Making a Lautertun

I'm making a MLT out of a cooler and I need a braided hose to help strain the wort. Does anyone know if it's safe to use a polymer and not stainless steel?

It's this hose:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Don't do it! Go to Lowes and get a real SS hose.

Yes you can use this line.
BUT what your after is the Braid that surrounds the Polymer...Not the polymer hose itself...
When you pick this hose up, you want to cut the SS Braid on either side of the fittings with dikes (or whatever you have that will get the job done) and remove the rubber/polymer hose from the center. Then you can use hose clamps to attach the SS braid to your tun.

I went to Home Depot and purchased a 4' stainless braided washing machine hose. I cut the ends off, pulled the rubber hose out leaving only the stainless braid.

There's a "How to Make a Mash Tun" video posted in the DIY project section of this forum that shows how to do it. It worked perfect for me.

I know what you are talking about with the faux ss braid made of plastic. Dont do it. Its cheap metallic dyed plastic that could leach who knows what. Even beyond that, im sure the braid would collapse under a good grain bill

No, the braid is actually plastic on this one.

iparks81 said:

Yes you can use this line.
BUT what your after is the Braid that surrounds the Polymer...Not the polymer hose itself...
When you pick this hose up, you want to cut the SS Braid on either side of the fittings with dikes (or whatever you have that will get the job done) and remove the rubber/polymer hose from the center. Then you can use hose clamps to attach the SS braid to your tun.

Click to expand...

The only thing that catches me a little off guard in the above video is the use of conduit jam nuts, and galvanized wire on the inside of the tank. Both of these have a huge potential of rust, which I can't imagine would make good beer.

whoops...

Check my thread out on my MLT braid

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/upgraded-mlt-braid-water-heater-supply-223403/

Don't use the polymer, use the real SS braid. I show how you can use one of the commercial ends while only cutting off one end. And there is NO reason to use 4' of braided stainless...you really only use the last couple of inches. 10" braid is plenty long.

"She just loves my Big 10", record of my favorite blues..." :rockin:

autobaun70 said:

The only thing that catches me a little off guard in the above video is the use of conduit jam nuts, and galvanized wire on the inside of the tank. Both of these have a huge potential of rust, which I can't imagine would make good beer.

Click to expand...

Not to mention that braid is too big for the MLT. You really want a inch or two space from your braid to the cooler walls. Having the braid practically touching the cooler wall can lead to channeling and undersparging.

Ace Hardware and OSH both sell real SS braid. Don't use that one, the outside braid is some plastic polymer.

I got a SS braid at Home Depot and have used my new mash tun twice this week. It's made by Watts, 20", with an auto-shutoff fitting.
And it is glorious

Vorlauf seems to be at best a formality as so far it has always run clean immediately. And on Sunday I made a brew with wheat comprising two-thirds of the grain bill without even the slightest issue or need to throw in rice hulls. It's even a bit too long I'd say, but even though it seems like anything beyond a few inches is useless, a longer braid will still provide some insurance against a stuck sparge. Although too long isn't good either (but moreso a problem for fly sparging).

I too just bought a SS 20" braid at Home Depot. It was kind of tough to find one that wasn't polymer but they have a couple there. I think it was 8.99.

Funny thing, I'm at Home Depot on Tuesday collecting all the parts with the help of an employee and there are two other customers doin the same thing I am, except they were putting a copper manifold together and using a 5 gallon Rubbermaid (I got the last 10 gallon one). The employee that I was working with was pretty fascinated by the concept of homebrewing. Pretty helpful guy. Found everything except for the SS 5/8" washer. I had to go to Fastenall for that.

Strange - Home Depot here in Canada doesn't sell any coolers whatsoever, but there really was WAY too much choice of SS braids... over a dozen different kinds, and yet I saw just one (maybe two) polymer braids.

Must be a regional thing.

The HD guy that helped me with my 5g mash tun was pretty intrigued as well. They also lacked that SS washer. I wish I had gone the 10g route - although I'm already looking to expand to 10g batches and will probably go with a Coleman Extreme.

autobaun70 said:

The only thing that catches me a little off guard in the above video is the use of conduit jam nuts, and galvanized wire on the inside of the tank. Both of these have a huge potential of rust, which I can't imagine would make good beer.

Click to expand...

Snowhere said:

Not to mention that braid is too big for the MLT. You really want a inch or two space from your braid to the cooler walls. Having the braid practically touching the cooler wall can lead to channeling and undersparging.

Click to expand...

I expect that if something starts to rust it would be very easy to replace the offending part in a matter of minutes. I really doubt rust would be an issue as long as you don't store the tun in a wet environment and are only using it once or twice a month.

If your using the tun for batch sparging I doubt channeling would be an issue. Also, the braid can be shortened, legthened or moved as needed.

I'm interested in this MLT thing. Does the cooler really hold the heat in long enough to do a hour-90 minute mash? What's the benefit to doing I this way vs a burner and pot? Just able to handle more grain?

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Whoops double post

It's hard to keep the temperature constant from bottom to top when using a burner. I've found an 8 degree difference when adding a little heat. You will need to stir the grain more often to equalize the temperature.

I've also found that if you have a good crush, conversion doesn't take a full hour to 90 minutes but is mostly done within 15 minutes. The longer times gives the water time to saturate the lesser crushed grain and extract the sugars.

primer said:

I'm interested in this MLT thing. Does the cooler really hold the heat in long enough to do a hour-90 minute mash? What's the benefit to doing I this way vs a burner and pot? Just able to handle more grain?

Click to expand...

The cooler will keep your temps. more precise and helps with your desired maltiness of your brew. For instance, I have a Coleman Extreme 62 qt. with cpvc manifold and I mashed outside last Sunday when it was 25*. I did this as a test as this was my 2nd mash with this cooler. I held 151* for the whole hour. I don't think you could ever do that with a burner and a pot.

Wow that's really impressive. I'll b keeping my eye out for cooler deals

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