[ajdarnel]

I was wondering if anyone had advice as to the best way to upgrade my system, specifically my mash tun...Currently I brew 10 gallon batches with a 20 gallon brew kettle, and two 10 gallon modified rubbermaid coolers as HLT and Mash Tun. The mash tun maxes out around 30lbs of grain and a 1qt H20: lb grain ratio. My question is; Should I buy a false bottom for my 20 gallon boil kettle (turning it into a mash tun) and buy a Blichmann 15 gallon brew kettle, or just buy a generic 15 gallon kettle/false bottom combo? It seems like they are pretty close in cost when you consider the Blichmann has all upgrades standard. Any thoughts? Also is there anything I'm not thinking of, I know that now I will need to apply heat to the Mash Tun during the mash to maintain temp since it's not insulated like the cooler. Thanks in advance.

[tschmidlin]

Why not just get bigger coolers?

You can get a 70 qt cooler for $36

Or you can get 100 qt cooler for $74

There might even be cheaper ones available, these are just coolers I've looked at previously.  Most importantly though, they're blue!  

I have the 70, but use it as a cooler as opposed to as a mash tun.

[euge]

Bigger mashtun sounds like the answer. But it'd be nice to be able to heat it up too, which sounds like what you really want. If you don't mind spending the dosh then I'd do another 20 gal kettle with a FB instead of the 15. Do it right. Ya know? Keep it all in balance.

[ajdarnel]

thanks for the advice!

[euge]

thanks for the advice!

You're welcome!

Well?! What did you decide to do?