Any mesh basket users ever try lining the sides with stainless sheet to get a malt pipe?

[Hwk-I-St8]

Some systems use a mesh basket that's mesh on the bottom and sides. Others go for the "malt pipe" effect, where it's solid on the sides and mesh only on the bottom. I'm curious if anyone has ever tried to line the sides of their basket with a thin sheet of stainless to get the malt pipe effect and, if so, what you used for the SS sheeting.

 

[jimmypop13]

What's the malt pipe effect? I threw mine away on my robobrew bc it was constantly letting grain through and then clogging up when I raised it up to drain. I use a bag now with a pully. No problems anymore. IMHO I'd never block off the side mesh if I had a system like clawhammer for great that I'd get another stuck sparge like I did with my malt pipe. One of the big advantages of BIAB is to forget about stuck sparges! I don't wanna go back to the days of painful slow draining and rice hulls

 

[Coastalbrew]

I agree. My system has a malt pipe and I line it with a biab bag because it is prone to clogging and stuck sparges.

 

[micraftbeer]

My assumption on the design of the malt pipe is simply to keep it from being a mess during draining/sparging. With holes in the side, if you had it resting up on its posts, you'd probably get water coming out the side holes which would then run down the outside of your brew unit, making a mess. If you note the Anvil Foundry 10.5, its malt pipe has holes on the side, but they are strategically placed at a level under the feet of the malt pipe. So when you pull it up to rest during drain/sparge, anything that comes out of those side holes is captured within the body of the brew unit.

Plus it's easier to manufacture a sheet of steel rolled into a cylinder and welded than trying to roll a perforated sheet, or trying to drill a bunch of holes in a solid sheet after you roll it.

 

[Coastalbrew]

My assumption on the design of the malt pipe is simply to keep it from being a mess during draining/sparging. With holes in the side, if you had it resting up on its posts, you'd probably get water coming out the side holes which would then run down the outside of your brew unit, making a mess. If you note the Anvil Foundry 10.5, its malt pipe has holes on the side, but they are strategically placed at a level under the feet of the malt pipe. So when you pull it up to rest during drain/sparge, anything that comes out of those side holes is captured within the body of the brew unit.

Plus it's easier to manufacture a sheet of steel rolled into a cylinder and welded than trying to roll a perforated sheet, or trying to drill a bunch of holes in a solid sheet after you roll it.

In my experience with biab bags, anything that comes out the sides simply runs down the side of the bag to the bottom and runs into the kettle. Same with strainers and colanders. The water in the mash pipe is not under pressure so it should not shoot out the sides and make a mess on kettle, assuming there is a sufficient difference in diameter between the mash pipe and kettle.

 

[odie]

I use a "steamer basket" inside my kettle. I place a roll of flashing in the basket to close in the sides...I guess you could call it a "malt pipe". My bag goes inside the basket.

Why? So that all the wort must flow down thru the grain bed and not escape out the sides. The sides are very close to the kettle so minimal dead wort space...The basket was chosen for my specific kettle dimensions (was not a steamer "set") and the lip had to be ground down to fit...yes it's that tight. My basket sits above the electric element. I recirc during my BIAB mash so there is really no dead wort space. When I pull the basket it drains slowly but all the wort drains down thru the grain bed.

I'm planning my next BIAB beer to hold back 2 gallons of mash water and sparge after the basket/bag drain is finished. Maybe boost my overall mash efficiency. Pretty sure I'm near 100% conversion (several hours mash times), just lacking on the bag drain due to grain absoption.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I use a "steamer basket" inside my kettle. I place a roll of flashing in the basket to close in the sides...I guess you could call it a "malt pipe". My bag goes inside the basket.

Why? So that all the wort must flow down thru the grain bed and not escape out the sides. The sides are very close to the kettle so minimal dead wort space...The basket was chosen for my specific kettle dimensions (was not a steamer "set") and the lip had to be ground down to fit...yes it's that tight. My basket sits above the electric element. I recirc during my BIAB mash so there is really no dead wort space. When I pull the basket it drains slowly but all the wort drains down thru the grain bed.

I'm planning my next BIAB beer to hold back 2 gallons of mash water and sparge after the basket/bag drain is finished. Maybe boost my overall mash efficiency. Pretty sure I'm near 100% conversion (several hours mash times), just lacking on the bag drain due to grain absoption.

This. For recirculation with a basket, if the sides are open, the path of the recirculated wort can short-circuit out the sides. You can recirculate BIAB without that issue because the bag rests against the side of the kettle effectively blocking off that path.

So I got the cheap basket, but I can only think of two ways ensure full coverage recirculation. One is the malt pipe, the other is something similar to the BrewBoss COFI system.

 

[odie]

go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy a roll of 12" flashing. It will be aluminum but that's fine. cut it so it wraps around the inside with a few inches overlap.

Sometimes the flashing is coated...a brillo pad with clean the coating off.

recirc by hand/pail or a little pump

 

[greywolf]

I followed the same path as ODIE- for all the same reasons. Works just like he said. Line it with some voile and you're done. Didn't make sense not to.

 

[mabrungard]

A basket with screened sides will suffer from lower efficiency since the wort doesn’t flow through the entire grist. One dimensional flow from the top of the grist and out the bottom, is what you want.