I am currently using a cooler for my Mash Tun. I would like to be able to do step mashes. I know I can accomplish this by adding hot/boiling water during the mash, but am thinking it would be easier and more accurate to use an electric Mash Tun. Looking for ideas that won't break the bank. The one that seems to fit the bill the best is the DigiBoil with the DigiMash upgrade kit (but not cheap at $300). I wouldn't use it for my kettle, just for the Mash. Easy enough to transfer the Wort to my existing brew kettle and use my propane burner. Basically an electric kettle with a false bottom and drain valve will do the trick. Any other alternatives I am missing? Recommendations? Thanks!!!
I use a portable induction burner and pot, but I only do 2.5 gal batches with a 5.5 gal pot so I wouldn't recommend doing anything larger with that of setup.
Step mashes were something I enjoyed doing as a home brewer. They don't really take that much longer in a brew day either once you get a system set up for it. I used a kitchen stove, and two 5 gal pots and thermos cooler mash set up. Spending some time with the preferences in Beersmith and dialing in your settings for what you have will be your friend for adding vols of water and being accurate in step mashing. Learning this was also how I got into partigyle brewing. Have fun.
I have a DigiBoil that I'm happy with, so much so that I'm using it for the entire process. No more outdoor brewing with propane in winter. Cleanup is so much faster.
