Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi guys.

my front loader washing machine shat itself this week. Not happy :crying-blue: :crying-blue: :crying-blue:

However, it has a really nice stainless steel drum that looks to be just the think for a false floor of our mash esky, and after our disaster with our BIAB tearing, I think when opportunity strikes... If I get the drum flattened out well enough for use as a false floor, will this completely negate the need for a manifold / bazooka attachment to the all thread inside the esky?

Also, I was having to put a tap in place of the drain on the esky anyway and was considering using brass as the temps are relatively low but I read that it will need pickling? Never heard of that. Can anyone confirm if that is required or am I better off sourcing stainless or copper if it exists in all thread.

If I get the drum flattened out well enough for use as a false floor, will this completely negate the need for a manifold / bazooka attachment to the all thread inside the esky?

Thanks for your patience with all of the questions,

Brass needs to be pickeled to prevent the lead from leaching into your liquid.

Stainless is easy enough to find.

Lots of people use brass in their mash tuns.

The lead would have to get through mashing, fermenting and then distilling to get into your drink.

As long as the false bottom covers yiur outlet, you dont need any other filtering.

Awesome. Thanks guys.

Been a while since I have had a chance to do much of anything lately, and with the wife at work, outside is 45° in the shade so the kids wind bother me, time to chop up that washing machine drum.

I got a bit excited and forgot to take a photo before I cut the ends off and down the seam, but you get the idea!!

As fate would have it, the length of our esky tun was exactly right just to cut down the far edges of the agitation ridges and as for width, no adjustment necessary. It’s like it was meant to be!



Drum with both ends off and cut down the seam



All flattened out



All trimmed, showing side profile



Obligatory finished product shot with Japanese safety boot in view. :laughing-rolling:

Now just to fit the all thread, cut a hole in one of the ridges to let the all thread pass through to the underside and we are ready to sparge away to our hearts content! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Hate to be a party pooper but how big are those holes :-B

About 2mm. I think they will be ok. If not I was thinking I could line it with muslin cloth.

:handgestures-thumbupleft: not sure off top of my head how big ones in mine are..

ThePaterPiper wrote:About 2mm. I think they will be ok. If not I was thinking I could line it with muslin cloth.

A layer of rice husk's from the HBS may help as well ifn ya thinkin they are too big.esspesially ifn ya doing corn wich has been ground very fine.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

Good to know. Cheers Hillsabilly.

I can only give it a try and see how it goes.

Quite a few commercially available falsies use 2mm holes!
Personally I think it is on the large side and you'll probably find that you need to draw off quite a bit until grain husks stop coming out. No biggie just tip the cloudy/grainy stuff into the top of the mash tun and start keeping once it clears up.
Beer guys constantly recirculate the mash so a larger sized hole isn't an issue for them. Most whiskey guys don't bother with setting up continual sparking.
I think it'll work great and wished I had thought of it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Coffe,

It was worth a try, and I’m a tight arse with Scottish roots, so if I can get out of it without spending anything on it I will :D

When our bag broke on our first ag run, the grain eventually stopped coming through the 10mm diameter bung hole, creating a filter, so I am confident the 2 mm holes will eventually stop letting the wee beasties through!