DIY Insulated Mash Tun

[jimmayhugh]

Picked this up from ebay (yes, the seller said it was decommissioned) :

Turned it upside-down, and went at it with a combination of angle grinder, sawsall, and dremel tool:

Yeah had a little "Whoopsie" with the sawsall, but not bad for first time try, freehand.

Next step is to order a false bottom, 2" Tri-clover, some pipe and a ball valve and try out my new mash tun. :rockin:

 

[moboy]

Nice start.

 

[jimmayhugh]

Well, I had a little free time one evening, so I used my dremel and a boxcutter to remove more rubber from the lid area, and plan to even out the metal lip:

Also got the hardware from Brewer's Hardware for the drain:

Unfortunately, the 13″ stainless steel false bottom I have for my 10gal Rubbermaid cooler is too large to get through the opening of my mash tun, so I’ll probably be ordering a new hinged false bottom from NorCal Brewing Solutions sometime soon. In the meantime, I’ll check for leaks and wait…

 

[iijakii]

Do you think the false bottom you have would fit well once you get it in? You can put two slits in the top with a jigsaw or dremel or something. Then you can slide 'er in.

 

[jimmayhugh]

Do you think the false bottom you have would fit well once you get it in? You can put two slits in the top with a jigsaw or dremel or something. Then you can slide 'er in.

The opening from rubber edge to rubber edge is only 12", plus the internal diameter is 15", so I figure that a hinged FB is a better bet.

 

[jimmayhugh]

Update:

Got my folding false bottom (thanks, JayBird!!)

And made a small stand out of scrap 2x4s

Filled it with water, nary a leak!!

 

[jimmayhugh]

OK, yesterday I filled the tun with about 13gal of 180 degree water, put a lid on top, and took temperature readings every 10 minutes for an hour and a half. The results were not good. Ambient temp was 68, with gusty winds. There was an almost linear 3 degree drop at every reading

I've already started gathering what I need for a RIMS setup, and I'm going to get some reflectix. :cross:

 

[Stevo2569]

OK, yesterday I filled the tun with about 13gal of 180 degree water, put a lid on top, and took temperature readings every 10 minutes for an hour and a half. The results were not good. Ambient temp was 68, with gusty winds. There was an almost linear 3 degree drop at every reading

I've already started gathering what I need for a RIMS setup, and i'm going to get some reflectix. :cross:

With RIMS no insulation is needed.

 

[Markd27]

OK, yesterday I filled the tun with about 13gal of 180 degree water, put a lid on top, and took temperature readings every 10 minutes for an hour and a half. The results were not good. Ambient temp was 68, with gusty winds. There was an almost linear 3 degree drop at every reading

I've already started gathering what I need for a RIMS setup, and i'm going to get some reflectix. :cross:

Was the lid insulated as well?

 

[jimmayhugh]

Was the lid insulated as well?

Nope just a standard lid this time, next time tho

 

[jcaudill]

With RIMS no insulation is needed.

Sorry this is a false statement. RIMS solves the problem of uneven mash temps due to direct fire. It does not solve heat loss. Insulating will result in reduced firing of the burner to maintain a temperature. Everyone who is not steam jacketed should have some form of insulation.

 

[jimmayhugh]

Sorry this is a false statement. RIMS solves the problem of uneven mash temps due to direct fire. It does not solve heat loss. Insulating will result in reduced firing of the burner to maintain a temperature. Everyone who is not steam jacketed should have some form of insulation.

That was my thought also, you just posted it for me... :rockin:

 

[iijakii]

Well I'd say it depends on your RIMS setup, right? If you're putting enough through it, you should be able to maintain temperature perfectly fine. Unless your ambient is very, very cold.

 

[Stevo2569]

Sorry this is a false statement. RIMS solves the problem of uneven mash temps due to direct fire. It does not solve heat loss. Insulating will result in reduced firing of the burner to maintain a temperature. Everyone who is not steam jacketed should have some form of insulation.

Sorry true statement. I usually mash in a cooler because it is more effecient. But I have mashed in my uninsulated Keggle several times and held temps with no problem with a 1500W element. So the term NOT NEEDED is correct.
Also I saw nothing in the pics or text that suggest this is a direct fire mash tun.

To the OP. I like the bottom drain. I've been pondering doing the same thing with an extra keg. Looks good. Pretty sure depending on power cost in your area and ambient temps there's no need to insulate. What's an extra .25 per brew day on heating element power. But hay it won't hurt. If you haven't already, check out the RIMS for dummies thread. Lots of great info. That's where I got the ideas for my design. Love my Rims and recently added auto-sparge. "Set it AND FORGET IT".

 

[JuanMoore]

You'll be surprised at how much better the grist does at holding temps than plain water did.

 

[jimmayhugh]

All of my previous AG brews (both of them) have been in my 10gal Gott MLT, and I never had a problem maintaining temp in it. I'm a gadgeteer at heart, so the heat loss I experienced was probably more of an excuse to get the RIMS I wanted than anything else.

I'm also in the process of making a keggle, and a hop torpedo.

 

[jcaudill]

Sorry true statement. I usually mash in a cooler because it is more effecient. But I have mashed in my uninsulated Keggle several times and held temps with no problem with a 1500W element. So the term NOT NEEDED is correct.
Also I saw nothing in the pics or text that suggest this is a direct fire mash tun.

