My new mash tun

[ben the brewman]

Thanks for the advice ben. My pot arrived on Friday so I will be doing this shortly.

Wow sweet somebody else is going to give it a shot. Let me know how it works out for you. Is your cooler cracked or still in good shape? If its not cracked you may have to split it with a razor blade to get it to pull out easier. The liner comes out fairly easy but takes a little musscle to pull it of of the cooler. Definatly keep me posted on how it goes for you. If your gonna go with a weldless fitting I recomend putting the pot in the cooler first and then drilling your hole so it lines up perfect with the orginal. Also only cut the hanles off just above the rivits. I left the rivits in with the small pieces of the handles to avoid more welding costs.

 

[kincade]

I had been looking for some time for this, and even posted a thread!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/lining-10g-cooler-stainless-264317/

Thanks for taking the initiative, and thanks for the advice. Will post when I finish. FWIW, my cooler isn't cracked yet but is warping badly. Fitting will be marked and then welded in by a friend.

 

[WortMonger]

I use this same idea, only on a larger scale... and without the cooler.

Works great! Stainless is hard to beat when it is time to clean.

 

[LuiInIdaho]

WortMonger,
I like what you did -- that is really nice. Can you provide details on what the material is and how you accomplished this?
Thanks!

 

[ben the brewman]

I had been looking for some time for this, and even posted a thread!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/lining-10g-cooler-stainless-264317/

Thanks for taking the initiative, and thanks for the advice. Will post when I finish. FWIW, my cooler isn't cracked yet but is warping badly. Fitting will be marked and then welded in by a friend.

Be sure to weld the fitting in most of the way so it will go in the cooler with out sticking out.

 

[ben the brewman]

Here are the pics of my sparge assembly that I built. The pieces are all copper and the tri clamp fittings are stainless. I used a wort aerating spray tip as a diffuser for the water which works great. The first pic of the water running through it is on low and the second is on high flow.

 

[ben the brewman]

I had been looking for some time for this, and even posted a thread!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/lining-10g-cooler-stainless-264317/

Thanks for taking the initiative, and thanks for the advice. Will post when I finish. FWIW, my cooler isn't cracked yet but is warping badly. Fitting will be marked and then welded in by a friend.

Hows the progress coming on the mash tun?

 

[WortMonger]

WortMonger,
I like what you did -- that is really nice. Can you provide details on what the material is and how you accomplished this?
Thanks!

Here you go! Very fun project to do. This was mainly on the HLT, but the mash tun was just more simple a fabrication seeing as I didn't have to install a ETC or anything but insulation and shooting it with truck bed liner.

 

[WortMonger]

Ben, excellent fabrication! Great idea and i hope it works very well for you.

 

[ben the brewman]

Ben, excellent fabrication! Great idea and i hope it works very well for you.

Thanks man! Im gonna try it out tomorrow and I will let you guys know how it works out.

 

[kincade]

Hows the progress coming on the mash tun?

Well... It was going very well, and then the razor knife slipped, as did the cooler, and the razor hit my thumb. Went all the way to the bone. 4 stitches later and humpty dumpty is back together again. Note to self; NEVER hurry when holding a razor knife.

In any case, should be back at it tomorrow. Out of curiosity, what did you use to shave the foam back inside the cooler to get the kettle to fit? I was thinking a rasp would be perfect.

 

[ben the brewman]

Holly crap man! That sucks but I see how it could happen for sure cutting on a round plastic object. I used a hacksaw blade to trim the foam. I took the blade off of the saw and just held it in my hand and used it like that. Im sure a rasp would work pretty well too. Keep me posted.

 

[kincade]

I think it will go well assuming I can do it without cutting my arm off.

You had mentioned rivets on the handles; FWIW, my pot does not have any rivets. The handles are welded on.

 

[ben the brewman]

Huh thats odd my handles had rivets that went through the inside of the pot and held the handles on. If they are welded on just cut them off.

 

[kincade]

That's what I expected based on your photos, but mine was different. They must have changed their production line.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

That is a sweet build, but the price of the pot is a bit high for me.

