I've been to 3 Home Depots in my area searching for the metallic components to construct a mash tun out of a water cooler. I could not find stainless steel, only galvanized or black steel. They a copper ball valve but not any other components. They did have lead-free brass, but not in the sizes I was looking for (3/4" coupling, pipe nipple, etc). Two Ace Hardwares and one True Value did not either. Which stores carry them? I want …

Maths was always my worst subject.... I have a fixed lauter-grill/filter at the bottom of my mash tun so i can't stir anything that falls through it = the gas burner gives me a burnt bottom :( Thoughts about adding hotter water to the mash to raise the temp rather than using the gas, or a combo of both? If you think doable, please help me work out the numbers for say a 500 litre mash :) Equation something like: …

What's the pros and cons about mash in coolers or pots? How to choose?

Only few information can be found on HERMS-like layouts for which the coil is placed in the mash tun instead of the HLT, like the one presented here. One big advantage I see is to prevent stuck mashes (which I currently encounter). What are possible disadvantages compared to a "classic" HERMS?

Does it need to have anything special or any food-grade bucket would do?

I've been reading brulosophy a lot recently and I'm amazed they've not done a BIAB (brew in a bag) vs mash tun test. It seems to me there's still a question over whether BIAB can ever fully achieve the wonders of a full mash tun system. But i've never read anywhere where someone has compared side by side? Also; Given the grainfather and Braumeister are effectively BIAB, it seems to me any issues are resolved these days. (I've never heard …

My current brewing set up is as follows: 2 Fermenter's Favorite 10 gallon all grain coolers hot liquor tank and mash tun, 15 gallon Megapot boil kettle, Edelmetal Bru Burner, and a homemade gravity stand. I usually brew 10 gallon batches with 12 to 13 gallons pre boil. My local hardware store has a killer deal on 15,20, and 25 gallon aluminum pots. I was thinking of picking up a couple to replace my coolers and outfit them with ball …

i'm new to the brewing game and am currently waiting for a few whole grain brews to come of age. One thing i'd like to do is purchase a larger mash boiler and dedicate a bit of space in the shed for my 'micro-brewery'. What makes a good boiler? Where should I start? Any suggestions would be gratefully received! Rik

I have just finished building my mash tun using an insulated plastic barrel. Everything works great but when I pour hot water into the barrel and put a lid on, pressure builds up inside and eventually "blows up" the lid. My question how do you deal with this? Do you let the steam slip away (make a small hole or something like that) or do you just fix the lid so it won't budge?

I've add some mishaps with my standard Coleman-based mash tun, and I'm now left with a hole where the faucet was (some wort went inside the insulation, but I'd like to believe it won't impact temperature conservation). I'm using a braid as filter. I'm not a very bright handyman, hence: Question: How can I put a faucet back in such a way that there is no chance wort can leak into the insulation? How can I ensure that even when …

So my mash temp, by the recipe, was 149 F. I missed it by a few degrees, at 144 F. Can I just let it sit longer, or would I have to find a way to increase the temp? This was in a Rubbermaid cooler MLT, so the only way to increase the temp would be to add more, hotter water.

I've heard of both for very similar uses. What is the difference between a mash tun and a lauter tun? Or more generally, what is the difference between a mash and a lauter? I found this wiki article on lautering, which implies after the mash, there is a rinse and sparge of the mash, but wouldn't that be taken care of in the mash tun, with a false bottom and vorlouf, with no need for an extra lautering container?

I've upgraded from a 20L homebrew system to a 200L system and used it for the first time the other day. I previously did boil-in-the-bag but for my new system I have a false bottom. For my first test I decided to try a half-batch. The problem was that several kilos of grain managed to get down beneath the false bottom, blocking the outlet and also clogging the pump with grain, preventing me from being about to recirculate or transfer …

I bought the 10 gallon water cooler from Home Depot. The hole in it is about 3/4" diamater. After discovering that Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, and etc. did not sell all the components (hose barbs, coupling, pipe nipple, ball valve) in stainless steel or brass, I went to my LHBS, where they only sold 1" pieces. Getting frustrated, I widened the hole in the Home Depot water cooler with a titanium drill bit to 1" diameter and put it …

If I attach a removable mesh filter to hold back the grains and I properly insulate the entire bottling bin, can I dual wield it as a bottler and as a mashing tun? What benefits are there to having two separate items instead of combined one?

I have a 10 gallon mash tun (chest cooler) and I've been brewing with pre-made kits. I want to start making my own recipes but I want to do half-batches (2.5 gallons) until I get the hang of things so I don't waste a bunch of grain and bottling time. Is my current mash tun too big for the 2.5 gallon batches? Should I just suck it up and do full 5 gallon batches? Here is my process: I do …

I recently found that there was a home brew store much closer to my house than the one that I had been visiting. The new store has a larger selection of grains, yeast, and hops; but I've been having a lot of trouble with slow or stuck mashes since I started going to the new store. I don't have my own mill, so I rely on the LHBS to mill my grains. I thought that the mill at the new …

Would a slotted false bottom prevent uniform compaction better than a perforated false bottom? See this model: http://www.homebrewing.org/12-Stainless-Steel-Domed-False-Bottom_p_1058.html I'm researching parts for my first all-grain mash tun build. My intent is a round 10-gallon beverage cooler using a false bottom. All false bottoms I've come across are the round perforation type, except that one. The only advantage I can think of with this slotted false bottom is that it might prevent uniform compaction. Maybe it would be less resilient to …

Or mash tun aspect ratio, if you like. Tall and skinny, or short and wide? I know a deeper grain bed (tall and skinny) will be better for lautering purposes, but will a flatter grain bed (short and wide) be better in any way? I've read mixed reviews online, but thought I'd solicit some opinions here. I'm batch sparging now, but will likely move to fly sparging in the future.

Last night I picked up a 10-gallon cooler mash tun. It was supposed to come with a 12" false bottom, but the LHBS was out of those. Instead they offered me a 10" false bottom, saying that it would work just as well but that my efficiency might be a little bit lower. How would a smaller false bottom affect efficiency? I'm trying to picture how the smaller bottom would leave wort in the mash tun, but I'm not getting …