My Inexpensive Homemade Mash/Lauter Tun - MLT

Here's my rendition of a combination Mash/Lauter Tun using parts easily available around town. It all started the day after I visited my local homebrewer's club, the Ohio Valley Homebrewer's Association, www.ovha.net, and saw a version of a 10-gallon combination mash/lauter tun made from a 10-gallon Rubbermaid cooler, one of the orange round ones that are pretty ubiquitous.

The next day I was in Target and thought I'd just look at the coolers, just to get an idea. They didn't have that particular cooler, but they did have a 50-qt Igloo Ice Cube, and it just happened to be on sale for $18.99. Sold!



The ice cube didn't have a plastic spigot, so my first task was to drill a 5/8" hole into the side. One of the sides has a thinner wall near the bottom just perfectly formed for the insertion of a spigot, so I drilled there.

Then I built the spigot, basically a homemade bulkhead fitting.

On the outside, pictured below are:

• 3/8" male barb adapter, with teflon tape on it
• 3/8" ball valve, for liquid and gas (make sure it's not just for gas)
• a 3/8" x 1-1/2" brass nipple (you can't see it)
• several 5/8" ID flat washers
• a 5/8" o-ring (you can't see it, it's up against the cooler wall
  

Then, on the inside we have:

• the same nipple from the outside coming through the cooler wall (you can't see that, of course)
• another 5/8" o-ring (against the inside cooler wall, you can't see)
• a brass 5/8" flat washer (brass or stainless here, b/c it will contact the wort)
• a 3/8" female barb adapter, with teflon on the nipple
• a 1/4" stainless hose clamp
• a manifold made from a dishwasher supply line (more on that below)
  

I bought a stainless steel (make sure it says so on the package) dishwasher supply line, cut the end connections off, then pushed the stainless braid off the rubber hose. This is tricky, but remember to PUSH the braid and not pull. It slips out VERY easily if you're doing it correctly. Otherwise, it's impossible, like Chinese handcuffs.

Then I used some heavy duty wire cutters to cut the stainless braid to length, which should be just less than the width of the cooler, so that it lies down flat and straight after everything is assembled, without touching the opposite wall of the cooler. On the other end of the hose, I've put a 1/4" brass plug, clamped on with another 1/4" stainless hose clamp.



















That's all there is to it.

My primary references for this were:

http://members.shaw.ca/Fly_Guy/mlt.htm - perfect explanation of how to build it, with good pictures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmwYSjfu3zY# - not so detailed, but this guy's video inspired me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMHLqnWCNjE# - another great video for extract brewer's who are thinking about all-grain.

And, of course, much support and advice from the Ohio Valley Homebrewer's Association, OVHA, www.ovha.net, especially this short topic on the message board: http://www.ovha.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=583&start=0&hilit=stainless+steel.