Newbie - My first home made mash tun

[stevetk189]

Hi,

Well, I got a load of plumbing bits and bobs yesterday and this morning I put together my first mash tun.

I was originally going to go for a false bottom using perforated stainless steel sheet but the insulated box i found kicking about has got curved walls which would make getting a sheet to fit somewhat aukward.

For this first attempt I have opted for a slit, copper pipe internal filter based on many ideas I've seen here and other places online.

I was wondering whether to opt for a series of 2mm holes drilled in the pipe rather than simple slots, does anyone have any feedback if they have done similar?

Here are a couple of photos, of course all comments good or bad are welcome.





I've also set up a blog to share my journey, successes and failures.

[sllimeel]

Stevetk189

The slots will be fine, but, will be better if you flip the manifold so the slots face down, save less debris finding its way in and maybe add some more slots, will help with the drain off.

[stevetk189]

Cheers for that sllimeel, I was wondering if that would work when assembling it. Glad it's only pushed together.

About that, is the action of stirring the mash likely to disturb the pipe assembly? I thought it maybe would so was thinking about banging the ends of the elbows and T piece etc with a heavy centre punch to grip it all together.

[sllimeel]

To be honest mine is just pushed together and has never fallen apart when mashing in. Of course for your piece of mind you can do as you suggest and make sure the fittings are not too loose.

[gregorach]

Much nicer than my first DIY mash tun.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Looks good, I'll keep an eye on your blog.

I'm trying to blog about beer and brewing as well, but can never seem to get around to writing anything useful.

[Wolfy]

Much nicer than my first DIY mash tun.

Much nicer than mine also ... and the second.

Looks very impressive, but how does it work?

[Scroogemonster]

Looks identical to mine!

Add extra insulation to the outside though to improve heat retention (many on here using that type of cool box have taken it apart and insulated between the layers as well)

I sit mine on a telephone directory as well to insulate the underside when mashing!

Regards
Kevin

[stevetk189]

To be honest mine is just pushed together and has never fallen apart when mashing in. Of course for your piece of mind you can do as you suggest and make sure the fittings are not too loose.

That's reassuring to know, I had visions of the whole thing dropping to bits unseen in the mash.

@Dunc, cheers, good of you to say - I'm always a bit wary as my DIY projects always seem to rapidly go t*ts up as a rule.

@Runwell Steve - I know what you mean about blogging, I freelance web design for a living and constantly preach to my clients about the importance of regular blogging and it's use in getting good search engine result - very hard to find the time, as you say, to do it myself though.

@Wolfy - it doesn't leak and that's about as far as I've got. I need to get some other gear together before takeoff but hopefully... fingers crossed... Beer on!

@Scroogemonster - cheers for the extra insulation tip, I've actually got some left over PU foam sheet about an inch thick somewhere. Might do the job.

[beermonsta]

To be honest mine is just pushed together and has never fallen apart when mashing in. Of course for your piece of mind you can do as you suggest and make sure the fittings are not too loose.

That's reassuring to know, I had visions of the whole thing dropping to bits unseen in the mash.

little tip - if your pipes are loose fitting then give each copper tube a tap with a hammer etc to put them slightly out of round and this will increase the friction and make the fit tighter. Don't overdo it though! or you'll have to tap them again at 90' to get them round again

[stevetk189]

To be honest mine is just pushed together and has never fallen apart when mashing in. Of course for your piece of mind you can do as you suggest and make sure the fittings are not too loose.

That's reassuring to know, I had visions of the whole thing dropping to bits unseen in the mash.

little tip - if your pipes are loose fitting then give each copper tube a tap with a hammer etc to put them slightly out of round and this will increase the friction and make the fit tighter. Don't overdo it though! or you'll have to tap them again at 90' to get them round again

Thanks for the tip. I'm hoping it'll be ok as it is so I can get it apart for cleaning so first brew will be something of a trial in more ways than one.

[Wolfy]

To be honest mine is just pushed together and has never fallen apart when mashing in. Of course for your piece of mind you can do as you suggest and make sure the fittings are not too loose.

That's reassuring to know, I had visions of the whole thing dropping to bits unseen in the mash.

little tip - if your pipes are loose fitting then give each copper tube a tap with a hammer etc to put them slightly out of round and this will increase the friction and make the fit tighter. Don't overdo it though! or you'll have to tap them again at 90' to get them round again

If you make them too tight you can 'bend' the tubes when you pull them apart again, and since they have so many slots cut into them they'll bend easily.

However you'll know easily enough when it falls apart inside the mash (happened to me 2 brews ago) stuck sparge!
All the grain will get inside the copper pipe and tap and clog everything up, and you'll have to remove the grain from the cooler, and then work out a way to get the grain out of the copper before putting it all back together, not a fun experience (my pipe is longer and narrower than yours but the grain was litterally stuck inside and took me ages to get out) .
I've made the joints a little tighter since then.

[Rick_UK]

Looks like a neat job Steve.

My tip would be to check what type of insulation the cool box is fitted with. Mine was a cheapo one and only had polystyrene sheets in the walls and bottom with no insulation at all in the lid. Once I replaced it with a hacked camping mat and filled the lid cavity with expanding foam it doesn't lose any heat at all over a 90min mash.

Good luck and have fun.

Rick

[daveyk]

Looking really good. What is the general consensus on how deep the slots should be? 50% of the way through?
Just about to try something similar myself.

[beermonsta]

1/3 to minimise wort loss (previous designs had 1/2 way through, but with my monster manifolds had over 110 slots cut in so not necessary!)