Sanke mash-tun question

So, I'm ready to break in a newly converted sanke for mashing. I've been using a 10 gal rubbermaid cooler. One thing I loved about the cooler is that it always held my temp...

Do I need to get some insulation for the sanke mash-tun or will it hold temp? I thought about buying an electricity based heater for it just in case...

I asked the same question not too long ago, and was told to stick with the cooler.

Mine holds it just fine for one hour in the summer, but for winter you may want some insulation. In the summer, my temp drops 1-2F over an hour but 3-4F in the winter. Depending on your winter temp, it may be more. A cheap way to insulate is just to get an old comforter or blanket and wrap around the mash tun with a couple bungee cords. The expensive way is to get some reflectix wrap or some other reflective insulation. IMHO, it's not worth it and I don't care about the looks, YMMV.

Here's my old thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/guess-what-i-need-make-mlt-129749/

Thanks for the replies! I agree the cooler is fool proof for 5 gal batches, but I had 3 specific reasons for using the sanke keg:

1) Because of school/work this fall I don't have a lot of time and thus have to step up to 10gal batches to keep the pipeline of good, cheap beer flowing. (a couple of my recipes have grain bills that are too big for a 10 gal cooler)

2) Sanke kegs are simply way cooler looking than plastic coolers.

3) I'm the slightest bit worried about the heat and long exposures to the plastic. Probably unfounded but the first two reasons were good enough by themselves to justify using metal that I let this be my final justification to my wife on why I was buying yet another piece of equipment for brewing.

#1 and #2 were my reasons for moving to a Sanke. Also, while you can buy a big rectangular cooler that is large enough to accomodate a huge grain bill, you have to build some sort of custom braid/manifold for it. With a sanke, there are lots of options, and I really wanted to use a SS false bottom. To each his own, but having a 3 keg system just felt "right" to me.

I recently switched from a round cooler to a keggle MLT wrapped in thick foam insulation. It does lose heat, even with the wrap. Maybe 5+ degrees an hour? I'm building a little RIMS tube heater setup to maintain temps better (among other reasons) so temp loss will be a non-issue.

I really like the keggle MLT job wortmonger did with insulation, duct tape, and Line-X bedlining.

Check out his gallery here for more pictures. Mash Tun after Insulating better and Line-X Bedlining - HomeBrewTalk Gallery