Mash tun question....

My son and I (my brew partner) have decided it may be time to make the jump to all grain brewing. Obviously we will need a mash tun. From threads here I have decided a 10G igloo or rubber maid is the way to go. My question concerns the bottom of the unit. I see some that just have the mesh tube on the bottom, where some have a stainless false bottom. Is one of these better than the other, or will both work nicely. Also am debating making one myself vs. purchasing complete. Advice??

I went with a 10 gallon round water cooler from home depot. Built it with a bazooka screen and koolerkit stainless valve. Works well and a simple build. The last few times though I added a paint strainer around the bazooka screen to make vorlauf a little less time consuming. I will be upgrading it to a rectangular 50Qt down the road so I can fit more grain in. The mash can get a little thick in the 10 gallon area. Hope this helps.

txinga

I am certainly no expert but I have read that the false bottom is better for fly sparging and the braid is adequate for batch sparging.

I do batch sparging and use a water heater supply line braid. I think it is 3/4". It is big enough to fit over the inside of the cooler valve assembly with no extra fittings, just a hose clamp to hold it on. I think it is more robust than the smaller sink supply lines. I have never had any worries of it collapsing.

I also went the Rubbermaid road and I use a copper manifold. It's easy to remove and take apart for cleaning and it works perfectly. Never had a stuck sparge and I can open up the valve and let er rip. I also have a square cooler with a cpvc manifold. They both work great.

I had the false bottom and didn't care for it much. Built a CPVC manifold. Super easy and cheap. Works like a champ.

A false bottom is the most expensive solution, and it is not the only solution. However, it is the best solution. How long will you be brewing? How many batches a year? Divide the extra cost by how many times you will use it. You will find the extra cost is very small in the long run.

At least that's how I justified it...

Just a quick thought. With 2 brewers, will 5 gallon batches be sufficient?

Gopher40 said:

My son and I (my brew partner) have decided it may be time to make the jump to all grain brewing. Obviously we will need a mash tun. From threads here I have decided a 10G igloo or rubber maid is the way to go. My question concerns the bottom of the unit. I see some that just have the mesh tube on the bottom, where some have a stainless false bottom. Is one of these better than the other, or will both work nicely. Also am debating making one myself vs. purchasing complete. Advice??

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Obviously you haven't read enough. I've been brewing all grain for two years now with no mash tun at all. Search for the term BIAB. You don't have to use that method but you should be aware of what it entails.

RM-MN said:

Obviously you haven't read enough. I've been brewing all grain for two years now with no mash tun at all. Search for the term BIAB. You don't have to use that method but you should be aware of what it entails.

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With all due respect, you still have a mash tun. This is nothing more than a container that you mash in. The mash tun could be combined with a lauter tun, in which case it is usually described as a mash lauter tun, it could be a completely separate vessel, or it could be the brew kettle.
BIAB eliminates the need for a false bottom, manifold, or braid, but you still need a mash tun to contain the bag, even if it is your kettle.

In response to the OP, a false bottom or a properly designed manifold is probably best if you fly sparge.
If you batch sparge, there should be very little (if any) difference between manifold, braid, or false bottom.
If you brew in a bag, the bag replaces the manifold, braid, or false bottom, but you could have conversion problems if your water is excessively alkaline.

-a.

I use a round copper manifold covered with an SS braid in a 10 gal. igloo with a gas fired HERMs setup. It has worked fine for me either fly or batch sparging.

First off, how much money are you willing to spend?

My current mash tun is an igloo 50ish quart with a SS screentube. Its the easiest one to make because you unscrew the drainage and add the 1/2 inch weldless setup to it. I got the parts from a sponser here (bargin fittings). HE even will email you back saying what to order if you need help.

As of now, I have a stout 20 gallon mashtun on special order. Overkill because I do not have a herms system, but I like that everything I ever wanted is on it without me doing anything to it. It has a false bottom, a bottom outlet and a sparge arm.

Note about the ice chest / water coolers: Don't get the sparge above 170 or you will start to warp the plastic. Over time it will wear down and warp, but its only a 25 dollar container.

