Does this look like a good AG kit?

[Cpsurfer]

Hi folks,

I'm looking to get away from extract brewing and move to AG, and I've found this MLT/HLT kit on ebay for what looks like a reasonable price. I was hoping some of you with more experience could weigh in on the following:

1: Does this look like a good product? I've seen more false bottoms than mesh manifold setups and wanted to know if you think this is alright.

2: The seller also has a very similar 5 gallon kit. I don't anticipate doing batches larger than 5 gallons yet, but for only $40 I'm inclined not to limit myself.

3: If I do 5 gallon batches in the bigger cooler will there be enough grain bed to effectively filter the sediment when I sparge?

Here's the link to what I'm considering buying:

15 gallon Mash / Lauter Tun set for homebrewing beer - eBay (item 300265371453 end time Feb-07-09 07:09:25 PST)

Thanks everyone!

 

[Displaced MassHole]

That looks like a pretty decent setup for the price. I paid 250 for a similar setup from morebeer.com. I'm just not sure how those push-in fittings work. I have ball valves on mine and I love em. Not saying those are bad just haven't used them before. You shouldn't have a problem with grain bed depth, they seem to be taller than they are wide so I say go for it.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I'm a batch sparger, I'm cheap and handy with tools...that being said I like the two approaches shown below. IMHO $189 is way too much dough to spend on a couple of modified coolers. If you want "plug and play" and want to fly sparge I'm sure they will work. I use a simple approach as shown in the first link. If you prefer to install a stainless bulkhead and valve I would search for "bargain fittings"

Simple All Grain Brewing - German Pilsner

http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

 

[Revvy]

I agree with wilser....You can probably find two large coolers (depending on what size you want) for much cheaper.

And you can spend 20 bucks for the hardware to convert your own using this method...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ch...id-mlt-conversion-23008/?highlight=cheap+easy

Heck most of us get away with using only one cooler as a mashtun and heating our water in our pot, and batch sparging, making the hlt, not really necessary.

I did my cooler for under 50 bucks, for both the cooler and the hardware.

 

[irunxcjm]

+1 on the above links from wilserbrewer. This is similar to what I have in my setup and it works great. I think I paid $20 for the cooler at Kmart and like $2 for the braid. Add in the tubing and I spent $40 max on the whole thing.

 

[Cpsurfer]

Thanks for the feedback everybody, I appreciate it!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Cpsurfer,

Just a heads up, if you go the braid route, make sure the braid is stainless steel!! Some braids are actually silver coated plastic that looks very similiar to stainless to the untrained eye.

 

[humann_brewing]

Yep, +1 on flyguys guide.

Home Depot has the 10 gallon coolers for about $37 + $15 in parts from flyguys guide and you have a great mash/tun.

I am 5 batches in on mine and love it. Will be doing a RIS soon which will start to get close to the capacity on 5G batches.

If I choose to do 10G batches, I just won't be doing high gravity brews in 10 gallons.