Homemade Mash Tun

1 - Standard Cooler. I use a rectangular 12 gallon Coleman cooler. You can use a round type as well. Regardless of the shape, make sure it has a removable spigot. You might not even have to buy this. Check your attic, there's probably an old cooler up there.

1 - Length of Stainless Steel Braided Washing Machine Hose. You'll need a length of about 24". Make sure it's really stainless steel. I've seen some plastic ones that look very similar. This should be available at any hardware store.

1 - Length of 3/8" Copper Tubing. You'll need a length of about 12". Get this at your local hardware store.

1 - Hose Clamp for 3/8" Copper Tubing. Available at any hardware store.

1 - Rubber Stopper. These should be available at any homebrew shop. Make sure there's a hole in the middle to fit your copper tubing through. Also, make sure it fits snuggly in the hole in your cooler (where you took the spigot out).

1 - Length of 3/8" Food Grade Vinyl Tubing. This is also available at your local homebrew shop. Get a length of about 3' - 4'.

1 - Hose Clamp for Vinyl Tubing. Again, get this at your homebrew shop.

That should be it for parts. All of this stuff is relatively inexpensive.

Before I get to the instructions, I must include a little disclaimer. The type of manifold shown below is made from stainless steel braid. This is NOT the most efficient design. In my opinion, though, it's the easiest. For a more efficient manifold design please see John Palmer's How to Brew.

Now, on to the plans:

1. Remove the spigot from your cooler. You should be able to unscrew the two halves.

2. Cut the ends off of the stainless steel hose. Then, cut a length of about 24". There is a hose inside of the stainless braid that you'll have to remove.

3. After the inner hose is removed from the stainless braid, crimp one end of the braid. Just roll it up a little and crimp it tight.

4. Cut a 12" length of copper tubing.

5. Place the open end of the stainless braid over one end of the copper tubing. Use the metal hose clamp to hold the braid and tubing together. There should be about 2" of copper tubing inside the braid. Now you should bend the stainless braid so it fits neatly inside your cooler.

6. Press the other end of the copper tubing through the rubber stopper. The larger end of the stopper should be facing the stainless braid end of the copper tubing.

7. Press the contraption you just built into the spigot hole in your cooler. You should have a few inches of copper tubing protruding outside the cooler.

8. Attach the length of vinyl tubing to the copper tubing. It should just slide on.

9. Slide the vinyl hose clamp onto the vinyl tubing. This will be used to keep liquid from flowing out while you're mashing. It will also be used to control the flow of wort while you're sparging.

That's pretty much it. I'm not too mechanically inclined and it didn't take me long to build my mash tun. I've used it time after time without incident. Your homemade mash tun should be cheap, rugged, and easy to clean. That's more than you can say for many store bought types.