MLT Design: Water Supply Hose vs. Manifold vs. Mesh Bag

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SeanT

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I'm making the jump into AG and am making my MLT. I have been deciding on the lautering method, with the three above options. I think I've decide on the water supply hose like flyguy's build, but I haven't seen many people that use a mesh bag instead of some kind of manifold in their MLT. Is there any reason for this? It seems easier, is there some kind of efficiency loss that I'm not thinking of? Or difficulty while brewing?

More info. I'll be making medium to dark beers, with above average ABV most likely. I have an igloo ice cube 48 quart cooler for the MLT, like this:

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/178-1364708-5716366?ASIN=B000YIPGWU&AFID=Froogle&LNM=B000YIPGWU|Igloo_Ice_Cube_5075_Can_Cooler_Ocean_Blue_White&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=B000YIPGWU&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001

Tools and time or effort to make anygthing isn't a factor. I enjoy tinkering. Ease of use and reliability are important.

Sorry if this in the wrong forum, I wasn;t sure if I should put it here or in the AG forums.
 
I have the basic cooler MLT with just a bent piece of aluminum for a false bottom. I have used bag and no bag on top of that and it doesn't seem to make much difference other than bag is easier to clean up. I was using a stainless steel braid hooked to outlet, but the false bottom was free and no stuck/slow sparges.
 
Your choice depends on the sparging/lautering technique you would like to use. I suggest you figure that out first, then pick an appropriate lautering system.

For example:

fly sparging: false bottom or manifold
batch sparging: SS braid
no sparge/BIAB: mesh bag
 
If you searched for BIAB (brew in a bag), you see that many people use this method (which is actually Mash IAB). I still use my bag for small beers and partial mashes, as it makes cleanup easier and rather than trying to stir a very shallow grain bed, I can teabag.
 
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