBS and purchased the false bottom, and the 4" of tubing to conect for a little over $30.
My next couple batches went amazing... Now I recently have moved to 25+ # grain bills and its strugling. But it works, works well, and most importantly -gets the job done.
If you are interested in this, DO IT. But, a word of advice from experiance, go ahead and buy a false bottom.
-FloridaCracker
Phew. Darn near 2500 posts. I started reading this 3 years ago and mostly made one out of a 40 qt rectangular cooler that I got from K-Mart back then, but never finished as I ran into some minor leaks and wasn't ready to go to AG yet anyways. Now I have a 15 gallon direct fired system. I think I will finish this mash tun up anyways so I can have an "on the road" mash system. That plus my SQ-14 and a propane tank and my water filter I can brew pretty much anywhere!
Good stuff!
Good stuff!
Wilserbrewer, I currently have a MT I made from my old beach cooler and some hardware. I use Denny's method often. I would recommend it to anybody.
My set up works well but it is getting old and was never that efficient. I am also trying to upgrade to 10 or even 15 gallon batches. So I think I need a better system. To build my own good system it seems I'm only saving if I skimp on parts... a cheaper cooler, braided hose instead of a false bottom. I want it to be efficient and move up with me as I brew more and more.
What do people use for brewing 10-15 gallon batches?
My set up works well but it is getting old and was never that efficient. I am also trying to upgrade to 10 or even 15 gallon batches. So I think I need a better system. To build my own good system it seems I'm only saving if I skimp on parts... a cheaper cooler, braided hose instead of a false bottom. I want it to be efficient and move up with me as I brew more and more.
What do people use for brewing 10-15 gallon batches?
I do 9g batches (usually about 20# of grain) in a 70qt. rectangular cooler with an 18" braid loop (connected to SS tee, then to the ball valve). My runoffs get very slow near the end, and I usually have to stop, stir, and re-vorlauf/run-off. I wonder if it's too much grain weight on the braid, but it's not crushed. In fact, I have coiled copper inside of it and it still runs off slow. The grain compacts like cement and the water doesn't seem to be able to make it down to the bottom. My crush may be a little too fine, but I don't get bits in my beer or tannins, so why crush more coarse?
dongemus said:
Regarding the false bottom comment, IMHO they work the best in cylindrical MLTs or kettles. In my experience, the only cylindrical MLTs I've ever seen are 10gal. If you are wanting to do up to 15gal batches, you may want to reconsider the false bottom as I think the only way you can get 15gal of a beer with a 10gal MLT is to supplement with extract or just make a very low OG beer.
The attached pic is in my 12gal MLT. I did a 12gal batch of 1.070 wort. Very tight fit! I'll be upgrading to a 70qt rectangular cooler sometime this year.
EDIT: Grain bill had 30# of grain.
^ "very tight fit" is a bit of an understatement
Looks like Mount Malt Island rising in the middle...
Cheers!
Looks like Mount Malt Island rising in the middle...
Cheers!
Snisup
Well-Known Member
^ "very tight fit" is a bit of an understatement
Looks like Mount Malt Island rising in the middle...
Cheers!
I want to live on that island!
mnstarzz13
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First time poster. 3 yrs brewer here in MN.
6 yrs later and this thread is still giving. I used this model to a Tee (except my hose was 5ft). Cooler was $45+tax and parts were $32 w/tax. \
My only issue is that the spigot wants to spin. Any resolutions to that?
6 yrs later and this thread is still giving. I used this model to a Tee (except my hose was 5ft). Cooler was $45+tax and parts were $32 w/tax. \
My only issue is that the spigot wants to spin. Any resolutions to that?
After doing more research we (my brother and I) decided we want to do 15g batches. For some of our grain bills this might reach 50#s! I guess the igloo is out of question. We need a big rectangular or something else. Any good suggestions?
I'm thinking of upgrading to this cooler for my bigger batches:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-70-Quart-Xtreme-Cooler/4807332
Read the comment "Xtreme Mash Tun". Has very good info on equipment to convert to a MLT.
If you want to do 15 gallon batches - 70 quart xtreme cooler
If you want to do 10 gallon batches - 70 or 52 quart xtreme cooler or 10 gallon rubbermaid/igloo cooler
Personally I'm going to go to the 52 quart xtreme for my 10 gallon batches, "IM HOPING" it holds heat even better than the 70 quart for 10 gallon, but not positive.
