Ten minute cooler mash tun conversion

[wilserbrewer]

Very simple, cheap and effective batch sparger! 48 quart coleman on its way to the landfill gets a second life.
Slightly oversized tubing is inserted through cooler drain hole, For lautering, I used a washing machine supply
hose braid, it seems a bit heavier and more substantial than the sink / toilet supply braids. Zip tie secures the braid.
12 gauge copper wire is used to hook the tubing above the wort level to control flow...down is on, and up above the wort level in the cooler is off, a caveman could do it.

No valve, no washers, no teflon tape, no leaks, stripped down to the bare essentials!

 

[ohiobrewtus]

You still need something on/off to control the flow. How are you doing this, or did I miss something in the above pictures?

 

[wilserbrewer]

You still need something on/off to control the flow. How are you doing this, or did I miss something in the above pictures?

Gravity, raising the outflow tube is off, lowering the tube is on. Place the tube into a pitcher and lower slowly to vorlaugh over kettle, when pitcher is almost full, move hose end to bottom of kettle. Or one can just fold the hose and kink it for the off function. Or, once the hose is warm and soft, pinching it b/w your fingers makes a pretty good valve.

Sounds difficult perhaps, but it is very easy.

 

[WortMonger]

Flow is probably controlled by height of tubing. I like it except for the use of vinyl tubing. Vinyl gives off flavors at high temperatures, which is why most use it for beer serving/beer gas tubing/transfers.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I like it except for the use of vinyl tubing. Vinyl gives off flavors at high temperatures...

It is my understanding that vinyl is good for up to 180 degrees? Lots of people using vinyl on a MT no?

Any idea where i could locally source some better tubing, silicone I assume? Shipping is a hassle and $$$ for a single item.

 

[WortMonger]

Yeah, shipping is going to eat you up for just one piece of tubing. Plus the silicone is the most expensive tubing out there, pretty much. I'm pretty sure HomeDepot/other like store would have NSF grade hot water tubing. You won't need it to go over 180*F-ish due to your process, so they should carry something. Just remember that vinyl is better for cold.

 

[leboeuf]

Maximum operating temperature on watts vinyl tubing is 175F. Lots and lots of people have used it for brewing with no ill effects, including myself over the last 5 years.

Taken from the Watts website:
Maximum operating temperature: 175 F. Brittle temperature: -40 F. Material: Clear, nontoxic, FDA and NSF listed PVC compounds. Hardness: A. Durometer: 80 listed by NSF, glass-like clarity and smoothness, abrasion-resistant, handles a wide variety of chemicals, gases, and liquids, visual contact with material flow. Can be used as protective or insulating cover, drainage lines of all kinds.

I've always used the braid reinforced stuff for brewing and it's done fine.
Tom

 

[wilserbrewer]

Hey, thanks for the info Tom, I figured i wasn't the only one using vinyl tubing on a mash tun.

 

[RecklessDeck]

Maximum operating temperature on watts vinyl tubing is 175F. Lots and lots of people have used it for brewing with no ill effects, including myself over the last 5 years.

Taken from the Watts website:
Maximum operating temperature: 175 F. Brittle temperature: -40 F. Material: Clear, nontoxic, FDA and NSF listed PVC compounds. Hardness: A. Durometer: 80 listed by NSF, glass-like clarity and smoothness, abrasion-resistant, handles a wide variety of chemicals, gases, and liquids, visual contact with material flow. Can be used as protective or insulating cover, drainage lines of all kinds.

I've always used the braid reinforced stuff for brewing and it's done fine.
Tom

+ if the max operational temp is 175 then its fine. I use it too, and checked this fact first

 

[MikeG]

Props for the inexpensive MLT! I do think the non-high-temp tubing might be an issue but that's easy and cheap item to deal with.

 

[WildOnions]

what diameter tubing did you use to fit the drain hole without it leaking? TIA

 

[LuiInIdaho]

If you need a valve to go with flow control, you can always do something like this.

I like the simplicity of your system. Papazian would be proud!

