60qt. Ice Cube Mash Tun Build - $cheap and simple

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I'm happy with it for now, and for the cost of the cpvc it's not a big deal to remake it a couple times ;-)

the best part for me wa the entry price that got me into all-grain.
 
Erik53 said:
yea. I used a hack saw, so my slits are pretty thin as well. I guess you could assume that the oats are what clogged it up? Do you think it is still acceptable with beers that don't use oats?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think 2 lbs. of rolled/toasted oats didn't help at all. I'm still going to make the slits bigger though.
 
Just did a dry run through the system that is illustrated in the first post. good news and bad news....

good news... I only had 3 cups of water left in the MT after it drained through the manifold and up through the elbow. I think there was a small leak somewhere in the elbow because I would see an occasional bubble run through the line, but no big deal and i don't think its worth gluing this part together.

Bad news... This thing took a lot of heat before it settled in temperature wise. I added 3 gallons of water at 170* and after 20 min it cooled off to about 156*. Over the course of an hour is got down to 145*. I think the culprit is definitely the lid. I know that I questioned this theory earlier and I thought we had some empirical data, but the entire cooler is cool to the touch except for the lid, which was quite warm! I will definitely be picking up a can of great stuff to stuff this thing before I brew later this morning.
 
I wonder how much these coolers differ from location to location (as described in an earlier post). I didn't have this result. My temp dropped by between 4-5 degrees over the course of an hour.

One interesting thing was that once I got busy with the boil and other odd-ball stuff at the time, I forgot to clean out the mash-tun until the next day. When I openned it up, after 24+ hours, steam came out and the grain was still pretty warm to the touch! That cracked me up.

Let us know how the great stuff works, I may need to use that as the temps get colder here during the day. It was in the 70s when I brewed last.
 
Was it a five gallon batch?

How was your efficiency?

Glad it worked out well for you. I just bought the 48qt igloo cooler and as soon as I get off my lazy but, I will try my first AG batch.
 
Erik53 said:
Bad news... This thing took a lot of heat before it settled in temperature wise. I added 3 gallons of water at 170* and after 20 min it cooled off to about 156*. Over the course of an hour is got down to 145*. I think the culprit is definitely the lid. I know that I questioned this theory earlier and I thought we had some empirical data, but the entire cooler is cool to the touch except for the lid, which was quite warm! I will definitely be picking up a can of great stuff to stuff this thing before I brew later this morning.
Click to expand...

Water and a mash will behave much differrently, I believe water being free to circulate will lose heat much more rapidly...preheating the cooler is of the utmost importance, rather than the lid IMHO. A guy gathered some data a few weeks ago that showed that modding the lid didn't do all that much. Of course, if you plan on brewing outdoors in single digits...all bets off.

Add strike water + 10 degrees and give the cooler 10 -20 min to preheat, stir or add a couple of ice cubes to hit strike temp., don't bother w/ the lid IMHHO. Losing 1 or 2 degrees over an hour is not a big deal, again just MO.

have fun.
 
wilserbrewer said:
Water and a mash will behave much differrently, ...
Click to expand...

I brewed my first batch in this setup today and wilserbrewer is totally correct that the mash behaved very differently from the mash. For my 5 gallon batch the starting mash temp for me was about 155 and over an hour it dropped to 151... so 4 degrees over an hour.

My overall efficiency ended up being 63% i think? I used 9 pounds of pils + .5 pounds of crystal 10 and my SG was 1.044. I have no idea why it was so low. I did check for complete conversion. I used 5.2 at the beginning of the mash as well. Would a 4 degree drop result in low conversion?

It is possible that i did something completely off, since this was my first attempt ever at all grain.
 
Erik53 said:
uh oh. I just read that the sparge should last 30 minutes+. Humm. could my 2 minute sparge effect efficiency?
Click to expand...

yes it would, if you were fly sparging...it's ok, you set a new world record:mug:try a batch sparge the first few times IMO...link below

http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

additionally, check your temp a good five minutes or so after doughing in and mixing really really well. I kind of doubt you lost a whole 4 degrees. If you take the temp too soon, it will read a bit high IMO. You need to wait for it to stabilize w/ the strike water which takes a bit longer than you would imagine. The temp loss you had would likely not affect efficiency.
 
Erik53 said:
...

Bad news... This thing took a lot of heat before it settled in temperature wise. I added 3 gallons of water at 170* and after 20 min it cooled off to about 156*. Over the course of an hour is got down to 145*. I think the culprit is definitely the lid. I know that I questioned this theory earlier and I thought we had some empirical data, but the entire cooler is cool to the touch except for the lid, which was quite warm! I will definitely be picking up a can of great stuff to stuff this thing before I brew later this morning.
Click to expand...

