Keeping your mash pot warm

I’m going to try a BIAB this weekend. I brew outside so how do you keep the pot warm. I plan on using blankets this time. If I like biab I will probably make a sleeve out of duct insulation and make a styrofoam lid for the next batch. Sometimes I brew outside when it’s below freezing so that’s my concern.

I put an old sleeping bag around the kettle. Works great. Seldom lose more than 1-2 degrees over an hour even on cold days.

Is there any danger of possibly melting material on the sleeping bag? I’m curious too for if I decide to try a BIAB.

I have a cooler mash tun that I have been using, but I lose a few more degrees than I’d like. It was a cheapo version I bought at Dick’s sporting goods, and the lid is pretty thin. I may consider wrapping it in a sleeping bag. I also may fix a small piece of insulation to fit on the inside of the lid and keep the warmth inside.

Use a cooler - don’t use a metal pot. The more insulation you have, the easier it is to keep the mash even and at target. If your batches are only 5 gallons or less, consider mashing indoors and then carrying the wort outside. You can do this in stages. I’ll drain my mash cooler, carry the kettle with the first runnings outside to my burner, then carry the mash cooler out, and then the pot with the second runnings. Not so bad.

I used to mash in a thin plastic bucket. That worked really well and kept target temperature fine - but it was sitting in my sauna which I’d heat to around 150F.

[quote=“rebuiltcellars”]Use a cooler - don’t use a metal pot. The more insulation you have, the easier it is to keep the mash even and at target. If your batches are only 5 gallons or less, consider mashing indoors and then carrying the wort outside. You can do this in stages. I’ll drain my mash cooler, carry the kettle with the first runnings outside to my burner, then carry the mash cooler out, and then the pot with the second runnings. Not so bad.

I used to mash in a thin plastic bucket. That worked really well and kept target temperature fine - but it was sitting in my sauna which I’d heat to around 150F.[/quote]
Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work to me rebuilt. I leave my kettle on the burner and drape the sleeping bag over it. Works just fine.

Yes Templar the sleeping bag has some scorch marks on it now. It’s a cheap bag I’ve had for years that wasn’t being used otherwise.

[quote=“dannyboy58”][quote=“rebuiltcellars”]Use a cooler - don’t use a metal pot. The more insulation you have, the easier it is to keep the mash even and at target. If your batches are only 5 gallons or less, consider mashing indoors and then carrying the wort outside. You can do this in stages. I’ll drain my mash cooler, carry the kettle with the first runnings outside to my burner, then carry the mash cooler out, and then the pot with the second runnings. Not so bad.

I used to mash in a thin plastic bucket. That worked really well and kept target temperature fine - but it was sitting in my sauna which I’d heat to around 150F.[/quote]
Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work to me rebuilt. I leave my kettle on the burner and drape the sleeping bag over it. Works just fine.

Yes Templar the sleeping bag has some scorch marks on it now. It’s a cheap bag I’ve had for years that wasn’t being used otherwise.[/quote]
Yeah, perhaps it is more work than is necessary, but I tried a bunch of different methods and found that this is the one that works best for me. Trying to keep the kettle at the right mash temp using my burner was a disaster - massive temperature gradients would form from top to bottom, and I’d go from heating with no apparent effect to suddenly seeing the thermometer shoot up way above target. And even a well-insulated cooler won’t keep a mash warm when it is sitting at 0°F outside. At least, not for an hour.

[quote=“rebuiltcellars”][quote=“dannyboy58”][quote=“rebuiltcellars”]Use a cooler - don’t use a metal pot. The more insulation you have, the easier it is to keep the mash even and at target. If your batches are only 5 gallons or less, consider mashing indoors and then carrying the wort outside. You can do this in stages. I’ll drain my mash cooler, carry the kettle with the first runnings outside to my burner, then carry the mash cooler out, and then the pot with the second runnings. Not so bad.

I used to mash in a thin plastic bucket. That worked really well and kept target temperature fine - but it was sitting in my sauna which I’d heat to around 150F.[/quote]
Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work to me rebuilt. I leave my kettle on the burner and drape the sleeping bag over it. Works just fine.

Yes Templar the sleeping bag has some scorch marks on it now. It’s a cheap bag I’ve had for years that wasn’t being used otherwise.[/quote]
Yeah, perhaps it is more work than is necessary, but I tried a bunch of different methods and found that this is the one that works best for me. Trying to keep the kettle at the right mash temp using my burner was a disaster - massive temperature gradients would form from top to bottom, and I’d go from heating with no apparent effect to suddenly seeing the thermometer shoot up way above target. And even a well-insulated cooler won’t keep a mash warm when it is sitting at 0°F outside. At least, not for an hour.[/quote]
Yea I guess my cold days aren’t s cold as your cold days. Maybe not as cold as Brew Cat’s either. I think he’s up east? My coldest day brewing has been about 22F. I lost 2 degrees that day with the sleeping bag setup. I’m outside but really well protected from the wind at the bottom of a stairwell.

I’ve never had much luck with heating the kettle during a mash either. Same results as you. I wonder, if you had an electric element in the kettle and a temp controller would it be any better? Or do you need recirculation to really keep mash temp stable?

