building a 10 gallon cooler mash tun

[Jeepinctbrewer]

my main complaint from my false bottom is that it leaves a half gallon at the bottom. I can't tilt it to get the wort out because that just puts the drain point in the center.

BTW.. nice jeep man! Got a JKU myself.. starting to plan for a trip to Rausch Creek, PA. Wheeling, camping and of course.. homebrew!

Thanks.. Love going wheeling and camping. Did that in Vermont before. I need to come up with a good micro brewery name with jeepin and brewing in it

 

[ilikeguns]

Thanks.. Love going wheeling and camping. Did that in Vermont before. I need to come up with a good micro brewery name with jeepin and brewing in it

Definitely check out Rausch.. Worth the drive.

Re: micro brew name
That's a tough one for the same reason that I had coming up with one that included my other passion (see my screen name) .. You have to be very clear that the beer is for AFTER... Still haven't come up with one

 

[Tyru007]

I have a 10 gallon rubbermaid cooler fitted with a SS bulkhead fitting and ball valve. I have tried it fly sparging with a SS perforated false bottom, SS braid and Bazooka Screen.

The false bottom is only needed if you are fly sparging. As I have used both several times on the same recipe and gotton the same efficiency, I don't fly sparge anymore.

The bazooka screen is nice in that it is a lot stiffer than the braid so that it tends to stay in place. The tradeoff is that the holes in the screen are bigger so you tend to get more fines requiring a little more recycle.

The SS braid works great but can move around when stiring. It does give a clearer wort.

I tried a PVC manafold once with slits. Worked OK but got a lot of fines and grain husk in the first runoff and was more dificult to clean. I also had to take care not to hit it while stiring since it was not welded together. I would not recommend a manifold in a round cooler.

11" domes false bottom for 10 gallon round cooler:

Bazooka Screen: (you will need to fold the end since it will not quite fit in a 10 gallon round cooler.

SS Screen:

As an update, I got a chugger pump which i use to recirculate the wort for about 2-3 minutes prior to sending to the boil kettle. Bazooka screen worked great.

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

You use pliers to fold the kettle screen ?

 

[Tyru007]

Yes. I didn't bother with cutting

One nice thing about the bazooka aka kettle screen and the SS braid is that I just lightly screw them into the nipple hand tight (no tape or wrench). Just unscrew when your done and rinse off or stick in the dishwasher. The false bottom requires you loosen some clamp and tubing to remove and the manifold was a real pain.

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

Ah ok thanks, looking forward to trying it out

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

Ready to rock and roll

 

[histo320]

Here's mine. I haven't used it yet next brewday next Saturday but in my trial run there was only about .25 gallon left and I could probably tilt it to get more out.

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

Very nice.. Do you have anything inside the hose braid?

 

[Mojzis]

Here's mine. I haven't used it yet next brewday next Saturday but in my trial run there was only about .25 gallon left and I could probably tilt it to get more out.

I usually tilt mine after the last sparge. I let it incline and drain for ~20 minutes while I'm getting the boil going. Works well.

 

[histo320]

Very nice.. Do you have anything inside the hose braid?

I do not have anything in the braid but it is pretty stiff and I am only using about 10-12 lbs of grain since it is only a 5 gal tun.

Is it common practice to put a reinforcement in the braid?

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

I here some people put a stainless spring in it
Mine went flat. I think it was because they kept the braid flat and rolled up for shipping

 

[Mojzis]

You don't need a spring, unless you order one and it comes rolled up

If you make one out of the ss braid from a home improvement store it will stand up. As long as you don't go and flatten it yourself. A ss spring couldn't hurt though.

 

[brew2enjoy]

Here's my PEX manifold. Works great

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

Very nice

 

[histo320]

Here's my PEX manifold. Works great

Looks awesome, how much dead space do you have? How did you put holes in the pex? Are all of the holes on the bottom? I don't see any in the picture.

I will be getting a 10 gallon tun here in the near future and will possibly use this method for my manifold.

 

[brew2enjoy]

Looks awesome, how much dead space do you have? How did you put holes in the pex? Are all of the holes on the bottom? I don't see any in the picture.

I will be getting a 10 gallon tun here in the near future and will possibly use this method for my manifold.

I used a 1/16 drill bit and drilled holes on the bottom. Not much dead space at all, I haven't actually measured the exact amount though. Here's my thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/recent-diy-projects-s-s-mash-paddle-pex-manifold-384774/

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

First all grain batch came out awesome !! never looking back

 

[ilikeguns]

First all grain batch came out awesome !! never looking back

Nice! So how long was brew day? My first one was about 6+hrs! Getting it down now.. I'm looking into a bucket heater with a temp controller to preheat my tun and strike water. This way I can premeasure my strike water and just drop the bucket heater in a few hours ahead of time and let it go. When I get around to brewing, i can just dump my crushed grains in and start my mash timer.

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

oh man it was almost 8 hours bc of the problems with the hose braid, and it took over a hour on my gas stove to get 6 gallons boiling.
going to order a bayou sq14 burner soon, to take brewing outside this summer. or i might try splitting the batch between two pots next time.

 

[ilikeguns]

I have an outdoor propane setup but I'm starting to take a closer look at electric brewing. The stove will take forever.. I've been down that route..

 

[lespaul23]

I use a $7 braid with a 3/8 plug in the "crimped" end to keep it down. I also ran a piece of tubing with holes drilled in it up inside the braid. I fly sparge with no problems. I have done grain bills as big as 18lbs in my 10gal cooler. Last mash came out at 86% efficiency. Couldnt be happier with anything else.

 

[Echoloc8]

I have an outdoor propane setup but I'm starting to take a closer look at electric brewing. The stove will take forever.. I've been down that route..

Let me second the bucket heater/heat stick suggestion. I use an electric range (2 eyes) plus the heat stick, and can get a 7 gal wort from mash temps to boiling in under 20 minutes if I cover the pot. Just watch for boilovers whenever covering heating wort!

-Rich

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

just ordered my bayou sq14 burner, should boil a lot faster now

 

[Jeepinctbrewer]

Change of plans, austin hombrew had free shipping over the weekend , so I ordered a 12" false bottom with my next all grain batch