Chapman 15 gallon mash tun

[Rob2010SS]

Looking to upgrade to 10 gallon batches in the future, but I need to replace my mash tun. I'm looking at 15 gallon mash tun and I found this... The Chapman 15 gal Mash Tun.

Anyone have one of these? What do you think of it? Is there a better mash tun for $350?

 

[Rodent]

I have one of those, and have used it for ~5 brews now. I made use of the upper port for a hacked reddnek HERMS

Pros:
- never had a stuck sparge yet. the perforated design has been wonderful, even on a RIS with significant flaked oats
- once heated it holds temp forever
- the thermometer was within 0.5F of my reference temp gauges

Neutral:
- the original 2-piece ball valve is ok, but I found it was difficult to get ALL of the gunk out after my third brew. I swapped over to a tri-clamp style ball and have been happy with the newfound ease of cleaning up

Cons:
- there is always a small bit of weeping from the lower port. it could be possible to eliminate it, but I'm not wanting to deform the stainless by tightening more than the rubber washers being 2/3 of the way smushed
- it's heavy when the 22# of dry grain is wet and it needs to be moved
- you need to use about 10 gallons of heated water to preheat unless you're using a HERMS/RIMS to adjust water temps

Anything specific you'd like to know more on?

 

[Rob2010SS]

I have one of those, and have used it for ~5 brews now. I made use of the upper port for a hacked reddnek HERMS

View attachment 585516

Pros:
- never had a stuck sparge yet. the perforated design has been wonderful, even on a RIS with significant flaked oats
- once heated it holds temp forever
- the thermometer was within 0.5F of my reference temp gauges

Neutral:
- the original 2-piece ball valve is ok, but I found it was difficult to get ALL of the gunk out after my third brew. I swapped over to a tri-clamp style ball and have been happy with the newfound ease of cleaning up

Cons:
- there is always a small bit of weeping from the lower port. it could be possible to eliminate it, but I'm not wanting to deform the stainless by tightening more than the rubber washers being 2/3 of the way smushed
- it's heavy when the 22# of dry grain is wet and it needs to be moved
- you need to use about 10 gallons of heated water to preheat unless you're using a HERMS/RIMS to adjust water temps

Anything specific you'd like to know more on?

Awesome information, thanks!

I guess my biggest concerns were build quality and the ability to hold temp. Any idea what kind of temp loss you experience without preheating the vessel?

 

[Rodent]

Any idea what kind of temp loss you experience without preheating the vessel?

without preheating, I was unable to achieve 149F mash temp on a 2xIPA with 22.5# of 68F grain and 190F strike water. all of that insulation was really sucking up the heat.

I left my wet grain filled tun out on the deck this past early May, with temps down into the 50s at night and mid 60s in the afternoon, and the lid sitting on the top (i.e. not clamped down). temp dropped less than 10F in 16 hours.

I preheat with 130F tap water right out of the faucet, and let it set while I'm making salt adjustments and heating my mash/sparge water

 

[Rob2010SS]

without preheating, I was unable to achieve 149F mash temp on a 2xIPA with 22.5# of 68F grain and 190F strike water. all of that insulation was really sucking up the heat.

I left my wet grain filled tun out on the deck this past early May, with temps down into the 50s at night and mid 60s in the afternoon, and the lid sitting on the top (i.e. not clamped down). temp dropped less than 10F in 16 hours.

I preheat with 130F tap water right out of the faucet, and let it set while I'm making salt adjustments and heating my mash/sparge water

Ohhhhh ok that makes it easy. I didn't even think about using the hottest tap water. That's a lot easier than trying to heat up 10 gallons of water on the burner and measure out your strike water after.

190 to 149 is significant. I'll just have to get in the habit of pre heating.

 

[muledogus]

I only do 5 gallon batches but got one of these for a steal at my LHBS because it had a dent on the outside.

Only one batch in and I think the only con with one is the weight. It is bulky and heavy with a 5 gallon mash, I can't imagine how heavy doing a 10gal would be. However, I just put it where it's going to be for my sparge before adding grain now so I don't have to move it while it's full.

I will definitely up my preheat next time as, like stated above, it absorbed about 10 degrees from my strike water almost immediately after my "normal" preheat routine. Held heat great afterwards though but I had to check manually as my 5 gallon mash did not quite reach the thermometer.

I guess It's almost time to move up to 10gal batches but I just got a new 10gal blichmann brew pot so it would probably require selling that and upgrading.