Shiny and New-ish

 My newest kettle is 7 years old. My oldest kettle is about 12 years old. I spent the past weekend cleaning and passivizing all my stainless kettles and fermenters and it was time well spent. I tried several methods for removing beer stone. I used Five Star Beer Stone Remover, Bar Keeper's Friend, PBW at 160° circulated for 25+ minutes and hours of elbow grease. In the end, all of them together probably did the trick but I would say the most noticeable advances came from the Huge dose of PBW @175 with circulation. I didn't take before photos, but the kettles were pretty stained and there was hidden build up around thermo-wells and valves in the fermenters.The photos below show the results of the effort put forth.

 

I think going forward, I'll do this annually so it's not quite so much time and effort all at once.

New Mash Tun = Better Efficiency

I'm not sure what about my new mash tun is responsible for delivering better efficiency but I expect it just holds temp much better than my cooler mash tun did, especially since the cooler was so warped.

When I ran into some extra cash in March this year I used a small portion to buy a Chapman 15 gallon stainless insulated mash tun.

Since then I've had to adjust all my recipes for improved efficiency. I went from 70% to 76% efficiency and this is the only piece in my setup that has changed. I even get that with 11 gallon batches.

I have noticed that as long as the temperature outside is above freezing I don't lose even 1 degree with this tun. If it's quite cold out (25F and less) I'll lose about 2 degrees in an hour, pretty damn good.

The features I absolutely love:

1. This tun has a hanger for the lid that doubles as fixed position holder for the lid. I can't tell you how many times I knocked my old tun lid on the floor or had to go looking for it.
2. Thermometer - I did not have a thermometer on my old tun so I had to open it up to check temps. This small addition is very convenient and I love it.
3. Recalculation Port - Even with 11 gallon batches I was still picking up the hot liquor kettle and dumping it into the mash tun because holding the hose in place with a clamp always seemed to make a mess. Now I  use my pump with quick disconnects and I have one less risk point during my brew days. My back is also thanking me.
4. Cleanup - It may seem silly but this tun is super easy to clean and doesn't stain like my old tun did. It has a lip on the bottom that's a nice grip for pouring soap and water out, just another small but nice feature.
5. No leaks! I was constantly dealing with small valve port leaks on my cooler tun. Not once with this baby.
6. It's stainless so it should be my last mash tun purchase. I have built 2 other mash tuns up to this point and I don't think I'll ever need another new tun.

The things I don't love:

1. Price - While this was the most inexpensive insulated stainless tun I could find it was still $370. I could build 4-5 cooler tuns for that price.

Sorry, that's it. There are really no other negatives to this mash tun.

If you have some expendable cash and are in need of a new mash tun i would definately recommend this tun. I love mine.