Ever seen an electric mash tun?

[Ksub123]

Perhaps the most involved part of the brew day is mashing, and on my current setup (converted coolers) it’s also one of the most inconsistent.
-When I transfer water from my kettle to the mash there is always some temperature loss.
-Sparging requires that I take the lid off of the cooler so again the mash is cooling, and if I haven’t done a mash out then it will change my wort profile.
- Multi step mash’s are nearly impossible
-Not to mention I am manually transferring near boiling water.

There are lots of things I could do to improve the situation but the other day it occurred to me that an electric mash tun would take care of all of that and more. I went online to see what that would set me back and I can’t find one commercial example. I’ve been pretty diy with things so far but I think this is above my pay grade.

An electric mash tun would be perfect. Double walled insulation. It would only need to get to 170F so 120v should be sufficient for a 5 gal batch. Programmable step mashing. I know this is starting to sound like a grain father but I would still prefer to boil in a kettle over a burner for efficiency and this is more like an upgrade to the basic setup than a substitute?

Has anyone seen something like this? Should I sell the idea to Blichmann?

 

[yourlastchance89]

SS Brewtech has an optional heating pad for there's as an addition to help maintain mash temps. Other than that that the only thing I can think of is a HERMS or RIMS system, or like I do, BIAB in a kettle and just use direct fire to maintain temps.

 

[Ksub123]

I saw the SS heating pad but it only produces enough heat to maintain temperature.

RIMs will work and I’m considering that but it’s more complicated than I was hoping for.

 

[RPh_Guy]

It's not as dramatic as you're making it sound.

When I transfer water from my kettle to the mash there is always some temperature loss.

So.... Heat it a little more than your strike temp. It's super easy to hit the exact strike temp. Let the water stabilize in the mash tun for a few minutes after the transfer and then cool with a bit of ice if needed.

Sparging requires that I take the lid off of the cooler so again the mash is cooling, and if I haven’t done a mash out then it will change my wort profile.

A few degrees of heat loss really doesn't matter.

- Multi step mash’s are nearly impossible

Well, step mashing is really questionable whether it provides much advantage over single infusion for modern malts to begin with... But all you need to do in order to step mash is add controlled amounts of boiling water. That's far from impossible.

Not to mention I am manually transferring near boiling water.

Most of us can avoid getting burnt. Pretty much every brew day deals with boiling water.
You can pump it or use tubing with a gravity transfer.


It sounds like you want to "upgrade" to a RIMS or HERMS or direct heat mash tun with recirculation. All of these allow greater temp control, easier step mashing, and clearer wort.
You need a PID controlling the element.

Cheers

 

[doug293cz]

Perhaps the most involved part of the brew day is mashing, and on my current setup (converted coolers) it’s also one of the most inconsistent.
-When I transfer water from my kettle to the mash there is always some temperature loss.
-Sparging requires that I take the lid off of the cooler so again the mash is cooling, and if I haven’t done a mash out then it will change my wort profile.
- Multi step mash’s are nearly impossible
-Not to mention I am manually transferring near boiling water.

There are lots of things I could do to improve the situation but the other day it occurred to me that an electric mash tun would take care of all of that and more. I went online to see what that would set me back and I can’t find one commercial example. I’ve been pretty diy with things so far but I think this is above my pay grade.

An electric mash tun would be perfect. Double walled insulation. It would only need to get to 170F so 120v should be sufficient for a 5 gal batch. Programmable step mashing. I know this is starting to sound like a grain father but I would still prefer to boil in a kettle over a burner for efficiency and this is more like an upgrade to the basic setup than a substitute?

Has anyone seen something like this? Should I sell the idea to Blichmann?

I think you will find that 120V heating for a step mash will lead to excessively long step transition times. At 120V you will be lucky if you can get 1°F/minute heating rates. If you are ok with that, then good. If you are going to heat the mash, then you need to be recirculating (pump required) or stirring whenever heat is applied. If you have, or can get 240V, then electric boiling will be as fast or faster than propane for boiling, and very much cheaper.

A direct heated mash tun is really nothing new.

Brew on

 

[Bobby_M]

An electric BIAB kettle is exactly what you're talking about. The mashing occurs in a bag in a heated vessel. The power input is great enough that insulation isn't needed but you COULD wrap it if you wanted to. It maintains heat, you can step mash, etc. Once you go there, you realize that you also don't have to run off to a separate boil kettle as it IS the kettle.

 

[verboten]

I really liked my biab system I built for brewing demos, I’ve been using it for my regular rotation beers a bit.

 

[Jayjay1976]

My elec biab rig uses 2 separate 120V, 1600W elements driven by one controller (Auber ez-boil); each element is powered separately by plugging into two outlets on different circuits. 220V performance in a flexible, portable system that doesn't require a 220V outlet. Ramp-up times are snappy and mash rests are super stable.

 

[RPh_Guy]

How do you have one controller for 2 circuits?

 

[Jayjay1976]

How do you have one controller for 2 circuits?

One controller drives a pair of SSRs. Two power cables supply separate circuits; the primary cable also powers the controller and switched pump outlet, the second only drives the second SSR. Has been working really well and I've brewed ~35 batches with it so far.

Edit: Here is a thread about it, a wiring diagram is in post 17, BTW its all tested and works well.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/2x-120v-2000w-elements-on-one-controller.601237/