Mini Mash System for Extract Brewers

Wanted to revive this thread a little. It's been instrumental in getting me up to speed on the req'd equipment.

Luckily, Target still carries the round blue 5 gal coolers and a trip to the local Menards (Home Depot was no help whatsoever) found all the necessary hardware.

Also, if you're new to the game like myself and haven't made a CFC yet, Target has clearance garden hose of correct dia.

Thanks for the informative posts.

Chris_K said:

Wanted to revive this thread a little. It's been instrumental in getting me up to speed on the req'd equipment.

Luckily, Target still carries the round blue 5 gal coolers and a trip to the local Menards (Home Depot was no help whatsoever) found all the necessary hardware.

Also, if you're new to the game like myself and haven't made a CFC yet, Target has clearance garden hose of correct dia.

Thanks for the informative posts.

Click to expand...

Are you going to go full AG? sounds like you will have the equipment needed.

Eh, I'm not quite there, I haven't been able to find a turkey fryer yet. Plus the weather is very soon going to drive me indoors here. But I'll be real close to AG, even closer if I can figure this mini-mash thing out

You can do PMs or AGs indoors. For PMs, this thread is incredible. For indoor AGs check this link out.

http://www3.telus.net/sockmonkeysandbeer/beer/HowIBrew/howIbrew.html

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but here is a article from BYO:

Countertop Partial Mashing

Cregar said:

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but here is a article from BYO:

Countertop Partial Mashing

Click to expand...

That is a good article and the grain bag looks like it will work well. I think the 3 gallon cooler will work better than the 2 gallon and you can mash more grain in it.

That process as described shouldn't take much longer than strait extract brewing! Come on you guys, give it a try. You don't even have to modify your cooler.

RichBrewer said:

...That process as described shouldn't take much longer than strait extract brewing! Come on you guys, give it a try. You don't even have to modify your cooler.

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Right on, right on, right on...

I've got a 2, 3 & 5 gal coolers and being able to PM is the next step to going AG.:rockin:

The time is approx the same & your control, over your beer, is SO much better...

Right on, right on, right on...

drinker

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I have spent the past 3 days reading every entry.

I am one of those people who wants to do some PM brews. I do not have the capabilities to go to AG in the forseeable (2-3 year) future. I do not have the room/yard/a garage/money/time to move into AG. It's just not an option right now. RichBrewer, I appreciate your several posts that have brought the conversation back to the PM discussion.

I need some help/insight. I currently only have a brew kettle that holds 2.5 gallons. Could I start PM brewing with such a limited wort boiling capability? From the sounds of this thread, I would have a MINIMUM of 1.5 gallons for the mash and a MINIMUM of 1 gallon sparge water. That already puts me at my limit. Would it even be worth it (as far as saving money in the long run by using grains instead of extract) for me to put together a mash/lauter tun for PMs with such a boiling limitation? What does everyone think? Thanks again to everyone for the sharing of information (the pictures are especially helpful).

Ninkasi

PM Brews are going to have boils in the 2 1/2 to 3 gallon range so I would say that as a minimum you should have a 20 quart pot.

I'm thinking you could find a deal on a 20 quart SS pot or:
When I started AG brewing I purchased an enamel pot that was about 30 quarts. It was much cheaper than SS. The only disadvantage is that enamel pots chip easy so you have to be careful with them. I dropped mine and a big chunk of enamel chipped off.

Another advantage to getting a new pot is that you can use the old one for sparge water. That way the wort can drain into the brew pot while you heat more water for the second batch sparge.

I think I've found a really cheap way to construct the cooler. I have a three gallon bucket which originally contained ice cream (Lorenae, you'll recognize Jilbert Dairy in the UP).

I will place it inside a five gallon bucket, fill the gap between with expandable foam insulation (such as Great Stuff), let it harden, and you have an insulated vessel.

