80 ltr Thermo box to mash tun conversion

Vossy1 · Post by **Vossy1** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:18 pm

A real Bramah of a post and an excellent piece of shiny kit, something for the rest of us to aspire to

No need, plastic does the job just as well....but it's just not shiny

Does it brew as good as it looks?

It's still not in use yet

So far this is a 4 month lay off, but it's soon to be over...

And you thought the weather caused grain and hop shortages....wait ti'll I get brewing again

ECR · Post by **ECR** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:08 am

Four months

AT · Post by AT » Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:10 am

Edward Rands wrote:Four months

Ah but all in the name of shinyness

Martin the fish · Post by **Martin the fish** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:37 pm

A couple of Q's V1
1/. Is JB Weld the same as chemical metal or is it different?
2/. Where did you get that strainer thingy from?

Wez · Post by **Wez** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:46 pm

Can't believe that I only just found this thread

Nice work Voss!

mysterio · Post by **mysterio** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 12:41 am

Vossy's how-to threads have been invaluable, I don't think I would have had the confidence to modify an ebay stock-pot without them.

Post by **Aleman** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:21 am

Martin the fish wrote:1/. Is JB Weld the same as chemical metal or is it different?

It's different, JB Weld is ok up to 300C chemical metal only states up to about 70C . . . . JB Weld have also said that once cured its food safe . . . Chmeical metal say its not suitable for food contact

Vossy1 · Post by **Vossy1** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:31 am

2/. Where did you get that strainer thingy from?

Mtf, it was bought from a shop called the Hop & Grape here in the U.K and it cost Â£60. It was cut to a specific size specially for my thermo box mash tun, Garth has one also.

I've recently made/fashioned a new boiler hop strainer out of perforated stainless steel. It cost me less then Â£20 and if I was to need a new false bottom again, I would make my own as opposed to buying one, purely due to cost.
I bought the sheet from an e-bay seller for Â£15.68 delivered (400mm x 400mm) It's 1mm thick with 1.5mm holes.
It would be really easy to make a mash tun false bottom from this stuff, all you'd need is a good pair of tin snips

I'll put a photo in here in a minute

Martin the fish · Post by **Martin the fish** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:01 am

Your right V1. It would be easy to make one from that. I could order one and get one of the wedding guests to bring it over, saving on postage to NZ

Perhaps i could ask for it as a wedding gift

I'll have to try to find the equivalent of JB Weld here in NZ. Thanks for the info Aleman

Brewing was fun with just plastic fermenters and kits. Now it's overtaken my life with bags of grain and shiny things

Vossy1 · Post by **Vossy1** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:07 pm

I'll have to try to find the equivalent of JB Weld here in NZ. Thanks for the info Aleman

You should be able to get it over in NZ as it's made in the US and exported all over the world. Try model shops that sell remote planes etc or car accessory shops

Brewing was fun with just plastic fermenters and kits. Now it's overtaken my life with bags of grain and shiny things

It has a habit of doing that

maltymike · Post by **maltymike** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:37 pm

Lovely Mash tun. New to this. Could someone tell me how I would control the mash temperature in this tun as there appears to be no heater?
Thanks

Post by **Aleman** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:50 pm

maltymike wrote:Could someone tell me how I would control the mash temperature in this tun as there appears to be no heater?

You don't actually need to as its insulated. You add the hot water to the tun a few degrees higher than you want the mash, then add the grain and stir, check the temperature with a thermometer and if it's too high add some cold water, too low add some boiling water. Stick the lid on and go away for 90 minutes.

All malt today can be mashed like that, and many fine beers can be made in that way . . . . Unfortunately there are several of us who just like to mess with something just for the fun of it. Now if you connect a pump up to the outlet of the tun, and slowly use the pump to take liquor from the tun pass it over a heater and return it to the tun, you can, raise the temperature. Yo can use an electrical heater (like a towel radiator heater) in a tube (RIMS) o you can have a coil of copper in a water bath and pass the wort through that.(HERMS). Of course you need a gadget to measure the temperature of the liquor ad control the amount of heat applied, to ensure that the temperature of the mash is controlled appropriately. . . . . The benefit of this is the degree of control you have over the mash and therfore the repeatability of the process . . . Its not essential though

maltymike · Post by **maltymike** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:57 pm

Thanks for that. It sounds like these insulated pots hold the heat really well. I can see a purchase coming on!

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:21 pm

If you buy a piece of kit like the thermo box you can always upgrade the system to a RIMS later. as a stand alone insulated mashtun i found it held the temperature far better than my old thermos picnic box. and at around Â£50 its virtually the same price. I cant see any cons IMO

brewmasterflex · Post by **brewmasterflex** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:28 pm

Dont you have to be careful mixing different alloys against stainless, Stainless will rust in these conditions, Just a thought
But what do I know I am just a metallurgist.

NOT

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80 ltr Thermo box to mash tun conversion

Re: 80 ltr Thermo box to mash tun conversion