Will this work as a mash tun...

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aekdbbop

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I guess I need to do a test first to see if it will hold temp, but I got it for free from my father, so hopefully it will work...

hows it look?

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5436-IMG00134.jpg
 
Don't see why not. Get a false bottom and install a SS valve, you'll be in business. Might be on the slightly small side, but it would be great for smaller batches and PM's.
 
it is a 10 gallon cooler... hopefully i will be able to do 5 gal, and maybe 10 if the grain bill is small enough... just didn't know if the insulation looked like everyone else's.. started getting my conversion parts yesterday, and have a SS washer coming in the mail!
 
It look thin on the insulation.
Try it with water first to see how it holds temp.
If it's good with water then it'll do better with a mash.

If not then use extra insulation and try again.
 
Ok here is the deal..

test results:

water dumped into mash tun was about 170ish... and it went into a cool cooler.. it was slightly lower than room temp..

after an hour, it was around 140 +or - 5 degrees... (i didnt take the temp, swmbo did)

does this sound sufficient?
 
no, I'd do another test. I'd preheat it with 180 degree water, let it sit for 10 minutes and then drain it and then do the test again. Ideally, you'd only lose a couple of degrees in an hour. Of course, grain is a bit of an insulator itself so it'll be better with grain, but a 30 degree temperature drop is way too much!
 
aekdbbop said:
Ok here is the deal..

test results:

water dumped into mash tun was about 170ish... and it went into a cool cooler.. it was slightly lower than room temp..

after an hour, it was around 140 +or - 5 degrees... (i didnt take the temp, swmbo did)

does this sound sufficient?
How much went in? Did you fill it, or was it partially full? The amount makes a big difference. If it were me, I would test with about 7 gallons. Like Lorena says, preheat it, or at the very least, put in your hot water but give it 10 mins to equilibrate in temps before your start your test. I guarantee if you do it this way, you are going to get WAY better results.
 
You could also wrap an old blanket around it for extra insulation. I do that with my Igloo in the wintertime. I think that cooler will work just fine. And BTW you certainly can do 10 gallon batches in there- that's what I do, unless it's a really big beer.
 
aekdbbop said:
...water dumped into mash tun was about 170ish... and it went into a cool cooler.. it was slightly lower than room temp..

after an hour, it was around 140 +or - 5 degrees... (i didnt take the temp, swmbo did)

does this sound sufficient?
Never use a water-only test for checking insulation on a cooler.

A grain and water mix hold temp a TON better than just water. At worst I'd say go ahead with a real batch (your out $12.00 in grains) and see what happens. I good cooler should only loose 2-4 degrees in 60 minutes. If yours lose more than this, you could strap some insulation around the cooler and secure with duct tape. :D
 
Based on that, I'd say do one more test with a preheat and a blanket.
If you are getting under 20° loss then I'd risk a batch.

It's not the best insulated cooler I've seen but I've seen people use the same.

If it's doubtful use it for something else and go buy a $40 cooler.
 
FlyGuy said:
How much went in? Did you fill it, or was it partially full? The amount makes a big difference. If it were me, I would test with about 7 gallons. Like Lorena says, preheat it, or at the very least, put in your hot water but give it 10 mins to equilibrate in temps before your start your test. I guarantee if you do it this way, you are going to get WAY better results.

about 3.5 gallons went in, could i also just get some insulation to wrap around this sucker?
 
BierMuncher said:
you could strap some insulation around the cooler and secure with duct tape. :D

sounds like a plan anyway.. should have some laying around here somewhere..
 
I would even just try pre-heating and 7 gals of water. I bet you don't lose more than 5 degrees, which means that insulating the cooler won't be necessary. But try the test, because if you lose more then at least you know that insulation will be required.
 
UPDATE:

I tried again with a blanket wrapped around it..

162F after 10 min of stabilizing... then 158f after one hour... sounds about right huh?
 
aekdbbop said:
UPDATE:

I tried again with a blanket wrapped around it..

162F after 10 min of stabilizing... then 158f after one hour... sounds about right huh?
It depends on the volume of the water. But you are definitely in the range. It might even be excellent if this is only a couple of gallons.
 
yeah this time i did it with 7 gallons, and it held up pretty well..

what i think happed was that my swmbo held the thermometer up in the air too long when she took the reading.. so it was inaccurate from the beginning..

I am gonna do 5 gal. batches, so this should still be good..
 
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