Catering urn/Mashing tun

[Slammer]

G'day all,

Where can I get a decent sized pot 20+ litres and/or an old catering urn for my home brew? I am new at the game and want to start my first mini mash. But these home brew shops charge an absolute fortune for a stainless pot that size...any ideas..

[grabman]

Slammer,

if in Perth try Ross's Salvage in Maylands. They generally have heaps of gear from all over the place, you never know what you'll find.

[Dogger Dan]

I got a 7 gallon pot for 85 bucks. Thought that was a bit of a steal. Try Wall Mart

Dogger

[grabman]

DD,
no WallMart in Aust, we got Kmart, Target, Big W etc but no Wallmart!

seriously though, auction joints are good for this sort of thing, you can pick up ex-commercial catering stuff for a bargain!

[Dogger Dan]

Sorry Folks,

Trust me I am sure your turn is coming, they are taking over the world

Dogger

[thehipone]

I'm dying for the wal-mart military-industrial-retail complex to invade Australia. I went EVERYWHERE looking for one of those cylindrical drinks coolers to make a mash tun. I was going to just buy a phils phalse bottom to save a bit of work... I finally gave up and bought a rectangular one and made a manifold. And then I had to find hardware stores that had the stuff that I needed to make that.

Just really annoyed me because I knew that I could make one trip to Wal mart and find the cooler, then walk across the parking lot and go to Home Depot and find all I could want for making the manifold. Grrr...

[Slammer]

Thanks guys..seems like I am not the only one who had trouble getting their hands on one. Also, any idea how much and where I can buy those floating thermometers.

Slammer

[Dogger Dan]

I got mine at Wall Mart,

no only kidding, my home brew shop had one, it is used in the dairy industry.

I used a square cooler which is taller than it is long so I only have a wee manifold and it gets covered by about 2 feet of grain bed. I was thinking of converting my high end Coleman (keeps ice for a week in the blazing dessert sun) into my Lauter Tun. How does the rectangular variety stock up?

Dogger

[thehipone]

The rectangular cooler worked pretty well, and it has TONS of space in for when I go nuts and mash up a big beer, mine is a 55L cooler. From what I have read, I've decided I'm going to batch sparging to minimize my worries about channeling and just to make my brew day a little easier.

[db]

slammer, i picked up a 15litre stock pot from k-mart for just over $20.. not sure if they had anything bigger tho. the only other place i've seen anything around that size would be a chefs/commercial kitchen suppy shop.

[gregb]

Picked up a 19 ltr Stock pot (4 gal ish) from Big W for $20.

[Evo]

Um, I know what sparging is, but what is BATCH sparging ?

[gregb]

I'll paraphrase from Palmers 'How to Brew'.

Batch Sparging ... large volumes of sparge water are added to the mash all at once, instead of gradually. the grain bed is allowed to settle, and then the wort is drained off.

[Dogger Dan]

yep, as opposed to fly sparging

Dogger

[tyrone]

For stainless steel pots consider a catering wholesale supply.They are not cheap but will last you forever.

[tommo]

G'day Slammer,

Can I suggest you try your nearest Ind Est.

Anyone who does Stainless Fabrication work could knock one up for you.

One thing though, Get them to T.I.G Weld it, ( Tungsten Inert Gas ) as opposed to the other Processes as it leaves a much neater, smoother Weld finish.

Less chance of 'nasties' hiding in rough spots.

Cheers