A "Cooler" Way to Ease into All-Grain Brewing

[hyphaenation]

Here's some information on all grain brewing using a picnic cooler as a mash tun.

A "Cooler" Way to Ease into
All-Grain Brewing
by By John Palmer, column editor
Republished from BrewingTechniques' September 1997 issue.

The transition from extract to all-grain brewing doesn't have to be complicated. Here's how you can convert a common picnic cooler into an all-grain mash/lauter tun -- it's no sweat.


Read the article:

http://brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue5.4/palmer.html

A lauter tun is the traditional vessel used for separation of the extracted wort. While the basic principle of its operation has remained the same since its first use, technological advances have led to better designed lauter tuns capable of quicker and more complete extraction of the sugars from the grain.

The false bottom in a lauter tun has thin (0.7 to 1.1 mm) slits to hold back the solids and allow liquids to pass through. The solids, not the false bottom, form a filtration medium and hold back small solids, allowing the otherwise cloudy mash to run out of the lauter tun as a clear liquid. The false bottom of a lauter tun is today made of wedge wire, which can provide a free-flow surface of up to 12% of the bottom of the tun.

More on Mash / Lauter Tuns:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauter_tun


Plans for building a drainage manifold (it does'nt need to be this fancy , but oh well)


The Basics of Building a Picnic-Cooler Mash/Lauter Tun

Gott Cooler Mash Tun Conversion


A video on how to make your own Picnic cooler mash tun.




When the mash tun is built you should consider building a Wort Chiller.

Wort chillers are used to quickly cool the hot wort after boiling. Rapid wort cooling is important to the making of good beer. It helps to reduce the formation of off-flavor compounds and it allows the brewer to add the yeast to the wort more quickly, thereby reducing the chances for bacterial spoilage. This article describes the most common type of wort chiller, the immersion chiller.

DYI Wort Chiller:
http://www.allaboutbeer.com/homebrew/equip/chiller.html

Making a Wort Chiller video




Here's a series of videos for a step by step on how to brew all-grain beer.


All Grain Home Brewing (1 to 8)

with Chris Knight
























Also here's some good info in using a round drink-dispencing cooler for simple all grain brewing.

http://cruisenews.net/brewing/infusion/page1.php


Cheers !

[waylitjim]

I love my 70 qt. Coleman Extreme.
It's easy to modify, holds heat well, and big enough for 10 gallon batches.
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colem...ategoryid=8580

The immersion chiller vid you posted is a good one. I followed that to build my 50 ft chiller.

[bear]

A very good post, perfect timing too.

[Fresh Brewed]

Hey! a new catagory...been a while

[Scroto Baggins]

Originally Posted by waylitjim

I love my 70 qt. Coleman Extreme.
It's easy to modify, holds heat well, and big enough for 10 gallon batches.
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=6270A748&categoryid=8580

I second the 70qt Coleman Xtreme. It can even handle 15 gallon batches of moderate strength (1.050) ale.

The SS braid manifold is really one of the most user/noob friendly aspects of the mash/lauter tun in the OP.