New Mash Tun

I realize I'm pretty far behind the times when it comes to my brewing equipment, but I finally built a mash tun out of a 5-gal cooler. I made up a false bottom out of some stainless sheet, drilling a bunch of 3/32" holes in it. The end result was more room for mashing all grain recipes. I also built a simple wort chiller too, which did a great job of cooling the wort down to 70 degrees in a matter of minutes.

Stainless false bottom:

Mash tun, made out of cooler:

Tonight I broke out the equipment and brewed up a 2.5gal Imperial Red Rye recipe:

- 3 pounds of two row

- 1 pound of crystal 60

- 1 pound of rye

- 1 pound of belgium aromatic

1/2oz of magnum at 45 minutes

1/2oz of cascade at 20 minutes

1/4oz of citra at 5 minutes

1/4oz of crystal at 5 minutes

1/2 teaspoon irish moss

1/2 teaspoon gypsum

1 packet S-05 Dry yeast

OG = 1.079

Estimated gravity of 8.9% abv

IBU = 46