Using a Corny as a Mash/Lautering Tun

I searched around a bit, but didn't see this question asked before. If there is already a thread about this, I'd love to read it. Get ready for a long read. If I go through with this, I'll post pictures.

I was thinking about going all grain, but with my space restraints, having a dedicated MLT is not possible. Thus, I was thinking of a setup to temporarily convert a 5 gallon corny into a MLT. Obviously, this isn't the optimal configuration, But let me see if I can remedy the corny's shortcomings.


Everything will have to be able to fit through the corny's lid. The biggest piece is the collection manifold. Essentially, a length of copper pipe with a T on the end and a loop of stainless braid. The flexibility of the braid should allow it to slip into the lid without issue. If the length of pipe comes up just short of the top, and a hose barb is fitted to it, then hose could be fed through one of the side posts and attached to the manifold, allowing the lid to be closed. The mash would have to be extracted via siphon, and the small diameter necessary to fit through the side posts will limit the flow of extraction, but that may be a positive aspect when fly sparging. A similar sprinkler manifold could be used for fly sparging inserted through the lid and attached to a feed line fed through the other side post

With the idea of making no permanent changes to the corny in mind, installing a heating element/thermoprobe would be difficult but not impossible. The easiest route would be to have an insulating jacket so that the heating element is not necessary. However, a separate insulating jacket would take up as much space as the corny, so that's not optimal. And I don't know how stable the temps would be with just wrapping insulation around a metal corny. I then thought of wrapping the outside of the corny in a oil pan heater to maintain temperature. The thermoprobe for the thermostat controlling the pan heater could be run through the blow off valve on the lid.

Another concern is the volume and grain bed configuration. I think 5 gallons is the bare minimum for a usable MLT, so it may not be an issue. The grain bed would obviously be in a tall cylindrical shape, with very little surface area on top. This would be a good thing considering the small manifold at the bottom, but being a noob to AG, I'd like some feedback on how it might affect efficiency and stuck sparges.

It seems like this could be accomplished with a minimum of equipment:

• Manifold
• Fly sparge sprinkler
• Oil pan heater
• Thermostat/thermoprobe

None of which takes up much space, and afterward, the corny can still be used for it's original purpose.

As far as a Hot Liquor Tank, I thought I'd use my Kettle for that, but since I have to put the first runnings into the kettle, I can't use it for both. I suppose I could get another oil pan heater and set up a second corny as the HLT.

Questions:
Has this been done/talked about before?
Can the corny handle the 170° F temperatures?
How will the grain bed configuration affect efficiency/stuck sparges?
Is this thread worthless without pics?
Should I be working rather than making threads like this?
Have I lost my mind?

I am thinking........

Dump in grain, dump in hot water...

Cover the opening with a screen.

Turn upside down and dump into your brew pot.

Dump in more hot water.

Dump that into the pot......

I would then empty the grains into a large strainer, rinse the wort back and forth a few times through the grain to remove sediment....

It might work.

Syphoning through the grain would be a nightmare.

cheezydemon3 said:

Syphoning through the grain would be a nightmare.

Click to expand...

This is probably true. The inverted method is a good idea. Now you've got my brain churning.

What about attaching a manifold directly to one of the posts, so that when inverted, it is at the bottom of the grain bed. If the other post had the diptube attached, you could run a line from that to the HLT corny, and use gas pressure to transfer sparge water from the HLT corny to the inverted MLT corny.

Sounds brilliant to me.

The corny should be good at 170F. It's all SS.

Use another corny as a HLT. Heat in pot, dump it in, siphon into MLT.

For the lautering, I would use a...steamer plate I think it is called. One of those things that folds up and folds out and you stick in a pot to steam broccoli and stuff. Get one small enough to fit through the top and unfold it and secure it. Note: I meant insert it upside down. Then just dump into the brew kettle.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Z7F5P8ZRL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

Is a 10 or 15 gallon igloo style cooler that much bigger of a space eater than a corny? I'm talking overall volume ...? Yes I know its a little bigger, but the amount of effort put into this sounds like its potentially not worth it for the benefits... Also, a 5 gallon corny would only be able to mash maybe a 3 gallon batch... That being said, I'm not saying it won't work, I just think it sounds like the KISS method is going to win out in the end (Keep It Simple Stupid) ( and not implying you're stupid, that's just how the saying goes). All that added complexity seems to leave room for more problems...

The similar threads popped this thread up, but the ebay link is long gone.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/5g-corny-mash-tun-48049/

I'm wondering what that was.

pompeiisneaks said:

Is a 10 or 15 gallon igloo style cooler that much bigger of a space eater than a corny? I'm talking overall volume ...? Yes I know its a little bigger, but the amount of effort put into this sounds like its potentially not worth it for the benefits... Also, a 5 gallon corny would only be able to mash maybe a 3 gallon batch... That being said, I'm not saying it won't work, I just think it sounds like the KISS method is going to win out in the end (Keep It Simple Stupid) ( and not implying you're stupid, that's just how the saying goes). All that added complexity seems to leave room for more problems...

Click to expand...

