StillSmart

I made some space in my garage with the plan to build a 3 vessel all grain brewery - I was on the lookout for something about 1/2 bbl (100L) this would let me do 80L wort - i could ferment 20L to keg and cube 3x20L to ferment another time. This would mean I wouldn't be drinking the same beer all the time.
Also 80-100L is a great size for doing AG mashes.

While I was looking these fell into my lap


I got 4 of them - so that's the HLT, Mash Tun and boil kettle sorted, with a spare one that I'll probably use as a fermenter. They are a bit bigger than I was looking for at 210L but the price was right, and I don't have to utilise the whole vessel.

Cutting the hole for the HLT element was tricky, but I've learned a few things and I recon I'll be able to do the other two on the boil copper in no time.


Having never even put up a shelf (I kid you not), I made the strange decision to insulate the vessels and clad in pine. I did 3 wraps of foiled bubble wrap then covered in black PVC tape.
I then chiseled a lip, planed the sides to make them fit together, then screwed each part together with 4 screws.


I had to drill a hole into each plank to countersink the screws, as they were only just slightly wider than the plank.

I did this in 3 sections, then fitted dowels to fit each section together.

I then made a stand out of plywood and an old fence post - I think its starting to look quite good for a first effort.


The mash tun has a false bottom - with a bit of ptfe tube as a gasket - its a tight fit.


I have started oiling the wood - you can see here the difference in colour from the bare wood to a single coat, to 4-5 coats



I'll get it all to match before I am done - just need to sort out some banding to hold it all together - i'm thinking about using a leather strap and riveting it? But not fully decided.

Mash tun just needs a Lid and to have the plumbing done - should get to that next week. Then I can get on with the other 2 vessels - the going is slow - but I'm having fun.

nice, i would band with metal, ally is soft n cheap and will take a coat of black paint..
brass will be a nice touch but will require polishing just ensure the overlap is at the back and only you will know its not a hoop

what size hole do you need for your selected elements, Qmax punches make short work of making a nice clean edged hole, and can take out big bites for even larger holes, looks like immersion type elements your using?? some bigger boil kettles are heated with a number of smaller elements rather than one or 2 big ones allowing a basic form of control of the power input and sourcing lower watt density solutions at a lower cost. 4 or more X 1.5kw elements for example. use all to heat up and knock back to 2 or 3 for a big boil or 1 or 2 for a small volume boil.
wish i had done it myself as is i have 2 x elements (expensive) which when boiling under 30l for a small batch focus the heat on just the centre axis for the length of the element.

@Fil - I'm using standard domestic 3kw hot water tank elements on a 2-1/4" BSP thread, mainly because they are cheap and I can pick them up at screwfix rather than going with a smaller thread element as these seemed to be 3-5 times the price.
So I needed to cut a 64mm hole for the mechanical flange. I at first tried a HSS hole saw, ran it too fast, cooked it and tool hardened the steel, as it had barely a scratch on it, I widened the pilot hole to use as a thermo well, and then switch to one of these to cut in a different location.
http://www.drapertools.com/product/3483 ... Hole%20Saw

Did the job in a jiffy with some cutting oil and cooling as I went. The plan is 1x 3kw on the HLT, and 2x 3kw on the kettle.

Book me in for the first tour.

You will have to be careful. Now you have shown your true talents, there may a few more jobs for you to do around the house.

I salvaged some coper pipe that I flattened for banding, but that is as far as I got.

Thanks Brian, it was a steep learning curve, some half remembered stuff from 1st year high school technical studies (a long long time ago). And a few tips from your build.
Its not perfect, but I'm pleased with the lack of scrap, but there is a few things I'll do differently for the other 2.

I've got a pack of tongue and groove - to see if that will be quicker easier than planing all the pieces to fit, its 14mm thick rather than the 19mm I've used on the tun.

Niiiiiice

AM

You can also get bendable plywood. It has a nice surface on one side (usually beech) and on the back it has grooves cut in it so it can bend. Might be an option.