Any worry about channeling when batch sparging?

[IanIanBoBian]

I'm planning to go all grain, so I already made a MLT from a 10 gallon home depot cooler with a copper manifold. I am thinking about grabbing a 2 or 3 gallon cooler from work for small AG batches and partial mashes in the kitchen until I get a burner and a larger brew pot. If my manifold fits in this cooler, it will be very close to the edges. Is there any concern with channeling down the sides when batch sparging, or is it only a problem when fly sparging? Common sense tells me it wouldn't matter with batch sparging.

Also, if my manifold doesn't fit, could I just put my bulkhead in the small cooler with a filter over the outlet to keep the grain in and let the wort/sparge water out? Again, this would be with a batch sparge.

Thanks for the help.

 

[flyangler18]

There's no need to worry about channeling with batch-sparging. With batch sparging, you drain your runnings, add sparge water and mix thoroughly, drain again until you hit your pre-boil volume.

The beauty is in its simplicity.

To your second question, I think it would be best if you sized the manifold to your cooler. Trying to drain through the ball valve with no separation medium on the inside of the MLT will clog in a New York minute.

 

[IanIanBoBian]

To your second question, I think it would be best if you sized the manifold to your cooler. Trying to drain through the ball valve with no separation medium on the inside of the MLT will clog in a New York minute.

Well the manifold is made to fit a 10 gallon cooler that I already have. I'd rather not make a second one. So if it doesn't fit, could I just use a grain bag or paint strainer inside the cooler and drain out the ball valve without using any kind of manifold? Or would it still clog just from the build up of grain in front of the valve?

I guess I could rig up a stainless braid manifold to fit my valve for a couple bucks if need be.

 

[flyangler18]

I'd go SS braid. Can't beat it for $5.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Well the manifold is made to fit a 10 gallon cooler that I already have. I'd rather not make a second one. So if it doesn't fit, could I just use a grain bag or paint strainer inside the cooler and drain out the ball valve without using any kind of manifold? Or would it still clog just from the build up of grain in front of the valve?

I guess I could rig up a stainless braid manifold to fit my valve for a couple bucks if need be.

You use a Large Muslin bag or Paint strainer. Place that in your cooler, add you grains into it. This would be a giant filter. Then when it is sparge time, lift the grain bag up a little to create space between the bottom of the cooler and the grain bag. 2 people would be helpful. You will have increased dead space however between the cooler bottom and the drain where with a manifold you'd have the vacuum suction to the bottom. But also since the grain is in a bag, at the end of all running, remove the bag all together (easy grain disposal) and dump any remaining wort from the cooler into the Boil pot.
Search for Brew in a Bag.
Or just read through DeathBrewer's Stove Top AG Method. It uses the Bag method.

 

[BierMuncher]

Well the manifold is made to fit a 10 gallon cooler that I already have. I'd rather not make a second one. So if it doesn't fit, could I just use a grain bag or paint strainer inside the cooler and drain out the ball valve without using any kind of manifold? Or would it still clog just from the build up of grain in front of the valve?

I guess I could rig up a stainless braid manifold to fit my valve for a couple bucks if need be.

I built my manifold to fit the 5-gallon cooler and it works fine for the 10-gallon.

Can you just rim it down to fit both?

Oh and...don't try to use an unsupported filter like a mesh cloth. The weight of those hot squishy grains will pack right into the tube and that little 1/2" opening will clog immediately.

Although if it's a clean grain bill, this method works good for additional filtering.