Willow 33l Esky Users

[bum]

Can anyone who uses one of these 33l Willows eskies:

report as to how useful they are for single batches (23L-ish)? How well do they hold heat without extra insulation? How well do they hold up to having plumbing jammed into them (seen people complaining that some eskies don't like being molested)?

Safeway (vic) have these on special for $34 or something at the moment so am considering upgrading from my small batch/partial set-up (after one whole brew!).

 

[manticle]

I use a willow 26 litre esky and get single batches no problem. It was doctored with non leaking tap, thread and manifold type stuff no problem. The catches on the side busted so the lid needs a weight on to seal and I put a sleeping bag over during mashing. I get no heat loss (mashed yesterday at 67, temp at first runnings was 67). I assume the slightly extra headspace won't be a big drama.

Just make sure you are 100% sure where you drill the hole. I helped a fellow brewer make an esky mash tun and miscalculated the first drilling point. I was able to use bungs from fermenters to plug it up but it was panic stations for a good half an hour.

 

[bum]

Ok, then the question becomes would I be better served with a smaller esky? To the Research Mobile!

Not doing the plumbing yet. Will continue with the BIABIAE/stove-top method for the time being as this is something of a spur of the moment decision. Will definitely pick everyone's brains if I get lost when the time comes.

 

[manticle]

At that price I'd snap it up. From what I read 26 litre is the absolute smallest you'd go.

 

[chadjaja]

I use a 26L and its nearly to the brim sometimes. I also have no loss of temp and get that by preheating the tun and covering it wiht a doona during the mash. I don't think the extra 6 L's of room is too much a problem with temp loss. In fact even though its not big enough to do double batches it will serve you well for stronger beers with larger grain bills as far as space.

 

[bum]

Well, pending any negative comment regarding the 33L model I'll go grab one at my earliest.

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen.

 

[avaneyk]

Can anyone who uses one of these 33l Willows eskies:

report as to how useful they are for single batches (23L-ish)? How well do they hold heat without extra insulation? How well do they hold up to having plumbing jammed into them (seen people complaining that some eskies don't like being molested)?

Safeway (vic) have these on special for $34 or something at the moment so am considering upgrading from my small batch/partial set-up (after one whole brew!).

Mine is a 35L Willow esky. I use it for single batches. It holds the heat well with at most 0.5 deg C heat loss over an hour mash. I've done the plumbing up pretty tight and the inside plastic wall of the esky is a bit pushed in but it's held up well over the last year. My brother uses the 26L esky like Manticle but it's full right to the brim when he mashes out. I think the extra space of the 35L esky is useful.

Cheers,
Andrew.

 

[Sully]

My first mash tun here... picked it up from Woolies (same as Safeway) for around the same price. Held temps well over an hour, fits a single batch easily and didn't have any issues really. The only thing I did to modify was filled the lid with some space invader and thats about it.

Cheers

Sully

 

[manticle]

If the 33/35 had been available and at a comparable price when I went esky shopping I would have bought it over the 26 Litre.

It's staring you in the face, bum so you know you want to. That's like a dollar a litre.

Facebum. Ha ha.

 

[monkeybusiness]

The 33L job will be the go. I've been using a 25L esky for a while and soon enough you'll find yourself wanting to do a big beer or a double batch and batch sparging becomes a bit a prolonged exercise. I moved to a 50L mash tun and its just a bit big for standard single batches. 33L is a good mid point to get the best compromise of size.

As far as head space and heat loss goes just lay some aluminium foil over the mash and you shouldn't lose any significant heat.

 

[bum]

Good enough for me, fellas. I'll grab one tomorrow. Thanks to you all.

Woolies (same as Safeway)

Yeah, they finally changed name to Woolworths down here earlier in the year. I'm just living in the past.

Already considering the spray foam stuff but was thinking I'd see how I'd go au naturel.

Facebum.

Neither the first nor the last time I've had the accusation levelled.

 

[bum]

how I'd go au naturel.

Obviously, I'd consider putting pants on for the boil.

 

[DanFranko]

The 33L job will be the go. I've been using a 25L esky for a while and soon enough you'll find yourself wanting to do a big beer or a double batch and batch sparging becomes a bit a prolonged exercise. I moved to a 50L mash tun and its just a bit big for standard single batches. 33L is a good mid point to get the best compromise of size.

As far as head space and heat loss goes just lay some aluminium foil over the mash and you shouldn't lose any significant heat.

Sorry if this is a slight hijack of the topic, but i have been thinking about the issue of dead space and heat loss in prep for my first AG brew (hopefully this weekend)...

I have a 47L esky (repatriated from a fellow AHBer - cheers!) but i only want to do 21-23L batches - how well does the aluminium foil work - i think thats the easiest solution i have seen (vs. using camping mat, polystyrene...which i don't have handy).

will give it a go and see, but has anyone else tried this?

cheers :beerbang:

Dan

 

[bum]

Didn't drop a degree over the hour (with foil over the mash and blanket over the tun). Pretty happy.

Now to get rid of this bag in tun bullshit.

 

[bcp]

Didn't drop a degree over the hour (with foil over the mash and blanket over the tun). Pretty happy.

Now to get rid of this bag in tun bullshit.

What? Just when i think i've figured it out... So you don't like BIAB in the mash tun? I thought it looked like a good alternative.

And what hose fittings did you use on the willow?

 

[bum]

It's not that I don't like BIAB in the tun exactly. It just seems more fiddly than necessary in practice rather than more simplified as I assumed prior. No hose fittings as yet - pour the lot into the boil. Only done two batches this way so far but I suspect that this is a large part of the reason my beers are cloudy as. I think this method would take a great deal more finessing than I'm giving it to make a comparable beer to one from either a more traditional method or proper BIAB.