Bend in mash tun screen - still okay?

[thegame310]

Hi all,

So, I built this mash tun last summer, and did only 1 all grain batch with it (Centennial blonde) and if memory serves me correctly the brew day did not go very well. Looking back, I believe it was due to it being my first all grain batch, and my first time brewing this style of beer, one that I'm not even a particular fan of.

Anywho, at the time I blamed it on this little kink in my bazooka screen. I'm now looking to try again with all grain brewing and took some pictures of my mash tun and the little kink in the screen to see if it's something I should be worried about.

Thank you in advance and cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

It will work fine, even with the kink. I've seen way worse.

 

[thegame310]

It will work fine, even with the kink. I've seen way worse.

That's exactly what I wanted to hear! I was worried I was going to have to head out and pick up a false bottom lol.

Thanks!

 

[IslandLizard]

That's exactly what I wanted to hear! I was worried I was going to have to head out and pick up a false bottom lol.

Thanks!

Did you hit that tube with your mash paddle?

The only thing is your drain is an inch or 2 above the bottom, creating a fairly large headspace. Do you tip the tun (~40°) toward the drain at the end of each lauter to get more of that out? If not, you should. But it should be held, or cradled well so it doesn't start to roll or crash down. That would surely ruin the day.

A false bottom with a diptube almost touching the bottom could siphon most it that out by itself, but I don't think it's enough to warrant the cost of it. Tipping works great!

If you batch sparge well, twice, the amount of sugars in the wort left behind at ~1.015 gravity after tipping is fairly small anyway, maybe half a gallon.

 

[thegame310]

Did you hit that tube with your mash paddle?

The only thing is your drain is an inch or 2 above the bottom, creating a fairly large headspace. Do you tip the tun (~40°) toward the drain at the end of each lauter to get more of that out? If not, you should. But it should be held, or cradled well so it doesn't start to roll or crash down. That would surely ruin the day.

A false bottom with a diptube almost touching the bottom could siphon most it that out by itself, but I don't think it's enough to warrant the cost of it. Tipping works great!

If you batch sparge well, twice, the amount of sugars in the wort left behind at ~1.015 gravity after tipping is fairly small anyway, maybe half a gallon.

Sorry for taking so long to respond, I was out running errands all day. It got bent a bit by just installing it.

And, I haven't brewed all grain since that 1 faithful day, which I actually just think I found some unopened bottles from that day, which I'm interested in trying.

Thanks for the tip though! My next all grain batch I'll for sure tip towards the end and make sure to batch sparge well (I should really start youtube batch sparging videos )

 

[IslandLizard]

Sorry for taking so long to respond, I was out running errands all day. It got bent a bit by just installing it.

And, I haven't brewed all grain since that 1 faithful day, which I actually just think I found some unopened bottles from that day, which I'm interested in trying.

Thanks for the tip though! My next all grain batch I'll for sure tip towards the end and make sure to batch sparge well (I should really start youtube batch sparging videos )

Forums are great, you can continue life as usual and come back to them when nothing else inspires you.

You can try straightening it out a bit by inserting a wooden dowel or so in the drain end, then massage and widen the narrow passage, like you would on a dent in a car. As long as there's a passage, it will be all fine. I have the feeling the Bazooka tube is a bit long for your tun, hence it starts to "fold" when you try to insert it into the bulkhead. You can shorten it an inch off the crimped end, if that helps. Then just re-crimp the end again.

Each time you stir the mash chances are you will hit that tube at some point, and it starts to look more battered. Not much you can do about it. It will still work fine for batch sparging.

If you use BeerSmith, click the checkbox to sparge with equal volumes. Or forget BS for mash calcs all together and use a mash calculator like Brew 365's (I do). Then split the total sparge water in half for each sparge. Drain well each time helps to get most sugars out. Always stir really well after each sparge water addition, let sit for 2 minutes to settle, vorlauf a gallon, then drain.

I keep a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil (perforated in a few spots from my temp readings) on top of the mash. Pouring your vorlauf on there prevents it from disturbing the grain bed, especially when it's shallow.

 

[dmcman73]

unfortunately....your beers will come out crooked with that bend in the mash tun screen. If you consume enough of those crooked beers It'll make you lean and want to hold onto things so as to not fall over.....