Easiest Lauter Tun Equipment?

[jeffsav]

Hi All,

Planning on doing my first all-grain and starting to think too much about it. I have the basic equipment with the exception of the lauter tun/sparge components. Been going through the various books I have and numerous suggestions and trying to figure out what is easiest for what I already have. Also trying to avoid spending much $.

I already have a spare plastic fermentation bucket and a couple smaller bottling buckets. Wondering if I should try these with the double bucket setup (small holes in the one bucket), or get a cooler and try to use a manifold or colander type deal as a false bottom. I have grain bags too and wondering what the easiest way to go without screwing anything up will be. Thanks,

Jeff

[MichaelM]

either do the zapap setup(bucket in bucket) to try it out or to be honest go get you a 48 quart igloo ICECUBE cooler go to lowes and get you a couple cpvc fittings and a stick of cpvc a can of clear cpvc glue a ball valve and two 3/4 inch stainless washers. if you wish I will write you up a part list to pick up.

the cooler is only 15 bucks and they are all over walmarts right now. the fittings will run you about 5 bucks for the ball valve and then maybe another 5 bucks for the pvc and the fittings you will need and another couple bucks for the glue. could prolly build the whole thing for 30-40 bucks and have you a mash/lauter tun that will be fine for any 5 gallon batch you will prolly ever think of...

[jeffsav]

Thanks for the reply. The more I've been looking at things and reading others' responses on the Internet I was leaning more toward the type of arrangement you described.

I'll take you up on the offer to provide a parts list. That'll make my life simpler (especially if I have to drag my kids to the store....when I can never concentrate) and I can run out to WalMart and Home Depot. Thanks again!

Jeff

[corkybstewart]

I went from the bucket in bucket to a 3 tiered propane fired 10 gallon system. The B in B was hellish, but it made good beer. I are much smarter now so I would skip the B in B and go with a rectangular cooler, at least 10 gallons if not larger. There's so much more good info available to new brewers now that the cooler tun is the way to go. When I started brewing we had mules turning a stone to grind our grain, and the poor bastards walked uphill barefoot all day long just to get enough grain crushed for 5 gallon of mediocre beer.

[twilliams1223]

I recently upgraded w/ something similar to this (http://www.homebrew.com/articles/article09130301.shtml)
I used all cpvc fot this. Have brewed twice with it and eff. jumped up to the mid 70's from the mid 60's. I'm working on the sparge arm now. Try and get some pictures this weekend and post up

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
.....I are much smarter now......

You sure corky? :D



FWIW, I prefer my ten gallon round cooler.

[MichaelM]

yup thats close to what I am describing but instead of a rectangle cooler using the 48 quart igloo ICECUBE cooler its much more square giving you a smaller bottom and a better grainbed depth.... that and that guys suggestion of using plumbers putty I wouldnt recommend.... anyways for your basic bulkhead fitting you will need

1 1/2" female slip x threaded fitting(means its threaded on one side and pipe slips into the other end)
2 1/2" Male slip x threaded fittings.
2 3/4 inch ID stainless washers (go to lowes better selection the HD)
1 1/2" ballvalve threaded(there is a lot of different ones get the cheapest they are like 5 bucks)
and a 1/2 male threaded to 3/8 inch barb fitting.
1 roll of thread tape
1 10' section of CPVC
1 SMALL can of clear CPVC glue

Basicaly get your cooler(48 quart igloo icecube) remove the valve that comes with it(very easy just unscrews) and save the black rubber washer that comes with it.

Take your two male fittings and cut a short piece of pipe follow directions and glue the pipe and the two males fittings together. Now tape one of the male fittings with thread tape (just a few wraps will do it) and tighten on the ballvalve then a few wraps on the threads of the nipple and tighten that into the ballvalve.

Now take and put one of the stainless washers onto the other male fitting(you will have to work it on it will be tight just dont bugger up the threads to much) fit that through the hole in the cooler and then put the rubber washer that came with the coolers valve and then the other stainless washer on and screw on the female CPVC fitting tighten up nice and good. your bulkhead fitting is now finished! Fill with hot water and check for leaks.

