FlyGuy

Recipes 

Yeah, me too. But someone else who posted a page or two back suggested this easy fix:

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Cheap 10 gal cooler MLT • $3 Autosiphon • Aluminum Pot FAQ • Easy Steam Injection Mash System • Make a Frozen Yeast Bank
Improving Stovetop Boiling • Improving AG Efficiency

displacedtexan

Recipes 

New brewer here, working on my first all-grain rig. Great how-to BTW...

Is there a reason I can't use the plastic tubing inside the original SS braid? It's about 7/16" OD and 3/8" ID (which would leave a smaller diameter for the fluid to flow) and might be a little tough to cut, but seems like might be a good solution.

These were originally meant for a faucet connection, so I am sure it could handle the temperature.

Any reason I shouldn't?

Thanks!!

FlyGuy

Recipes 

Hey DT, glad you found it a useful post!

Regarding the use of the original hose, yeah, maybe. I thought about it too. But I ended up going with the vinyl tubing instead because it was easy to cut and I KNEW it was rated for high temperature. I have also thought of using a short section of copper tubing with a bunch of slits cut into (just like a copper manifold). Either way should preserve the integrity of the braid better, and keep it from floating up, too.

Cheers!

__________________
Cheap 10 gal cooler MLT • $3 Autosiphon • Aluminum Pot FAQ • Easy Steam Injection Mash System • Make a Frozen Yeast Bank
Improving Stovetop Boiling • Improving AG Efficiency

Thalon

Recipes 

Well if you're going to use a copper insert that kinda defeats the purpose of the SS braid, you might as well make a copper manifold out of it.

I just bought a new SS braid for my MLT and that's a great idea to use the hose that came with it. I was just about to throw it away like I did the first time I built the MLT. Whoops!

It seems to me that it shouldn't matter much if it's rated for high temp or not. The hottest it will ever get is 170*F. What's the worst that could happen? It deforms a little bit? Maybe over time it would grow to be a problem. But I don't think 170 is hot enough to actually melt the plastic of non-high-temp hosing such that little globs rinse off with the wort and get into the beer.

BrianP

Recipes 

Great design. I plan on making one soon.

NooB Question: For someone planning on only doing 5 gal batches, is the 10-gal cooler overkill? Would the 5-gal suffice? I don't plan on making really heavy beers.
I've not tried AG but from the sounds of it will probably be batch sparging.

FlyGuy

Recipes 

If you are batch sparging, the 10 gal size is still nice because it gives you lots of room for adding a mash-out plus sparge water. Once you start getting over 1.050 in gravity, that becomes tough in a 5 gal cooler.

Other than a small amount of additional cost, there is really no downside to the 10 gal cooler. I have mashed and batch sparged as little as 7 lbs of grain in it with no difficulty.

Of course, the other nice thing is that if you do prefer to brew lower gravity beers, then the 10 gal cooler will allow you to step up from 5 to 10 gal batches in the future!

Cheers!

__________________
Cheap 10 gal cooler MLT • $3 Autosiphon • Aluminum Pot FAQ • Easy Steam Injection Mash System • Make a Frozen Yeast Bank
Improving Stovetop Boiling • Improving AG Efficiency

cruster

Recipes 

I implore you - go with the 10 gallon!
I've been brewing AG for about 6 months now, after 3 or so years of extract and partial mash brewing. I went with a 5 gallon setup, reasoning that I only brew 5 gallon batches, so why would I ever need anything larger? The problem is that you're limited as far as what you can actually brew - I can probably pack 12 or so pounds of grist in there but forget any more than that, which rules out a lot of higher gravity beers. When I get into that much grain it's awfully hard to stir without slopping all over the place, and forget about adding water to adjust if you miss your target dough-in temp.
If I had been thinking 6 months ago, I would have spent the extra $20 or so and gone with the larger cooler and the larger false bottom to match. Now to upgrade I'm back at square one and looking at $60 or so to rebuild the thing in a larger size.

- Brendan

Thalon

Recipes 

+1 for getting the larger cooler. There is a saying others have mentioned on these forums, and I will parrot here because it is so true:

Buy cheap, buy twice.

I bought the 5 gallon cooler and was sorry for it after the first batch. Even with regular gravity beers, it is just a pain to have to worry about water volumes being too much for the mash tun. Go with the big one!

Germey

Recipes 

Please excuse if these were already mentioned somewhere in the previous 14 pages. I like these clamps. You can squeeze them to a decent fit with your fingers, and with a pair of pliers, I get them tight enough to hold 50lbs of CO2 pressure with no problems. A quick twist with pliers will pop them right off (well, once you get the hang of it.)
I got them from USPlastics.com along with a bunch of Colder Products quick disconnects. They kill you on shipping, so if you can find a local or alternate source, go for it.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fna me=2659&product%5Fid=8236
Cheers,
Jeremy

aekdbbop

Recipes 

has anyone used the zip ties for this?

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