Mash Tun-CPVC Style

So I built my mash tun today.  I forgot to buy the 1/2" female thread to barbed hose piece for the outside drain, but otherwise pretty much finished it up.  Here's how it went down by steps:

1. Found the old, nasty, dirt filled cooler in my backyard and did a basic cleaning of it.  I'll give it the oxyclean next week sometime before I start the all grain brewing.

2. Bought the needed supplies (minus the threaded barbed hose).  That consisted of 4 feet of 1/2" CPVC (I should have gotten 4' 8" of CPVC as I also need to get one more 8" piece), four 90 degree corner pieces, three 'T' pieces, a CPVC female to female 1/2" threaded end, and a 1/2" ball joint.

3. Removed the drain piece from my old Coleman cooler, but saved the rubber stopper on the inside of the drain unit.  This is important as that way I didn't have to purchase a new gasket/stopper piece.

4. I put the rubber stopper back in along with the CPVC to 1/2" thread and put on some teflon tape to give it a water tight seal.  I attached that to the 1/2" ball joint piece and tightened it up.

5. I eyeballed the frame size for the mash filter/drain piece and cut the pieces to length.  After putting them together (I still need to add the middle bar-the piece I was short) I made sure it was a good fit.  It was.

6. I then took a saw and cut halfway through the bottom side of the pipes to allow the wort to drain through without the grain.

7. I filled up the cooler and left it for an hour or so with hot water to test it.  It worked great!



















Now to break it in, hopefully next week with my Bitter American clone.  Here's some pictures to enjoy of the product.  Let me know if you have questions...not that I'll be able to answer them.  Since I was able to procure a cooler from myself, this only cost me about $17.  What a great deal!


So you can see I still have a few more pieces to install, however I'm close!  I'm looking foward to saving even more money on da brews!  Plus it gives me even more opportunity to screw up, I mean make awesome, by brewskis.