Cooler Manifold- Opinions Needed

[BMan1029]

I just bought two rectangular coolers. See picture. It has a circular mash manifold. In talking with some people at my homebrew club meeting last night, they brought up a potential issue with channeling with the circular mash manifold. Suggested I make a PVC manifold. I would like to get feedback from others. Do I run the risk of having problems with channeling with a circular mash manifold?

 

[djsethall]

I think it looks like a winner of a system. I really like the sparge manifold. Are you planning on using a pump for your vorlauf?

 

[BMan1029]

Pump is on order. First batch is going to be a Hefeweizen. From my rudimentary understanding, vorlauf is done for clarity before sparging? Would it be wise for this particular style of beer? Total AG noob here.

 

[wilserbrewer]

If your concerned w/ chanelling, try a batch sparge. That cooler will be fine batch sparging and that may be a simpler 1st time approach.

 

[SixFoFalcon]

Vorlauf would be wise for virtually any beer. The less chunky stuff going into the kettle, the better. I vorlauf probably 2-3 gallons worth before I start to collect my runnings.