paulthenurse
Fecal Transplant Super Donor
- Joined
- May 14, 2007
- Messages
- 12,277
- Reaction score
- 2,207
So I broke down and bought a new cooler for a new mash tun. Why? I got tired of struggling to get the amount of strike water I wanted into my 5 gallon Gott cooler. There are too many times when it's just too small.
'The temp is a bit too high,' now I need to cool it off quick!
'Do a quick decoction,' to raise the temp is a PITA.
'Want to make a really high gravity beer', you need to plan it out like the assault on Omaha beach.
I've been playing that game for far too long and I'm done messing with it. One of the first things I bought 'again' when I got divorced was the making of a set up for brewing. I've been using that kimchee rigged set up for a number of years and I've brewed many a batch using it. But it was time. I needed a mash tun that could hold what I wanted. I struggled with the idea of cutting the tops off my kegs, but I make a lot of wine and I always end up needing the kegs for some sort of short or long term storage, so turning them into keggles wasn't really an option. Obviously I need a few more, but obviously I have too many as it is...
Here is the new mash tun in action...
And this is EXACTLY why I'm glad I made it. I've got 13 1/2 lbs of grain in there and the temp is only 150*F, wicked easy to add a bit of hot water and get it just right. I left the grain in my car overnight and it was around 20*F here at 7 AM. Dooh! Yesterday I would have been running around like a one armed paperhanger at this point. Now, I'm sitting on the computer, listening to sports radio and sipping a brew. Life is good.
PTN
'The temp is a bit too high,' now I need to cool it off quick!
'Do a quick decoction,' to raise the temp is a PITA.
'Want to make a really high gravity beer', you need to plan it out like the assault on Omaha beach.
I've been playing that game for far too long and I'm done messing with it. One of the first things I bought 'again' when I got divorced was the making of a set up for brewing. I've been using that kimchee rigged set up for a number of years and I've brewed many a batch using it. But it was time. I needed a mash tun that could hold what I wanted. I struggled with the idea of cutting the tops off my kegs, but I make a lot of wine and I always end up needing the kegs for some sort of short or long term storage, so turning them into keggles wasn't really an option. Obviously I need a few more, but obviously I have too many as it is...
Here is the new mash tun in action...
And this is EXACTLY why I'm glad I made it. I've got 13 1/2 lbs of grain in there and the temp is only 150*F, wicked easy to add a bit of hot water and get it just right. I left the grain in my car overnight and it was around 20*F here at 7 AM. Dooh! Yesterday I would have been running around like a one armed paperhanger at this point. Now, I'm sitting on the computer, listening to sports radio and sipping a brew. Life is good.
PTN