MLT w/ flex copper

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Aust1227

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
111
Reaction score
0
Hey guys,
I begged my AC repairman for some flex copper today. He set me up with 10' of 3/8" soft copper. I have a 5 gallon cooler that i am planning to convert with a cheap rubber stopper and plastic tube. I see a ton of manifolds made from SS mesh, and a lot from solid copper. But not many from soft copper.

I am thinking about doing a double circle, with a compression T, drilling holes in the bottom of the copper, and then running it straight into one side of the rubber stopper.

Thoughts? Problems I might encounter with soft vs. solid copper?
 
I see what you are saying about the small ID. So, I went to HD and purchased rigid 1/2" and associated elbows and Ts.. With the soft I will make a "pre chiller" for my immersion chiller. I have a well here in Florida. ANd the water is a constant 72. So now I have ten feet of of 3/8" going into a cold water bath, through a vinyl tube, and finally into the 25' immersion chiller. Does all that sound okay?
 
Aust1227 said:
I see what you are saying about the small ID. So, I went to HD and purchased rigid 1/2" and associated elbows and Ts.. With the soft I will make a "pre chiller" for my immersion chiller. I have a well here in Florida. ANd the water is a constant 72. So now I have ten feet of of 3/8" going into a cold water bath, through a vinyl tube, and finally into the 25' immersion chiller. Does all that sound okay?

That sounds like a great idea. It should work very well. When using the pre-chiller use some water/ice and some salt to really chill it this summer. :rockin:
 
wilserbrewer said:
Ten bucks and ten minutes you could be batch sparging w/ a braid...Why copper??
Just curious, Mike

I think it looks better!
 
Aust1227 said:
I think it looks better!
Yes it does. Plus I can dump 40#s of grain + water on it and not worry that it's crushed and wont drain. Plus when I'm mxing the mash I'm not moving it around so it's always in the same spot and always draining the same.
 
1/4" ID for a manifold would not really be a bad thing. Draining too fast leaves too much sugar behind. Slow is the way to go.

I use a 1/2" (rigid) copper manifold and regularly get 86-94 percent efficiencies, simply because I drain it very slowly.

Besides, while it's draining, you have plenty of time for another beer...
 
imasickboy said:
1/4" ID for a manifold would not really be a bad thing. Draining too fast leaves too much sugar behind. Slow is the way to go.

I use a 1/2" (rigid) copper manifold and regularly get 86-94 percent efficiencies, simply because I drain it very slowly.

Besides, while it's draining, you have plenty of time for another beer...
That does not make any since to me. Unless you are talking about fly-sparging. Then, yeah.
 
imasickboy said:
Yes, I am talking about fly sparging. I guess I should've said so initially.

With fly sparging you have to run it real slow, but if batch sparging you can let her rip.
My MLT has 3/4 copper tubes and I can drain 5 gallons out in less then 30 sec at full bore. :D
 
Back
Top