 

[wilserbrewer]

what diameter tubing did you use to fit the drain hole without it leaking? TIA

Sorry but I don't recall. Basicly the tubing needs to be oversized by 1/16" - 1/8" larger than the cooler bulkkhead so it is a tight fit...slicing the tubing lengthwise at an angle for 3-4 inches and compressing the end will help to squeeze it and pull it through the bulkhead, then trim square.

 

[SpeedYellow]

Nice! This is almost exactly what I do, so I have no dedicated mash tun -- it's simply the family cooler (actually, 4 different ones over time... they all seem to have the same size outlet hole). If your LHBS has those cheap little $3 inline valves, they're worth every penny.

 

[GrogNerd]

thinking about stealing this idea for the mash tun cooler Santa will be bringing me

it occurred to me that instead of having to buy additional vinyl tubing for draining, would it be possible to just use the tubing that was originally INSIDE the braid?

and do you recall what diameter supply hose you used? I'm figuring a ¾" hose would fit through the spigot hole, however, would ¾" be too wide for the braided part?

 

[swackattack]

Id be worried about the grain crushing the tubing. Check out silibraid silicon

 

[GrogNerd]

this braided hose is 24", which is the width of the cooler. the vinyl hose separated from the braid would only be used to go through and out the spigot, so only minimal amount would actually be covered in grain.

much less than the 3rd picture in the OP

 

[wilserbrewer]

this braided hose is 24", which is the width of the cooler. the vinyl hose separated from the braid would only be used to go through and out the spigot, so only minimal amount would actually be covered in grain.

much less than the 3rd picture in the OP

While I like the idea of reusing the hose from within the braided water heater line, I don't think it will work. The tubing pulled through the bulkhead needs to be slightly larger, say 1/16 to 1/8 larger OD than the bulkhead or spigot dimension in order to seal. That tube will also be a bit short IMHO. A decent hardware store should have what you need at around 30 cents a foot.

Never had grain crush a braid or a hose FWIW.

 

[GrogNerd]

through the spigot, hole is ½". is the Coleman 70-quart Extreme at Wally World, and I just measured that today at the store

hole is ¾" with spigot removed

you know? I'll try it, it doesn't work, I can always buy some tubing. it really only needs to last for 1, maybe 2 batches before I swap it out for ball valve.

thanks for the info, guys

(& Hail! To the REDSKINS!)

 

[RadtasticRix]

I am assessing options for converting a rectangular cooler and noticed that people always make a copper or PCPV manifold, or use braided hose. Why does nobody use plastic hose (like that used for syphoning or serving lines) and just make small slits or holes in it?? it seems to me that it would be cheap, easy, and with a long hose you could cover a large area. I'm guessing there is a reason though.. Thanks for any input

 

[wilserbrewer]

There is no magic about creating a MT filter, you will likely want to try high temp thicker tubing that won't collapse, other than that it should work.

All you need is the temp rating and structural integrity at temperature.

 

[alexacuna]

been doing BIAB in a cooler lately, but I'm gonna make one of these this weekend.

 

[augiedoggy]

a $9 bazooka tube worked just as well for me as the $35 false bottom in my old beverage cooler Now I use a false bottom with a bazooka tube under it with a piece of stainless braid to catch finer particles inside of that... This works excellent to completely prevent stuck or slow draining for sparging or recirculating. I have brewed over 60 times with this configuration and never needed rice hulls.

 

[alexacuna]

I already build the SS braid, but if it feels like it's not working well or holding up nicely, i'll switch to the bazooka tube and false bottom.

 

[augiedoggy]

Just to add to my old comment above I now use a long piece of stainless braid like the OP but it runs the total circumference around the bottom of my round mash tun (about 34"long) under the regular bayou classic false bottom and to this day Ive only ever used rice hulls once with many many brew sessions now on the system.(just to see what I was missing) If I wasnt using a pump I would just likely skip the FB all together and just use the braid but it works as a great secondary finer filter the way I use it now. I got over 91 % efficiency on my last brew this way.