Ice Box Mash Tun

[watertrade]

Hi Guys,
I'm waiting for the right time ( and price ) to get an ice box like these

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/5-to-16-day-ice-rat...1QQcmdZViewItem

for my next mash tun it will be one of the smaller 60 litre ones. they are food safe, strong etc, etc

do you know of any reason why I wouldn't want to use one of these??

Cheers


Jim

 

[danbeer]

Hi Guys,
I'm waiting for the right time ( and price ) to get an ice box like these

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/5-to-16-day-ice-rat...1QQcmdZViewItem

for my next mash tun it will be one of the smaller 60 litre ones. they are food safe, strong etc, etc

do you know of any reason why I wouldn't want to use one of these??

Cheers
Jim

I recently got an 80L one, with a similar idea in mind.

I'm pretty sure they're food grade plastic.

 

[watertrade]

Hi Danbeer,
just wondering...did you buy the techni ice or the chilli ice?

 

[danbeer]

Hi Danbeer,
just wondering...did you buy the techni ice or the chilli ice?

Techni-Ice.

They seem to come up a lot on grays online.
(also on sale at techniice.com.au till 11th Jan)

No point paying more for one than is absolutely necessary.

 

[Wortgames]

Grays is terrible, don't bother unless you are definitely getting a really good deal.

I bought some stuff from them recently - firstly, don't forget they whack on 15% for themselves. Then you've got a narrow window on one specific day to pickup (with threats of forfeiture if you fail). When you get there they are rude and unhelpful, you stand and wait at the cashier, only to be told you have to go to the other cashier, then once you've got your docket you get sent further round to pick up your goods, by which time you are about 500m from your car.

Then you stand and watch for half an hour while the monkeys try to find your stuff, then move pallet loads of other stuff out of the way to get your stuff down from the top rack. Then you have to drag your stuff through all the other folks who have parked their vans right in the loading dock.

If you're getting the bargain of the century it might be worth it, otherwise eBay is probably cheaper and friendlier, plus you get it delivered to your door.

 

[bugwan]

As a tightarse brewer, I'd recommend going for a 55 ltr Willow (et al) from Bunnings, KMart, BigW etc. They're not going to cost you any more than eBay and you don't need to worry about postage, or the possibility of buying a dud.

My experience is, you don't need a state of the art esky to keep the mash at temp for 60 mins. If you're keeping beers cold over a 5 day camping trip, then maybe you're advised to invest in the uber-esky you linked to.

Just my $0.02 worth...

 

[dicko]

As a tightarse brewer, I'd recommend going for a 55 ltr Willow (et al) from Bunnings, KMart, BigW etc. They're not going to cost you any more than eBay and you don't need to worry about postage, or the possibility of buying a dud.

My experience is, you don't need a state of the art esky to keep the mash at temp for 60 mins. If you're keeping beers cold over a 5 day camping trip, then maybe you're advised to invest in the uber-esky you linked to.

Just my $0.02 worth...

Yes I totally agree!
You only need a vessel to hold temp for 60 mins and be just slightly larger than your largest mash requirement.
BTW, in SA you can buy those suckers from a lot of auto parts stores, camping outlets, and other retailers.
A 60 litre unit will be big enough to do a 50 litre brew (or bigger) so that you will need a kettle that has a minimum capacity of 70 litres (90 is what I use) and then you need bigger fermenters, more fridge storage, and the list goes on!!
K.I.S.S. is a good policy, and it doesn't cost as much.

Cheers

 

[brendanos]

do you know of any reason why I wouldn't want to use one of these??

Multi rest mashing? ;D

 

[redbeard]

get a reasonable esky witha drain & invest a further $5 for a can of that space filler foam & fill the lid for insulation.

i assume if the uber-esky (insert your fav amulet) is marine grade, then its food safe. if your still keen on buying one, then one option is rays has 20% specials every 6mths or so ... also u should think about what manifold & tap can be screwed into the drain. some have 3/4" holes & others 1 1/4" from memory ...

 

[watertrade]

If I do get one of these its only an extra $20-$30 on top of a normal esky. My main worry is getting a decent grain bed depth with 'smaller' batches.

I've been mashing with an esky that is too small for too long.... :angry:

I will report back if this turns out to be anything special
Cheers

 

[watertrade]

. if your still keen on buying one, then one option is rays has 20% specials every 6mths or so ...

what / who is rays??

 

[sah]

If I had one of those I wouldn't let my grist near it. They're excellent for camping (keeping it cool for a long time). I've got a cheap rubbermaid with a hollow lid from BigW. If I hit my mash temp I place cut section from a closed cell camping mat on top of the mash. It keeps the temperature for 60 minutes. If I'm a bit high I leave it off.

regards
Scott

 

[redbeard]

rays camping. perhaps they are only in east aus ? perhaps if u fill in your location in the profile, it will help others.

cheers

 

[watertrade]

Thanks redbeard,
I have never heard of them.. I live canberra and used to live in sydney.!...

'under a rock'


http://www.raysoutdoors.com.au/about.html

cheers

 

[Barramundi]

Rays havent been in sydney that long either and there is only a handfull of stores so far , they are everywhere in victoria

 

[danbeer]

rays has 20% specials every 6mths or so ...

Rays have a sale every weekend!

(Well, maybe every second one at a stretch )

It's a running joke in my household.

Look! Rays is having a sale! :lol:

 

[alamout]

i just got a 60litre techni ice off ebay for $56 (+ $30 delivery) which came with a bonus 18litre esky, and some of those "dry ice" packs they're flogging off too. I'm sure it might be overkill but even the cheap camping stores or bunnings seem to want about that much for a cheap one, and with some luck i can sell the small one and the ice packs back on ebay and take a little off the total.
haven't actually got it yet will post back once I do a mash in it.

 

[GMK]

what was the link - seller id for all that.

 

[alamout]

what was the link - seller id for all that.

http://myworld.ebay.com.au/unbelievablycool/

Prices seem to vary a lot, I noticed over the weekend the ending bids were a bit higher than during the week as would be expected.
I'm a bit of a stinge so I just kept creeping the bids up until I got one for a price I was happy with, he seems to have several hundred going at any time so you should be able to get one for a decent price if you watch the ending times.

 

[ant]

I reckon it would be overkill as a mash tun for regular batches, but it would be very useful for a big batch, or AHB meet batch... if you do go down this route, look for a unit which has the height to allow you to serve from 3 gallon kegs too - at least you get two uses out of it for the $$$! The taps should be mounted high enough that they won't be a problem for a mash...


Oh, and you'd want a pump too - wouldn't like to see that many kg of grain and water up high for gravity feeding h34r: would be a PITA to move once full!