My DIY Mash Tun!

Just picked up all the parts from the orange big box to make my mash tun.

They have the 5 gallon orange Rubbermaid coolers for $18!!! I might go back tomorrow to pickup another and see what the price on the 10G version would be...

All said and done I dropped under $50. After HD I hit my LHBS - they had the same setup I just got all the gear to build going for $160!

DIY is feeling pretty good about now.:rockin:

That's what I love about this hobby. Nothing is so complex that you can't do things yourself.

did you get 3/8" ball valve? I got the same cooler for free and was wondering if the same size ball valve fit in the 10 gallon and 5 gallon.

check out bargainfittings.com! They made it soooper easy to convert my mash tun and my brew kettle, pretty cheap too!

Just a thought!

I've browsed that site before. I am just going to go with brass fittings and have found everything at Menards for less than 20 bucks. No shipping costs.

I see that the site is using 1/2" fittings, so that must be what fits.

The Depot didn't have the 3/8" the Wiki recipe called for - so I just converted everything to 1/2" and it fits fine.

They didn't have stainless washers - so I had to go with the zinc plated for the time being. I'll try to find some online, but the PM trial run'll go as is!

I am psyched.

bargainfittings.com

Wish I'd seen that site earlier!

But there is something to be said for immediate gratification...

cool!

Partial Mash is easy and more fun. This should make it even easier. You can do all-grain with this upgrade too along with a kettle big enough for full boil (i.e. turkey fryer kit).

@MetallHed

I've got a 7.5 gallon - that should be OK for AG, right? I know once I head into high gravity I'll want something bigger...

Yeah thats what I have too.

I haven't used it for a five gallon batch yet but from what I've read you will start out with about 6.5 gallons of water and boil down to about 5 gallons.

I am testing out on just water to see how much evaporates after boiling for 60 minutes. That way I will know how much wort I will need pre-boil to get down to 5 gallons.

On my initial test on the stove I lost about a half gallon after boiling for an hour. This was far from a vigorous boil though.. so I will probably boil off more on the propane burner.

Yeah I'm gonna be moving up in the future too, but not until I get a house of my own. Till then, the 5 gallon cooler and 7.5 gallon kettle will work just fine for my apartment.

6 months later and I am going to the 10g cooler....

a_w_taylor said:

6 months later and I am going to the 10g cooler....

Click to expand...

Took you that long huh?

Took you that long huh?

I'll still use the 5g for smaller beers as I got amazing efficiency for 12.5lbs of grain or less.

I'm upgrading the boil kettle to the 15.5 Penrose as well.