TIPS:
The piece of pipe that goes between the two males fittings is determined on how much clearance you need for the ballvalve. Go as short as possible to make it sturdy. (1" is the shortest you can cut it so that both fittings are glued completely together)

Take a piece of sandpaper and sand/file/carefully cut any lettering of the face of the female CPVC fitting so that it seals flush.

Test fit your stainless washers to make sure they lay flush as well, you may have to file/dremmel them down to get them to sit flat because of the inside of the cooler(I didnt on my gott 10 gallon nor did I on my 60 quart ICECUBE I turned into a HLT but you never know)


For your manifold design go here
http://www.howtobrew.com./appendices/appendixD-1.html
that will show you the proper spacing and size for the bottom of your cooler

but basically you will need

5 1/2" T's
4 1/2" 90's
and maybe a 45 or a street 90 or so depending on how high off the bottom the drain is for the cooler
you can always put the T on the manifold for the drain at a 45 degree angle or whatever to make it hot correctly....

basically the manifold will plug right into the female fitting on the inside of the bulk head. I will take a few pics of my setup and post them here.

http://s148.photobucket.com/albums/s8/michael90t/HomeBrewing/

in just a few minutes to give you an idea of how the bulkhead fittings and the manifold will plug together..... mines a round gott cooler and I am using a false bottom now but if I had to do it over again it would be a square ICECUBE like I described......

if you have any questions just ask!!

[darylM]

I was wondering if you removed the back of the manifold and capped the straight pieces. The front of the manifold still needs the T's to the bulkhead(duh). But one isn't putting holes in the back tranverse anyway. Why have it there?

[twilliams1223]

I didn't even use the stainless washers, or putty. Thought the putty wouldn't be to consumable by humans.:D
Just the black washer w/ the cooler and the washers from the female fittings. No leaks so far. Also had the same config on my original manifold, only w/ the primiter piping. Got a lot of channeling that way thou.

[MichaelM]

yea my original setup didnt have the washers either but it was kinda.... floppy..... So I went back and put in the washers made a massive difference in how sturdy it was....

I would imagine the back side of the manifold is usefull for the fact that it helps stiffen the whole setup and help keep it from getting knocked about...

[jeffsav]

Michael....thanks for the helpful message and list of parts.

I just checked out the WalMart and Kmart nearby (usual crappy selection of goods in this area) and WalMart only had the 60 qt Igloo Ice Cube cooler, but it's on wheels and the drain is at an odd angle near the wheel well. Has anyone tried this one? I may have to go with a rectangular cooler, which there were plenty of.

[jeffsav]

I spoke too soon. I just called Big 5 Sporting Goods and they have some. Prices are probably jacked up, but I'll probably pick one up this evening.

[SirVeza]

In lieu of the fancy manifold, a cheap SS braided toilet hose can be used (ala Denny Conn (http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/)). Works wonders and don't get much cheaper. The system is optimized for batch sparging and that will save you some on a sparge arm & gear.

There are also some photos here (http://www.bodensatz.com/gallery/DennyConn) of them trying to do 62lbs of grain in a 152qt cooler.

A two bucket Zapap would greatly benefit from a false bottom. I've tried drilling all those holes before. Not fun after a few hours.

If cash is the deciding factor, try Brew in a Bag (http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4650&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0). Lots of people are going all-grain with this simple $10 system. There's got to be something that fits the bill.

My 2 pesos, anyway.

I hope you enjoy your first all-grain beer.

Good luck!

Dan Carol
Homebrewing in the Philippines (http://homebrewinghobby.blogspot.com)

[MichaelM]

Originally posted by jeffsav
I spoke too soon. I just called Big 5 Sporting Goods and they have some. Prices are probably jacked up, but I'll probably pick one up this evening.

yea I dont think the 60 quart would make a good mashtun because of the wheelwells but it does make a great HLT :)


yea go with that 48 quart icecube hell they are everywhere here now(wasnt a few months ago when I went allgrain or I would have used it instead of the 10 gallon round gott)

[jeffsav]

Thanks again to everyone for the helpful replies. I managed to find all of the equipment at the Home Depot after getting some help from a knowledgeable employee. Michael, thanks for putting up the link to the pictures of your setup. Seeing the setup makes it a lot easier than reading. :) I may have gotten hosed on the cost of the Igloo Ice Cube 48 qt. cooler at $40, but all of the other parts only came to $20. Unfortunately, not the best of shopping options in this neck of the woods.

