More newb 10 gallon mash tun questions

ilikethetrees · Oct 19, 2010

So, I went ahead and put myself together a 10 gallon mash tun with one of those orange cylindrical coolers you can get at Home Depot. I followed a tutorial on HBT about constructing a spigot for it to replace the dinky plastic one it comes with, and that all seems nice and tight.

Now what? Do I need a dang false bottom? www.midwestsupplies.com has 'em in spades, but you pay in spades, too. Am I really gonna have blockages in my flow if I fly sparge this thing?

Any advice to help me avoid sparging hell?

BigB · Oct 19, 2010

You can use many things to filter the wort such as slotted pipe, stainless steel braid, pipe with holes drilled, or false bottoms. As far as sparging, why not just batch sparge for now... No need to worry about any extras then. http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2008/...rge-a-guide-for-batch-sparging-and-no-sparge/

No matter what you use to filter the wort, they will only affect the efficiency of the extraction if you fly sparge- not cause "blockages." There is a good explanation of the science here: http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter17-2.html and here: http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD-2.html

nebben · Oct 20, 2010

I have a stainless false bottom in mine, and I love it. I don't see why a manifold with slits cut into it or a braid (that doesn't get crushed) wouldn't work in one of these.

I can get high efficiency (>85%) with batch sparging in these, but I'm no longer super concerned with efficiency since I've had astringency problems that I believe is related to oversparging. ~80% is great with me.

Refry · Oct 20, 2010

I'd recommend batch sparging... Any particular reason you want to fly sparge?

ilikethetrees · Oct 21, 2010

I was under the impression that fly sparging is more efficient. Batch is that much easier, huh?

g-star · Oct 21, 2010

I just built the same mash tun myself and went with the SS braid. My first AG batch when very well. I batch sparged and came within 0.001 of my target OG (1.069) with an efficiency north of 75%.

The braid worked like a champ, easy vorlauf, draining, no stuck sparges, etc. The tun doesn't leak a drop and really made the whole experience rather pleasant and not stressful at all.

Hope this helps....best of luck in your AG endeavors.

BendBrewer · Oct 21, 2010

I found that the braid became inconsistent after 8-9 batches and would end up worrying about it floating up into the grain bed which it can do. After switching to a copper manifold I have been much happier.

BigB · Oct 21, 2010

Fly sparging can be more efficient if it is done properly. But, batch sparging is easier and faster. IIRC, Charlie Papazian (sp?) almost exclusively batch sparges and he has won LOTS and LOTS of competitions. I only batch sparge and get typically 75-80% efficiency. I personally don't see a need to get better efficiency.