Cooler Mashtuns

[JVi]

I pumped the strike water from the Brewzilla into the cooler through the valve
View attachment 33506

Couple more questions if i may
Orange pump is for circulation and for pumping back brewzilla?
I didn´t see any kind of false bottom in your cooler, so how you separate grains/junk from going back to brewzilla? Or is that pipe manifold at the bottom doing that separation?

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

@HighVoltageMan! What I received today is the following, is this the same thing?
View attachment 33501

That's for adding to the fermenter for Brut IPA's. It can make beer attenuate below 1.000, Beta-glucanase works in the mash and does not effect attenuation or head retention.

I have order the wrong shit so often, I have shelf reserved for stuff I "might" use someday.

 

[Donoroto]

Couple more questions if i may
Orange pump is for circulation and for pumping back brewzilla?
I didn´t see any kind of false bottom in your cooler, so how you separate grains/junk from going back to brewzilla? Or is that pipe manifold at the bottom doing that separation?

I also have a brewzilla, and there’s no real way to use the pump to move anything other than what’s inside the Brewzilla itself, so an external pump to pump things into the brewzilla is definitely needed.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Couple more questions if i may
Orange pump is for circulation and for pumping back brewzilla?
I didn´t see any kind of false bottom in your cooler, so how you separate grains/junk from going back to brewzilla? Or is that pipe manifold at the bottom doing that separation?

@Craigerrr uses a pipe manifold and I use a torpedo screen (made from mesh surrounding a water supply hose) to keep grain from transferring to the boil kettle. Plus prior to transfer I vourlauf (which I'm doing here) to set the set the grain bed and filter out small grain particles.

 

[JVi]

Thx for @Donoroto and @BarbarianBrewer
I need to start learning terminology of this craft. Now i just make beer.
You have torpedo i have bazooka, seem to be same thing.
@BarbarianBrewer you are brave one, judging by floor you are not at garage or some storage. I can´t go near kitchen or any other room in house when doing "wine, moonshine or now beer".

 

[Craigerrr]

I wasn't happy with the pipe manifold, going to figure out a torzuka, or a bazpedo or something....
I think your questions are covered above @JVi , If not, let me know

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Thx for @Donoroto and @BarbarianBrewer
I need to start learning terminology of this craft. Now i just make beer.
You have torpedo i have bazooka, seem to be same thing.
@BarbarianBrewer you are brave one, judging by floor you are not at garage or some storage. I can´t go near kitchen or any other room in house when doing "wine, moonshine or now beer".

I only mash in the kitchen. I brew outside. For some reason the weird people in my house don't like the smell of boiling wort!

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

I only mash in the kitchen. I brew outside. For some reason the weird people in my house don't like the smell of boiling wort!

Those same weird people live at my house too!

 

[Donoroto]

Takes all kinds I guess…

 

[Ward Chillington]

should say that I usually add the grain first and pump in the strike water via the ball lock.

I would venture to guess you are loosing that much, 5° F, given that method. I preheat with a gallon or so of hot...150° to 175° water to rinse and preheat for about 20 minutes. That gets dumped then I do the calculated for grain temp strike water THEN the grain bill. I get maybe a 1° delta at start and in the summer there's no drop an hour later...3 to 5 in the cold...cold =40° ish.

Pro tip...using a manifold v a smooth false bottom would give me a higher likelihood of doughballs.

 

[Craigerrr]

Going to go with this tomorrow, mash with about 3.5L/Kg, which will leave me with about 9L to sparge with

 

[Craigerrr]

I might try pre-heating mash tun next time, see if I can get it to hold temperature better.
15 minutes after dough in temperature was where I wanted it. I didn't check it again until over an hour later.

 

[JVi]

I might try pre-heating mash tun next time, see if I can get it to hold temperature better.
15 minutes after dough in temperature was where I wanted it. I didn't check it again until over an hour later.
View attachment 33656View attachment 33657View attachment 33658

Over 5 C drop in little over hour, is that normal with this method?

Btw: nice Bazpedo

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I might try pre-heating mash tun next time, see if I can get it to hold temperature better.
15 minutes after dough in temperature was where I wanted it. I didn't check it again until over an hour later.
View attachment 33656View attachment 33657View attachment 33658

Since you didn't pre-heat the cooler mash tun and your temp probe is in the middle of the unstirred mash, I expect the outer edges of the mash were cooler than 65°C after 15 minutes. After another hour the lower mash temp finally reached the temp probe. I have recently gone back to pre-heating my mash tun by adding strike water about 5°C (9-10°F) warmer than calculator says, then waiting for the temp to drop to target temp and then adding the grist. Also, I stuff folded heating pads in the cup holders, place others across the top, and put the brew kettle on top to keep the lid closed tightly. After an hour I've only lost about 1°C (2°F). Maybe another degree during winter when ambient temp is lower.

 

[Brew Cat]

Nice neat setup. I had a cooler with a braid and would do the batch sparge. At some point I just took out the screen and lined it with a brew bag. Instead of pulling the bag just drained it out the valve. No dead space and nothing left behind. I hate heating and leaving behind anything. I do it differently now of course I eliminated the tun and mash in my kettle. Less moving liquid around. The only water I waste is boil off. I hate wasting BTUs as well. The cooler held the temperature without any adjustment.

 

[Craigerrr]

Nice neat setup. I had a cooler with a braid and would do the batch sparge. At some point I just took out the screen and lined it with a brew bag. Instead of pulling the bag just drained it out the valve. No dead space and nothing left behind. I hate heating and leaving behind anything. I do it differently now of course I eliminated the tun and mash in my kettle. Less moving liquid around. The only water I waste is boil off. I hate wasting BTUs as well. The cooler held the temperature without any adjustment.

The bag is a good idea.
I will work on getting this process nailed down for now.
I seem to recall a company that makes bags for coolers, may look into that down the road a bit.

 

[Brew Cat]

I guess you can't read it but look for this logo
These bags are solid I ripped one on my braid which is one of the reasons I removed it

 

[Brew Cat]

https://www.brewinabag.com/
Here you go
They have many sizes and will custom make one for you

 

[Craigerrr]

https://www.brewinabag.com/
Here you go
They have many sizes and will custom make one for you

Thanks buddy, I may go that route at some point

 

[Zefram]

Thanks buddy, I may go that route at some point

+1 on the Brew Bag option. I do batch sparing with a rectangular cooler that used to have a screen tube (made from a braided water supply line). I read a review on the bag route and decided to try it. I gave them the dimensions of my cooler and they sent it relatively quickly. I noticed an instant improvement in efficiency and consistency.

The one issue I have is the bag will get sucked into the ball valve and stop the flow. I just grab the bag's handle and pull that side back from the edge of the cooler. I've considered adding one of those bent extenders to see if that will help, but between the pulling back and and a little wedge to tilt the whole thing, I can get all but about a pint's worth.

Cleaning is pretty simple. After dumping the grain I just turn it inside out, spray it down, then hang it up to dry.