Mash Tun with stainless steel braided weave hose

[tre9er]

you could either add a 45* elbow or just don't worry about it. By the final sparge you're leaving behind very thin wort. Adjust your sparge water volume accordingly so you have enough. I always prepare more sparge water than I need.

 

[user 98891]

I use a Kettle screen - 12" Long I ordered when I bought my cooler conversion kit. I've done 4 all grain batches with this setup so far and I'm very happy with it.

 

[BobBailey]

I thought I might add this tip... I got my 10 gallon igloo cooler at Wal-mart.com http://alturl.com/atxer for $39.98. The exact same cooler on the Igloo company website is $77.99!

Another question for everyone... Due to the drain hole being about 1 inch above the bottom, do you have a lot of dead space in the bottom? I mine with just water until the siphon action stopped and had almost 80oz of fluid left!

I leave about 1 1/2 qts. with a 10 gallon round and SS braid. A little slower draining allows more wort to drain from the grain.

Bob

 

[tre9er]

I leave about 1 1/2 qts. with a 10 gallon round and SS braid. A little slower draining allows more wort to drain from the grain.

Bob

This is true, before siphon is broken more liquid can settle to the bottom.

 

[jeepinjeepin]

If you can connect a hose that extends below the bottom of the MLT it will drain more completely before it loses the siphon. This does nothing to combat the slow settling of liquid from the grain column. Sparging slower will help that some.

 

[brewyourown4life]

Started with a 16 inch braid for my first few batches, cut it down to 8 inches and it still works great. have a coil of copper wire inside to to prevent any damage during the stirring process, and i stir pretty aggresively. i only sparge slow when i do a pumpkin ale otherwise once it runs clear, wide open baby

 

[BigJay13]

The only time I have had an issue with my braid was when I brewed with a pump for the first time. I recirculated waaaay too fast and it crimped the braid. Since then I haven't had any issues. We get 84% eff with a hwh supply hose about 2" diameter and runs just straight across the mash tun (converted keg). Some day we will get a false bottom but I am happy with 84%.

 

[JordanThomas]

Does anyone have any recommentations for getting rid of some of the braid threads sharp ends? I used a dremel to get rid of the fittings on my braid, but the ends are really sharp. I'd like to prevent getting cuts cleaning the tun, so any tips would be awesome.

 

[jeepinjeepin]

Does anyone have any recommentations for getting rid of some of the braid threads sharp ends? I used a dremel to get rid of the fittings on my braid, but the ends are really sharp. I'd like to prevent getting cuts cleaning the tun, so any tips would be awesome.

A second hose clamp or wrap in copper wire.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Does anyone have any recommentations for getting rid of some of the braid threads sharp ends? I used a dremel to get rid of the fittings on my braid, but the ends are really sharp. I'd like to prevent getting cuts cleaning the tun, so any tips would be awesome.

A decent pair of scissors will trim the end of a frayed braid...the stainless wires are so fine the trim pretty easily w/ scissors.

 

[dtow2]

I use a braid and took a piece of copper tubing with a ton of slits cut through it and used that for the inside support. It works great. I also use a rectangular cooler. My braid is a straight piece. Have been hitting the mid 80's for pre-boil

 

[Denny]

I'm mystified why you need internal support. I've used up to 75 lb. of grain with my braid and it worked fine. Did you try it without the tube?

 

[BigJay13]

I'm mystified why you need internal support. I've used up to 75 lb. of grain with my braid and it worked fine. Did you try it without the tube?

Yeah the only time i needed support was when I recirculated way too fast.

 

[dtow2]

I'm mystified why you need internal support. I've used up to 75 lb. of grain with my braid and it worked fine. Did you try it without the tube?

Haven't tried without but since it's in their already it just gives me piece of mind.

 

[Denny]

Haven't tried without but since it's in their already it just gives me piece of mind.

I guess I'm the type of person who waits to solve a problem until I actually have a problem!

 

[dtow2]

75lbs of grain? How many gallons of beer do you make at one time and how long does that take from start to finish

 

[phuff7129]

I started using braid from a toilet supply and after about a dozen mashes it started getting beat up from stirring the mash. I switched to a copper manifold and I have been much happier with it. It was inexpensive and easy. I got good efficiency and I have never had a stuck sparge with it. Just my two cents.

 

[Denny]

75lbs of grain? How many gallons of beer do you make at one time and how long does that take from start to finish

For my once a year barleywine brew. We do 10 gal. of a 1.100+ BW and 12 gal. of a 1.060ish second runnings beer.

 

[Denny]

I started using braid from a toilet supply and after about a dozen mashes it started getting beat up from stirring the mash. I switched to a copper manifold and I have been much happier with it. It was inexpensive and easy. I got good efficiency and I have never had a stuck sparge with it. Just my two cents.

My braid is beat to hell. Looks ugly but still works great.

 

[Brihaus]

Fresh question. Moving to all grain setup. I have a Home Depot 10 gallon cooler to convert. The last partial mash I did, I realized I had a 1lb bag of unmilled grain; completely slipped through the cracks when I had the home brew store mill the other grains. Unfortunately, it was Sunday morning, the home brew store was closed, and the wife already had the kids out of the house to let me brew. With no way to mill, I panicked and bought a Kitchen Aid mill from Williams Sonoma for like $140.00.


The mill is built for making your own flour, so the coarsest setting grinds the grains up pretty fine. The end result was a thick sludge in my wort. After it cooled, I siphoned it through a hop bag into the carboy before pitching yeast.

But back to my question. If I'm going to have grain that is milled a little finer than usual, what set-up is best? I don't care if I end up fly or batch sparging. I more worried that way too much sediment will make it through a false bottom, or the fine sediment will clog a braided hose quickly.

Any suggestions?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Any suggestions?

Sell that kitchen aid attachment on ebay while it is still worth something before you break it. Take the proceeds and by another mill, anything from a $25 Corona to a $300 Monster will work better than the KA attachement IMHO.

Firstly the KA mills are designed for making baking flour, secondly they are for ginding a few cups, NOT 10-15 pounds that us brewers need.

If you are dead set on using it, maybe BIAB???

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

Or, if you're set on using the Kitchen Aid device, invest in a nice bed of rice hulls and fly sparge your way to victor?

 

[jeepinjeepin]

Keep the kitchen aid and start baking bread. Buy a grain mill for beer.

 

[Denny]

Fresh question. Moving to all grain setup. I have a Home Depot 10 gallon cooler to convert. The last partial mash I did, I realized I had a 1lb bag of unmilled grain; completely slipped through the cracks when I had the home brew store mill the other grains. Unfortunately, it was Sunday morning, the home brew store was closed, and the wife already had the kids out of the house to let me brew. With no way to mill, I panicked and bought a Kitchen Aid mill from Williams Sonoma for like $140.00.


The mill is built for making your own flour, so the coarsest setting grinds the grains up pretty fine. The end result was a thick sludge in my wort. After it cooled, I siphoned it through a hop bag into the carboy before pitching yeast.

But back to my question. If I'm going to have grain that is milled a little finer than usual, what set-up is best? I don't care if I end up fly or batch sparging. I more worried that way too much sediment will make it through a false bottom, or the fine sediment will clog a braided hose quickly.

Any suggestions?

I crush very fine, a lot of flour. Using a braid, I have never had a stuck runoff in 430 batches.

 

[Brihaus]

Thanks for the feedback. It's a solid and heavy piece of machinery, so I don't doubt it can handle milling 15 lbs of grain every so often.

Ebay seems to have a lot of new, unused KA grain mills available. I'd be looking at maybe getting half what I paid or less, but maybe that's worth it. I'll think about it.