Can this work?

I am wanting to switch from BIAB to batch sparging. I would rather not invest in a mash tun. I currently have a 15 gallon ss pot. Could I batch sparge in it and siphon into another 7 gallon pot by using some sort of filter on the siphon itself to prevent grain transfer? When I look at mash tuns they are generally attached to a ball valve and have a built in filter on the inside but without any personal experience welding I would rather not mess up my pot by attempting to make a traditional mash tun with it.

What is it that you're trying to accomplish by changing your process?

You should be able to do it with a weldless through-wall ball valve. It has a gasket that gets bolted to the side of the pot. I've done it with my mash tun cooler, and I'm almost positive they make the same thing for the pots. you just have to drill a hole.

If you are asking if you could pour the mash water out of the top of it, that should work provided you find a way to filter out the grain. It will be a pain though and I wouldn't recommend it. However, there is only two things that you can "mess up" with the mash: the temperature and not getting all the sugar. Neither of these would be affected provided you batch sparge.

I wonder if you could siphon it out of the mash? I would guess that you would lose your siphon though because it wouldn't travel through the grains fast enough.

Another thing people are going to tell you is that you'll aerate the mash, and there's a debate whether hot side aeration causes problems. I personally believe that any air that you put in there will come out during the boil.

I think this should work. Here's what I would do.

Get a hose with a braided stainless mesh around the outside from the plumbing section of your hardware store. About 3' is good. Also get a barbed T-joint (metal), the same diameter as your racking cane. Removed the braided jacket from the outside of the hose and attach it to the top of the T using hose clamps, so it forms a big loop. Then attach the racking cane to the perpendicular end of the T using a short section of siphon hose and two hose clamps.

The loop on the braided hose gives you a nice long surface to act as a filter and sits at the bottom of the mash vessel. You draw liquid out with the siphon.

If that doesn't make any sense, just look up the way people make a mash tun from those big orange water coolers. This is the same design, except it attaches to your racking cane.

philosofool said:

I think this should work. Here's what I would do.

Get a hose with a braided stainless mesh around the outside from the plumbing section of your hardware store. About 3' is good. Also get a barbed T-joint (metal), the same diameter as your racking cane. Removed the braided jacket from the outside of the hose and attach it to the top of the T using hose clamps, so it forms a big loop. Then attach the racking cane to the perpendicular end of the T using a short section of siphon hose and two hose clamps.

The loop on the braided hose gives you a nice long surface to act as a filter and sits at the bottom of the mash vessel. You draw liquid out with the siphon.

If that doesn't make any sense, just look up the way people make a mash tun from those big orange water coolers. This is the same design, except it attaches to your racking cane.

Click to expand...

That is a good idea. However, if you go that route, I wouldn't suggest getting it from the hardware store. Thats what I did for my first mash tun, and it definitely worked, but it was so light that when i stirred it would rise to the top of the grain bed. It also would not hold its shape. It became very narrow in sections (almost kinked) from stirring it.

However they do sell something very similar for this purpose at my LHBS and i'm sure online too. I forget what they call it...but it is a tube of stainless steel that is not flexible. It should work better then what you get at the hardware store.

Bobby_M said:

What is it that you're trying to accomplish by changing your process?

Click to expand...

I am looking to become more consistent and add efficiency. Also my ripped and while it's very easy and cheap to replace I would like to use a batch sparge method (I know your basically doing a batch sparge with BIAB) and other techniques to see which one fits my brew style best.

philosofool said:

I think this should work. Here's what I would do.

Get a hose with a braided stainless mesh around the outside from the plumbing section of your hardware store. About 3' is good. Also get a barbed T-joint (metal), the same diameter as your racking cane. Removed the braided jacket from the outside of the hose and attach it to the top of the T using hose clamps, so it forms a big loop. Then attach the racking cane to the perpendicular end of the T using a short section of siphon hose and two hose clamps.

The loop on the braided hose gives you a nice long surface to act as a filter and sits at the bottom of the mash vessel. You draw liquid out with the siphon.

If that doesn't make any sense, just look up the way people make a mash tun from those big orange water coolers. This is the same design, except it attaches to your racking cane.

Click to expand...

That was one of the ideas I had. I was also thinking of using a reusable metal coffee filter (in addition to the braiding) as I transferred that would catch any grain that possibly got into the siphon. I plan on trying this method next week and will post the results if I remember. I just feel it would be a cheap method of batch sparging without doing any real modifications. The siphon would still be able to be used to bottle as well so I wouldn't need another siphon. I figure it will cost me all of five dollars to try.

Cheap and Easy Mash Tun
donosborn.com/homebrew/mashtun....

You can build a cooler mash tun quite cheap. I used one for years before switching to my HERMS system. No welding required!