Is this overkill for a mash tun?

[Brounds24]

I want to get more serious about my homebrewing, and have purchased a 25 brew kettle and a 30 gallon cooler that I want to convert into a mash tun. I have a good bit of money into the pot and cooler, as you guys are aware equipment isnt cheap. I want to build my mash tun correctly but dont want to unnecessarily bulk up the mash tun if its not needed. I have a cooler thats 2 1/2 feet by 1 foot. I was planning on using 6 feet of 3/4 in braided stainless steel. Is this too much? Should I use less tubing, or the same amount but a smaller gauge. I don't know much about the process in practice (i have a biology degree and some book smarts about brewing, but thats nothing compared to actual experience). Any advice would be great. I have attached a photo of what I plan to do. Thanks!

 

[coolharry]

I built mine with the tee fitting and a braided loop as well, but in a round cooler. According to Palmer, you want the area on the outside of the braid to be the same as the inside. From the looks of your sketch, you've got a much larger area inside planned. All that said, I'm not sure if the extra braid really helps as much as i originally assumed, as most of the wort will be pulled through the portion closest to your bulkhead.

 

[day_trippr]

As long as you're batch sparging and stir thorough between dilution/drain cycles, it should work...

Cheers!

 

[Brounds24]

So something more like this????

 

[Brounds24]

As long as you're batch sparging and stir thorough between dilution/drain cycles, it should work...

Cheers!

Sorry for being a newbie, by dilution/drain cycles you mean?

 

[day_trippr]

Sorry, was bring a bit snarky

Batch sparging really is a dilution/drainage operation: you drain your first runnings, dump in your (first) sparge liquor, stir like a demon, let it sit for 10 minutes or so, then drain. Repeat, if that's in the game plan.

Channeling issues are almost entirely inconsequential with a batch sparge, so you don't need a fancy manifold. Hence a simple ring of braid should work fine. And even if sections of the braid were to collapse, it's not going to change the efficiency of the tun. Given enough time the wort will find the open sections of braid and eventually exit the tun.

If you were fly sparging, otoh, the drainage design becomes way more critical, and that simple ring of braid would most likely not provide satisfactory results...

Cheers!

 

[Gnomebrewer]

As long as you're batch sparging and stir thorough between dilution/drain cycles, it should work...

Cheers!

^^^This. Even a simple braided or slotted spear up the middle of the mash tun works fine for batch sparging but channels too much if you fly sparge.

 

[coolharry]

So something more like this????

Looks good to me. Just keep in mind that you probably won't be able to control the shape of the braid. Its going to round itself. Have you considered making it out of cpvc or copper? With either of those you could shape it more like in your design.

 

[Hamaki]

Looks good to me. Just keep in mind that you probably won't be able to control the shape of the braid. Its going to round itself. Have you considered making it out of cpvc or copper? With either of those you could shape it more like in your design.

This is a valid concern. I did something similar with my first MLT and the long braid was constantly being churned up into the grain bed when I stirred. If you plan to batch sparge it doesn't matter if you have good coverage over the bottom of your tun. A short bazooka screen would be fine. If you think you ever want to fly sparge you will probably want a manifold that is rigid enough to remain where you put it at the bottom despite vigorous stirring that provides equal drain area for each inlet orifice. Copper or CPVC are fairly common material choices. It's also a good idea to make the manifold in a way it can be taken apart for cleaning.

 

[srice]

Another option which I stumbled on is using a BIAB bag in your cooler and just a 90 degree elbow as a pick up. I built a RIMS system with a copper manifold and found that I had to be very careful to prevent compacting the grain around the manifold and restricting flow. I found the video on the front page of:
http://www.biab-brewing.com/
and ordered a bag to fit my cooler. This bag is great. I haven't had any stuck sparges and I can drain very quickly. It even makes clean up easier. I just pull the bag of spent grain out of the cooler, dump it in my compost pile and wash the bag and cooler.

 

[wilserbrewer]

If you are planning on batch sparging, a simple water heater braid will work well. For batch sparging, a straight piece of braid 6-10" long is all you need as most of the wort enters the braid near the bulkhead anyway.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I have a question for those of you that mash in a bag in a cooler, can you run a pump to recirc/vorlauf your mash or does the bag screw that up ?

 

[srice]

I have a question for those of you that mash in a bag in a cooler, can you run a pump to recirc/vorlauf your mash or does the bag screw that up ?

Yes.

My cooler RIMS setup has:
a pump
a slotted copper manifold
a bag

When I first tried to use the RIMS system without the bag and just the manifold, I would end up with compacted grain around the manifold and very poor draining of the mash tun. The bag solved this issue for me. I can recirc with the pump wide open (I never do - I restrict the flow into my RIMS tube.)

Here is my mash tun without the bag - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f235/automated-mashtun-477747/
The only changes I made are the addition of the bag and the relocation of the hose delivering the recirc from the side of the cooler to the lid in order to deal with the bag.

 

[maierhof]

I have a question for those of you that mash in a bag in a cooler, can you run a pump to recirc/vorlauf your mash or does the bag screw that up ?

I use a bag in a cooler - i have had no problems recirculating but I also have a ss mesh bottom too with a bow to it and a 90 for an exit flow. I just take care to not let the flow get to fast and I can pull around 80% efficiency from it. Really enjoying it !