Very similar to my experience from my last brew day - after I insulated the lid, even. I found I had to fill water into the MLT at a high temp (while I was heating more in the keggle), and wait until I hit the strike temp "inside" the cooler.

The heat loss during the "filling" is bothersome, but I think that if I can figure out how what the strike temp + "temp loss while getting mashed in" + "native cooler loss" is, I'll be ok. Beersmith will help, eventually, but it was a very manual effort last Saturday when I brewed.

I look forward to hearing about your next experience. Together we'll figure this one out, I'm sure!

Best,

Eivind
 
I usually throw in a gallon of warm water from the tap, and around a quart of boiling water after to pre-heat mine. After that using a 1.3 quart to 1 lb ratio I just heat the water 10 degrees F higher than my target and it works very well with no heat loss if I don't stir during the mash. Stirring will cause around a half a degree loss each time.
For apartment brewing I think this is an excellent component. (Note I use a SS braid, connecting tube and an elbow joint).
I think the only improvement I could make would be to seal the braid to the bottom, but right now I'm just careful when I stir it up before the batch sparges.

-- 2 minute sparge effect efficiency?
Did you set up some kind of 2 inch pipe? I don't see how you could drain it that fast?
I usually open my ball valve around half way to get a nice flow, but not compact the mash bed too quickly and possibly collapse the SS braid and deal with a stuck sparge.
I have been able to do a .38 mm crush of 1/2 wheat, 1/2 2 row without even a hint of a stuck sparge.
I used to have a tube inside with slits and suffered greatly from it. Thanks to Bobby_M's insistence it was not needed I took it out and he was right. (I don't mind being wrong as long as I can find my way to being right)
 
I have only done 1 batch (an amber ale) with this MLT, and my experience was similar to what Kahuna describes. I also use a SS braid, and I pre-heated the cooler prior to mashing. I think pre-heating is key in this large cooler.
I heated my strike water to 12 degrees higher than my goal mash temp, and actually had to leave the lid open for a few minutes after striking because my temp was 2 degrees too high! After I hit the desired temp, I closed the lid, wrapped it in a blanket, and lost only 2 degrees during the 60-minute mash.
I batch-sparge, and had no problems with a stuck sparge. I did have to tilt the cooler a little at the end to get some of the wort out. I miscalculated a little, and was about a quart shy of my goal volume, which I will take into account for next time.
Overall, this was my most positive experience with AG brewing to date. Pre-heat your cooler people!!
Now if I could just started kegging! :rockin:
 
Would a piece of foam the exact width and length placed over the mash and then the lid on top of the cooler not help to keep temperatures in check? Maybe wrapped in foil to keep the nasties out?
 
PurdyGood said:
I heated my strike water to 12 degrees higher than my goal mash temp, and actually had to leave the lid open for a few minutes after striking because my temp was 2 degrees too high! After I hit the desired temp, I closed the lid, wrapped it in a blanket, and lost only 2 degrees during the 60-minute mash.
Click to expand...

I've used this same cooler for 25-30 batches and this is exactly what I do. 12F over the strike temp. for pre-heating.
 
Bizoune said:
Would a piece of foam the exact width and length placed over the mash and then the lid on top of the cooler not help to keep temperatures in check? Maybe wrapped in foil to keep the nasties out?
Click to expand...

The only time I get heat loss is when I open to stir.
I also wait 5 minutes with the lid on before I settle on what my real mash temperature is. The bed needs time for the heat to even out and it may be why some people are thinking they are loosing a couple of degrees.
 
I have just converted this cooler with a copper manifold. On the test run with straight water I'm only loosing 1.5 cups to the mash angels. Will check how temp holds this weekend while on the maiden mash voyage.
 
This may be a dumb question, but thats why I'm here. I'm looking into AG and these threads are helping. My question is this. I use 6 1/2 gallon carboys to ferment. If I mash out a ten gallon batch can I just use two carboys each with 5 gallons and have two seperate batches of beer?
 
I also use the exact same cooler, and made a bulkhead kinda similar to the one erik made. I have used it a few times and only for 5.5 gallon batches and it works well. I also use a SS braid loop. I'm also wondering about the loss of wort in the bottom since the outlet is above the bottom. I have been tilting it but it disturbs the grain bed and i have to recirc. a second time to get bright wort. I think in the future i will just compensate with more sparge water. and dwrhah. I used my IR thermometer and checked the lid during the mash and it read about 100. i will insulate my lid before the next brew day.
 
brew2you said:
I use 6 1/2 gallon carboys to ferment. If I mash out a ten gallon batch can I just use two carboys each with 5 gallons and have two seperate batches of beer?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. I just did a brewday with two friends and we split a 15 gallon batch into 3 carboys, each taking one home to ferment. It would be cool (and quite educational) to pitch two different yeasts - one into each of your fermenters, so that you can compare the effects of the individual strains on an identical mash.