I usually use a cooler and do ten gallon batches. I try not to brew unless it is in the twenties and sunny no wind. I have no problems doing it the way I do but I thought I would try BIAB because clean up is what’s a pain in winter. I have to bring my stuff inside to clean. In nice weather it’s all done outside no problems. I’m going to try it and if it works that will be my winter setup. I’ll switch back to my cooler and 10gal batches in the warmer months. I’m going to start mashing at 150-151and let it drop in to 148-147. The other idea I had was keeping my HLT at 149 and if the temp dropped out of range pull it and put it in the HLT to finish the mash. I’m hoping to just use the one pot and just use the HLT for sparge water but it’s a backup plan.

[quote=“dannyboy58”]Yea I guess my cold days aren’t s cold as your cold days. Maybe not as cold as Brew Cat’s either. I think he’s up east? My coldest day brewing has been about 22F. I lost 2 degrees that day with the sleeping bag setup. I’m outside but really well protected from the wind at the bottom of a stairwell.

I’ve never had much luck with heating the kettle during a mash either. Same results as you. I wonder, if you had an electric element in the kettle and a temp controller would it be any better? Or do you need recirculation to really keep mash temp stable?[/quote]

My coldest brew day was about 0F. Had trouble keeping the propane valve from icing up, and had to set up my chilling hoses and start the flow quickly or they would freeze solid in just minutes. But my tap water was in the 30s that day, so I could just run the wort through my plate chiller as fast as gravity would pull in. Actually had to choke back the water flow to keep the wort from chilling below pitching temp. In the 20s is ideal winter brew weather.

I haven’t tried using an electric element, but I can’t imagine it would be much better than a burner. You’d still need circulation in the mash to keep the temperatures uniform.

You back-up plan will result in lower efficiency I’d think. You need to pull as much sugar out with the mash water as you can, or you’ll leave more in the grains after you soak with the HLT instead of using it to sparge.

Maybe build a mash cozy

?

I already have a cooler, and brew 3-gal indoors, but that sure seems like it could work.

[quote=“rebuiltcellars”]
My coldest brew day was about 0F. Had trouble keeping the propane valve from icing up, and had to set up my chilling hoses and start the flow quickly or they would freeze solid in just minutes. But my tap water was in the 30s that day, so I could just run the wort through my plate chiller as fast as gravity would pull in. Actually had to choke back the water flow to keep the wort from chilling below pitching temp. In the 20s is ideal winter brew weather.

I haven’t tried using an electric element, but I can’t imagine it would be much better than a burner. You’d still need circulation in the mash to keep the temperatures uniform.[/quote]

One word for that - Sisu! I brewed on the winter solstice here in -10F weather. I love brewing in cold weather. Not sure why. It’s fun to see the steam crystalizing into ice on the rim of the boil kettle.

How do you keep your mash temps from dropping

Wrapped the pot with a blanket and made a styrofoam cover. Held the temp within 3deg. It was in the thirties so it wasn’t much of a test but I can see it working no problem into the twenties.

One word for that - Sisu! I brewed on the winter solstice here in -10F weather. I love brewing in cold weather. Not sure why. It’s fun to see the steam crystalizing into ice on the rim of the boil kettle.[/quote]

I don’t mind the cold it’s the equipment that minds. If I were going to brew at -10 it would be a three gallon extract with an ice/snow bath.

Sorry - I didn’t see this question until now. I do the same that Rebuilt does - mash indoors (or somewhere that isn’t -10) in a cooler, carry first runnings outside to the burner, batch sparge indoors, and carry remainder outside. Wouldn’t do this for anything over a 5 gallon batch though. Some of the guys I know that do double batches just work out of their garage which keeps the ambient temperature a little warmer, plus mashing in a cooler takes care of the rest.

Biggest problem for me is the propane tank. Need to have a spare on hand in case one ices up.

My problem in the cold is more with the chilling hose. Love hearing input from northern Michigan. I’m trying to get away from carrying stuff back and forth. I could brew by my garage door but unfortunately that’s the windy side of my house. My deck gets a lot of sun. Next year I will run a water line closer. Also I’m semi retired so I can pick my days by the weather forecast.

I mash in a sanke keg (RIMS system) and wrap the tun in reflective insulation and put a folded up blacket over the lid. Works good, but the insulation has melted just a bit at the bottom near the burner. No biggie. Thankfully, the coldest I brew is in the 30’s. However, I prefer that to the 100’s I brew in during the summers around here.

Right - cooling water is a challenge too. I’ve been carrying in 5 gallons of near-boiling wort to the house and using an IC at the kitchen sink. One of these days I’m going to drop it all over myself.

I actually made a CFC last fall for this very reason, and my plan is to run a short hose from a water outlet to the CFC and catch the water in my mash tun for dumping somewhere that won’t become a skating rink. Before I do this, though, I need to get a pump so I don’t have to lift up the pot to get it to an elevated spot for gravity feeding. BTW, making a homemade CFC is an awesome build!

Longer term goal, convert part of my sugarbush into a brewery. It already has almost everything I need, but I’ve been too lazy or working on other projects. One of these days…

Same here, though I haven’t actually had one ice up on me since I starter wrapping a towel around the valve. Not really sure why that works, but it does. Also, need to watch the hoses for the chilling water. I keep them indoors and fully drained until after I toss my Irish moss in the kettle, then quickly set them up before they harden. After chilling, I pull them in as soon as I can so they won’t freeze solid.

If your tank is freezing up you can partially submerge it in warm water. This will prevent it from freezing.