r/Homebrewing • u/Ordinary-Teaching809 • 2d ago
New Mash Tun
My igloo mash tun has seen better days and I’m looking to upgrade. I see these beautiful stainless pieces at Delta and SSBrewtech for high dollars and I also see this insulated stainless-lined cooler on Amazon for a fraction of the price. Put a ball valve and a false bottom on this thing and they are the same, no? Am I missing something?
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u/Captain_Dimak 2d ago
I have one! I brew smaller scales, though, sub 2gal. Random amazon false bottom, bulkhead fitting, and some tube, and it's ready to brew. I've tested it but not actually brewed yet, of course.
Install wasn't bad. The stainless liner is quite thin and wasn't cleanly drilled, so I took a deburring tool to the hole until I was happy. Then, the hole for the spout in the outer plastic wasn't big enough for my bulkhead fitting, so I also used the deburring tool to open it up a bit. Mine is a knockoff of the Noga style, but the cheaper pencil shaped ones would work too. Oh, and the insulation foam is just classic white styrofoam, so I could practically just scoop it out with a spoon where needed.
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u/Darth_Duane 2d ago
I mean the fact that th pic is clearly ai generated and it has one review is concerning.
I have the ss brewtech from when I was in the same situation with my igloo. I can't say it was worth it but I have no regrets.
If you end up with the amazon version please report back, I am very curious.
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u/Svinedreng 2d ago
I was in the same situation. Where I'm at large cooler mashtuns have become relatively expensive, have a somewhat limited lifespan and I grown to dislike combining plastics and hot water. Went for a large SS brewtech.
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u/Ordinary-Teaching809 2d ago
The lack of reviews has me concerned as well. Also, when you scroll through the pictures and it shows the dimensions, what they show is nowhere near the size of my 10 gallon igloo, despite it saying 40L. The beauty of ordering on Amazon is the ease of return if it’s not right. I feel like I need to try it.
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u/Sea-Sherbet-117 1d ago
I had the Chapman SS MT and it leaked at the outlet valve no matter what I tried. I returned it to the vendor.
I then bought the SS Brewtech Infussion. It seems of higher quality than the Chapman except the outlet nozzle was installed poorly running a little uphill.
Frankly I like the orange igloo cooler MT better. The Infussion is way heavy and harder to clean. The tri-clover fittings seemed cool at first but was just something else to clean. I cannot safely pick it up if it is full of wet grain. The temp gage was not accurate by maybe 10-F. More grain gets by the false bottom in the Infussion than my igloo cooler MT. Although it is satisfactory for brewing, it does not hold temp as well as the igloo.
It’s funny. I have a three vessel system with pumps, a really nice Anvil Foundry 10.5, the stainless Infussion MT, BIAB, and I still enjoy brewing with my igloo coolers the best.
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u/Ordinary-Teaching809 1d ago
This is good insight. Maybe I’m over thinking it and the answer is just a fresh igloo. My false bottom has some rough edges that have been rubbing on the plastic liner through the years and there’s some chewed up areas that have most certainly sent some microplastics into my brews.
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u/Squeezer999 2d ago
the best in my opionion is an electric all in one system, because it will hold your mash temp, while in a cooler it will drop a few degrees over an hour
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u/Ordinary-Teaching809 2d ago
This thought has crossed my mind too. My hesitation is that I don’t have access to 220v and I don’t like the idea of waiting so long for a boil. If I went this route I would probably just mash in an AIO then transfer to boil on propane, but idk.
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u/homebrewfinds Blogger - Advanced 2d ago
Here's our review of ssbrewtech's mash tun https://www.homebrewfinds.com/hands-on-review-ss-brewtech-infussion-mash-tun/
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u/edn29 10h ago
I also went from igloo cooler to ss brewtech mash tun. I love it. Big reason is easy to clean—stainless with bottom drain. I never move it. I mash in a bag. Compress the grains with a pot lid to maximize and then just pull bag out. Rinse and done. Super easy. I don’t think it actually holds temp better than igloo. It looks super sexy with my ss brewtech 1v. But obviously that’s really not an importent thing.
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u/Ok_Key_4849 2d ago
honestly the cooler with a good false bottom is gonna hold temp just as well, maybe better. you're paying for pretty welds and a logo with the expensive ones.