Mash Kettle

[NDakota]

Hey Everyone!

Setting up everything for my great adventure in the whisky distillation world! I've searched the forum but I haven't read quite few discussions about this, so sorry if I've missed the one where you were talking about this.

What about the mash kettle for the first step? I've read that water temperature should stay at 65 degrees for 90 minutes during the mash and I was planning to build an instrument with Raspberry PI and some sensors and thermostats and then I found out that someone has already invented this and that's pretty cheap compared to my project lol.

I've found the below one on Amazon, it's a basic one that caterings use for keep the water hot for tea, but should do the work no? it has a thermostat and you can set your own temperature between 30 and 100 degrees.

Is anyone of you using this or something like this?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... _qh_dp_hza

Thanks for your advises!
T.

[brewmaker1]

A big camping cooler works great for mash. It'll hold the temp for quite a while. Check a couple homebrew sites for more ideas.

[NDakota]

How do you use a water cooler to keep an high temperature? It has no control o temperature and you can't even use anything to bring up the temp if it falls down, no?

[Yating_Ju]

The catering urn will work fine for mashing and a lot of homebrewers use it with success. If you don't mind spending a little bit more, you can have one especially design for mashing. For instance, you can get the mash & boil (https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Brewers ... P4216.aspx), the Robobrew (https://www.morebeer.com/products/robob ... l925g.html) or the Grainfather (https://www.northernbrewer.com/products ... er-connect).

What brewmaker1 is referring to is an Igloo cooler mash tun (https://www.homebrewing.org/10-Gallon-C ... _1006.html). You can build one yourself for maybe 40-50$. There is a tutorial on how to use it --> https://winningbeers.com/using-the-iglo ... r-mash-tun. However, with an igloo cooler, you need to heat your water somewhere (propane burner, stove, etc.).

[NDakota]

Well, looking at the links you put it is not really "a bit" more hahahahah mine is 70£, yours are 299$ and more! I think I'll stick with the urn I've found on Amazon if it does the job well. It's actually the right balance between a professional one and making one myself

[dieselduo]

I have a Brewers edge mash and boil. The one without the pump. Wish I had one years ago. Makes mashing really easy and didn't break the bank

[Yating_Ju]

Well, looking at the links you put it is not really "a bit" more hahahahah mine is 70£, yours are 299$ and more! I think I'll stick with the urn I've found on Amazon if it does the job well. It's actually the right balance between a professional one and making one myself

I didn't know your budget, so I was trying to show what is on the market. The electric brewing systems are more expensive, but they have features that are nice too have (grain basket, double-wall, pump, still lid, etc.). However, if you don't want those features, the urn will do fine and you will need a bag for mashing (BIAB).

[NDakota]

I think I'll give it a go, the price is too high for what I was considering my budget.

Do you think I can use it also for the fermenting part? keeping the temperature fixed to 30-34 degrees? I don't know yet if this is necessary or if it is an unnecessary waste on my energy bill

and furthermore I don't know if this may ruin the kettle itself

[Yating_Ju]

I think I'll give it a go, the price is too high for what I was considering my budget.

Do you think I can use it also for the fermenting part? keeping the temperature fixed to 30-34 degrees? I don't know yet if this is necessary or if it is an unnecessary waste on my energy bill

and furthermore I don't know if this may ruin the kettle itself

I don't have experience with urns as a fermenter and I don't know if there are peoples that use it as to ferment. However, I think that if you are able to keep the temperature stable and if you can seal the lid and install an airlock, you should be fine.

[greggn]

Is anyone of you using this or something like this?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... _qh_dp_hza

What size still will you be charging with the ferments from this urn ? At 30 liters you're not going to fit much into it as far as grain and water. Stirring your mashes will be difficult given the height-width proportions. Cleaning it out isn't going to be easy, either.

[TDick]

A big camping cooler works great for mash. It'll hold the temp for quite a while. Check a couple homebrew sites for more ideas.

+1
I bought a 13 gallon/49 liter Igloo cooler ($20) a couple of years ago for mashing for my 5 gallon pot.
I prefer the chest type as opposed to the round coolers for convenience. It holds high heat well enough overnight for gelatinization.
I had done my ferments in hot weather so didn't need one until recently, but I just got a 200W aquarium heater ( $10) to maintain constant temp.

This was a COB mash:

Only other thing I've done is change the valve - haven't fooled with a manifold or bazooka yet.

Here's a video with simple upgrade:

[NDakota]

I think I'll give it a go, the price is too high for what I was considering my budget.

