Mash Tun

[stanley1271]

So I am going to be building my Mash Tun out of a round cooler and I was looking at it and remembering how the books say you have to account for lost liquid in your equipment. One part that I can see having wasted liquid is in the Mash Tun due to the manifold at the bottom not being able to get liquid under it.

So I was wondering why you would not drill a hole from the bottom and put your CPVC (or whatever material) on the bottom like a drain? You would only need a platform that would be tall enough to allow for the CPVC to go under the platform. This is of course assuming you have a false bottom to keep the grain from going down the drain.

It just seems like it makes more sense, yet I have not been able to find any posts or books that use this method. Is there a reason why? Is it just because the coolers already have a spout that can be replaced, so it makes it easier to modify?

-Stanley

 

[smakudwn]

I did mine like the rest here with the round drink cooler, just easier to not have to drill holes in the cooler, I use a copper manifold and I don't lose much liquid.

 

[rockytoptim]

I have a rectangular cooler with copper manifold. I have checked it with water and I only leave about 1/2 - 3/4 qt in the bottom of my MLT

 

[Bitterbrush]

My manifold leaves hardly nothing in the bottom of my Rubbermaid cooler. I used copper and put some slits on the bottom of the manifold. When you get a siphon going it really sucks up anything on the bottom. I was shocked the first time I tried it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/copper-manifold-10-gal-rubbermaid-cooler-228061/

 

[GatorDad]

First, Hello Tampa!

So I was wondering why you would not drill a hole from the bottom and put your CPVC (or whatever material) on the bottom like a drain?

I fooled around with this idea once. My problem was connecting CPVC to a hole in the bottom of a cooler - without glue or without an adapter that made a large lip in there, trapping more fluid than if I just used a pickup tube.

 

[Catt22]

IMO, the bottom line is that's it's not worth the trouble simply to recover such a small amount of wort. When fly sparging, there should be nearly nothing left to recover anyway. I fly sparge and the loss of a quart or two of very low gravity wort is of no concern to me. T mostly brew 12 gallon batches with the hope of getting at least a full 5 gallons into two kegs at the very end. Nothing much in brewing bugs me as much as coming up short in the kegs. Even when batch sparging, the second sparge runoff is relatively low gravity and not the high grade stuff, so losing a bit of that is no big deal really. You are heading down the path to the dark side thinking about designing a home brew system. My point is that there is no end to it. You are doomed.

 

[stanley1271]

@Catt22 - LOL my wife would certainly agree I am already well on my way down that path.

So I looked at it a bit closer and I can see where it would be more work than needed for what little you would gain. Thanks all for putting me back on my dark path.

-Stanley

 

[Catt22]

@Catt22 - LOL my wife would certainly agree I am already well on my way down that path.

So I looked at it a bit closer and I can see where it would be more work than needed for what little you would gain. Thanks all for putting me back on my dark path.

-Stanley

Stanley,

I am not joking. Keep your credit card at the ready. Soon, you will be on a first name basis with your UPS driver. Beware the free shipping. That will get you every time.

 

[iaefebs]

I lose 2 quarts in my braided hose Rubbermaid 10 gallon "round" mash tun.