Over the weekend I did the first proper test of the newly completed mash tun.
I wanted to see how well it held temperature, so filled it to about 10 litres with water from the hot tap (which I know will really only reach around 40 degrees C), put the lid and cover on, and left it alone.
About an hour later I went back to check it, and using the very scientific method of sticking my finger in the water, could tell that the temperature hadn’t dropped much at all, which I took to be a success. In fact, another hour-and-a-half later I emptied it and tested the tap at the same time, and it was still hot.
So not a terribly scientific test, but one I think was successful. It held a good temperature, which will only get better once the grain is in there acting as insulation too, and I had no leaks, not even a drip. I’ve now got a digital thermometer so I can do the test again and actually track the temperature as I go. I’m very pleased, and looking forward to getting the boiler even more now.
Update:
Armed with my new thermometer, I conducted another test last night. I wasn’t going for a specific temperature, but wanted to get it somewhere around what I need for mashing, just to see how it does. By the time I’d added around ten litres of water from the hot tap and boiling kettle, I had a starting temperature in the tun of 58 degrees. On went the lid, and an hour went on the timer.
A year ago I’d have spent the next hour twiddling my thumbs and resisting the urge to take a reading every few minutes, but having a six month-old meant the next hour was occupied with baths, washing bottles and having a last bit of play before he went to sleep.
After an hour I took the lid and cap off and put the probe in with a due sense of worry. What if it didn’t work? What if I’d wasted all that time and money (not that it cost a lot really) on something useless? I needn’t have worried. An hour later the temperature had dropped a paltry four degrees! Bearing in mind that I was just using water and didn’t have a grain bed to help hold the heat, I think that means I officially have something that I can make beer with!
I guess I’d better start reading more about which sparging technique I want to use.