Im gathering up equipment to do all grain would this be a good mash tun?
http://www.adverts.ie/camping-outdoor-pursuits/42-ltr-cooler-box/1526204
Yep.
When I comes to mash tuns the best and biggest you can afford the better, at the end of the day they are just two skins injected with a polyurethane filler.
Tucan will tell us depending on the composition of the foam, mineral etc will determine how efficient it is especially trying to keeping your mash lose no temp up to a 75-90 minute mash.
Like everything in life you get what you pay for and product you linked will be perfectly adequate, I can't see if there is vent or exit valve?
if you have the money consider
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coleman-36QT-Xtreme-Cooler-Celsius/dp/B002MUA3LC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1360194446&sr=8-6 or similar
Is that the yoke you've got John?
I need to upgrade.
"Darling, it will make for a GREAT Picnic!"
yeah but I got free delivery as it was sold by amazon :(, even with monster beers never been able to fill it for 5 gal batches
This is not a bad one either by the looks of it. Decent price and free delivery.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermos-Cool-Box-32-L/dp/B000TAOVY2/ref=pd_rhf_ee_s_cp_4_PV7D
or this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coleman-Excursion-36Qt-Hard-Cooler/dp/B000G64I38/ref=pd_cp_sg_1
QuoteWhen I comes to mash tuns the best and biggest you can afford the better
I'm not sure I agree with this. If you plan to do 20 litre batches, for example, a 60 litre coolerbox is not necessarily the right piece of kit because your grain bed will be quite shallow and will likely reduce your efficiency, sometimes by quite a bit. The 42 litre coolerbox should be fine for standard 20 litre batches though.
Does anybody have any war stories about using expanding insulation foam to beef up the insulation properties of cheap, poorly insulated picnic boxes?
QuoteQuoteWhen I comes to mash tuns the best and biggest you can afford the better
I'm not sure I agree with this. If you plan to do 20 litre batches, for example, a 60 litre coolerbox is not necessarily the right piece of kit because your grain bed will be quite shallow and will likely reduce your efficiency, sometimes by quite a bit. The 42 litre coolerbox should be fine for standard 20 litre batches though.
How do you think this applies to batch sparging? A lot of internet pundits suggest that it doesn't make any difference, but I've also seen comments that it impacts heat retention.
QuoteQuoteWhen I comes to mash tuns the best and biggest you can afford the better
I'm not sure I agree with this. If you plan to do 20 litre batches, for example, a 60 litre coolerbox is not necessarily the right piece of kit because your grain bed will be quite shallow and will likely reduce your efficiency, sometimes by quite a bit. The 42 litre coolerbox should be fine for standard 20 litre batches though.
I should have qualified my comments, I posted to a 37 litre coolbox and that gives me more that enough headroom for 25 litres and will maintain temp even down to "light" 20 Litre batches
Using a 60 litre coolbox for 20 litre batches is obviously not advisable.
QuoteHow do you think this applies to batch sparging? A lot of internet pundits suggest that it doesn't make any difference, but I've also seen comments that it impacts heat retention.
It's a good question and I don't have a ready made answer. I just know from personal experience, and the experiences of brewing friends, that when you mash small batches in an oversized coolerbox your efficiency tends to drop off, sometimes to a very significant degree. I've tested this on numerous occasions on my own system and the result is always the same. My efficiency drops from about 70-75% down to about 60% when I mash mid strength 20 litre batches in a 60 coolerbox.
Ciderhead, I had a feeling I was reading you a bit uncharitably but I thought I'd make the point just in case anyone misunderstood what you were saying :)
QuoteMy efficiency drops from about 70-75% down to about 60% when I mash mid strength 20 litre batches in a 60 coolerbox.
That sounds familiar. I've two smallish tuns (20l and 27l) and I split the mash between the two to do a 5.5kg grist. I often get about 70% efficiency but my efficiency came in about 60% this time,
QuoteQuote
Ciderhead, I had a feeling I was reading you a bit uncharitably but I thought I'd make the point just in case anyone misunderstood what you were saying :)
No offence taken, I spent hours looking for the right Picnic cooler size as there was little or no advice out there and you are absolutely right to correct me. I would conclude that depending on your desired AbV 35-45l is the optimal size for 5 gal batch.
My efficiency runs between 70 and 80, but got an 85 once which is fine if you are expecting it :o
I fly sparge but gather from american sites no major difference vs properly done batch sparge.
QuoteQuoteMy efficiency drops from about 70-75% down to about 60% when I mash mid strength 20 litre batches in a 60 coolerbox.
That sounds familiar. I've two smallish tuns (20l and 27l) and I split the mash between the two to do a 5.5kg grist. I often get about 70% efficiency but my efficiency came in about 60% this time,
I use a small tun, think it is under 25l, not sure. I batch sparge twice to get 27l in the boiler and generally my efficiency is above 75%. Don't see the need to go any larger.
QuoteQuoteQuoteMy efficiency drops from about 70-75% down to about 60% when I mash mid strength 20 litre batches in a 60 coolerbox.
That sounds familiar. I've two smallish tuns (20l and 27l) and I split the mash between the two to do a 5.5kg grist. I often get about 70% efficiency but my efficiency came in about 60% this time,
I use a small tun, think it is under 25l, not sure. I batch sparge twice to get 27l in the boiler and generally my efficiency is above 75%. Don't see the need to go any larger.
Snuff, how do you do it? I too have a small mash tun am aiming to produce approx 23L batches to fill a corny and 6-8 bottles. I use approx 12L of water for mash (2.5L/Kg) and 2 X 10L for sparge but almost always end up with 19L at the end. That was why I was looking at the larger mash tun.
Quote
Snuff, how do you do it? I too have a small mash tun am aiming to produce approx 23L batches to fill a corny and 6-8 bottles. I use approx 12L of water for mash (2.5L/Kg) and 2 X 10L for sparge but almost always end up with 19L at the end. That was why I was looking at the larger mash tun.
Your setup sounds similar to mine, I get about 27l in the boiler and end up with 20 or 21 in the fermentor. Depends on how much hops soakage there is. Sounds like you losing too much during the boil if you are ending up with only 19l in the fermentor.
There were 160g of dried hops in the last batch which probably accounts for a lot of soakage, but I'd ideally like to finishing with 23L. That would need approx 30L in the boiler.
The 36L Coleman extreme model I bought last year for 55Stg from Amazon including delivery, apart from having a purpose built drain hole allows me to;
1) Make big Beers, was tight on a Double 9.6% IPA 7.5Kgs of grain 20 litres of water
2) Make light beers in 7-9 gallon batches
3) use the headspace for my fly sparge resevoir which I keep 3-4cm above my grain bed
Allows my grains to "soak and swim"
A 25-30L Mash tun won't and are regularly up for swap/sale as peops decide to upgrade as they have bought a small cheap one with poor insulation or its not big enough for higher abv beers
I am not saying they aren't fit for purpose, just not as good.
Here is a nice little calculator to tell you how big your tun needs to be depending on how much grain you have.
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml
saw that, couldn't work it out though cos i'm fick.
beersmith also tells you capacity required, just had a quick look at my last 10 and they went from 22 to 32 litres capacity required.