[MichaelM]

wow 40 bucks for the cooler???? they have them around here for 15 dollars!!! AMES Target Wallmart Kmart all have them around here at the moment lol...

[jeffsav]

Around here we have kmart and walmart and home depot. Slim pickings.

I think this setup is going to be nice. I have the bulkhead fitting put together and at some point will assemble the manifold. Looks pretty easy to do. One thing I'm wondering about is attaching the manifold to the fitting. The hole for the drain is about 1/2" or so higher than the bottom of the cooler. Any ideas for how to handle this part? I know you mentioned using a 45 angle fitting, but I think that angle would be too much. Any tube-like fittings that would be flexible and I could run from the T fitting to the female end of the bulkhead fitting?

[MichaelM]

honestly your best bet would be to go pick up a street 90 and a street 45 and maybe a regular 45. Street fittings are basically one side is made for pipe and the other side fits directly into another fitting so they can make some very short turns if need be.....

basically if you use these parts this is what you will come close too....

T and a regular 90 closet you can hit is 1 inch
T and a Street 90 about 3/4"
T turned to a 45 with a regular 45 about 1/2"
and then T turned on a 45 with a street 45 about 1/4 inch

these arent exact but will get you damned close remember T's dont have to be flat or straight up or down you can turn them on an angle so you should be able to get it pretty damned close to perfect just pick up an extra regular and street 45 and 90 and test fit it

[Chubber]

Originally posted by SirVeza


If cash is the deciding factor, try Brew in a Bag (http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4650&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0). Lots of people are going all-grain with this simple $10 system. There's got to be something that fits the bill.


I will second that idea. If you have already bought the equipment, that's fine, too, but you can make good beer with the BIAB process. Once you have the big boil pot, the rest is cheap and easy.

I have a typical three tier setup, but I am using the BIAB more and more now. You can see some of my experiences at the end of the thread mentioned above. It has saved me both clock time and personal time.

[Richter]

Hey Chubber and SirVeza, where do you find those big bags?
This may be just the thing for an out-of-town brew day over the holiday weekend.

[deucedaily]

I use a straining bag I got from mylhbs. It's large enough to go over the bucket. I usually don't put it around the bucket lip, I just try to tie it off real loosely so that that grains don't escape, but at the same time they have room to move around. I also use the bag after re-sanitizing it to strain out the hops and break material after the boil when transferring to the fermenter. It serves as a good way to get some oxygen in the wort before pitching. Just make sure the temp is down to pitching ranges.

[Chubber]

Originally posted by Richter
Hey Chubber and SirVeza, where do you find those big bags?
This may be just the thing for an out-of-town brew day over the holiday weekend.

I made mine. I bought 2 yards of heavy duty 100% polyester fabric at WalMart for $8. Think wedding dress material. I used about 5 feet of 1/4 inch poly rope for the drawstring and I used polyester upholstery thread for the sewing. My material is a little TOO tight weave for quick draining, but I can super crush the grain and it does leave a nice clear wort. Takes about 20 minutes to drain, but I can start heating the wort before it is 1/2 way empty, so I am at boiling about the time the bag is completely drained.

I can go "portable" all grain with just my boil kettle, the burner, a propane tank and the carboy. Except for the carboy, I can put it all on the back of my motorcycle!

[Richter]

Thanks for that info
I just checked my kettle and soon-to-be keggle. diameters are just under 16". I'm on my way to the lhbs and see if they have one that'l fit.
I'm trying to visualize that cycle with burner, tank and pot on the back. Nice

[Chubber]

Originally posted by Richter

I'm trying to visualize that cycle with burner, tank and pot on the back. Nice

I sit the keggle up on the passenger seat, strapped to the back rest. The propane tank goes on top of the right saddlebag and the burner goes upside down on top of the left saddlebag. I have hard aluminum saddlebags with good strapping points. I have a pic of it somewhere, Ill try to find it.

[MichaelM]

hahahah thats great!!!


my stuff fits in a car/truck dont htink I could get my complete allgrain setup on a bike though lol..... then again with hardbags and good strap points i may just be able to strap the brewladder on there LOL