In the bottom of the bigger bucket, I plan to put a slab of rigid styrofoam which will sit underneath the smaller one. After the foam hardens, drill a hole big enough for a rubber stopper with a hole, and plug the hole with a stopper.

Any ideas?

Forgive me for being ignorant of this process, but do you have to add extract to a PM? Why can't you mash and boil 2.5 gallons of wort in a high concentration of grain, then add 2.5 gallons of water to the fermenter like an extract boil?

You aren't going to get enough fermentables. To get all the sugar out of a large mass of grain requires that you sparge with a lot of water. If you sparge with only a small amount of water, you're efficiency will be terrible, you simply won't collect enough sugars.

Jim Karr said:

I think I've found a really cheap way to construct the cooler. I have a three gallon bucket which originally contained ice cream (Lorenae, you'll recognize Jilbert Dairy in the UP).

I will place it inside a five gallon bucket, fill the gap between with expandable foam insulation (such as Great Stuff), let it harden, and you have an insulated vessel.

In the bottom of the bigger bucket, I plan to put a slab of rigid styrofoam which will sit underneath the smaller one. After the foam hardens, drill a hole big enough for a rubber stopper with a hole, and plug the hole with a stopper.

Any ideas?

Click to expand...

That sounds like a great inexpensive idea! If the icecream bucket can withstand the heat it should really work well. You could make a lid for this with some of the rigid foam as well.
Could you drill the buckets first and then insert tubing through the holes before you fill with the insulation? Maybe it wouldn't matter that much.

I think you are on to something. If you try this can you post pics and let us know how it went?

grnich said:

Forgive me for being ignorant of this process, but do you have to add extract to a PM? Why can't you mash and boil 2.5 gallons of wort in a high concentration of grain, then add 2.5 gallons of water to the fermenter like an extract boil?

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This is my question exactly. I have just bought a 2 gallon cooler and hope to be able to extract enough fermentables for at least a 1 gallon brew. The Malt Extract available to Homebrewers in South Africa is really poor quality. Has anyone found a decent sparging method for this Mini system. I am thinking of using the head of a garden sprayer to lighten and disperse the sparge water on the grains.

BTW. I think this thread is revolutionary

As The_bird stated, there won't be enough fermentables in a mini mash for 5 gallons of beer. If you wanted to do grain only you would have to brew small batches say 2 gallons or so.

I would suggest batch sparging and you won't have to worry about sprinkling water over the grain bed. To do this:
Add about half of your sparge water to the finished mash
Vourlof (recirculate the wort) until it is clear
Drain the wort into the brew pot
Add the remaining sparge water to your tun
Stir the grain and let it settle for a few minutes
Vourlof again
Drain the remaining wort into the brew pot

I won a used mash tun made from a 5-gallon cooler at the local homebrew club's last raffle, but I didn't like the spigot assembly and the false bottom didn't fit particularly well. I removed both and rebuilt it to use a braid. It sounded simple but turned out to be a real pain in the butt to find all the parts I needed; I had to go to two Home Depots and a Lowes to get most of the parts (they were each sold out of one or two pieces I needed), and an industrial supply warehouse to find a 1" ID stainless washer. Adding to that, my original design idea simply didn't work well and the bulkhead fitting leaked because of it. I tried using 100% silicone (aquarium sealant - food safe when cured) to seal it - but that doesn't adhere well to polyethylene - what the cooler is made of - so no go there.

I changed the bulkhead fitting and finally got no leaks there. The outside of the bulkhead fitting was tightened by use of the nylon nut that was part of the old spigot on the tun when I got it, a piece I hadn't thought to use earlier. However, the brass reducer that was screwed into the now leak-free bulkhead fitting would not stop leaking even with teflon tape on the threads. I sealed it with silicone and that worked as it only had to adhere to brass this time.

As I worked on this thing the various leaks that would not go away drove me nuts until I finally figured out how to correct them. It now holds 5 gallons of hot water with no issue and the tap is pretty sturdy.

