New Mash Tun Design? Cheap....

[cam89brewer]

Over the last few months I have perfected my budget mash tun design in which costed me less than $100 for everything. This includes 60L fermenter with tap, false bottom, 12" bazooka screen, inner and outer thermal jackets ( Thermal bag from supermarket and neoprene outer jacket) and seems to keep it's temperature very well.
I will let the pictures do the talking.
I am just wondering every ones thoughts on it...?

 

[Parks]

Looks pretty good. Not sure how long the fermenter will last with too much heat though - does it soften up when full?

 

[DarkFaerytale]

the walls on that fermenter look much thicker than the one i use to use to heat up strike water in, i used that for almost 2 years befor i sold my old setup and it was still going fine then

 

[tiprya]

Where did you get the false bottom from?

Looks like it would go great with a HERMIT system - could build a very capable 2V system for not much coin.

 

[Parks]

the walls on that fermenter look much thicker than the one i use to use to heat up strike water in, i used that for almost 2 years befor i sold my old setup and it was still going fine then

I'm not sure if they're a different type of plastic though?

I have the same fermenter, which seems like it's made of the harder, less flexible plastic like comparing the old bucket coopers fermenters to the newer coopers screw lid fermenters.

 

[cam89brewer]

I got the false bottom from a local stainless steel place, they made it up from scrap perforated stainless for just $30. The fermenter is the same as used at U brew it as I bought it second hand from there, it holds the heat very well on its own and is not affected by any heat up to around the 77C lauter temperature.

 

[bconnery]

I used to use something very similar.
Old style Coopers fermenter, braid in the bottom and a strainer over that.
Insulated with camping mat.
I used it for 4+ years and it was still going strong showing no signs of issues with the heat from a mash.
I only changed because someone gave me a bigger mash tun.

 

[Wolfy]

I am just wondering every ones thoughts on it...?

Looks good, like it.

But for $100, I'd have gone ($50) SS keg, ($30) false bottom (looks great and you got a bargain on that!), ($5) camping mat/ducttape insulation, $20 SS valve/fittings.
But the one major advantage that your setup has is that you can easily and clearly see inside the transparent plastic.

 

[hsb]

Looks great. I'm assuming it's HDPE - you can tell from the number on the base generally (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-density_polyethylene) in which case it's fine up to 110C.

Nice job with the bazooka/FB. The Brits are bigger on using plastic buckets as mash tuns, works great as a cheaper option. I can't see any issues, so long as the tap area survives OK, that looks like the likely failure point down the road. Sterling work! :beer:

Looks (from the last picture) like you even have a 'hoodie' for the top?

*edit. $50keg? Steal 'em for free h34r: but they're surely costing more than that legitimately, when you consider a corny retails for around $60.

 

[Bribie G]

The barrel fermenters are made from High Density Polyethylene. The buckets are generally made from Polypropylene which is a lot harder and can withstand boiling water. The pommy buckets o death such as The Electrim are used as mashers and boilers.

I was going to say that if that fermenter was Polypropylene you'd only need to put in a 2.2kw element and use it as a BIAB setup :icon_cheers:

 

[Wolfy]

*edit. $50keg? Steal 'em for free h34r: but they're surely costing more than that legitimately, when you consider a corny retails for around $60.

Pretty sure they were about $50 at KegKing (or $100 drilled, cut and fitted with a valve) they had lots of stock of obviously legal to sell ones.
At that price I think getting them legally is a viable option.

 

[cam89brewer]

Thanks guys and yes it even has a hoodie, the neoprene is actually one of the missus's old exercise mats that I thought I would recycle.
The main reason why I started this thread was because you see a lot of talk on whether to choose between a 50L keg mashtun or an esky set up and I just wanted to give people another option which works for me and is a very economical way to do things.

It works great for me and I suppose that is the number 1 thing..... :drinks:

 

[Goldenchild]

Slightly OT
But for the people worried about plastic fermenters and heat.

This is my friends kettle with what I think are 2 x 2200w elements. Thing has done around 50 brews and holds up fine he says.
I was absolutely shocked at first but like bribie mentions there pretty common practice in the uk. Wouldn't do it myself but hey each to there own.
Pretty sure your MT will hold up just fine at 70c.