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

aledawg · Feb 16, 2014

Here you go!

Overview of mash tun

The mashing manifold upside down, showing the slits which were cut with a hacksaw and "polished" with sandpaper

Showing the "neck" of the mashing manifold

This is the fly sparging manifold which is mounted under the lid of the mash tun

Inside the mash tun, showing the connector from valve-manifold neck

Inside mash tun, manifold connected

Close-up of manifold neck connected to valve adapters

Outside valve

Close-up of outside, a mixture of rubber and metal washers

Hope that helps!

aledawg · Feb 16, 2014

Here you go!

Overview of mash tun

http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/1?c

The mashing manifold upside down, showing the slits which were cut with a hacksaw and "polished" with sandpaper

http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/0?c

Showing the "neck" of the mashing manifold

http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/4?c

This is the fly sparging manifold which is mounted under the lid of the mash tun

http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/5?c

Inside the mash tun, showing the connector from valve-manifold neck

http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/3?c

Inside mash tun, manifold connected

http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/2?c

Close-up of manifold neck connected to valve adapters

http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/6?c

Outside valve

http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/7?c

Close-up of outside, a mixture of rubber and metal washers

http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/8?c

Hope that helps!

Wreck99 · Feb 16, 2014

That does help alot! Thank you for the very detailed pictures. I think I'm going to re-engineer my setup a little. Your pickup line to the drain is alot cleaner and looks like will solve my concern about knocking into it while stirring compared to what I have right now. Thank you for the pics man. I'll post mine when completed.

I also like your fly sparge arm setup. How did you mount that to the lid? I was originally going to make a 2nd manifold and just lay it onto those lips we have along the sides of the cooler, but that would keep the top propped open (not sure if that's an issue or not).

aledawg · Feb 16, 2014

Hi again,

For the fly sparge manifold, I made a rectangle and added one "center tube". The holes were drilled with a small drill bit. I glued the rectangle together, since this one (unlike the bottom manifold) doesn't have to be taken apart for cleaning.

I then drilled a hole in the lid, and glued the tube that goes through the lid to the manifold itself and the top 90-degree connector. I used a CPVC cement as the glue. It smells a bit at first but goes away quickly.

The dimensions for the sparge manifold are here: http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/9?c

The dimensions for the mash manifold are here: http://ge.tt/4ZNBmEK1/v/01?c

Best,
-e

Wreck99 · Feb 17, 2014

Thanks aledawg. You inspired my new design, though I didn't feel too comfortable drilling a hole into the lid just yet. Here's some pics. A test run with water was a huge success. I have to think this will improve my product from the old setup. I switched out as much of my copper/brass as possible with the SS fittings I could find. Still need to find a SS barbed adapter for the valve outlet.

I drilled 3/32" holes every 2 inches in the sparge arm. Never fly sparged before, so this should be interesting. But the shower comes out real nice. The arm just sits snug over the lips of the cooler sides. No need to secure it.

Wreck99 · Feb 17, 2014

Best part is, this is all that is left from a full system drain. I call that a win!

aledawg · Feb 17, 2014

Very nice! I have the same results for left-over fluid, so it's very efficient.

One thing that bothered me for the first few runs: I had a "significant" temperature drop in the mash (5-6 degrees over an hour), so I put some insulation foam inside the lid. This helped a bit, so I now have about 2 degrees drop over 1 hour, which is about as good as I'm going to get it.

Good luck, and enjoy!

Wreck99 · Feb 17, 2014

What I've done over the past couple years using this mash tun (when it had SS braid) was throw a heavy quilt over it. I too noticed that massive temp drop at first and this has helped me get by so far. Great suggestion with the foam though, I may do that in the future. Heck, when I'm ready to mess with the lid I can punch the sparge arm through there too. Thanks again for all your help man. This project was fun to do. Now to test it on some beer!

HEY! I just realized your location lol. Wow, you aren't far from here at all! I'm from Warminster.

Wreck99 · Feb 18, 2014

Test fly sparge run with 5 gallons of water in 30 minutes. Didn't think I was draining that fast. Perhaps having the grain in there will change those numbers some.

Robbyraz · Mar 23, 2014

So i have the same cooler that i'm ready to convert. One question i have is if
i batch sparge how much liquid will i be able to drain from the bottom of the manifold. I was concerned about the height of the drain plug and was considering drilling a new hole and relocating it lower on the side. I want to be able to get as much of the first runnings as i possibly can so i can achieve the best effeciency posssible.

foos-n-brew · Mar 23, 2014

I have one of these that I use with a C-PVC manifold. I only leave big one a pint or two or liquid. I drilled a hole in the front of the cooler for my ball valve. The siphon from the attached hose will drain it down to the bottom of the cooler.

Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

aledawg · Mar 23, 2014

Robbyraz said:
So i have the same cooler that i'm ready to convert. One question i have is if
i batch sparge how much liquid will i be able to drain from the bottom of the manifold. I was concerned about the height of the drain plug and was considering drilling a new hole and relocating it lower on the side. I want to be able to get as much of the first runnings as i possibly can so i can achieve the best effeciency posssible.

When doing "dry runs" without the grains, there's no more than 1-2 cups left of fluid.

In a real world situation, the grains will hold on to lots of fluid which is more slowly "released", so more liquid will be left in the cooler.

But, in a batch sparge scenario, your first runnings will be mixed with the 2nd, and you'll still get the vast majority of the goodness out of the cooler and into your boil kettle

thekraken · Sep 30, 2014

I recently built this mash tun and it's worked well for two batches, I did a little experimenting and thought I should share/contribute.

Going by the procedure outlined here: http://www.beersmith.com/forum/index.php?topic=9324.0
I came up with a specific heat for our ice cube cooler of 0.235 and a weight of 12.9 lbs.

