Heated Mash Tun (interesting find)

[worstbrewing]

I haven't quite found anything like this listed here on the forum so I thought I'd post my latest find. I got this off of Craigslist, it's a Sanke keg that has been welded inside of a big drum of some sort (it's made of iron, so the outside looks a bit rough). The drum has a valve and a filler port, as well as a sight glass, all so you can fill the entire drum with water, then a water heater element (lower left of front-facing pic) can be used to heat the water, forming an insulated jacket of sorts around the Sanke keg mash tun.

There is a false bottom that is removable but I forgot to include it in the pictures, as well as a really nifty sparge arm (I'll try to take some more pictures soon) and a drain from the bottom center. I haven't tried it yet, as it obviously needs a few things fixed up first but the guy said he had great success from it doing different mash steps, etc. I'm pretty stoked to get cracking on getting this thing up and running and thought I'd share this rather unique find.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm sure it's not perfect but I'm very curious to try it out!

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Well, it's ugly (looks like an old water heater), but it's a cool idea. I wonder how fast it can move from one temp step to another. I'm also wondering if he circulated the water to keep a consistant temp throughout.

 

[steelcitybrew]

My god! how many people did it take to move this bad boy?

 

[worstbrewing]

Oh yeah, it's ugly as sin! He had a pretty neat idea I plan to implement, surrounding it with wood or at least faux-wood floor pieces so it looks like a barrel to at least give it a unique touch. As for recirculation, he mentioned that he had tried it but typically had good results with just heating the water. He used a 220v heating element in it previously, which I'll probably do (not gonna rely on what's there, needs some work and an enclosure)

 

[worstbrewing]

My god! how many people did it take to move this bad boy?

Yeah, it was heavy! With two people its very easy to move but sure is a pain with just one! I'm gonna try to come up with some kind of dolly or something to move it around with I think.

 

[steelcitybrew]

haha i bet. (lighter than I initially thought)
Bad a*s set up though

 

[worstbrewing]

Yeah, I think Suthrncomfrt is right, pretty sure it's an old water heater. The guy has all sorts of home-made equipment he built between the 70's and 80's when he brewed, but stashed it all away into his basement and decided to sell some of it off. I also got a 15 gallon keg that was welded together with a 7.5 gallon one to make a 20-some galloon keggle and a regular 15 gallon keggle. It was definitely neat to see the various home-made stuff but this one really caught my eye, something new to play with.

 

[worstbrewing]

Sorry these took so long... two new pics of the inside, one with the false bottom in place, one without, showing the center drain. I had a chance to fill it up, no leaks! :rockin: Still haven't had a chance to try the heating element, as I'm planning to replace it first, but pretty excited to try it out. Will give more updates as they progress!