Mash Tun (square V Round)

[Logman]

I've got a keep cold cosmoplast and a 92 ltr kettle and do triple batches . Fly sparge with gravity and recirculate etc with a march pump. I made an extra large washer from sheet metal to put behind the locking nut on the outside where the ball valve stem goes in - you want to support it well there as you're always putting pressure on it by pulling off hoses/disconnects etc. Also, a besser block or something heavy on the lid gets you an extra degree in temp.

 

[Sainter1775]

My two cents worth I have for the last 10 years used the 36L cooler from BCF and before that Amart all sports. The first one lasted for about seven years before it started to really degrade. As for double batches in it, its doable. I have made beers up to 10kg in them and regularly do double batches of 8Kg or so due to time constraints (16 month old son wanting to help) and they hold there temp over a 90 min period very well even in the 4C. temps of a morning in Greenbank.

Hope that helps :beer:

 

[Phoney]

Thanks guys, a few conflicting ideas and all very useful food for thought


I think I'm leaning towards a cylindrical cooler with SS FB. As I'm liking what this guy did and want to have the option of doing that later if I choose to upgrade it to a herms.

Is it fair to say that there will be less mash tun dead space with a round mash tun than with a larger rectangular esky & copper manifold? Just thinking that the smaller the surface area on the bottom the less pooling up of liquid...

And would I notice the difference in size between 36L and 38L? (BCF vs Rubbermaid...other than the $100 bucks)?

 

[Tex083]

I know your sold on the round cooler, but have a look at the Eva Kool website.
I picked up a 70L esky for $110 for fathers day. Mine keeps ice in there for days, very well insulated. Very well made of Polyethylene which melts at 105-115 C Handy for a mash tun
And its Australian Made

 

[manticle]

*bumpity bump*

I'm looking at investing in an esky *gasp* for a mashtun. BIAB in an urn has served me well over the past few years but I'd like to be able to brew a big beer without sparging in a bucket, losing efficiency & would eventually like to upgrade my kettle so that I can have the option of doing double batches. So first step is to get a mashtun. I dont mind spending a bit extra for quality that will last me years and the less I have to build myself the better.

I have a couple of questions;

1. Will a 38L Rubbermaid be big enough for double batches (50L) or 23L batches of big (1.100 ~ 10kg+ grain bill) beers? or would a 45L rectangular ice box be better?

2. Does anyone know where to buy Rubbermaid coolers in Sydney? And SS false bottoms to fit them?

3. The 36L Coolers from BCF; Worth spending extra for rubbermaid or not?

4. Just so I've got this clear as I'm pretty ignorant of multi vessel brewing; I will use the urn as a HLT for heating up strike water, pump into the esky on top of the grains for the mash, afterwards I add more hot water for mashout, then pump the liquor back in to the urn for boiling. Does this sound right?

5. Any other suggestions? (and no, I cant afford a BM)

6. There is no 6.

:icon_cheers:

I've got a 50 L techni ice knock off tun with copper manifold you could have for $50 if you lived remotely close by.

Bummer (for me - I want to get rid of it as I rarely use it and I need the space and cash).

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Thanks guys, a few conflicting ideas and all very useful food for thought


I think I'm leaning towards a cylindrical cooler with SS FB. As I'm liking what this guy did and want to have the option of doing that later if I choose to upgrade it to a herms.

Is it fair to say that there will be less mash tun dead space with a round mash tun than with a larger rectangular esky & copper manifold? Just thinking that the smaller the surface area on the bottom the less pooling up of liquid...

And would I notice the difference in size between 36L and 38L? (BCF vs Rubbermaid...other than the $100 bucks)?

Probably fair to say. Also, with a pre-made FB its reasonably easy to extend the pick-up right to the bottom of the tun. You can do it with other shaped tuns too - but as you say, 1cm of deadspace is a higher volume with a greater surface area no matter how you juggle it.

Remember though - deadspace only matters in a batch sparge system. It means nothing in a continuous sparge system.

My actual recommendations?

Batch Sparging - a 50L Eski with a hose braid style mash seperation system. 50L is big enough so that for single batches of even quite big beer, you can work on a single run-off (no-sparge) regimen. And by simply swapping to a multiple sparge regimen you can up the capacity to double batches or very big beer with no modification required.

Fly Sparge - a round vessel with a perforated FB as big as will fit in. 36-38L will allow you to use about 10kg of grain at an L:G ratio of 3:1. In a fly sparge system that will give you (as a maximum) a double batch of wort approaching say 1.060, so probably big enough unless you have a thing for lots and lots of really quite strong beer. I have a 50L MT and can pull a double batch of say 9% beer out of it if I push the limits. I find the 50L very comfortable to brew in, not too big for singles and easily sufficient for doubles (unless I go pretty big) - but that probably means either going with a pot rather than an eski, or forgoing the round thing as I've not seen a round cooler that large.

TB