I know most people are preheating their tun so this may not matter to you, but thought id share just in case some beersmith users wanted to check that "Adjust temp for equipment" check box.

stillshinen · Dec 22, 2014

What about drilling a hole in a different spot in this cooler so it is lower and drains better? I am getting the 70 qt version and am looking to see if others have drilled new holes.
Thanks

Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

thekraken · Dec 22, 2014

stillshinen said:
What about drilling a hole in a different spot in this cooler so it is lower and drains better? I am getting the 70 qt version and am looking to see if others have drilled new holes.
Thanks

Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

You can if you want to. However, the manifold siphons all the liquid up from the bottom so it may not be necessary.

Misplaced_Canuck · Dec 22, 2014

thekraken said:
You can if you want to. However, the manifold siphons all the liquid up from the bottom so it may not be necessary.

Technically, it's the siphon (vacuum) itself that draws all the liquid down to the slots on the manifold, not the manifold itself. As long as the bottom of the siphon hose is lower (preferably significantly lower) than the bottom of the mash tun, the siphon will empty the mash tun. The other condition is that the siphon hose has no air in it and is not allowed to suck back air.

I use the same design.

MC

wtaylor3 · Dec 26, 2014

I bought this same cooler, a 1/2" ball valve, (2) 1/2" mpt to 3/8" barb fittings, hose gaskets, and a toilet supply hose....reused the two cooler parts as the OP did...

It works, but the ball valve keeps getting loose and the rubber hose gasket barely fit over the mpt and then when it did finally there wasn't enough thread to install the ball valve.

Thinking I need to convince swmbo that I need a 3" (or so) mpt nipple to thread through the cooler wall, various cooper for a manifold, and nuts for either side of the wall....I know with the elbow for the manifold on the inside and the ball valve outside I shouldn't need the nuts but figured they'd be extra insurance

reynolds5520 · Dec 26, 2014

stillshinen said:
I am getting the 70 qt version...

Unless they have changed since I bought mine last year, the 70 qt just has a taller lid than the 60 qt. In other words, it won't hold any more mash than a 60 will.

wtaylor3 · Jan 3, 2015

Brewed co3c with the toilet supply hose and decided I didn't like it so I built a cpvc manifold and brewed an IRA and I love it...

If I can just get my CFC figured out and an outdoor burner ill be pretty happy with my brewery setup for now

View attachment 1420338449652.jpg

View attachment 1420338474803.jpg

Wreck99 · Jan 3, 2015

I definitely noticed a slight improvement when I switched from the SS braid to a CPVC manifold setup. Looks good!

jspain3 · Jan 7, 2015

Turns out I had this exact igloo cooler buried in my garage. I've been wanting to make the jump to AG and this looks like the route I'll take. At this point, I'll just need to buy the bulkhead and the CPVC parts. The only downside is my cooler was spray
painted and a lot of it is chipping off. I don't want any paint chips to be mashed in, so I'm scrubbing off the dried paint first (at least the sections that pose a threat to flaking into the mash).

rudylyon57 · Jan 7, 2015

bullinachinashop said:
Did you check to see how much wort your going to lose? I built a similar manifold for my 48 qt cooler and found that I lose almost 1/2 gal.

I'm thinking of making a copper false bottom and a custom fitting filter bag that I'll be able to remove after sparging.

Maybe I'm crazy

Bull

Should drain all wort until siphon "vacuum" is broken wherever air is allowed to enter system first as wort level falls. Might be tricky if vacuum is lost while sparging. Looks like the first point of air leakage will be either at the top of the slots or at the connection to the bulkhead valve assuming that's not sealed, whichever is highest.

But this looks like a nice clever and efficient design. Bravo!

rowan57 · Jan 7, 2015

With mine (water testing not full mash) and a rather chunky PEX manifold I lose precisely 900ml (2 pints).

stillshinen · Jan 8, 2015

rudylyon57 said:
Should drain all wort until siphon "vacuum" is broken wherever air is allowed to enter system first as wort level falls.!

Put this concept in mind is there a certain amount of the CPVC pipe that you want to cut the slots in? Is it half is it less than half is it creates just wondering what everyone else is doing?

stillshinen · Jan 8, 2015

Wreck99 said:
I definitely noticed a slight improvement when I switched from the SS braid to a CPVC manifold setup. Looks good!

What is everybody using two cutlass C
PVC pipes?

jspain3 · Jan 8, 2015

stillshinen said:
What is everybody using two cutlass C

PVC pipes?

I haven't built mine yet, but I have a CPVC cutter (something like this http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HSAPR8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20). It makes cutting the pipe super easy and clean. The only hard part will be finding it in my cluttered garage.

Also, is 1/2" CPVC the way to go? I already have lots of 3/4" pipe but that may be too big plus it's PVC. On that note, would a thinner pipe (1/4") create a better vacuum?

wtaylor3 · Jan 8, 2015

jspain3 said:
I haven't built mine yet, but I have a CPVC cutter (something like this http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HSAPR8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20). It makes cutting the pipe super easy and clean. The only hard part will be finding it in my cluttered garage.

Also, is 1/2" CPVC the way to go? I already have lots of 3/4" pipe but that may be too big plus it's PVC. On that note, would a thinner pipe (1/4") create a better vacuum?

I used a coping saw

I would not use pvc personally, high temps

thekraken · Jan 8, 2015

1/2 or 3/4 is good, just make sure it's Cpvc and not regular PVC, or you could use copper or stainless steel tubing $$$. I can't answer your question about the 1/4 pipe...

Wreck99 · Jan 8, 2015

stillshinen said:
What is everybody using two cutlass C
PVC pipes?

I used something like this.

wtaylor3 · Jan 11, 2015

Has anyone installed a water heater element in this mlt?

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

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