stainless mesh vs slotted copper tubing

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Brewpastor

Brewpastor

Beer, not rocket chemistry
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Like all things, this great hobby keeps moving and evolving (yes, I said evolving, as in evolution). I have always use a slotted copper tube manifold false bottom and find it works well. But sometime along the way these new fangled stainless mesh doo-dads came along and so I ask: Is there any noticable difference in the performance between the two?
 
Well, I've only used the stainless mesh doo dad. I do have some copper laying around that I could fashion a manifold from to test, but that would be many weeks out before I could test it. Maybe someone has already made a conversion and can give a definitive answer.
 
I am of the "if it isn't broken then don't fix it" camp but I was just wondering if anyone had already done a comparison.
 
I just constructed one out of stainless mesh, though have yet to use it. My AG system is in the works... still far from complete though.
 
I just installed the SS mesh (sounds like some Nazi thing! ) into my little 2gl partial mash tun and it worked way better than when I tried the slotted copper tube. Granted it could have been because of my poor sawing skills made the slots bigger, but the mesh works great for me.
 
Careful, methinks some of the contributors to this thread are confusing stainless mesh with stainless braid. Brewpastor, are you talking about a perforated stainless false bottom or the cheap and easy braided stainless off a water supply hose? It is my impression at this point that with fly sparging, the more spread out the drain is, the more effeciencly you'll get due to the lowered amount of channeling you get through the grain bed. To me, that supports the idea of using a false bottom. But then again, so many people here claim that the efficiency diff between the two major sparge methods are not worth the time to fly.
 
i tried making a copper tube manifold ... seemed like a pita ... a buddy of mine uses a stainless steel braid at the bottom of his tun, but when he stirs the mash, he has to be really careful not to knock it around or tangle it up.

I went the 3rd direction ... i bought a cooler conversion kit with a bazooka screen from northernbrewer.com. At stirring time, i can be as vigorous as i want and stir as deeply as i want. my efficiency is about 80% and the clean up is a snap.
 
Bobby_M said:
Careful, methinks some of the contributors to this thread are confusing stainless mesh with stainless braid. Brewpastor, are you talking about a perforated stainless false bottom or the cheap and easy braided stainless off a water supply hose? It is my impression at this point that with fly sparging, the more spread out the drain is, the more effeciencly you'll get due to the lowered amount of channeling you get through the grain bed. To me, that supports the idea of using a false bottom. But then again, so many people here claim that the efficiency diff between the two major sparge methods are not worth the time to fly.
Click to expand...

Good point. I am talking stainless braid and not false bottom.
 
I use a copper manifold with no problems.

manifold.JPG
 

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