Made My Mash Tun

[fergi]

well i have just finished my mash tun, i was going to use copper in it but decided to go with the pvc water pipe, mainly because it was easier to work with, i have put a thermometer through the side wall and i encased most of the probe inside a copper tube to help protect it while stirring my mash, i filled it up with water and then drained it out to see how much i left in the bottom,it leaves about 650 ml in the bottom which isnt too bad i guess, i then drilled the inch hole in my stainless pot and put a tap through the side, this leaves about 3 litres in the bottom of my boiler after draining.should i try and put a pickup inside the boiler to try and get more of the liquid out, and do i need a strainer in there as well.pics of mash tun and boiler.
fergi

 

[Jazzafish]

Looks great mate, will make you nice beer.

I'd put a dip tube in the kettle if your worried about a little waste, but most of that 3 litres will be break and trub that you may not want in your beer? Just make sure you bend the pick off tube back to the side, as all of the trub will form in the centre after a whirlpool. Only use a filter/hopscreen if you use whole hops, otherwise it is more hassel than help IMHO.

So, time to mash in?

 

[The Mad Hopper]

I just finished building mine yesterday as well! I went with copper piping which turned out to be easier to work with than I'd thought. I seemed to get about a 4 degree temperature drop over the 90 minute mash, which I'm not to happy about (if anyone has any ideas for extra insulation I'd love to hear them). I've yet to put a thermometer in, but I'm thinking I can't get away without doing that.

I'd try making a batch without worrying about a strainer. I whirlpooled yesterday and almost all the sediment collects in the middle. I'm thinking that any that does make it through will fall out in the primary.

 

[manticle]

I just finished building mine yesterday as well! I went with copper piping which turned out to be easier to work with than I'd thought. I seemed to get about a 4 degree temperature drop over the 90 minute mash, which I'm not to happy about (if anyone has any ideas for extra insulation I'd love to hear them). I've yet to put a thermometer in, but I'm thinking I can't get away without doing that.

I'd try making a batch without worrying about a strainer. I whirlpooled yesterday and almost all the sediment collects in the middle. I'm thinking that any that does make it through will fall out in the primary.

In my tun I have limited headspace. I place a piece of aluminium foil over the mash, limit stirring to the beginning and make sure I preheat the tun with a litre or so of boiling water.
Finally I place a sleeping bag over the tun while the grist mashes. My temp used to drop a little before I started doing this. Insulation/camping mat foam could be tailored to be more permanent.

However my understanding is that most conversion occurs in the first 20 minutes so that would be the crucial time to my way of thinking. Happy to be wrong.

@Fergi: good stuff. Getting it done is well satisfying. Finally bought the bits and pieces yesterday to put a tap into my soon to be keggle so two boils/chills per brew will soon be a thing of the past.

As for the strainer - I've made probably around 12 successful AG brews now with my limited equipment (and one not successful) and have poured the wort straight into the fermenter once chilled for all of those. I use whirlfoc and leave the last bit of trub/break in the pot and the beers are clear and tasty. The strainer will probably help and if you want to put it in then by all means but in my experience it's not essential.

 

[The Mad Hopper]

Thanks for that Manticle. I think I have a few of those old camping mats lying around that may be able to be put to good use. I've heard the same thing about the conversion taking place in the first 20 minutes, so I wasn't overly worried (probably lost most of the temperature due to opening and stirring, I'll just leave it next time).

 

[fergi]

ok well i have just finished doing my dry test run"wet test run". first as i have only got a 3 ring burner i put 35 litres of tap water into my 50 litre stainless pot, this is probably a bit more than i would be using as i am only brewing one batch at a time, ie 22 litres into my fermenter, the 35 litres took 45 mins to come to the boil so i know that once i put my mash juice into my pot it will bring it to the boil in around 45 mins, i then turned the two inner rings off and adjusted the large outer ring to get a gentle rolling boil, i only did this for 15 mins as i couldnt see much point in doing it for the full 60/90 mins. i drained some of the hot water into my mash tun and added some cold water to bring it to 66 deg, i left the boiling water in the tun for about 5 mins to pre heat then added cold water to bring it to 66 deg, i put an old water bed heater over the top of the mash tun which i had already switched on about 10 mins before that,then added two blankets around it, i checked the temp on the through the wall temp gauge, which incidentally is one of those meat thermometers that you can buy for less than ten dollars, i checked it at 15 min intervals, 15 minute mark no temp drop, 30 min mark no temp drop, 45 min mark 1/2 deg, 60 mins 1 deg and 90 mins 1 1/2 deg. i used a stainless steel fowlers temp gauge at the beginning and at the end and my through the wall temp gauge seems to show about half a deg higher than the stainless one.the 3 litres that i have left in my pot after boiling i would imagine would only be trub, not sure but maybe someone can fill me in on this as to weather i have to get more out .my 3 ring burner seems to work ok although the inner small burner seems to have a lot more yellow flame than the other two burner rings, i tried adjusting the brass air control on it but didnt seem to make any difference, so i am not sure if i should turn the brass ring in to close off more air or bring it out to let more air in, anyway it boils the 35 litres fine so i guess no big deal, i also have my burner connected to one of the very large household LPG bottles, about 40 kg i think. the water bed heater has got a temp control on it so i just turned it up full, the heat mat measures about 3 feet long by18 inches high,
what size keggle are you using Mants, what sort of burner also are you using.

fergi

 

[manticle]

I just bought a burner yesterday although I have to wait for it to be delivered. It was a basic 4 ring burner from grain and grape. I also need to get set up with gas. I also have to convert a 50 litre keg into a kettle - bought the pieces for the taps etc yesterday as well.

Up till now I have been using a woodfired weber or the indoor stove if my lady is out. My 'kettle' is really two pots - one 15 L and one 10 L. Subsequently each single batch involves two boils and two chills.

I have been limited by funds and didn't want that to stop me from brewing grain based beer so I'm adding to/upgrading the system as I go along.

 

[goomboogo]

fergi, I would go with a pick-up tube in the boiler and position it as suggested by jazzafish. I do use a screen on my pick-up but this was an addition when I started using a plate chiller. I just wanted to make sure there was as few extras as possible going into the chiller. An uncovered pick-up tube is fine depending on the type of chilling you're using.

 

[matho]

fergi your wort coming out of your tun will be in the 60's deg c so it wont take that long to bring it to a boil
also turn the burner on when you have collected about half the wort and it should be boiling by the time your finnished sparging
i have a three ring burner and on a lp reg it is ok but i did go out and buy a mp adjustable reg from G&G which works great i usually have it just above the lowest setting.

all the best

matho

 

[fergi]

just an update on my mash tun, i noticed that a couple of the tubes had just about come apart when i cleaned out my tun so i have drilled a small hole with a stainless screw in each tube to keep it all together, i have done this so i can pull it apart to clean properly. i thought that would be the case Matho but i just wanted to see how long tap temperature water took, thanks anyway, i will try and fit a pick up tube on Goomb,,,,, but the shank is short and there is no place to screw it on, i might have to think up someway to wedge it inside the tap bore.

fergi

 

[woodmac66]

Not long now Fergi ...you are on your way!
Well done mate!