Ghetto Masher?

All,

I'm saving for a wedding, so my funds are tied up and brewing dollars are hard to come by. I am trying to make the leap from extract to all grain on a budget. a tiny budget.

As I was walking through WalMart a few days ago I came upon an IMUSA 32 Quart tamale steamer that has been referenced in other threads. This is the exact same one: http://www.target.com/p/imusa-32-qt-aluminum-tamale-steamer/-/A-10910892

My plan is to buy two of these pots. I would use one as a boil kettle and one as a MLT.

On the MLT, I have seen that Blichmann BoilerMaker's use a "button louvre" on their false bottoms. My thought process is that I could make the strainer part of the above pot into a similar false bottom. I would do this by shunting up led free slugs just barely above the strainer's holes. I would then solder them into place with a led free high strength/melting point solder. After that I would put a weldless ball valve assembly below the pot's indentation. Viola, a MLT.

I would also plan of making an insulation wrap for it from any hot water heater insulation they have at WalMart as well. I am pretty sure I can do this all for ~$30-35. Not bad for 32 quart MLT.

I would appreciate any suggestions. I am wondering if the solder is a feasible bonding agent for the slugs? I suppose I could put the ball valve above the strainer and feed a pipe from the valve to below the false bottom? I know these pots are somewhat flimsy, but hey, I'm on a budget. Anyone ever tried a similar approach before?

Slainte

 

If it were me, I would look into brewing in a bag for now.
I don't know much about it other than it's the cure all for tight space and budget based on what I've read on here.

Buy one very good pot for the brew in a bag system.

When you have the money to do the setup you want, buy the rest of the all grain gear.
I've found that if I settle, I end up wasting money.
I buy the budget stuff, then I'm not happy and end up buying the decent gear also. It costs me more to buy the budget stuff.

 

I agree, 1 pot and BIAB is a better investment, even when spending the bare minimum. You can either spend less or get a bit of a nicer pot.

 

are you wanting to do a direct fire mash tun? if not i would just buy a cooler and fittings rather than mess with soldering that false bottom.

 

Hmmm, I will have to give BIAB a try. I attempted to convert a 50 quart Coleman cooler into a MLT about 2 years ago. It leaked worse than the titanic (it was about 15 years old). I do like the idea of doing a direct fired mash after looking into it a little bit more. Aim big right?

I've read that using a 5 gallon paint strainer bag is a good starting point for BIAB. Any suggestions on that? I'm worried there might be seepage from the strainer material as they are not rated for food applications, especially high temp ones.

 

BIAB, BIAB, BIAB

single pot all grain, unless you are wanting to do 10 gal batches biab makes total sense. Here is my two tier all grain that I do 10 gal batches on.



But when i do a five gal batch I biab in the boil kettle. Hard to beat a 3 hour brew on minimal equipment.

I built a dedicated biab rig for my father in law, have yet to get below 80% eff. When biab.

 

I just bought the same pot (though larger 40 qt. size) from buy.com for $33 shipped. They have a 52 quart as well for $35 shipped.

http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=232943708

 

I doubt that the interior of a 15 y/o coleman cooler is either.....

If you don't want to use a common paint strainer (I have for years with no issues), go drop $5 on a voile curtain sheer at Wally World and line your pot with a chunk of that.

 

If you are handy with a needle and thread, or know someone that is, make a bag out of a curtain sheer. Otherwise the 5 gallon paint strainer is the way to go.

Here's my dead simple (read ghetto) setup
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/09/biab.html?m=1

This is the pot I use. It comes with a false bottom that I think keeps the bag from melting, although some people say you don't even need the fase bottom. The other thing I like about it is the thick sides. It stays within one degree of the mash temperature, even with no heat, for 60 minutes. So I can forget about it for the mash step and do something else.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Presto-16-Quart-Aluminum-Pressure-Canner/5913467

 

Just convert the kegs with a ball valve and a screw in filter that goes inside the keggle. Make single infusion recipes only. Get the water up to temp in the keggle, dump in the grains. When done, you'll need your old brewpot to drain the hot liquor into. Sparge with your small kitchen pots. Once you've got it sparged, dump the spent grains and reload into the keg. BAM!

Better yet, grab a buddy and have him/her do the same conversion, and drain keggle to keggle.

 

Thanks for the responses every one. Looks like BIAB is going to be the next step on my slow march towards a full fledged Brutus 10 set up (which I hope I make before the decade is out). Time to buy a bigger pot and a bag.

WoodlandBrew, great idea using the rack to hold the bag over the pot. I was starting to wonder how I was going to manage rigging up a rope and pulley system in my backyard. Thankfully I have some racks about that I will use in a similar fashion.