Since I do a lot of 13 gallon batches now (2 x 5 gallon kegs and 1 x 3 gallon keg), I'm still thinking of building a keggle MLT. I need the extra space. Now, I just need to figure out a good way to insulate it.

 

[LuiInIdaho]

That is a sweet build, but the price of the pot is a bit high for me.

Since I do a lot of 13 gallon batches now (2 x 5 gallon kegs and 1 x 3 gallon keg), I'm still thinking of building a keggle MLT. I need the extra space. Now, I just need to figure out a good way to insulate it.

Cpt Kirks: Check out the thread put together by Wort Monger. He had a link found of Page 4 of this thread. It is an wonderful illustration of insulating the HLT and MLT - both kegs. Very informative.

 

[ben the brewman]

Cpt Kirks: Check out the thread put together by Wort Monger. He had a link found of Page 4 of this thread. It is an wonderful illustration of insulating the HLT and MLT - both kegs. Very informative.

It was nice but how much did it cost to have the liner sprayed on the kegs? Im sure it wasnt too cheap.

 

[motleybrews]

nice setup ben.

 

[WortMonger]

It was nice but how much did it cost to have the liner sprayed on the kegs? Im sure it wasnt too cheap.

I think it was $100-$150, and that was because I had them painted. Much cheaper if you go with the flat black rubber unfinished, but I wanted Chrysler Silver. This was overkill from what you could do. Heck, you could keep wrapping them in duct tape after the insulation was on and still have a great insulating product in the end.

 

[ben the brewman]

Well... It was going very well, and then the razor knife slipped, as did the cooler, and the razor hit my thumb. Went all the way to the bone. 4 stitches later and humpty dumpty is back together again. Note to self; NEVER hurry when holding a razor knife.

In any case, should be back at it tomorrow. Out of curiosity, what did you use to shave the foam back inside the cooler to get the kettle to fit? I was thinking a rasp would be perfect.

How is your thumb? How is the mash tun build coming along?

 

[kincade]

Thumb is healing well; mash tun is done. Just need to post photos. Haven't brewed with it yet, but it looks like it will work very well.

 

[ben the brewman]

I have used mine 3 times now and it works freaking great! Cant wait to see the pics of yours

 

[HItransplant]

anyone have numbers--- degrees lost over time. Hows this contraption perform?

im intrigued

 

[ben the brewman]

I can check the next time I brew with it. I do 60 min mashes so thats how long I would be checking it for. I think it will hold just as good as the cooler by. Ill let you know for sure though.

 

[kincade]

It should hold temps BETTER due to the different materials used (theoretically). I mash for 90 so I'll report on what my experience is.

 

[HItransplant]

That would be awesome. Thanks!

 

[mbk1487]

I can't believe this, Ben- I have been picturing almost this exact same setup in my mind for the last couple of weeks, but I had no idea you had posted this. Great minds must think alike! I am planning this same build with an electric heating element in the 3 inch open space between the bottom and the basket bottom, adding a March pump and a sparge arm threaded through the lid…add a Ranco and some quick disconnects, and for under $400 i'll have the equivalent of the Braumeister for a ton less dough. Just so weird to see you were doing what I had been scheming these past few weeks. Happy brewing!

 

[ben the brewman]

I can't believe this, Ben- I have been picturing almost this exact same setup in my mind for the last couple of weeks, but I had no idea you had posted this. Great minds must think alike! I am planning this same build with an electric heating element in the 3 inch open space between the bottom and the basket bottom, adding a March pump and a sparge arm threaded through the lid…add a Ranco and some quick disconnects, and for under $400 i'll have the equivalent of the Braumeister for a ton less dough. Just so weird to see you were doing what I had been scheming these past few weeks. Happy brewing!

I have been thinking of this for quite sometime too and was just lucky enought to find something that would work. It only took hours and hours of searching pots online to find the right one but im glad I did!

 

[ben the brewman]

It should hold temps BETTER due to the different materials used (theoretically). I mash for 90 so I'll report on what my experience is.

Be sure to preheat it first! It wasnt that big of a deal when it was plastic but now that its metal it will drop the temp quite a bit if its not preheated. I have been fliping mine over upside down and putting it ontop of my kettle while I heat my sparge water and letting the steam heat it up for me.