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I currently have a turkey fryer 8.5 gallon turkey fryer kettle and I have a Home Depot Rubbermade diy mash tun with a stainless steel worm for sparging.

My mash tun will need the worm replaced soon.

I do need a brew kettle. 1 Keggle w/ brass ball valve (made from 15.5 used kegs) at AIH are $133.77 shipped to me. I can also get the The Brew Bag for about $35 shipped.

I'm seeing a lot of benefits timewise and moneywise to invest in a Keggle with The Brew Bag. Cleaner wort vs effort, easy cleanup, money invested in a huge kettle, one vessel to mash, and the mash out is done directly in the kettle.

I've not used a Keggle or The Brew In A Bag. Am I missing an added benefit to using a cooler mash tun or disadvantage to BIAB with a Keggle?

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  • By worm you mean the false bottom made from braided stainless? Very cheap and easy DIY project to replace.
    – Evil Zymurgist
    Commented Jan 7, 2016 at 23:40
  • Yes, you are correct. I'm wanting to upgrade that hardware from the braided hose to something else. That's why I was thinking about a Keggle with The Brew Bag for it since I needed a kettle anyway.
    – chrisLawrence
    Commented Jan 8, 2016 at 4:33

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Not to go off in another direction, but EZ could you elaborate on your statement that a cooler tun will achieve better results. I brew in a 70 quart crawfish pot with basket. Drop all the grains in a mesh bag and drop it in the correct temp water. Check temp every 15 minutes, depending on outside temperature may relight burner once during the process. Just wondering what you meant by better? MLAS

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  • The coolers are excellent in holdings temp, basically fill and forget. Also since it's a seperate vessel of 10gal, the brewhouse capacity is larger than can be achieved by a single vessel system. In his case 8.5 gal boil kettle +10 gal mash tun, is more capacity than he could do with a single 15.5gal tun/boil kettle.
    – Evil Zymurgist
    Commented Jan 12, 2016 at 1:20
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A cooler mash tun will get you better results. Thier only limitation is step mashes require decoction or mash infusion.

Going BIAB would be a downgrade imo.

Keggles have their own pros an cons. They lack insulation and need wrapped during rest. With a proper false bottom or some care with BIAB, you can apply flame for step mashes. With only a single keggle, your batch will be limited to about post boil 8-9 gallons max because of the grain absorption.

BIAB to be done right you need two kettles one for mash and one to heat sparge water. Or you're stuck with a full volume mash and it's high water grain ratio. Limited batch size etc.

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