Epimetheus wrote: I could use the 50 qt cooler for a mash tun, or just install a resistive element and PID controller, both would require a pump. Someday.
Epi, there is no need for any of this stuff. Do an advanced search of posts done by me on the member called "Crusty". He spent four thousand dollars on pumps, three vessels etc, etc but he sold all that equipment because he thinks BIAB in an urn produces better beer.
A three vessel fanatic (like any fanatics, there are only a small percentage) on other sites will say, use a mash tun but it is actually a crazy idea for maintaining temperature. I and many others here used to three vessel and a cooler/esky will not solve your temperature problems, it will just cause more.
1. If you strike too low in a mash tun, you can't heat it unless you have expensive equipment tht will cost you time and money. (Always strike your mash low by the way. BIAB make sit very easy to add temperature.)
2. If you do want even heat (which I for one and Crusty for two, and maybe a million other people wouldn't even know whether that is a good idea or not), then BIAB is the easiest way to do that. The only way to apply even heat without spending a billion dollars and a hundred brews is to simply pay attention to your mash. That is it.
If you agitate your mash and check it's temperature regularly, you will see what radiation effects your set-up has. The only way of learning this is to do a few brews.
No one I know who wins medals has a complex set-up. That means no one at all, full stop or period as they say in America!!!! (What this tells me is that the more crap/equipment you have, the more likely you are to brew bad beer because you will get subtle infections creep in.)
Make any sense?
PP
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