so after moving across country i have been slowly rebuilding my homebrew set up. i want to get back in to all grain brewing. i have a great 10g megapot with a ball valve and a thermometer, and am wondering if i should get the $90 false bottom and make that my mash and lauter tun, or if i should pursue the igloo method? back in the day i used to just use phil’s false bottom in a 6 gallon bucket, but that seems to be unfavorable for temperature control.
do any of you use the megapot as a mash and lauter tun? i notice the false bottom on the nb website does not have the tub that runs up from the middle and to the spigot as i am used to seeing, why is that?
i am mostly going to be making high OG 5 gal batches.
Get your self a 10 gallon round cooler put in a good false bottom, ball valve and use that for your mash tun, should cost you about the same as that false bottom.
It really comes down to what you view as practical and how much money you want to spend. My advice would be to keep your Megapot as your kettle and use a cooler of whatever shape and size you desire for you MLT. You can use an existing cooler if you want, or buy a new one.
Most guys around here seem to use the rectangular coolers–not sure there’s any reason for this apart from already having one on hand or that you can usually find one fairly cheap. I use the 10 gal. igloo you’re referring to, and I’m quite happy with that. They’re very reasonably priced at Home Depot if you want to go that direction.
instead of a false bottom and have had very good luck.
I completely agree on the ball valve. But get a 3-piece. I’ve learned the hard way that these things get pretty nasty over time and you want to take them apart periodically for a PBW soak. I still can’t get the original 2-piece apart to clean it.
huh. i do have a giant rectangular cooler sitting around. that bazooka screen might just change
everything. i was just looking at http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/
too.
how hard is assembly? will it be readily apparent to me how it all goes together once i have the parts in hand? i’m assuming that bazooka screen will screw right in to the ball valve?
[quote]i notice the false bottom on the nb website does not have the tub that runs up from the middle and to the spigot as i am used to seeing, why is that?
False bottoms that sit below the ball-valve port will direct wort up and out through the tube you’re used to seeing.
That particular false bottom actually sits above the ball-valve port, so wort just flows directly down and out
[quote=“eponai”]huh. i do have a giant rectangular cooler sitting around. that bazooka screen might just change
everything. i was just looking at http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/
too.
how hard is assembly? will it be readily apparent to me how it all goes together once i have the parts in hand? i’m assuming that bazooka screen will screw right in to the ball valve?
-edited for sloppy typing.[/quote]
I don’t use either a ball valve or bazooka screen. Tried 'em both and found that they didn’t work as well as a SS braid and a cheap nylon valve.
[quote=“Denny”][quote=“eponai”]huh. i do have a giant rectangular cooler sitting around. that bazooka screen might just change
everything. i was just looking at http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/
too.
how hard is assembly? will it be readily apparent to me how it all goes together once i have the parts in hand? i’m assuming that bazooka screen will screw right in to the ball valve?
-edited for sloppy typing.[/quote]
I don’t use either a ball valve or bazooka screen. Tried 'em both and found that they didn’t work as well as a SS braid and a cheap nylon valve.[/quote]
Using Denny’s instructions, I built my 48qt mash tun for $50 with supplies from Home Depot. I can send you a parts list and cross section of the cooler if you’d like.
i ended up going with a cooler/ball valve/brass nipple/SS braid set up. worked beautifully! denny, if you are the genius that came up with the braided line idea, well, then you’re a genius.
the drain was a bit slow, but i had no stuck sparge, and am guessing i got a decent efficiency.
to be honest, the hardest part of the whole all grain affair was the math part. :cheers:
Do you mean mash or are you speaking with a virtual lisp. JK
The math is hard to wrap your head around so do your best to simplify it. A lot of people will try and throw all these equations at you but there is usually some simple formulas that will get you where you want on the HB scale.
[quote=“eponai”]huh. i do have a giant rectangular cooler sitting around. that bazooka screen might just change
everything. i was just looking at http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/
too.
how hard is assembly? will it be readily apparent to me how it all goes together once i have the parts in hand? i’m assuming that bazooka screen will screw right in to the ball valve?
-edited for sloppy typing.[/quote]
I have a bazooka screen also, clamps onto a through-wall bulkead, which my ball valve screws onto. Works just fine, 70+ batches and have never had a stuck mash.
If you want to do a direct fired mash in the future, go with the kettle MLT. If not, the cooler with a braid or bazooka screen works great (I prefer the B-screen after trying the braid). Now using a direct fired 20G kettle with a false bottom and loving the precise control and lose stress about exactly hitting my numbers mashing in. Still, I made excellent beers in my cooler, too.