I recently moved to AG from extract brewing and went with the 10g igloo cooler, like most here. I decided to go the SS false bottom and I can honestly say I am less than impressed. No matter how careful I am or how well I vorlauf I can never seem to keep the grain out of my wort. Granted, it is a small amount but it really frustrates me. I am serioulsy considering going with a bazoka screen or the kettle mesh screen from brewhardware.com. Leaning toward the one from brewhardware since I also want the sight kit and a valve for my kettle and they have everything I need.

My advice is that you should get the 10 gal round cooler and a drain kit from a supplier ( I spent a ton of extra cash and made many trips to the hardware stores to get the right combination of parts, save yourself the hassle) plus a cheap stainless braid from a toilet supply line, from the hardware store.

All that you need to buy is a toilet supply and a few small hose clamps (stainless, as they all are).

I once thought that fly sparging was the best way to go (anachronist) but trust me, try batch sparging first. When you've got a few brews down, check out pricing false bottoms/ other more costly upgrades.

Beside the cooler and drain valve, which you'll need in any case, the braid and clamps will cost less than $10. A minimalistic but highly functional set up.

I use a 10 gallon cylindrical cooler with a stainless false bottom. Never had a stuck sparge and I get 85% efficiencies. To ramp up to mashout temps, I have about 1 gallon of water in my kettle, just under boiling. I recirc into the kettle with heat on, the water is basically there to get the pump primed and give it a head start on heating. I recirc stirring gently until the mash temp is 165, then I allow the kettle (which has been maintaining about a gallon - heated, but not boiling) to return to the mash tun. Several times I open the mash tun drain full open to flush grain out of the mash tun lower drain plumbing. I typically hit 168-170 doing this. It is a little tricky maintaining two valves, but if I lose my prime I just shut off the pump and open the mash return valve at the top of the mash tun. The volume in the hose returns to the pump and pushes air out of the pickup of the kettle. Since I use a recirc technique to get my mashout temp, I don't recirc after mashout. I get great wort clarity.

Here are some photos: The straight tube is the sparge sprinkler (I fly sparge), the bent one is for strike water in and recirculation. The tube connecting the false bottom to the is a short section of 1/2 OD PTFE tubing from Lowe's. The bulkhead fittings are Swagelok SS-810-11-8, stainless tubing is from a company that makes hydraulic plumbing. Stainlessbrewing.com has the fittings and tubing. Quick disconnects are camlocks from stainlessbrewing.com. I'd buy from them again.

kh54s10 said:

I am certainly no expert but I have read that the false bottom is better for fly sparging and the braid is adequate for batch sparging.

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Not necessarily true. It's the configuration that matters.

For instructions on how to build a Cheap'n'Easy mash tun, see www.dennybrew.com

I prefer rectangular coolers because the larger opening makes it easier to stir in them. In addition, they're cheaper than round so you get more volume for your money. I've used the cooler in the pics on my webpage for 426 batches over the last 14 years. If it didn't work great, I would have switched a long time ago!

I have a 10 gallon round rubbermaid beverage cooler I built a copper manifold using 1/2 inch copper pipe with hacksaw cuts half way through. Pulled out the valve and used 1/2 inch close nipple and some high temp nylon bushings and 3/4 inch stainless steel washers and a lead free gate valve all of this I acquired at Lowes for about $60.00 total including the cooler... the close nipple is screwed to the female fitting soldered to the valve goes through wall of the cooler and then two of the bushings, a small stainless washer and a large stainless washer ant the female fitting is tightened on. The rest of it just fits together. Works very well been using this one for almost a year without any issues.

arturo7 said:

A false bottom is the most expensive solution, and it is not the only solution. However, it is the best solution.

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I think "best" is pretty subjective in this case.

pabloj13 said:

I think "best" is pretty subjective in this case.

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Yep...certainly not "best" for me.

What is "best" is what works "best" for each individual brewer .. start out with low cost and move up as you go. I went the way I did because it was what I could afford to do. It has worked well, so I do not change just for the sake of change and I believe if ain't broke, don't fix it.