The finished product:



The braid, made from a 24" hot water heater supply line (1" diameter), separate and installed in the tun:



I have not actually used this yet, I just finished it a couple days ago. I tested how well it can hold temperature with about 2 gallons of hot water (I intend to use it for partial mashing - I just don't have the capability for the heat output needed for all-grain in the kitchen on the electric stove), and it seems to hold temp decently well.

You did a great job on that Buford. It looks great. I can't wait to hear how it works.

RichBrewer said:

As The_bird stated, there won't be enough fermentables in a mini mash for 5 gallons of beer. If you wanted to do grain only you would have to brew small batches say 2 gallons or so.

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Thanks this is exactly what I wanted to hear. I realise most people here would prefer to brew larger quantities, but I enjoy brewing small quantities as I can then do many different recipes without running out of storage in my house.

I can't wait to start building this and trying it out.

Legrante said:

Thanks this is exactly what I wanted to hear. I realise most people here would prefer to brew larger quantities, but I enjoy brewing small quantities as I can then do many different recipes without running out of storage in my house.

I can't wait to start building this and trying it out.

Click to expand...

This will be a good way for you to learn AG. Keep us informed on your progress and how your beers turn out.

I'm glad to see this thread hanging on because I recently got caught up on it and I'm sure to have some more questions. I actually intend to skip PM and go AG very soon. I do like my extract brews just fine but I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of fun DIY gadgetry and in some respects I feel like I'm making glorified instant iced tea.

The good thing is that although I'm doing extracts, I've been full boiling for a couple batches already. That means I'm using a chiller and running an O2 system already. At this point, the only thing I need is a MLT and a grain mill (if I don't want to pay for crushing that is).

So, the questions. Even if one intends on batch sparging at first, wouldn't it be nice to built the MLT to be capable of high efficiency fly sparging? What I assume this means is making sure the cooler size leaves a thick enough grain bed and also probably use a false bottom instead of a single exit braid or manifold right?

Is there one size/type of cooler that would be good enough for either 5 or 10 gallon batches? If not, I'll start with 5. What's the favorite size these days?

Has anyone tried making a false bottom out of a stainless kitchen colander?

Ive tried reading as much of this thread as I can but it's very long so i'll have to come back to it. You guys in the US are lucky, I have been seduced by your set-ups but we only have the rectangular coolers in the UK and those fancy looking phalse bottoms arent available either.

I just want to say if you are attempting all grain and dont have the money to invest in all the snazzy looking equipment yet, you can just pep it up with a tin of malt extract. Pure extract brewing will teach you plenty about the principles of homebrewing but in terms of cost efficiency there's no real advantage over just buying the kits.

Stuck mash and sparge.... I tried to do this by making one of the 5 gallon round coolers from target. I ordered a mini-mash from AHS. Poured the gran into 170 degree mash water. After 45 minutes it is stuck... will not drain out of the valve. Does anyone have any tips. I used the SS false bottom from AHS but it still stopped up. I am frustrated because I spent approx. 2 hours mashnig and sparging. I am boiling now but this system I am sure is easier than what I just experienced. How do you keep the tun from getting stopped up??? Thanks.

Stainless steel braid. It's never even thought about getting stuck.

I will be modifying my setup to include a stainless steel braid. After all my trouble by original gravity ended up 1.060 - so I am pretty happy with that. I am sure it will be MUCH easier with the SS braid. Thanks.

Turricaine said:

Ive tried reading as much of this thread as I can but it's very long so i'll have to come back to it. You guys in the US are lucky, I have been seduced by your set-ups but we only have the rectangular coolers in the UK and those fancy looking phalse bottoms arent available either.

I just want to say if you are attempting all grain and dont have the money to invest in all the snazzy looking equipment yet, you can just pep it up with a tin of malt extract. Pure extract brewing will teach you plenty about the principles of homebrewing but in terms of cost efficiency there's no real advantage over just buying the kits.

Click to expand...

