Beer Forum

OK so I've been a loyal listener and supporter for over a year. I have finally decided to start putting the knowledge to practice. So I have looked all over to figure out what equipment I want to buy/make/steal to get started. One question, and here is where I know the answer is going to make me look like a total idiot.
When I look at pictures of people using those big round orange plastic coolers, are they using them as a brew kettle? Basically, is it possible to use those coolers as a brew kettle?

Staniless or aluminum kettle for direct heating or boiling of any liquid. The coolers are mash tuns. Mash temps of 150ish are good for plastic, boiling at 212f, not so much.

there are four basic vessels you'll need to do an all grain brew. the coolers you're seeing are being used as mash tuns. there are threads on here discussing good ways to build them, I'd look into them if you're planning on building one.

the four vessels you'll need are:
1. Hot liquor tank: big enough to hold, and heat all the water you'll need to mash and sparge until you have your pre-boil volume in the boil kettle. most guys use a large pot, or converted keg for this.

2. Mash tun: for mashing your grains, and running off the sweet wort. usually an insulated cooler in a homebrew setting.

3. boil kettle: for boiling your wort, hops, and other ingredients.

4. fermenter: where it all goes post-boil. this is where beer happens. most guys use glass carboys for this. food grade plastic buckets can work too if you practice extra good cleaning and sanitation

Evan Burck wrote:there are four basic vessels you'll need to do an all grain brew. the coolers you're seeing are being used as mash tuns. there are threads on here discussing good ways to build them, I'd look into them if you're planning on building one.

the four vessels you'll need are:
1. Hot liquor tank: big enough to hold, and heat all the water you'll need to mash and sparge until you have your pre-boil volume in the boil kettle. most guys use a large pot, or converted keg for this.

2. Mash tun: for mashing your grains, and running off the sweet wort. usually an insulated cooler in a homebrew setting.

3. boil kettle: for boiling your wort, hops, and other ingredients.

4. fermenter: where it all goes post-boil. this is where beer happens. most guys use glass carboys for this. food grade plastic buckets can work too if you practice extra good cleaning and sanitation

your boil kettle can easily do double duty as a hot liquor tank if you have a bucket to run your mash off into.

Thanks for the reply. Now this makes more sense to me. I'll have to starting pen to paper and really figure out what I can afford right now and what I would like to get with in that budget.

Count De Monet wrote:Thanks for the reply. Now this makes more sense to me. I'll have to starting pen to paper and really figure out what I can afford right now and what I would like to get with in that budget.

here's one tip: i'd go straight to full volume boil. don't bother with a 5 or 6 gallon kettle or something like that. you'll regret it in 3 batches when you upgrade to full volume (like i did). this means you need a 10 gallon kettle or bigger and a wort chiller too.

if you can't afford an all grain setup then i'd go full volume and extract until you can afford the mash tun. you should be able to make a mash/lauter tun stainless steel braid style for around or under $80 i think. i got all my parts from work so i'm not exactly sure what it would cost retail. my whole mash tun setup was about $55.

Phil wrote:

Count De Monet wrote:Thanks for the reply. Now this makes more sense to me. I'll have to starting pen to paper and really figure out what I can afford right now and what I would like to get with in that budget.

here's one tip: i'd go straight to full volume boil. don't bother with a 5 or 6 gallon kettle or something like that. you'll regret it in 3 batches when you upgrade to full volume (like i did). this means you need a 10 gallon kettle or bigger and a wort chiller too.

if you can't afford an all grain setup then i'd go full volume and extract until you can afford the mash tun. you should be able to make a mash/lauter tun stainless steel braid style for around or under $80 i think. i got all my parts from work so i'm not exactly sure what it would cost retail. my whole mash tun setup was about $55.

Great advice there. I didn't consider the full boil kettle. I'll definitely start looking around for that one and like you said go with what I can afford and build from there.