Well, I already have the cornys, and if they can be used for a MLT, HLT, and keg, I see it as a huge space saver for those who are riding that razor's edge with SWMBO with regards to brewing equipment taking up space.

You know, I think I'm just gonna go for it. Doesn't seem like the parts list will be that bad. Definitely cheaper than building a dedicated MLT/HLT.

And I thought you could do a five gallon batch with a 5 gallon MLT. With the addition of sparge water, Wouldn't this work?

If it is just space....you can store a keg in the cooler when not in use.

Otherwise, I am with you. You have the kegs.

Another bad side is....you have to leave a keg freed in order to brew. You can't have them all filled and brew an AG to be fermenting and on deck for the next free keg...

klyph said:

And I thought you could do a five gallon batch with a 5 gallon MLT. With the addition of sparge water, Wouldn't this work?

Click to expand...

You could do a 5 gal batch to about...oh...1.050? Anything above that and you would require more space.

You could always use 2 cornies though. =)

Hmmm, well if the volume truly limits me to low OG's or small batches, that may be a deal breaker. Although, DME could make up for that. I still think it would be an interesting experiment.

klyph said:

Hmmm, well if the volume truly limits me to low OG's or small batches, that may be a deal breaker. Although, DME could make up for that. I still think it would be an interesting experiment.

Click to expand...

I was serious. Just use 2 MLTs.

Though, in order to keep things simple you might just do partial mashes like you said. Or start convincing your SWMBO that a cooler (with a manifold built in) is multifunctional.

Sounds like a terrible idea to me.


All the defecits of stainless with none of the benefits. Its not insulated. You can't direct heat it. Its cramped. Etc.


You can do 5g up to about 1.065 at 75% efficiency.

yeah I was guessing more than anything, but the grains take up a decent amount of the space, and then on top of it, you have to add the water... I have a 15 gallon sankey, and I can barely do a 12 gallon batch w/ about 1.060 if I recall as the biggest 12 gallon I've done... water was almost to the top...
there's calculators out there that will tell you the volume that you need for x gals w/ y lbs of grain... I get it now, you already have the cornies, just don't want to add to the existing collection...

I wouldn't want to do that. I know it's stainless, and can be cleaned, but grain is loaded with lactobacillus. That's why you're not supposed to even crush grain where you ferment. You'd be mashing in a vessel that you want to store beer in. I just don't like the idea. If you have a dedicated corney to do it, then fine. I think the drawbacks are pretty big, though. Small opening, difficult lautering, difficult to hold temperatures, etc.

I'd do a brew in a bag in a kettle before I'd try the mashing in a corney.

Well, against the advice of my betters, I've decided to do at least a trial run. Here's what I've fabbed up so far:


Here's the manifold I came up with. I'm going to shorten it, so that the collection manifold sits closer to the bottom of the corny.


Here's what it looks like installed. It will hug tighter once I shorten the copper piece.

This will be the MLT-HLT-Gas setup, but the MLT will be inverted.

I borrowed SWMBO's exercise mat, I think it will help stabilize the temperatures in the MLT.

This is the drain. It's a flare fitting, so I can cap it or hook a line up to it. I think I'm gonna swap this out for a ball valve. This would allow me to hook up a steam line to regulate the temperature. I need to find a good way to get a thermometer in the blow off valve to know when to add some steam.
I also have to rig up a stand or find a spot on the table to keep the MLT inverted.

What I'm going to attemp to accomplish is, after mashing with this setup, I'll perform the boil in the kettle, then put the wort into the HLT corny and use it as a fermentor. Then It will get racked back into the MLT corny and force carbed. If this is successful, I will have possibly the most compact all grain brew setup known to man :fro:

We'll see, wish me luck, and let me know of any concerns you have not already stated. I'm too green to realize this will never work

I like your idea in general. I would advise not to inject steam. You have no way to do any stirring and you would be pressurizing the unit. Without doing any stirring your going to creat hot spots. From what I understand that is.

I guess you could drill the bottom and place a weldless fitting in there with a ball valve. Then you could vent it when it was inverted. You still have a stirring issue though. Also the keg would not stand anymore.

Oh, another thought. With a grain bed depth that deep, you should get darned good lautering eff.

GreenMonti said:

I like your idea in general. I would advise not to inject steam. You have no way to do any stirring and you would be pressurizing the unit. Without doing any stirring your going to creat hot spots. From what I understand that is.

I guess you could drill the bottom and place a weldless fitting in there with a ball valve. Then you could vent it when it was inverted. You still have a stirring issue though. Also the keg would not stand anymore.

Click to expand...

The whole premise of this idea was to leave the corny intact and unmolested. I can bleed off the steam pressure, since the diptube will now be at the top where there will be some headspace.

My main problem right now is heating/monitoring/maintaining pressure. I did an experiment with oil pan heaters, and they seem to keep it up to temperature, but I haven't figured out a good way to mount a thermometer in the blow off valve without modifying the lid. At this point, with all the ghetto rigging I'm doing, it seems it might not be worth all the added complexity considering the downsides (lack of heat retention/inability to stir or free a stuck sparge/overly complex).

I think I may be getting a 10 gallon rubbermaid for christmas