SS braid keeps sticking!

Hello all,

I did this DIY project several months ago and have finally had enough. Obviously my thought was to use the SS braid as a screen to keep most of trub and break material out of the fermentor. Needles to say it has failed! It has gotten stuck my last 3 brew sessions (4 of 6 total). I have even tried to clear the trub away from the braid with a stir paddle and it still will not drain the boil kettle without getting stuck 30 seconds later.

What should I do? I'm tempted to just unscrew the whole copper and SS braid and just use the ball valve and coupler.

Thanks,
Corey

Corey,

My personal setup is just a side pickup in flat bottom kettles like yours. I chill the wort, stir it to form a trub cone and then wait to let it all settle and then I drain until the cone flattens out, leaving behind a few cups of liquid and crud.

Another method is to use a stainless steel scrubby at the coupling to filter out some of the crud. You will still get small particles through. Using some whole hops in the boil can help form a tighter filter bed against the scrubby.

You need more surface area on that filter. I've seen some people here use a sieve with reasonable success. Or just do the whirlpool method and draw off the edge of the pot, as mentioned above.

I have a similar setup, using a bazooka screen, More surface area definitly helps - it gives more room for the trub to be caught, but still letting the wort through. I recently saw one of these.

I've found that if I prop up one side of my kettle while chilling, it keeps the trub away from the screen til the end. And the colder you can get it, the more the trub will compact onto itself.

I'm in the process of building a screen setup out of CPVC and PEX tubing. I bought a great little ice chest at WalMart yesterday, drilled and installed the Bargain Fittings cooler setup in it. Today, I'm planning on cutting and assembling the parts to form the "screen" on the bottom. I'm olanning on using two or three arms on this filter. The tubing will be cut to length and I'll use my bandsaw to cut slits in the PEX and scrape off as much of the burrs as I can.

MY question would be.. should I go with the slits only.... or do you think it would help to slip a length of SS braid over each leg to act as a pre screen?

ryan_george said:

You need more surface area on that filter. I've seen some people here use a sieve with reasonable success. Or just do the whirlpool method and draw off the edge of the pot, as mentioned above.

Click to expand...

+1
I use a braid that is long enough to coil a couple times at the bottom of the kettle.