Guess what!? I need to make an MLT.

I have a used keggle (without a valve, what an idiot) and a 5gal Igloo. I have more questions than are necessary.

If I buy the following equipment:
Weldless Mash Keg Conversion - Stainless | MoreBeer
How far down can I get the tube to pick up wort? I'm sure an extension is possible, but I'd like to know how far down it goes, the guys at the store can't say exactly, so if you own one, lemmekno.

The other route to AG glory is to buy a bargain fittings valve and a SS braid tube and use the Igloo 5gal cooler, then buy high temp tubing and one of the following false bottoms:
Northern Brewer Home Brewing
Eventually upgrading to the keggle MLT anyways, making my own pickup tube.

Which is the better starting MLT for the new AG brewer?

I think coolers are foolproof and any benefits of keg based MLT's are fringe at best.

Bobby_M said:

I think coolers are foolproof and any benefits of keg based MLT's are fringe at best.

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This is exactly what I needed to hear.

So the upgrade path isn't from cooler MLT to keg MLT, it's from small cooler to larger cooler with better filtering apparatus?

Bobby_M said:

I think coolers are foolproof and any benefits of keg based MLT's are fringe at best.

Click to expand...

Having just finished my first 5 AG batches using the Rubbermaid 10 gal conversion (see extensive thread elsewhere in DIY forum), I can agree with this completely. For about $85, I have an MLT that will certainly handle anything I care to brew, with top quality hardware (the cooler came from HD, the conversion kit from Bargain Fittings), and which is pretty much bulletproof.

Well, there are a lot of people using metal mash tuns for the ability to direct fire for step mashes. You have to ask yourself if you need to step mash. I figured that I'd like to reserve that as a possibility so I went metal. Now that I've had it for over a year, it's really questionable if the added PIA is worth the step mash ability. Further, you can still step mash with boiling water infusions or decoction mashes. Coolers are light, easy to clean and already insulated.

My 10g Rubbermaid cooler with SS braid is great for me. I batch sparge with 2 infusions and I hit 80s efficiency easily. I get very little temp drop if any even in the coldest of weather.

If I didn't have another possible keg lined up, I wouldn't even be thinking about a keggle MLT.

I used Flyguy's build for the fitting.

Mike

Bobby_M said:

I think coolers are foolproof and any benefits of keg based MLT's are fringe at best.

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Way to be honest, objective and forward Bobby...especially coming from someone w/ a sanke mash tun. No bling, but I guess sometimes less is more.

I have a 5 gallon cooler as well. Works great. Once I hit mash temp and put the lid on, it will hold for the full hour. My setup is similar to the one you showed from morebeer. Actually I got my SS mash screen from morebeer, with the valve, etc from bargain fittings. I am going to be posting a bit on my MLT tomorrow, maybe it will give you some ideas.

Here's a pic of the inside of my MLT:

yeah, My dilemma is between a 5gallon cooler and a 13.2 gallon sanke.

I'm thinking that at this point I'll use the keg as an HLT and the cooler as the MLT.

Can the false bottom from the 5gallon be used in other coolers?

Go with a 10g cooler. The FB come in two basic sizes, or you can go with a braid. If you like big beers or think you might like 10g batches, just get the 10g cooler and be done with upgrades. Braid or FB depends mostly if you are into fly or batch sparging. I did a braid in a loop and it has worked pretty good for both, but I prefer double batch sparge.

Crazytwoknobs said:

yeah, My dilemma is between a 5gallon cooler and a 13.2 gallon sanke.

I'm thinking that at this point I'll use the keg as an HLT and the cooler as the MLT.

Can the false bottom from the 5gallon be used in other coolers?

Click to expand...

I'd go with the cooler. There is little worry about holding your mash temp. Once I hit my mash temp and put the lid on, that cooler keeps the temp for the full hour, no problem. The issue with using a keg as a MLT is you need to find a way to insulate it to hold the temp or constantly add heat. They are better if your doing multiple step infusions and you want to keep adjusting the temp.

The false bottom i have is round for a round cooler, so the cooler obviously needs to be of the round variety. I just finished posting my MLT build, check it out here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-brew-build-elm-street-brewery-part-3-mash-lautertun-129913/

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Either way will probably make you happy.. just be sure that you go big enough.

I do like my sanke mash tun in that i drop it on the camp stove and heat my strike water in it. No real difference tho... other than i could double it as another boil pot if i wished??? I dont know yet why i would, but i could, i guess.

FYI i used a HDPE bucket lid from menards with a ton of holes drilled in it as a false bottom, and use copper tube into a compression fitting into my bulkhead ball valve. Completely satisfied total cost for all the materiels including the left over tube was less than 40 bucks. (excluding the keg)

Wow, old thread, I went with the $8 5gal igloo and the ball valve.

The possibility exists that there is a 10gal-ish cooler in the near future for $0, but it would be of the rectangular type. Even if it isn't 10gal, I could mash in it at the same time as the igloo, dump it in to the igloo after the inital sparge and go from there (for larger beers).

Thanks for all the replies guys!