Turricaine, the larger coolers ar available but can cost around £50. Try a good camping shop. There are also Igloo coolers available on ebay. Some of the UK brewers get creative in using fermenting bins and insulate them.

Because we are talking about much smaller MLT vessels (2-3 gallons), a traditional sparge arm would probably not fit inside. Would it be possible to do a fly sparge with this Siphon Sprayer (see link below)? These are used to aerate cooler wort as it is being transferred from the kettle to the fermentor. Would it be possible to just start a siphon with a valve from your hot liquid tank with the sprayer at the end. You could just rest/clip the sprayer to the top of your MLT. That would give you a really cheap option (the sprayer only costs $2.25) to do a batch OR fly sparge. What does everyone think? Is that possible? I do not have one of those sprayers yet so I have never seen one in action.

I posted a few days ago on the idea of taking a small 3 gallon ice cream bucket, placing it inside a five gallon, and insulating with spray-in foam.

I made a circle of styrofoam insulation which fit tightly inside the bigger bucket, placed the 3 gallon in the middle. I filled the inner bucket with water and snapped on the lid so it wouldn't distort. I then took a can of expanding foam insulation (Great Stuff) and carefully filled the cavity between the two walls.

After letting it set a day or so, I filled it with 130* water right from the tap. Even with a non-insulated lid, it held temps so it only went down six degrees in two hours!

I have since fashioned a slide-in lid for the inner bucket out of rigid foam insulation, wrapped in plastic.

I will soon use my drill with the right angle drive to cut a hole for the outlet. I will use a bimetal hole saw for a clean cut, and then epoxy a plastic fitting (like a bathroom drain fitting from the gooseneck) into the opening.

It will cost approximately $9 when I'm finished!

Jim Karr said:

I posted a few days ago on the idea of taking a small 3 gallon ice cream bucket, placing it inside a five gallon, and insulating with spray-in foam.

I made a circle of styrofoam insulation which fit tightly inside the bigger bucket, placed the 3 gallon in the middle. I filled the inner bucket with water and snapped on the lid so it wouldn't distort. I then took a can of expanding foam insulation (Great Stuff) and carefully filled the cavity between the two walls.

After letting it set a day or so, I filled it with 130* water right from the tap. Even with a non-insulated lid, it held temps so it only went down six degrees in two hours!

I have since fashioned a slide-in lid for the inner bucket out of rigid foam insulation, wrapped in plastic.

I will soon use my drill with the right angle drive to cut a hole for the outlet. I will use a bimetal hole saw for a clean cut, and then epoxy a plastic fitting (like a bathroom drain fitting from the gooseneck) into the opening.

It will cost approximately $9 when I'm finished!

Click to expand...

Let's see some photos!
Sounds like you may be on to something.

Jim Karr said:

I posted a few days ago on the idea of taking a small 3 gallon ice cream bucket, placing it inside a five gallon, and insulating with spray-in foam.

I made a circle of styrofoam insulation which fit tightly inside the bigger bucket, placed the 3 gallon in the middle. I filled the inner bucket with water and snapped on the lid so it wouldn't distort. I then took a can of expanding foam insulation (Great Stuff) and carefully filled the cavity between the two walls.

After letting it set a day or so, I filled it with 130* water right from the tap. Even with a non-insulated lid, it held temps so it only went down six degrees in two hours!

I have since fashioned a slide-in lid for the inner bucket out of rigid foam insulation, wrapped in plastic.

I will soon use my drill with the right angle drive to cut a hole for the outlet. I will use a bimetal hole saw for a clean cut, and then epoxy a plastic fitting (like a bathroom drain fitting from the gooseneck) into the opening.

It will cost approximately $9 when I'm finished!

Click to expand...

Wow- great ingenuity! I assume it's so nice because the ice cream pail was a Jilbert's pail
RichBrewer's right- we need pictures. I just spend $119 for an igloo cooler MLT set up. I think yours will be awesome.
Lorena

I may have to try that it sounds pretty cool and like it may work just great for my PM recipes!