# Type Of Mash Tun



## churchy (25/9/08)

Hi guys whats the most common mash tun.I want to buy a esky but what is the most popular round or rectangle!The 10 gallon water coolers are hard to find cheap(around $50+freight)It would be easier as I could put in a false bottom.But I will have to get a rectangle esky and make a copper manifold.I only plan on batch sparging.Any thoughts.

Cheers Andrew


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## Supra-Jim (25/9/08)

Beerbelly makes false bottoms for rectangular eskys from memory. His gear comes pretty highly recommended around these parts from what i've seen.


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## hughman666 (25/9/08)

go to BCF or similar camping store. the round eskies go for between $50 - $80 depending on where you go. round eskies are good for false bottoms, maintaining a good depth of grain bed etc. rectangle eskies are good for capacity (can go up to 100+ litres) and are usually quite cheap. false bottoms for these can be bought from beerbelly (i think) or just use a length of braid...



churchy said:


> Hi guys whats the most common mash tun.I want to buy a esky but what is the most popular round or rectangle!The 10 gallon water coolers are hard to find cheap(around $50+freight)It would be easier as I could put in a false bottom.But I will have to get a rectangle esky and make a copper manifold.I only plan on batch sparging.Any thoughts.
> 
> Cheers Andrew


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## churchy (25/9/08)

I went to Ranger camping and they wanted over $100.I have seen them at a online shop in australia for $49 but had run out of stock.


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## the_fuzz (25/9/08)

grab a rectangle esky and then a "falsie" from BeerBelly - it hit 85% consistently using this setup

* Disclaimer - note, you may not hit the same efficiency's


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## Screwtop (25/9/08)

Saw one of THESE (48 quart model) in action last Saturday at Jays brewday. The Brewdood tun was about AU$140 delivered here from the US I think Jay said, about $70 of it was freight. Originally I used a round KeepCold but this thing had much less thermal loss. Even after an hour the outer skin was not warm, they come complete with ball valve and manifold. All in all a pretty good thing, all pulls apart easily for cleaning.


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## seemax (25/9/08)

churchy said:


> Hi guys whats the most common mash tun.I want to buy a esky but what is the most popular round or rectangle!The 10 gallon water coolers are hard to find cheap(around $50+freight)It would be easier as I could put in a false bottom.But I will have to get a rectangle esky and make a copper manifold.I only plan on batch sparging.Any thoughts.
> 
> Cheers Andrew



Check eBay regularly, I've seen lots of decent Esky's go for < $10 in melbourne. Then head off to bunnings/mitre 10 and get some bits to modify it. Copper tube will involve some work. Braid is the easiest system, but efficiency can be a problem. Or just do a BIAB in the Esky, you should be able to get 75%.


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## the_fuzz (25/9/08)

Screwtop said:


> Saw one of THESE (48 quart model) in action last Saturday at Jays brewday. The Brewdood tun was about AU$140 delivered here from the US I think Jay said, about $70 of it was freight. Originally I used a round KeepCold but this thing had much less thermal loss. Even after an hour the outer skin was not warm, they come complete with ball valve and manifold. All in all a pretty good thing, all pulls apart easily for cleaning.



These look pretty good - especially if you are after an "out of the box" model


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## Fents (25/9/08)

Techni Ice.


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## jayandcath (25/9/08)

Out of curiosity, I have had a lot of interest in my mash tun since the post of my first AG day. Would there be any interest in try to organize a bulk buy.
I know a guy that handles shipping imports etc, and I could make some calls, anybody interested????
Have a look at the link in Screwtop's post.

Jay


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## churchy (25/9/08)

Looks like I might get one then , they look good all complete for that price.Jay as I live in WA I would have to pay the extra freight.How much cheaper would it be doing a group buy.

Andrew


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## jayandcath (25/9/08)

churchy said:


> Looks like I might get one then , they look good all complete for that price.Jay as I live in WA I would have to pay the extra freight.How much cheaper would it be doing a group buy.
> 
> Andrew



Mate I'm not sure, I sent old mate a mail, so give us a couple of days and see what he comes back with.

Jay


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## churchy (25/9/08)

I was thinking though I could buy a cheap esky and manifold.$140 could buy alot of grain.


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## hoohaaman (25/9/08)

Fents said:


> Techni Ice.



+1 for Techni Ice and Beerbelly's false bottom,be careful though your effeciency may be dangerously high


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## yardy (26/9/08)

churchy said:


> *I was thinking though I could buy a cheap esky and manifold.$140 could buy alot of grain.*



hey churchy,

have a look here, MASH TUN, there's a few pics etc when i built my first tun, might help you out.

Cheers
Yard


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## turto77 (26/9/08)

jayandcath said:


> Out of curiosity, I have had a lot of interest in my mash tun since the post of my first AG day. Would there be any interest in try to organize a bulk buy.
> I know a guy that handles shipping imports etc, and I could make some calls, anybody interested????
> Have a look at the link in Screwtop's post.
> 
> Jay




I might be interested if the price is right


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## justsomeguy (26/9/08)

If you've already got an esky then use that. If not, then get a really cheap one with the capacity you need and some stainless braid. Much cheaper than getting one imported from interstate/overseas which means more to spend on other stuff. (Also stops SWMBO from going mental because of all the money you've spent on something that you told her would 'save us heaps in the long run' )

gary


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## crozdog (26/9/08)

They are easy to build - you either modify an esky by installing a falsie / some braid or do what I did & made one from scratch. For my monster tun, I picked up a 200l drum for a couple of bucks, a roll of foil backed bubble wrap for $5; a metre of 1.5" braid for $50; some allthhread; a ballvalve; a T piece; 2 hose clamps; 2 male-male threaded fittings to screw into the T to mount the braid on. i also bought a roll of duct tape. Total cost less than $100.

After making a chock so the allthread came out straight, I wrapped the drum in many layers of bubble wrap. I use a piece of polystyrene foam (broccoli box) to sit on top of the mash to reduce heat loss from the top. Works brilliantly - the 1st use gave over 85% efficiency! The spent grain bed was still sitting at 70 degrees an hour after the wort had been drained off. :super: 

I have just made another smaller one (90l) using the same techniques as the 75l esky i have been using has finally died.  

My point is they are not hard to make from scratch so if cash is a bit tight or you like tinkering give it a go. The cost of this project is less than I have seen eskies selling for.

Camping mat has been used by a lot of guys so use that if you can't find bubble wrap cheap. 

Pics can be seen in my gallery showing ISB big brew days


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## redbeard (26/9/08)

Croz is my mashtun hero ! :lol: 

im in the rectangle mashtun camp


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## Fents (29/9/08)

bubblewrap rocks for insulation. had my first ever mayo bucket mash tun wrapped in it and it held temp for yonks.


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## churchy (29/9/08)

I just bought a 10 galloon water cooler for $60 delivered, looks like a trip to bunnings to get some stuff whats better getting parts for the manifold in copper or plastic and what about ball valves metal or plastic.

Cheers Andrew


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## yardy (29/9/08)

yardy said:


> hey churchy,
> 
> have a look here, *MASH TUN*, there's a few pics etc when i built my first tun, might help you out.
> 
> ...





Copper.


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