Go for it!
 
bikefoolery said:
I have just converted this cooler with a copper manifold. On the test run with straight water I'm only loosing 1.5 cups to the mash angels. Will check how temp holds this weekend while on the maiden mash voyage.
Click to expand...

Had the first run of the mash tun. Brewed a 12 gallon batch of Firestone DBA Clone: ~25 lbs of grain. Got 75% efficiency through the tightly slotted copper manifold, Very happy with results. Mashed in at 154. Top of the mash measured 152 after an hour, then I measured the temp of the wort coming out during the first runnings, and it started at 154-153. So I did have some uneven warm spots, but that doesn't worry me too much. I brew in California, it was a cold day, only 58 degrees.:D

The Fool.
 
what do you guys think about this cooler MLT vs something like a coleman extreme? I'm about to use some left over christmas money to jump into AG brewing and I need to build a MLT
 
I couldn't think of a better way to spend some x-mas money!

I think the Coleman extreme would work just fine. I know a number of other brewers on HBT have utilized that cooler. It appears that the extreme may have a little bit more insulation which would aid in holding the mash temps a little bit better, but this cube cooler has certainly proven sufficient for most brews. Good luck!
 
oldschool said:
I really don't like the posititon of the outlet on my 60qt cube cooler. May have to go to a water cooler in the future.
Click to expand...

I had some problems at first, but used 45 and 90 degree CPVC fittings to get "up" from the manifold resting on the bottom and into the outlet where I had a SS 1" x 1/2" nipple connecting into a CPVC adapter with 1/2" threads on one end and "slide-in" on the other.

-e
 
oldschool said:
I really don't like the posititon of the outlet on my 60qt cube cooler. May have to go to a water cooler in the future.
Click to expand...


No problem, drill a new outlet out the front, or the location of your choice. I've always felt that the front outlet that some have installed on these coolers makes a nice job.:mug:
 
I just built this myself, matching the parts bill almost exactly as listed by the OP. It was VERY easy to build. I would strongly recommend anyone else who is considering building this to invest in a cheap $10 PVC cutter, it made the job very quick and easy, and the cleanup was a breeze because there was no PVC dust that I would've gotten from my hack saw. I also used a Dremel tool with a basic cutter wheel for the slats, and I had them all done in less than 10 minutes. I just ran a dry run to test the drainage, and with 6-7 gallons, I got all but 2 cups worth of water drained.

I also drilled a few holes in the lid and sprayed a whole can of Great Stuff in there to help with the insulation. We'll see how well this thing holds heat later this week.

The only problem I had was getting the drainage going. I think this was because there is a pocket of air stuck at the top of the elbow leading to the drain. Once that was cleared out, I was able to drain as quickly as the 1/2" tube would allow (although I know I'll never by draining that quickly when lautering.)

Great Design! I can't wait until I actually get to try this out with my Dark IPA later this week.
 
I just built one of these with a copper manifold.

InsideMLT.JPG


So far only 2 batches. Last batch was 75% eff (don't ask about the 1st). I get all but about 1 cup after draining. I found it best (so far) to crack the valve all the way open to "burp" the hump in the line, and then set it for the right flow.

I've only lost 1-2 degree's over an hour. But I have been keeping a towel over the top just in case.
 
Just an update: I've done three batches with this build. Once I learned how to properly sparge, I have been getting around 73% efficiency with very little wort loss in the bottom of the tun. Last batch I somehow managed to disconnect the cpvc joint from the valve during my sparge. It was pain to scoop out all the mash and reconnect it, so I may end up gluing some of the cpvc joints together.
 
Thanks! But I've only done two batches thru it so far.....

3/32 holes on the bottom of the manifold

Manifold.JPG


The "extra" solder seems to help keep the manifold up a bit and still allow it to drain.
 
How did you come up with 3/32"? Does that size work well? I think I want to do either CPVC or copper with drilled holes. The CPVC seems easier to build. I have a 70qt extreme cooler so I will need to put an angled piple leading to the outlet and I will drill that as well to decrease my dead space.

Here is a really stupid DIY question...can you just put the CPVC together without glue? Does it just slip into the joints easily for assembly and disassembly?

Eric
 
Eric, I didn't glue my cpvc together and it works just fine and is really easy to clean. You have to be careful though, I managed to disconnect one of the sections during my last batch.
 
Erik53 said:
Eric, I didn't glue my cpvc together and it works just fine and is really easy to clean. You have to be careful though, I managed to disconnect one of the sections during my last batch.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply. I was thinking maybe just glue the joints? How are you planning on gluing it? Did you hit it with your mash paddle? That must have been a total pain to reassemble in the middle of the mash.

Eric
 

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