New Mash Tun

[Brew_DD2]

I had been toying with the idea of going for the ACE Digital Mash Tun that's available for around �£150 but have just spotted this Thermo Box on Amazon that would seem to fit the bill of a simpler Tun.

The reason for the upgrade is for better heat retention and control.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UPECJWI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It seems these boxes are used for transporting perishable food to professional kitchens.

Anybody see any issues with going for one of these to convert?

 

[Razor]

Looks simple and effective. If it works as they claim it may not need anything done to it. Could be a money saver. If you get one let us know how it gets on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dps51]

should make a nice tun
is it food safe as the grain and wort will be touching the epp
will a tap and a hop filter fit ok
how thick is the wall of the box hope its not to thick

 

[Tuizner]

looks like its expanded polypropylene - its like compacted styrofoam but using PP instead of PS.

Actually its like the insulation from a coolbox without the skins

Woudnt do it - youll have issues with cleanliness.

 

[Brew_DD2]

Not any use then? I didn't buy it but I was curious as it looked as though it'd fit the bill because of it's normal uses.

Is cleanliness all that important in a mash tun? I mean, given you boil your wort.

 

[Fil]

email the ebay.fr sellers of stainless steel thermopots for a delivered to your door price,
[email protected]

while it was a little while ago my 80L thermopot was circa £100 delivered. 33 and 50l pots will be cheaper.
Add another £40 for a SS thru the deck fitting nice 3 piece ss ball valve etc and £12 for a 20mm qmax punch. ( off the top of my head numbers tbh)

Its not a tricky build with the right tools and you will have a tun to last you a lifetime with great heat retaining qualities. ( they do take a lot more preheating and an increase in strike temp)


leak testing the 80l tun

 

[Brew_DD2]

Nice. I take it it's good at holding its temperature over an hour. How many degrees do you lose?

If you were to heat up your strike water in it, presumably your strike water would have to be cooler than if you were using a traditional cooler mash tun?

 

[Grizzly299]

I use a stainless Thermo pot.I checked mine when I first used it. It lost 1°C over an hour. That was in a garage with the door open in November 2015.

I have the 38.5 litre one, £66 delivered to the door.

 

[Fil]

Nice. I take it it's good at holding its temperature over an hour. How many degrees do you lose?

If you were to heat up your strike water in it, presumably your strike water would have to be cooler than if you were using a traditional cooler mash tun?

Yes it hold temps well less than 1c drop over a 90 minute mash when full.

however its not fitted with any elements to heat up the strike liquor. and while not impossible to fit elements its a bit more complex than a single skinned stock pot to achieve with a neat finish.

If considering a minimum pot brewery then the insulation of the pot could also work against you post boil retaining heat when you want to chill rapidly though an external cfc would negate that.

A further cost not mentioned above was the perforated SS false bottom cut to size from the home brew builder

 

[Brew_DD2]

I already have a separate kettle but I was just curious as to how the heating the strike water I on the hob in the thermopot would affect the strike temp required.

Probably just easier to heat strike water in kettle.

So, how many degrees difference have you found you've had to adjust by to hit your mash temps?

 

[Fil]

I used to strike at just under 72C with the smaller kit, last mash in the big tun i used strike temp of 77c.. (10kg grain bill)

 

[Brew_DD2]

Trial and error or did you use Beersmith for an estimate?

 

[Fil]

trial n error, life is too short to feed s/w like beersmith
the first couple of mashes did end up pretty thin by the time i had brought it up with hot water.