Mash

[lazarus0530]

Hello!
I just found this ...I think it's awesome so the heck what anyone says. I really want to make this into a masher.
1) is it possible ?
2) anyone got any cheap ideas/plans to make one.
3) is it hard to get started mashing ?
4) this is a 10 gallon cooler. In really good shape

 

[erikpete18]

On the inside that looks a lot like the beverage coolers a lot of people use. Is the spigot plastic, and is it removable? If it is, you should be good to go. Give that a good scrubbing on the inside to make sure its clean, then replace the spigot with a hose braid, a manifold, and a ball valve, and you're ready to go. The hose braid is just the stainless steel portion of a hot water hose that you can make yourself or buy already put together for not too much. Assuming you've got a big enough boil kettle to handle that much liquid (at least 8-9gal), you should be able to make 5 gallon batches at as high a gravity as you'd ever care to with that.

 

[lazarus0530]

On the inside that looks a lot like the beverage coolers a lot of people use. Is the spigot plastic, and is it removable? If it is, you should be good to go. Give that a good scrubbing on the inside to make sure its clean, then replace the spigot with a hose braid, a manifold, and a ball valve, and you're ready to go. The hose braid is just the stainless steel portion of a hot water hose that you can make yourself or buy already put together for not too much. Assuming you've got a big enough boil kettle to handle that much liquid (at least 8-9gal), you should be able to make 5 gallon batches at as high a gravity as you'd ever care to with that.

Thanks man! I have no idea where to start

 

[lazarus0530]

On the inside that looks a lot like the beverage coolers a lot of people use. Is the spigot plastic, and is it removable? If it is, you should be good to go. Give that a good scrubbing on the inside to make sure its clean, then replace the spigot with a hose braid, a manifold, and a ball valve, and you're ready to go. The hose braid is just the stainless steel portion of a hot water hose that you can make yourself or buy already put together for not too much. Assuming you've got a big enough boil kettle to handle that much liquid (at least 8-9gal), you should be able to make 5 gallon batches at as high a gravity as you'd ever care to with that.

And the spigot can come off

 

[erikpete18]

In that case, all you need for mashing is a filter of some sort (here's the braid I'd mentioned), a manifold, and a ball valve (here's a combo). Note that there's a ton of ways to do this. For filters, some people use false bottoms, others use PVC manifolds, but if you're planning on batch sparging I've found that the braid works the easiest. That was also one option for a manifold/ball valve, you can go cheaper on the ball valve (2-vs-3-piece, brass-vs-stainless) and there are a ton of different manifolds out there. All the manifold does is uses O-rings to make a tight seal in the hole that's already been made for the spigot. Good luck!

 

[Epimetheus]

Looks like a good, solid cooler. If you put a spigot on there with a good seal against the inside plastic then no trace iron could get into the wort. The iron is not poisonous to you, it just can have adverse effects on flavor.

Here is a description how to install a spigot on a 10 gallon cooler. Go for it!

-- edit -- did not see erikpete's post. Now you have several sources

 

[lazarus0530]

Looks like a good, solid cooler. If you put a spigot on there with a good seal against the inside plastic then no trace iron could get into the wort. The iron is not poisonous to you, it just can have adverse effects on flavor.

Here is a description how to install a spigot on a 10 gallon cooler. Go for it!

-- edit -- did not see erikpete's post. Now you have several sources

Thanks!

 

[lazarus0530]

Can anyone tell me exactly what I would need to get started ?

 

[lazarus0530]

Never mind I guess I should cline on the "here" a Lil more often

 

[unionrdr]

Looks like galvonized steel to me. On the outside,anyway. I can't make up my mind from the pic if it's just painted inside,or has a plastic liner. But the ball valve that'll replace the stock one has to go through the liner & be well sealed so it can't react with the zink coated steel shell.

 

[lazarus0530]

Looks like galvonized steel to me. On the outside,anyway. I can't make up my mind from the pic if it's just painted inside,or has a plastic liner. But the ball valve that'll replace the stock one has to go through the liner & be well sealed so it can't react with the zink coated steel shell.

Thank you...yes I took it to my lhbs ...he said the same thing but after some tinkering around we figured it out that if we extend the spout and duct tape the edges we shouldn't have any worries. Thank you so much

 

[lazarus0530]

Looks like galvonized steel to me. On the outside,anyway. I can't make up my mind from the pic if it's just painted inside,or has a plastic liner. But the ball valve that'll replace the stock one has to go through the liner & be well sealed so it can't react with the zink coated steel shell.

And it's a plastic liner on the inside

 

[unionrdr]

It's good that it has a plastic liner. But I'm not wild about the duct tape,as it doesn't like getting wet. Not to mention what the tape may be made of. Try to find a more permanent solution.

 

[lazarus0530]

It's good that it has a plastic liner. But I'm not wild about the duct tape,as it doesn't like getting wet. Not to mention what the tape may be made of. Try to find a more permanent solution.

Teflon tape?

 

[lazarus0530]

It's good that it has a plastic liner. But I'm not wild about the duct tape,as it doesn't like getting wet. Not to mention what the tape may be made of. Try to find a more permanent solution.

The spout doesn't touch the steel at all really. But thank you so much...now ya got me thinking about other things....I guess I could cut it back further.

 

[unionrdr]

Hmmm...a close in shot of how you rigged it might help. Trying to picture it.