A recent survey indicated nearly 47% of homebrewers use the batch sparge method to make all grain beer, which I believe is due in part to the popularity of using a plastic cooler as a mash tun. Looking to provide homebrewers with a more durable mashing solution at a reasonable price, Chapman Equipment recently began producing a line of insulated stainless mash tuns they call the ThermoBarrel. We got our hands on a couple to review, here’s what we think!
I’d love to see a test of temp stability. For example, 14 pounds of grain at 1.5 qpp, 150F. Then two digital thermometers in the mash, one near the wall, one in the middle. Maybe 32 degrees ambient to really give it a work out. How long till the lowest temp hits 145 and the difference between middle and the wall.
For me, if its not heatable, it needs to hold temps in some pretty extreme situations. If it would hold 150-148 for 90 min at freezing ambient, I might be a buyer.
I bought one during the Kickstarter phase of their business. I really like it. On a recent cold brew day here (in the upper 20’s but in my garage, so mid thirties?) it held temperature quite well only dropping 2-3 degrees over the hour. This is just by the single thermometer that comes with the unit.
More durable than 490 batches in a regular cooler? 
Once I get the temp evenly distributed, my 48 qt. Rubbermaid cooler will hold it to within 1-2F for at least 90 min. I wonder if the Chapman mash tun is a solution looking for a problem? Do others have trouble holding temp in a cooler or with their coolers not being durable?
Which is the same performance I get with my 15 year old cooler! I’m sure it’s a very nice mash tun, but I have to take a bit of exception to the claims that it solves problems with coolers that, at least for me, don’t exist.
I have zero problems with the durability and temp-holding capabilities of my Coleman Xtreme. Granted, it’s only 4 or 5 years old, but that’s a decent amount of time and I typically get 14-20 batches per year out of it. Honestly the only reason I’m considering retiring it in the next year or so is that I am looking to go electric and plan to re-purpose my current HLT into a MT and get a bigger HLT with coil. I’m likely going to wind up with a 30-20-30 setup.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Similar to others, my 10 gallon round Rubbermaid maintains temps very well over the course of the mash. This equipment looks nice but $40 vs over $300 is a big difference.
EDIT: well I guess my cooler cost is probably closer to $100 total with false bottom, harware, etc but it still is a significant difference…
+1. None at all. Just can’t come up with a reason to change. To each his own, definitely.
Obviously stainless is more durable compared to plastics, but I’m looking for a 5-10 year life, not 100. They are very pretty.
The one advantage the SS has is we just don’t know the long term effect of mashing in plastic. I’m not saying its something I’m worried about, but it does cross my mind from time to time.
I shared that concern for a while - it’s definitely valid. But there have been enough podcasts and presentations by experts (including one @ the last NHC) recently to satisfy my concerns.
we also don’t know if pigs will be able to fly someday…
The long term effects of ethanol are really the major concern with beer. Sweet, sweet ethanol.
That was my takeaway from all the toxicology presentations. Sweet ethanol.
The dose makes the poison.
I mash in a plastic cooler, so obviously I’m not personally too concerned. Its not the same as microwaving things wrapped in plastic where the levels of toxicity are going to be high. Still, for someone trying to minimize their exposure to carcinogens the SS would be attractive. If I had cancer running in my family I would certainly be interested. I might be wrong, but I don’t think there is much data about decades long cumulative exposure. Again, I think its OK to mash in plastic and I do, but I don’t think we definitively know there is zero risk so if I were in a high risk group and there was an easy option to avoid a possibly small but not completely known risk, why not?
As for the ethanol analogy: known risks, known benefits. We are balancing some known health benefits and known health risks while factoring in our own physiology, effect on our personal lives etc. (or at least we can), while there is no known health benefit to mashing in plastic versus an unknown risk.
How do you know there’s no risk from stainless?
I don’t, but I do know there are known carcinogens in plastic that can leach out, that’s not disputed, it just hasn’t been proven or not proven that they amount to a level that can cause harm. I haven’t heard of any carcinogens leaching out of stainless steel and there is a much larger amount of people consuming liquids that have been heated in SS for decades.
I don’t, and I’ve been using the same cooler since I first started brewing all grain in 2005.
That said, I have long wondered why no one was selling insulated stainless steel mash tuns. I’m glad to see they are finally becoming readily available in the States.