Do you think I can use it also for the fermenting part? keeping the temperature fixed to 30-34 degrees? I don't know yet if this is necessary or if it is an unnecessary waste on my energy bill

and furthermore I don't know if this may ruin the kettle itself

I don't have experience with urns as a fermenter and I don't know if there are peoples that use it as to ferment. However, I think that if you are able to keep the temperature stable and if you can seal the lid and install an airlock, you should be fine.

Yeah maybe the valv may be a problem. I'll check some other options for fermenting.

Is anyone of you using this or something like this?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... _qh_dp_hza

What size still will you be charging with the ferments from this urn ? At 30 liters you're not going to fit much into it as far as grain and water. Stirring your mashes will be difficult given the height-width proportions. Cleaning it out isn't going to be easy, either.

I'll have a 20lt of water + grain so it should fit. My production is not that big as for some of you hahahah.

EDIT: Just re-read your message - my still is 10lt, I'll have 2 batches for a total of around 18 ltrs.

[NDakota]

A big camping cooler works great for mash. It'll hold the temp for quite a while. Check a couple homebrew sites for more ideas.

+1
I bought a 13 gallon/49 liter Igloo cooler ($20) a couple of years ago for mashing for my 5 gallon pot.
I prefer the chest type as opposed to the round coolers for convenience. It holds high heat well enough overnight for gelatinization.
I had done my ferments in hot weather so didn't need one until recently, but I just got a 200W aquarium heater ( $10) to maintain constant temp.

This was a COB mash:
COB mash g.png


Only other thing I've done is change the valve - haven't fooled with a manifold or bazooka yet.

Here's a video with simple upgrade:

The Acquarium heater is a great idea! i had not think of that! I think I'll give it a go with a normal fermentation bucket. I'll have to make an adjustment to insert the electric wire for functioning.

Noob question, just for confirming: during fermentation the lid should be ermetically closed and the valv filled with water, right?

[TDick]

Noob question, just for confirming: during fermentation the lid should be hermetically closed and the valve filled with water, right?

To give you a direct answer: It depends.
Personal preference. It seems many people who have come from wine & beer use carboys & airlocks.
Having visited whiskey distilleries with large open fermentation containers, I don't worry about it.

Bigger answer - Constructive Criticism

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

Good to be asking questions.
But take a step back..... have you gone through "Must Read" yet?
There are very good reasons Old Hands went to the trouble to put it together.

You mentioned you've made Grappa before, so you are definitely a step ahead of where I was.

What do you want to make first?

If you're preference is Whiskey & you are in the UK, some folks complain of a lack of good grains (IF you're talking about corn for Bourbon).

That said, take a look at Cornflakes Whiskey.

As I suggested to someone the other day, the recipe has been around a long time. Read the ENTIRE thread - it covers ALL the bases.

Read Til You Bleed.gif (24.78 KiB) Viewed 3151 times

[NDakota]

Noob question, just for confirming: during fermentation the lid should be hermetically closed and the valve filled with water, right?

To give you a direct answer: It depends.
Personal preference. It seems many people who have come from wine & beer use carboys & airlocks.
Having visited whiskey distilleries with large open fermentation containers, I don't worry about it.

Bigger answer - Constructive Criticism

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

Good to be asking questions.
But take a step back..... have you gone through "Must Read" yet?
There are very good reasons Old Hands went to the trouble to put it together.

You mentioned you've made Grappa before, so you are definitely a step ahead of where I was.

What do you want to make first?

If you're preference is Whiskey & you are in the UK, some folks complain of a lack of good grains (IF you're talking about corn for Bourbon).

That said, take a look at Cornflakes Whiskey.

As I suggested to someone the other day, the recipe has been around a long time. Read the ENTIRE thread - it covers ALL the bases.

Read Til You Bleed.gif

Yeah I've read the threads of recipes both in this forum and outside on the internet. I'm still refining my recipe and searching some informations (even though I know that the good stuff will come out from experience and trying to find the perfect mix by doing and failing - or succeeding).

Concerning the lack of malt, I'm oriented on single malt with barley. True about the lack of malt, the only good option I found so far is a store in Edinburgh shipping Simpson's malts, that I read are lighter than Bairds concerning the peatiness.

For what you say about the reading the forum, I've been browsing the forum for months now, and despite I found a lot of useful information, sometimes a lot of notions are given for granted (because they should actually even at a novice level) so I'm not 100% sure to have fully understood and I prefer to ask confirmation. Sorry if it is sometimes not necessary, I'm sure that it'll come to an end once I'll start! Thanks for the tip though!