tea urn

DRB · Post by **DRB** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:14 pm

If you look on ebay under tea urn you'll see a shiney

water urn with tap already fixed,it says it'll keep water hot for hours,i'm thinking it might make a good mash tun .

Post by **Andy** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:18 pm

DRB - the problem with using a water boiler (tea urn) for mashing is that the heat is maintained by a thermostat switching the element on when the temp drops, the grains in close proximity to the element would get scorched. The elements tend to be 3Kw jobs also so not very subtle power output!

If you lagged it well though you could use it as a tun with the power off - but quite an expensive option vs making a coolbox tun.

DRB · Post by **DRB** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:21 pm

I dont think theres an element in it,it just says its to keep water hot.

Post by **Andy** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:47 pm

Sorry - my mistake I thought it was a Burco type boiler, I see what you mean now!

So yes to your original question - would make a good mash tun!

Seveneer · Post by **Seveneer** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:55 pm

You're right, this has no element. It relies on its insulation to keep the water hot. As such this could be a good base for a mash tun. My concern would be size. 18-20 litres is in my opinion not enough room to mash the amount of grain for a 5 gallon brew without having a pretty sticky mash.

It is of course shiny therefore it's worth buying.

/Phil.

Post by **Andy** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:03 pm

According to ProMash a 5kg grist mixed at a 2.5L/kg ratio occupies 15.84 L so it's indeed a tight fit

PieOPah · Post by **PieOPah** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:05 pm

Even with an element, if you use a grain bag this will keep the grain from scorching. If I had a second boiler then this is how I would have done my mashing.

Seveneer · Post by **Seveneer** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:11 pm

Andy wrote:According to ProMash a 5kg grist mixed at a 2.5L/kg ratio occupies 15.84 L so it's indeed a tight fit

Yeah, you're OK for the mash but sparging could be a bit dodgy. I think it restricts you too much when it comes to big beers too. I'm OK now though with my 100l mash tun

Post by **Andy** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:12 pm

niall · Post by **niall** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:15 am

Even with an element, if you use a grain bag this will keep the grain from scorching. If I had a second boiler then this is how I would have done my mashing.

Interesting... I've been offered two water boilers (made by 'Swan') for free and would love to take them if I can put them to good use.

One is approx 10 litres and the other one is bigger, maybe 25/30 litres. How would I go about using these for the mash (probably a partial/mini mash to begin with) and what would I need to watch out for?

Post by **Andy** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:23 am

I use a Swan 27L boiler as my errr, boiler!

As a mash tun it would need to be well insulated (hot water tank lagging, old camping mat etc etc) and you'd need to fit some sort of manifold to the tap interior to keep the grains back or you could use a grain bag for this purpose.....Apart from that you're ready to go.

Post by **Andy** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:42 am

DaaB - I had some wort left over from Saturdays brew so boiled it up on the cooker, added hops, crash cooled and chucked in a demijohn. Pitched all the yeast in the main brew so added bread yeast to the demijohn

and then the next day added some skimmed yeast from the main brew. Gawd knows what it will taste like

niall · Post by **niall** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 10:35 am

I like the idea of mashing in the boiler if I can regulate the temperature. I hadn't hought of the grain bag to keep the grains off the elements. As for using this for the boil I'm wondering about the element scorching the extract - do you pour off a little water into a container, mix the extract and pour back in? I presume the hops will float anyway so need to worry about them.

I guess the camping mat is the way to go for insulation. The pot in the oven method also sounds good in that no extra equipment is required. I suppose I'm curious about the Swan boiler (I'm guessing the bigger one must be that 27L one) as it makes me wonder if it would be a gateway to all grain in the future.

monkey_doctor · Post by **monkey_doctor** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:55 pm

A friend of mine uses a 6 gallon baby burco tea urn for his mashing. he uses a mash bag and keeps it insulated with an old duvet. Its quite good for the job.

Post by **Andy** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:37 pm

DaaB wrote:
DaaB - I had some wort left over from Saturdays brew so boiled it up on the cooker, added hops, crash cooled and chucked in a demijohn. Pitched all the yeast in the main brew so added bread yeast to the demijohn and then the next day added some skimmed yeast from the main brew. Gawd knows what it will taste like
Its not supposed to be a good idea to use bread yeast but you wont be the first to try it, it will be interesting to find out what it tastes like.

Revolting is my guess but will be interesting

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