I bought a bunch of Beer equipment. Noob question...

[Ckarsanac]

I have only done extract brewing, but want to do get into AG. I bought a bunch of equipment from my wife's co-worker. I know the first picture is a cooler mash tun, but is the 2nd and 3rd picture a mash tun, too? The 3rd picture is the false bottom. I know this is a dumb question, but I've only ever seen the cooler mash tuns. Thanks!!

 

[boo boo]

Woah, nice boiler you have there sir. You sure are lucky to score that for what I expect would be a decent price. Congrats on the move toward AG.

 

[Yooper]

That second and third picture looks like a great boil kettle!

 

[Runyanka]

That screen in the boil kettle is to prevent hops from getting into your fermenter.

 

[Ckarsanac]

oh! Ok. So I don't want to mash in that. Got it. I thought maybe I could mash in it and use the burner to maintain temp. But anyway... Thanks!

I'm going to try the "Smooth Oatmeal Stout" reciepe in the next few weeks. (Under the Stout reciepe section here.)

 

[Yooper]

oh! Ok. So I don't want to mash in that. Got it. I thought maybe I could mash in it and use the burner to maintain temp. But anyway... Thanks!

I'm going to try the "Smooth Oatmeal Stout" reciepe in the next few weeks. (Under the Stout reciepe section here.)

It's a very nice BK! You've also got a nice MLT, so you're all set. Nice score!

Your manifold looks upside down in the pictures, though. The slots should be on the bottom of the MLT, not upwards.

 

[Ckarsanac]

Ok. I'll flip them over. Cheers!

 

[LandoLincoln]

If that giant "50" means that it's a 50 liter kettle, then that means you have about a 13 gallon brew kettle? If so, then you could comfortably brew a 10 gallon batch in that bad boy. I'm jealous.

 

[fifelee]

If you already have a boil kettle you could mash in the other "boil kettle" you just bought. If you mash in a pot then you can direct fire to keep the mash at temp and/or do step mashing.

 

[Ckarsanac]

Well, I actually got 2 boil kettles in the deal. The one I didn't show doesn't have a thermometer or false bottom, but its the same size with a valve.

For my first AG, should I use the cooler or the pictured boil-kettle to mash in?

 

[LandoLincoln]

Well, I actually got 2 boil kettles in the deal. The one I didn't show doesn't have a thermometer or false bottom, but its the same size with a valve.

For my first AG, should I use the cooler or the pictured boil-kettle to mash in?

The one without the false bottom is the one you should use for either your HLT (hot liquor tank - a tank that heats your needed water) or it could be used as an MLT (mash / lauter tun - a tank to soak and rinse the grains in). Using it as an MLT would allow you to heat it during the mash at various stages of the mash, which gives you some extra abilities with certain recipes or styles of mashing. But in the beginning of your AG experience, you could just use it as an HLT, the plastic cooler as your MLT, and the kettle with the false bottom as your boil kettle. I'm assuming you got some kind of chiller to go with this? Perhaps it was in the picture. I can't see it as I type this.

 

[Ckarsanac]

I got a copper wort chiller and a counter-flow wort chiller. I don't think I'll use the counter-flow chiller, though. But, I may tie it into the hose of the regular wort chiller and dunk it in an ice bath to really cool the wort. I guess I could use it the other way around, too. I haven't decided.