Ss mash tun temperature hold

[bobby_1]

Hi, kids! I recently picked up an Ss 20 gallon mash tun, and I can't get that rascal to hold temperature without resorting to HERMS... Anyone have any tips??

 

[hotbeer]

Are you using any insulation around it? Even some large bath towels should work if you have enough.

Though if you use a burner and have to turn it on to bring the temp up.....

 

[lumpher]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/maintaining-mash-temp-in-a-stainless-mash-tun.445905/

 

[RM-MN]

Hi, kids! I recently picked up an Ss 20 gallon mash tun, and I can't get that rascal to hold temperature without resorting to HERMS... Anyone have any tips??

Hold temperature for what purpose for how long?

If you intend on maintaining the exact same temperature over a long period you need to have the mash tun in an environment that is heated to that temperature. If you want to maintain the temperature within a narrow range for one hour, insulation is the answer. If you want to maintain the temperature for the duration of the conversion of starches to sugars, you need to know how long that takes. Do you know that or are you just using the "one hour long mash period" as your basis?

 

[Climb]

I use a keggle mash tun, 15.5 gallons. I have insulated it as best I can with 2" of insulation on the sides and 1.75" of insulation on the top and it still loses 2 to 3 ºF over an hour. I do the best I can and call it good. Good luck!

 

[Indian_villager]

Hi, kids! I recently picked up an Ss 20 gallon mash tun, and I can't get that rascal to hold temperature without resorting to HERMS... Anyone have any tips??W

When you say SS mash tun, do you mean just a stainless kettle or the SS Brewtech insulated mash tun?

 

[bobby_1]

Hold temperature for what purpose for how long?

If you intend on maintaining the exact same temperature over a long period you need to have the mash tun in an environment that is heated to that temperature. If you want to maintain the temperature within a narrow range for one hour, insulation is the answer. If you want to maintain the temperature for the duration of the conversion of starches to sugars, you need to know how long that takes. Do you know that or are you just using the "one hour long mash period" as your basis?

Hi. The problem is that the vessel is insulated, so i can't apply heat. I'm aware of starch conversion principles; I was curios whether anyone else had this issue, or if there's just too much headroom. I have a work around solution, but it's cumbersome...

 

[Whisky River]

I think 2 things that people have mentioned with those mash tuns are 1) ensuring that it is sitting on an insulated surface because the built in insulation may be thin or non existent on the bottom, and 2) preheating them to the correct temperature before mashing in.
2a) is obviously not opening them to stir the mash. You may have tried all of these but that’s all I can remember being mentioned.

 

[Bramling Cross]

My 10gal SS Brewtech holds temps like a champ compared to the old cooler-based rigs I built in the past. I bought the tun with the intention of returning to fly-sparging, so it felt funny going with the "tiny" 10-gal tun, my old batch sparge square cooler tuns were substantially bigger.

Perhaps you have too little mash in too big of a tun? I originally thought I'd need to employ a RIMs rig to successfully recirculate in my new tun, but I only lose 8F on a 30min recirculation with uninsulated hoses. There's nothing wrong with that, so I haven't bothered with the RIMs portion of the rig. I just mash in at ~145F-ish, depending upon the recipe, then infuse to 158-165, depending on the recipe, then fly sparge. By the time that second infusion goes in, the tun is nice and hot and quite full, so it's very efficient. For the record, I underlet, so I don't bother pre-heating the tun.

I'm getting crazy efficiency numbers vs. Beersmith's predictions with 9gals into the kettle.

Also, are you aware of the fact that the thermometers on the SS Brewtech rigs are, to put it politely, a bit underwhelming? There's no substitute for Thermapens, even if your mash tun is stupidly expensive.

 

[jerrylotto]

Immersion heaters and temp controllers do wonders where insulation fails to provide.