Cooler Conversion

What do you get when you combine a 52-quart cooler, a toilet supply line, a ball valve and some miscellaneous brass connectors? A mash lauter tun!

I started with a Coleman Extreme 52-quart model that I picked up at Sears for $30.00.

I then made a trip to Home Depot to get a toilet supply line with a stainless steel braid, a 1/2" threaded connector, two 1/2" brass barbs and a ball valve.

I cut the ends off the supply line and removed the tubing from inside of it. To get the tubing out you really have to treat it like a chinese finger trap. Push in while you pull. It took a few minutes and I lost some blood in the process, but I got it out.

I then crimped one end of the stainless steel braid shut and attached the other end to one of the brass nipples with a hose clamp. I attached the hole thing to the threaded connector and shoved it through the hole that was left after removing the drain from the cooler.

I attached the ball valve and nipple to the other side, applied some silicone sealant to prevent leaks and I was done. Took maybe an hour of fiddling overall. Easy and cheap way to make a Mash Lauter Tun. This was my last obstacle for going all-grain. After I finish up my extract supplies, I'll be doing an all grain brew shortly after.

New Toys!

Crushing grains has always been a problem. I could either have the store crush the grains before shipping them, leaving me to the whims of the warehouse monkeys or could try to crush them myself using a ziplock bag and a rolling pin. Neither of these were particularly appealing and in neither case was I assured a good crush. The results from the warehouse were mixed and the rolling pin method tended to leave me with half whole grains and half flour.

So I ordered this bad boy. The Barley Crusher! (http://www.barleycrusher.com) Shipped out today. Can be either hand cranked or driven with a 3/8" drill. As I start making the move to all grain brewing this will come in quite handy.