Product Review | Chapman ThermoBarrel Insulated Stainless Mash Tun

Author: Ray Found

After making my first batch of beer, an Irish Red Ale extract kit, I was certain I wanted to take the next step and start brewing all-grain. While the commentary online led me to believe it was somewhere between trivially easy and ultra-complicated, I was undeterred and cobbled together a MLT out of an infrequently used 48 quart cooler, some brass and nylon fittings from the hardware store, and a short section of washing machine supply hose. I was a real brewer, I told myself.

And so it went for the first year or so, until the bug to brew larger batches bit and I transferred my fittings to a new 70 quart Coleman Xtreme.

I’ll be the first to admit these plastic coolers work great. Besides pretty affordable, they hold temperature well, clean up easily, and generally get the job done just fine. But they never struck me as perfect. For one, I have to stack a bunch of fender washers on the outside of the cooler to get the fittings to pull up tight enough against the inside wall to seal, but not so tight as to crush the plastic walls of the cooler, causing it to deform and leak. Similar story with the valve on the outside of the cooler. On two occasions, I had leaks develop that required me to drain my strike water, reassemble the cooler, and start my brew day over. Not devastating, but annoying.

Another minor quibble I’ve always had about cooler MLTs is they’re not specifically rated for hot food contact. There’s a boatload of speculation out there about the safety of consuming beer made with such coolers, but it’s difficult to know for sure since every brand could potentially be made from different materials. My inclination is that manufacturers won’t explicitly endorse using their coolers as mash tuns since that would cause them to accept some degree of liability, but they’re likely completely safe. A small issue that nagged my obsessive mind.

Finally, I’ve always wanted a thermometer on my mash tun. While I prefer a high-accuracy handheld thermometer for mashing in, being able to read the temp without opening the tun has always appealed to me, as it would allow me to more readily observe and correct for drops in temperature. Again, not a major issue, I’ve dropped a probe thermometer in my MLT before and it worked fine, I just think something built-in would be nice.

With my dedication to the exBEERimental cause and a growing number of ideas that required separate mashes, I was preparing to piece together another MLT to match the one I already had. The timing couldn’t have better, as this was right about when Chapman Equipment contacted us to see if we might be interested in reviewing some of their new gear. After going over our standard product review policies, I agreed to review what seemed to me to be a pretty rad alternative to the plastic cooler MLT.

Two 15 gallon Chapman Equipment ThermoBarrels arrived about a week  later, they were packaged very well, and I could barely contain my excitement. I opened the boxes right in our front room, not even taking them to the garage where they would ultimately reside. They were so pretty!

Each ThermoBarrel is essentially two stainless kettles, an inner and an outer stacked together, with insulation sandwiched between them. This is putting it very simply, as there is clearly a lot of specialized design and components that go into them. For example, they have 3 ports, one for the diptube and valve, another for a thermometer, and one near the top for a sparge arm or recirculation rig. For a simple batch sparger like me, the top port conveniently includes a threaded plug to render it sealed. All I added were stainless elbows, as I’ve found they make wort collection slightly easier.

As a long time user of a stainless mesh toilet braid, I originally planned to replace the included false bottom with these, mainly because it’s what I was comfortable and familiar with. Eventually, and after a couple frustrating trips to the hardware store, I ended up performing a simple test with water to see if the braid would really allow the tun to drain better than the included diptube, the rationale I’d given myself for why I didn’t want the false bottom. Nope, I’m a fucking moron. To my surprise, the diptube and false bottom actually worked better and didn’t require any tilting like my cooler MLT, the ThermoBarrel drained effectively when flat.

I’ve seen many DIY MLT builds featuring silicone tubing connecting the false bottom to the outlet, which seems risky to me. I really like the ThermoBarrel’s rigid stainless diptube because it can’t get damaged or knocked off easily with an errant mash stirring device, as I recently witnessed during a brewing demo at a club meeting. Not fun!

I was excited to put these tuns to work for the first time and figured I’d use my normal procedure of overheating the strike water by about 7°F/4°C to allow for the MLT to pre-heat. Following this step, I mashed in then left for about 3 hours to watch my daughter play T-ball. When I returned, I found the temperature had dropped a mere 2°F/1°C, slightly better than what I got from my cooler MLTs in the past when left for a similar duration.

I compared the on-board thermometers to the digital one I use and found they were fairly accurate out of the box, though one initially read about 2°F/1°C high, which I easily corrected using the calibration screw on the back. I was beyond pleased with the tight, positive seal provided by the cam-latched lid that allowed absolutely no steam to escape.

Despite being 10 quarts smaller than my Coleman Xtreme MLT, I found the ThermoBarrel splashed less while stirring thanks to its taller and narrower shape.

In every use, I’ve experienced smooth lautering with no significant intrusion of grain particles, the grain bed and false bottom teaming up to effectively filter everything out following a brief vorlauf.

Cleaning the ThermoBarrel is quick and easy. Using my garden hose, I spray the inside until clean, rinse the ball valves thoroughly, then set the tuns upside down on a towel while I finish brewing. After each brew day, I store the units right-side-up with the lids off, which conveniently hang from the side of the mash tun.

The biggest thing I do differently with my ThermoBarrels compared to my cooler MLTs is wipe them down with a towel to ensure they’re dry before storing. Not because the stainless couldn’t take the water, of course it can, but because I don’t want waters spots all over my beautiful, shiny, mash tuns. Pure vanity.

Another small but surprisingly convenient aspect of the ThermoBarrel is the lip on the bottom that makes dumping the grains a snap.

I was curious how the ThermoBarrel would perform with a more traditional fly sparge configuration, a method I’d never performed. Using my old cooler MLT as a HLT, I made a batch of beer using this classic approach.

It went off without a hitch, the grain bed set nicely and it lautered as smoothly as before, getting me slightly higher efficiency than I’m used to. I’ll continue batch sparging because I find the process easier, but it’s nice to know the ThermoBarrel can be used effectively for various methods.

| THE VERDICT |

From a longevity standpoint, nothing beats stainless, and I look forward to many years of brewing with my ThermoBarrels. I’m not one for hyperbole and tend to cut right to the chase, so here it is, a direct quote from an email I sent when asked how my experience with the the mash tuns was going: I fucking love these things! Seriously, they’re great, about as close to ideal as anything I could think of. The only real negative I can come up with, besides the fact they required cleaning before first use (as all things do), is they can’t be placed over a direct flame, doing so would melt the insulation. While I personally have no desire for such stringent temperature regulation, those who do may view this as being a drawback. Other than that, I’ve little doubt these mash tuns will be with me long into the future.

The ThermoBarrel is certainly a premium product that’s built like a tank with a price tag commensurate with the materials used and construction quality. I’ve seen many non-insulated mash tuns on the market that cost at least as much, usually more, than what Chapman Equipment is offering. But yeah, it’s not cheap. Whether you prefer batch sparge, fly sparge, no sparge, or BIAB, the ThermoBarrel offers a great value for homebrewers interested in a stainless option for mashing.

ThermoBarrels are in 10 gallon, 15 gallon, and 20 gallon sizes, be sure to select the one the best suits your brewing needs!

If you have any questions or comments about the Chapman Equipment ThermoBarrel, you can leave a comment below.

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