Mash Tun questions.

Hey everyone,

I've finally decided to step it up to all-grain.  I bought all my stuff a few months ago and had my mash tun built (or so I thought), but I was waiting on the right beer. 

I was going to brew my belgian wit today, but I'm having some problems with my mash tun. 

Before I got started, I figured I should check for leaks.  I've got one.  Back when I built it, I couldn't find vinyl washers in a 5/8" ID size.  Well, none that I thought would be good to use in brewing. 

Anyhow...now my cooler leaks one drop about every 15 seconds.  What have you guys done for your bulkheads?  Our local hardware shops sucked, so I had a hard time piecing everything together. 

I think the main reason it's leaking is because it's a rounded cooler, and fitting everything flush to the side is near impossible.  I bent my stainless steel washer to fit the contours, but without a 5/8" vinyl washer, I don't know if I'll ever get a good seal. 

Sorry for the rambling.  Is this minor leak going to affect my beer?  Should I just add a little more water to the mash to compensate for it? 



One last question... 

Since I'm doing a Wit, I've heard I should use rice hulls.  Is this just typical cooking rice, or something I should buy from my LHBS? 

Thanks everyone!

One drop is around 1/288 of a fluid ounce. That means that over an hour you are maybe losing a fluid ounce of liquid. It's no big deal but it can create a mess so you might want to look into fixing it in the future. Remember that gaskets tend to work best when they are firm but not tight to the wall.

Rice hulls are just the empty husks and are extremely light.  They are supposed to provide airspace when you use a lot of non-husk grains like wheat, unmalted wheat and gummy stuff like rye.  Not sure they are available at regular stores but LHBS and mail-order have them. 

The hulls are for the filter bed if you use gummy grist like regular rice, corn meal, rye, wheat, etc. 

I think you should brew on and fix the leak later.

I made my tun out of a Cube style cooler following:  http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

He mentions using a $.75 party keg bung.  It worked flawlessly for me.  I've heard of guys using very small drilled stoppers.  Otherwise you want a thick silicone washer for a bulkhead type arraingment.

I believe many of the 50 year silicone caulking brands are food grade.

Rice Hulls are NOT going to be in any normal store--only at LBHS'.

I too am new to all grain ( 5 batches so far), and I feel your pain, man.  Here are two ways you can do this, but I'm sure there are many.
1: Make a washer. I've made many gaskets for carburetors before, and they all worked just fine. You can get gasket material from any good auto supply store. Double it, triple it, do what's necessary. Also, you can make one.  Find a piece of pliable plastic; cut up a plastic coke jug or such, and use that. It will work until you can get the proper washer.

2: Do what we did. We have a rectangular cooler, but ours leaked too.  After removing the original drain, we cut around the plastic for a few inches, dug out the insulation, and put pliable washers on both the inside and outside of the inner liner.  You can then either use the spray foam to re-insulate it or, as we did, just put a rag around it when we brew.  It works just fine.  Plus, we can take it apart to clean it anytime.

The main thing is, don't let it keep you from making your brew!
It will work out just fine.

Chuck
Merritt Island, Florida

I ended up finding some food grade silicon washers to fix my leak. 

Brewed yesterday without a problem.  Can't wait to taste it. 

I built my mash tun about 18 months ago and also had a leak problem.  I got some silicone and and sealed up my leak both on the inside and outside.  I let is sit for three days and then wash and drained the water out to make sure that any off flavor was removed.  It has been working well for the last 18 months with no problems.  Leaks stopped.  The big thing to look for is to a silicone that can be used around food.  They are available in your local hardware store, you just have to look.  If they aren't safe for food they will say so. 

Good luck on your wit.