Building A Mash Tun

[Wolfy]

What would be the advantages to using a slotted pipe over a false bottom? It looks to me to be less effecient and a shitload harder to clean?

The fact it's cheaper and are really the main advantages, it's not hard to put together and you can custom fit it yourself.
If you're batch sparging there is no real impact on efficiency, a steel-braid does just as well (but is less permanent and more fiddly).

 

[nardcooker]

FYI Aldi has silicon bakeware at the moment, heaps of it going cheap.

http://aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/2827_12345.htm

edit: link

 

[boybrewer]

That looks great Siborg well done I am glad that there are no leaks . If you want some heat for your keggle you are most welcome to borrow my burner and gas bottle .


Cheers
Beerbelly

 

[Siborg]

That looks great Siborg well done I am glad that there are no leaks . If you want some heat for your keggle you are most welcome to borrow my burner and gas bottle .


Cheers
Beerbelly

hmmm... may have to take you up on that offer, as soon as I get some grains.

 

[grod5]

Manticle inspired. Crimped only for easy breakdown and cleaning (26L Esky).

 

[Siborg]

Manticle inspired. Crimped only for easy breakdown and cleaning (26L Esky).

Looks pretty good. Got any pics of the inside/outside esky wall? That's where I had my biggest problems with leaking. All good now... Time for my first mash in a tun.

 

[Barley Belly]

Looks pretty good. Got any pics of the inside/outside esky wall? That's where I had my biggest problems with leaking. All good now... Time for my first mash in a tun.

Here's some pics of mine
I had some leaking issues as well
Solved them with a big staino washer and a silicon bakeware one each side and a piece of conduit over the threaded brass tube, inside the esky wall, so the washers had something to pull tight against instead of just pulling the esky walls together. The slots in the copper were done with a 1mm angle grinder blade (quick and easy)

 

[Siborg]

Manticle inspired

Nuff said!

Here's some pics of mine
I had some leaking issues as well
Solved them with a big staino washer and a silicon bakeware one each side and a piece of conduit over the threaded brass tube, inside the esky wall, so the washers had something to pull tight against instead of just pulling the esky walls together. The slots in the copper were done with a 1mm angle grinder blade (quick and easy)

Nice. Very neat. The cut up silicone bakeware sounds like a great idea. I'll have to try and grab some from aldi. I was gonna mod mine to have four long lengths, but I was worried about the distance between the two middle ones, and it would have been cramped. I probably still could, I have enough copper left, I'd just need to get a couple more T's. Nice work on the cuts, too. I wish I had an angle grinder! Hacksaw wasn't too bad, though.

 

[grod5]

Before I tried to put anything through the wall of my cheap arse esky I knew I would have some issues with sompressing the insulation so I looked at something that had a broad flange (I said flange). I found a plumbing supply place that had water tank fittings that were suitable.

A few downsides being that due to the size of the said flange, the manifold does not sit flush on the bottom of the sky at the tap end increasing deadspace. I lift the back end of the wsky to compensate during runoff to lessen D/S to 0.3 litres. Other downside is that it isnot food grade so I (and other partakers of my shitty beer) are in for an eadly death. If I knew Ross had the answer, I would have gone with his product first up but I'm too lazy to change it now.

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=3637

daniel

 

[thom]

This is a very interesting thread. I've got plans to put together a mashtun, but I have one (possibly silly?) question. What type of copper piping have you all used? Does it make a difference between wall thickness or rigidity?

 

[manticle]

Hard copper pipe is best in my experience. I know some people have had success bending annealed copper to shape but when I tried it just kinked. Easier to cut to size and fit together with tees and elbows. From memory it's 3/4 inch but just the basic stuff that's available at bunnings. You don't need much (depending on the size of your tun). The actual diameter of the copper is really only relevant to making sure that it fits the other fittings you use - the size of the slots shouldn't be too large though.

 

[yardy]

some tips and pics here as well for budding tun builders http://www.brodiescastlebrewing.com/index.php?topic=948.0

Dave

 

[manticle]

^ -my inspirational pic thread when I made mine