MLT question???

[Schnitzengiggle]

I have been thinking of going AG because it would be sooo much less expensive than Extract, and after this weekend I will have 5 Extract brews under my belt, and to be quite honest they have all been really enjoyable. My first brew came out too bitter for my likes, but it could have been the kit. I think it will be time to take the next step soon, maybe by the end of the summer. On to the question, when going to AG I will DIY a MLT out of a cooler of some sort, and I have read alot of info between manifolds and screens or braids.

Is a Mainifold better than a Braid or vice-versa? What are the pros and cons?

I was wondering if you could get a large enough nylon bag to fit loosely inside of an MLT on top of either a braid or manifold would it reduce efficiency or have any negative effects? (This would simply be to make cleaning out the MLT easier.)

I have seen/read somwhere that some are mashing in a bag, placing the grains in a nylon sack in the brew kettle. This would be the same basic principle. You could just pull the bag out of the MLT and not have to scoop your grains out.

Does this make sense?

 

[malkore]

Big can of worms here. Honestly you're gonna get 100 different answers from a 100 different brewers.

My suggestion: if you are batch sparging, start with a SS braid. They are so freaking cheap to get and easy to setup that its worth it to try out. If you don't like it, its easy to swap out to a manifold, though a manifold will be a little more time/labor to build.

DIY section has a complete write up on a 5 or 10 gallon MLT made from a round rubbermaid cooler.

 

[Brew-boy]

In my setup I Hated the braid for many reasons, but the manifold has worked perfect for me. I think like Malkore said try the braid cuz it is cheap and then go from there.

 

[Ewalk02]

I made a manifold for less than $20 out of pvc and loved it (until I upgraded to a false bottom because I got a keggle MLT). I've never used a SS braid before but I've heard they perform well.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

What about the bag though?

Seems like a no-brianer for clean up, but I have never brewed AG so I don't know.

 

[dzlater]

What about the bag though?

Seems like a no-brianer for clean up, but I have never brewed AG so I don't know.

Getting the grain out the mash tun is no big deal.
I just dump it in the compost and hose out the rest.
Then wash it out. Don't really have to scoop anything.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

I wouldn't really have a place to put the spent grains except for a trash bin right now, so do you think the nylon bag idea would work?

 

[Denny]

See dennybrew for a Cheap'n'Easy system.

 

[beerthirty]

It would take longer to clean the bag then it would to dump and rinse the MLT.
Just dump to a plastic bag and drop in the trash.