To the OP. I like the bottom drain. I've been pondering doing the same thing with an extra keg. Looks good. Pretty sure depending on power cost in your area and ambient temps there's no need to insulate. What's an extra .25 per brew day on heating element power. But hay it won't hurt. If you haven't already, check out the RIMS for dummies thread. Lots of great info. That's where I got the ideas for my design. Love my Rims and recently added auto-sparge. "Set it AND FORGET IT".

RIMS does not imply a heated element tube. It only implies that wort is recirculated to maintain even grain beid temps. If you run a stainless vessel that is direct fired you will inevitably lose wort temp which will lead to excess firing as opposed to insulating and thus reducing firing and saving fuel. My point is: you can't make a blanket statement that all RIMS systems do not need insulation without knowing the exact setup.

 

[Stevo2569]

RIMS does not imply a heated element tube. It only implies that wort is recirculated to maintain even grain beid temps. If you run a stainless vessel that is direct fired you will inevitably lose wort temp which will lead to excess firing as opposed to insulating and thus reducing firing and saving fuel. My point is: you can't make a blanket statement that all RIMS systems do not need insulation without knowing the exact setup.

Ok. I'll agree with that. I just assumed the OP was constructing a RIMS like most people with a heat tube. Most people just refer to what you are implying as recirculating.
So JimmyHugh, do you plan on using a heat tube or just recirculating? If your recirculating in a insulated MT without a heat tube i would think you will lose temps unless your hoses and pump are insulated as well. Sense you said temp loses is your excuse to build a RIMS. I assume your using a heat tube.

 

[wilserbrewer]

You'll be surprised at how much better the grist does at holding temps than plain water did.

^^^^

Very true! Data collected for heat loss using just water is meaninglesss IMHO. A mash will behave very differently, and a large mash will behave differently than a small mash.

 

[Bobby_M]

If we're going to get technical, RIMS doesn't require an insulated tun but I would argue that insulation is a worthwhile endeavor. My furnace could probably keep the house at 70 even with all the windows cracked open but we don't do that.

 

[jimmayhugh]

Ok. I'll agree with that. I just assumed the OP was constructing a RIMS like most people with a heat tube. Most people just refer to what you are implying as recirculating.
So JimmyHugh, do you plan on using a heat tube or just recirculating? If your recirculating in a insulated MT without a heat tube i would think you will lose temps unless your hoses and pump are insulated as well. Sense you said temp loses is your excuse to build a RIMS. I assume your using a heat tube.

Yup, came in the mail yesterday . Now I have to order the PID, find the element I want, and get the thermocouple.

 

[JKoravos]

If we're going to get technical, RIMS doesn't require an insulated tun but I would argue that insulation is a worthwhile endeavor. My furnace could probably keep the house at 70 even with all the windows cracked open but we don't do that.

It depends how you define 'require'. You can mash in a keggle with no recirc, no stirring and no insulation and you can probably still make good beer. Your mash will lose 10-15 degrees over the hour, but if you start at 160 and it drops to 150, you'd never know anything was 'wrong' with the process.

If you run a RIMS/HERMS/etc. in an uninsulated metal vessel you are going to end up with a bit of a wacky temp profile in the vessel. Insulation will smooth it out considerably. Would you be able to tell a difference in the finished product? I don't know, probably not, but it would certainly pay for itself in energy savings in pretty short order.

In short...agreed.

 

[flananuts]

A single wrap of reflectix is quite impressive for heat retention whether you use rims or herms. Since my system is 100% electric Heat retention lets me use less electricity and maintain good temps.

 

[hermsfun]

I second the wacky temperature profile comment. I have been using an insulated herms systems very close to your setup and for fun I borrowed a 8 channel thermocouple probe from work. I recorded the mash temperatures at various radius and depths to find out what kind of variance there was from my herms output setpoint. It wasn't good... I saw anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees just trying to maintain a mash. Step mashing from a protein rest was even worse.

I insulated my keg and my body issues went away. Step mashing was much more uniform and quicker too.

I found there was some channeling effect with the single fitting on the bottom. I had to play with how I returned the mash to the top of the grain bed to try and improve channeling temperature differences.

 

[jimmayhugh]

Yesterday I bought a 24" x 25' roll of reflectix and several rolls of metal tape at Home Depot.

I wrapped the tun with three layers of reflectix, making sure that the seams were in a different location each time. I also cut out several layers for the lid:

 

[hermsfun]

Nice! It might be worth popping a hole on the cap to bring the rims line through... Another note is to limit the length of the line from your rims chamber to the mash. I insulated mine too with some foam pipe insulation pieces from lowes...

 

[stamandster]

This is almost exactly how I'm gonna do mine. How much would did you use to make the stand?

 

[kh54s10]

This is almost exactly how I'm gonna do mine. How much would did you use to make the stand?

Check out your nearest lumber store. They probably have a cart or something where they sell short or damaged "culls". Home Depot does at $.51 for any piece, usually cut to 4' or less.

 

[jimmayhugh]

This is almost exactly how I'm gonna do mine. How much would did you use to make the stand?

I had some scrap lumber laying around, so I didn't really count

 

[clamskittles]

Hey Jimmay, could you give me a break down of what you have on the bottom of the keg? Looks like a tri-clover 90 degree elbow with clamp on the sanky valve, then tri-clover ball valve clamped on that? I guess what i'm asking is..What size tri clover fits onto the old sanky valve with out leaking?

I want to make my keggle, and I think it makes since to cut off the bottom and make use of the sanky valve to drain if you are going electric or RIMS