Infusion mash tun

bochgoch · Post by **bochgoch** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 11:27 am

With a love of shiny stuff I've been fancying the new SS Brewtech Infussion mash tun.

http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.ph ... ductId=736

It's not cheap and it occurs to me as it's an infusion tun somewhat limited (at least in relation to stepped mashes), any opinions?

If this a shiny piece of kit too far?

Thanks

Jocky · Post by **Jocky** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 3:16 pm

It's nice, but seems rather pricey. If it's 10 US gallons that is 38.5 litres.

I got my 35 litre thermopot, with bottom drain, and 3 piece tap ready converted for £170. A false bottom and thermometer will add about another £40 (although having got one myself I probably wouldn't bother with the dial thermometer if I were to do it again - a fast read thermapen is much quicker and more precise).

Looking around Powell brewing have a 38.5 litre thermopot with tap for £100 (bargain!).

With regards to it being limited for step mashes... it is a little, but if you're bothered with step mashes you should probably be looking at RIMS or HERMS. You can do step mashes by starting with a thick mash and use infusions to bring the temperature up, or otherwise do a decoction.

bochgoch · Post by **bochgoch** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:36 pm

Pretty much my thinking "nice but pricey" ... In truth I'm not likely to stepped mash more than one step, BUT at this price the option would be nice...

I'll still probably end up buying the damn thing!

sbond10 · Post by **sbond10** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:33 am

So can this be put on a burner or have I missed something here ? Why can't it be used as a standard tun

Jocky · Post by **Jocky** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 9:02 am

sbond10 wrote:So can this be put on a burner or have I missed something here ? Why can't it be used as a standard tun

You can't heat it - it's just a ready made thermopot tun, albeit very nicely put together and includes all the extras you could want (digital thermometer, sparge arm, false bottom etc).

bochgoch · Post by **bochgoch** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 9:08 am

No burners, just infusion / hot water - SS but not allowed near flame. From the SS Brewtech site:

"Can not direct fire heat with burner"

I guess it's because of the foam insulation.

bochgoch · Post by **bochgoch** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 9:10 am

It can be used as a standard tun, you're paying £200+ for SS rather than plastic

sbond10 · Post by **sbond10** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 9:35 am

So yea the one powell does (and bigger ) would do the job and save you a shed load

bochgoch · Post by **bochgoch** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 11:57 am

The smallest Powell one isn't quite so pretty and it's bigger so £170+ for the ss brewtech one that is prettier and more petite

bochgoch · Post by **bochgoch** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 4:37 pm

To be fairer in my haphazard comparison, with the SSBrewT you also get the sparge arm, thermowell and no dead space which are worth a fair chunk of that £170

Secla · Post by **Secla** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 5:19 pm

Benefits I can see over a converted thermopots. Handles look more substantial, conical bottom, and the sparge arm looks nice

I payed to have a thermopot converted to bottom drain with a sunken thermometer and a custom cut false bottom and it still worked out considerably cheaper ! Although the quality of the pot itself does look better than UK thermopots

guypettigrew · Post by **guypettigrew** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:02 pm

This one from Hop and Grape is good value.

Mine is fitted with a Blichmann auto sparge, which makes sparging a dream.

With hindsight, though, I wonder if I should have bought the 49 litre version. The 30 litre one does OK, but perhaps I'll trade up one day.

Guy

bochgoch · Post by **bochgoch** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 11:22 pm

The hop and grape tun provides another useful comparison... Seems there's a SSBTech premium of 10-20% which you're paying for well designed quality

Secla · Post by **Secla** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:55 am

my 50l tun with bottom drain/3 piece tap/sunken thermometer was around 230 ish from angel homebrew
add onto that a custom cut false bottom at 60 ish + the cost of a sparge setup and it doesn't seem that expensive

of course there's cheaper options but i don't think its stupidly expensive for what it is

vacant · Post by **vacant** » Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:22 am

"In side by side testing, the 10 gallon InfuSsion Mash Tun showed 5F less of temperature drop over a 60 minute mash as compared to a similarly sized plastic cool box."

Sounds brilliant, but wait - the plastic cool box lost more than 5F in an hour? Sounds like it needs a camping mat. I don't lose more than 1C on my 33 ltr thermopot, which is good enough and was £25 second-hand.

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