I have this cooler. I did end up with a slight amount of leaking at the bulkhead, so I silicone'd the opening and let it cure before re-assembling. I now get a tiny bit of leakage during the mash, but it's probably 2-4oz. of liquid, so I don't care. The silicone means it's not going into the insulation and getting nasty, so I've accepted it.
It's huge, though. I usually only have 20# of grain in it and it's maybe half full (I mash SUPER thin, too, usually 1.75-2qts/lb). I lose 10* overnight, which is how I mash. I don't usually lose even 1* in a 60m mash.
That's why I mention the 52 quart one for people as well if they want to do 10 gallons. It would fill it up more, and probably keep the heat better.
But if you notice, I don't lose even 1* in 60m...so that's about as good as you can get with a cooler that's not having heat applied. Losing 10* in an 8 hour mash seems reasonable and has worked for me, too. I have made adjustments to starting mash temps accordingly.
Sounds to me like you are convinced you "need" a better system. I am a batch sparger and have no desire to fly sparge! So therefore, I have no need for a false bottom and would not consider it as an "upgrade", but rather another piece of equipment to disassemble and clean as opposed to just rinsing out a tun w/ a braid. A braid will also clear quicker and require less vorlaugh. For 10-15 gallon batches and batch sparging I would go with a 70 qt cooler and a robust hot water heater braid. JMO cheers! The 10 gal MLT'S sold with valves and false bottoms do not excite me being a batch sparger.
Eddiebosox
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Some people do it as a time saver, but there's different schools of thought on how it would affect the beer. Some think it would extract harsh tannins by letting it mash so long.
And others, like me, who've done it over a dozen times now, would disagree with that.
I do it to make brew day manageable. I heat strike while I weight and crush my grain, assemble my mash tun, etc. By the time I dough-in I've spent about an hour, maybe 90 minutes. I can then walk away and (if it's at night) go to sleep -OR- (if it's during the day) go do some other errands, spend time with kids, go to a movie, projects around the house, whatever. I never have to worry about the beer. When I'm ready, anywhere from 3-8 hours later, I flip on the sparge water and finish the process.
1. see above
2. I generally raise my temps by about 3* compared to 60m mashes due to the longer time spent in beta amylase's sweet-spot as the temp drops. Nobody has ever commented on my beers tasting different, out of style, etc. but it did take some time learning what attenuation I got with different temps. For instance, 153 will give me almost 95% attenuation, finishing at nearly 1.002 for a low-to-med gravity beer.
3. Any and all beers. I've made dry PA's up to malty Oktoberfests. Yet to make a stout, but that was true before I even started overnight mashing.
Thanks for the reply. I don't jump up to vorlauf at 60 minutes, but I never thought of letting it go longer than 90-120 minutes or so. I have drained the MT and then boiled the next day. One day if it's convenient I might try a longer mash.
Some time when you want more Saturday to do other things, start the mash the night before, around 10 or 11 maybe, then get up relatively early on Saturday and finish the brew. You'll be done by 10AM and have the rest of your day free. Like I said, I'd start the mash 3* higher than normal, though, and definitely insulate with blankets, etc.
VMCosco
Active Member
This may have already been mentioned, but I thought it was a nice realization. I searched the thread and didn't see that anyone had done it.
I made mine out of a 5 gallon Rubbermaid cooler. For the time being, I am going to use it for partial mash and use a bag in the cooler so I did not have to worry about filtering out the grain at all.
I replaced the barb on the inside with a brass "street elbow" (Watts A-782). By turning the the elbow downward, the opening is only 1/8 inch above the bottom. I drained the cooler and measure the deadspace. It was only 6oz!!!
Thought I would share this discovery for the benefit of anyone else who doesn't need the braided hose.
I made mine out of a 5 gallon Rubbermaid cooler. For the time being, I am going to use it for partial mash and use a bag in the cooler so I did not have to worry about filtering out the grain at all.
I replaced the barb on the inside with a brass "street elbow" (Watts A-782). By turning the the elbow downward, the opening is only 1/8 inch above the bottom. I drained the cooler and measure the deadspace. It was only 6oz!!!
Thought I would share this discovery for the benefit of anyone else who doesn't need the braided hose.
I did BIAB this way for several batches, myself. Very easy way yo get started
That's a great tip! Thanks. Ill be running out today to get that part.
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