Hey, i have just done my secodn brew ever and everything went smoothly except mashing. Since i'm only doing 1 gallon (~4l) batches i have converted this 10l cooler into mash tun by drilling a hole, installing ball valve, nipple, etc. For the inside part i've bought a metal mesh hose with rubber hose inside it. I took it apart, made alot of holes in the rubber hose and reinstalled it inside the metal mesh hose.
My first mash got clogged in 10 seconds. I had to take the hose off, take the rubber part out and use metal mesh hose only. It went ok after that but my wort turned out rather cloudy.
Now second batch was today. Using only metal mesh hose, it got clogged in like 15 seconds and nothing helped. I've tried stirring, clearing the hose, clearing the valve, opening the end of the hose, all to no success.
I had to transfer everything to a strainer and mash/sparge using that. It wasn't even the mesh kind, the strainer i have has like 20 rather big holes on it and even using that mashing was very slow, i'm talking going drop by drop slow, so i had to stir it.
As a result it was a huge mess and my wort came out super cloudy and with alot of sediment in it.
I am now thinking about ways this mess could be avoided. I could install a false bottom but the flow was so slow using the strainer, i'm not sure the false bottom won't get clogged up. I am also thinking about brewing bags, which seems to be easier. Would you recomend bags over traditional mashing/sparging?
Also, since my wort turned out having alot of suspended particles, is there a way to clear it before bottling?
My first mash got clogged in 10 seconds. I had to take the hose off, take the rubber part out and use metal mesh hose only. It went ok after that but my wort turned out rather cloudy.
Now second batch was today. Using only metal mesh hose, it got clogged in like 15 seconds and nothing helped. I've tried stirring, clearing the hose, clearing the valve, opening the end of the hose, all to no success.
I had to transfer everything to a strainer and mash/sparge using that. It wasn't even the mesh kind, the strainer i have has like 20 rather big holes on it and even using that mashing was very slow, i'm talking going drop by drop slow, so i had to stir it.
As a result it was a huge mess and my wort came out super cloudy and with alot of sediment in it.
I am now thinking about ways this mess could be avoided. I could install a false bottom but the flow was so slow using the strainer, i'm not sure the false bottom won't get clogged up. I am also thinking about brewing bags, which seems to be easier. Would you recomend bags over traditional mashing/sparging?
Also, since my wort turned out having alot of suspended particles, is there a way to clear it before bottling?