Spend my $200

First of all - great forum, great content, and more importantly, great community atmosphere!

I've tried to find a similar thread to this one but haven't had much luck. I'm currently brewing with extract kits and have gotten very good results. I have all the necessary equipment:

1 5gal glass carboy
2 6.5gal buckets
1 6.5gal bottling bucket
auto siphon
wort chiller
airlock, hoses, etc. etc. etc.

I want to move into all-grain brewing and currently have about $200 to play with. I have a relative with a turkey fryer he says I can have. So, it seems my next logical step is a mash/lauter tun setup. What do you guys think of this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/15-gallon-Mash-...h=item300265371453&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262

Is it a good buy? Waste of money? What would you guys do in my situation?

Thanks in advance.

Well, since I was recently in your situation, I'd do (did) this:

Spend $130 on a barley crusher.

Brew in a Bag. (Search for BIAB on this forums).
Get $5.00 of fine mesh curtain material.

Start scrounging for a picnic cooler to convert for your Mash tun.

Purchase $40 of expensive beer. Drink with friends.



Your ebay listing is gone, but if it was more than say, $60 it was probably too much.

I got an invalid item from that eBay link. You can make a mashtun out of a cooler (I like coleman Xtreme ones, myself) for about $50 to $90, depending on parts. here's a good place to start, and search on the site for 'cooler mashtun'

+1 on brew in a bag. It's cheap, letting you buy a real grain mill if you don't want to do a pasta-maker conversion. And it'll give fine results for 5 gallon batches (10 gallon's possible with a strong enough bag and maybe a pulley).

Of course, a big enough brew kettle is #1 on the list if you don't have one.

The Brewing Network - How to go from Extract to AG for < $10.00

Sorry about the link - how 'bout this one:

15 gallon Mash / Lauter Tun set for homebrewing beer - eBay (item 300265371453 end time May-08-09 08:09:25 PDT)

The ebay link doesn't work for me, but if it's anything like other kits I've seen on ebay, they aren't that great of quality. You can do a much better quality setup for cheaper if you do it yourself. Check out this thread:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/

You can get the 10 gallon coolers at home depot for $40 each. Then check out bargain fittings for the ball valve kits (and a stainless steel braid for your MLT). You can get high temp silicone tubing at austinhomebrewsupply.com or Midwest Homebrewing Supplies. And if you batch sparge, you don't need to spend any money on a sparge arm.

It doesn't require any drilling or special tools to build these. just a couple pairs of channel locks and a little patience to get it sealed right. You do it this way for well under $200, even if you go with Stainless Steel fittings.

EDIT: And you really don't NEED the HLT to get you started if you batch sparge. That is more for the fly sparging where you need to keep your sparge water at temp over a long period of time. So less than $100 to have an MLT, and then get yourself a barley crusher or a bigger brew pot.

Ah. I think we've seen this guys setup before.
Looks like what it says it is. But you are paying a premium for him to put it together for you. Free shipping though.

I'd +1 on what rudy0498 said, you can make your own for cheaper.
Also, Consider Batch sparging and you'll only need one cooler, and no sparge arms.

However, if you're not at all handy, it might be better to buy something pre-assembled.

Agreed. The cooler mash tun should cost no more than about $80. Here is a tutorial that I put together pretty recently. This example uses the Coleman extreme.

Building a Cooler Mash Tun

Based off of experience I recommend building a cooler mash tun using the SS braiding on a rect. cooler, stay away from the pre-built false bottoms for 5 gal round coolers(never get enough mash water in). Batch sparging is the way to go, no need for fly/continous sparging when home brewing small batches.

Good luck.