Preparing for first all grain. Some of questions.

[kamiru]

Hi guys, soon I want to make my first all grain beer.
1.First of all, I bought cooler as mash tun. ITs 40Qts coleman wheeled cooler is this not problem that bottom isnt square ?
(photo attached)


2. I cant decide on filtering method. SS braid or manifold.
how do work ss braid ? because wholes are everywhere so how it is with dead space ? if wort will reach ss braid it will stop suck? or because its covered by grain durning sparging air dont come and ss braid can suck almost whole wort? Can someone explain it ?

3. If I will decide for manifold , I do not want use copper couse of this green poisonous stuff, its patina? I dont know correct name .
If manifold is made of copper how do you check for this green patina inside of the pipe ? its almost impossible to check pipes inside.

4. My own idea was to make something like false bottom, this coole have draining canal near siphon I wanted cover it by flat stainless plate with small holes. And screw thru it stainless pipe so it will suck wort from bottom of this canal. I dont know if I did explain this well.
How do you think guys it would work ? Or because it will suck wort from front it will have weak efficiency ?
Cheers!

 

[MaryB]

Copper oxide is not poison in a true sense, you would need to ingest quite a bit and the tiny amount that may dissolve into the wort will not harm anything, in fact our bodies need a small amount of copper!

But a manifold made from plastic plumbing pipe is far easier to work with. If you make a ring I would not glue the corner joints so it can be taken apart and scrubbed if needed!

The not square and flat won't hurt anything either.

 

[magno]

I wouldn't worry that the bottom is not square. A stainless steel braided hose may work, but a manifold as described above would likely be your best bet.

Copper is beneficial to the yeast, and as MaryB says, the small amounts that you may ingest will not be poisonous to you.

I would not recommend installing a small perforated stainless steel plate at the spigot... you want to be able to drain from as much of the mash tun as possible, like a true false bottom does, or like a manifold would almost do. If you have a small drainage area, you run the risk of channeling, and not fully sparging the grains.

Also, you didn't mention it, but I would absolutely remove the existing spigot and replace it with a stainless steel spigot with a ball valve.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do!

 

[kamiru]

Can I use copper or brass spigot with ball velve? I live in Japan and Im not sure what is copper or brass made from . It wont contain lead?
Can I use normal PVC? I read that people recommend to use CPVC but I never saw such a thing here in Japan.

 

[RM-MN]

Get some polyester cloth (curtain material, goes by the name, "Swiss Voille" here in the US) and make a bag to fit the cooler (or just drape it over the cooler). That bag will be a much better filter than a manifold or false bottom because it will have such a large filter area so if it clogs when draining you just lift it a bit to expose more filter. You can use the bag by itself in your cooler or just in the boil pot if you want or you could make a manifold for the cooler to use in conjunction with the bag.

 

[kamiru]

never read about this method on forum . Is it comfortable ? I would like to make something more for long term. So Less drain area make more problem with channeling ?

 

[magno]

Yes, less drainage area can lead to problems.

Avoid brass spigots if possible, there is some lead in the brass. Stainless steel is best.

The method that RM-MN is describing is called "brew in a bag" or BIAB. There is a lot of discussion about this method on the forum, but it is not one that I am personally familiar with.

 

[jalc6927]

You can order a custom fit bag to use in cooler in lieu of false bottom or manifold system which may work better based on your cooler design

It's no BIAB, just using the bag as a filter for mashing

[email protected] is the guy that makes them

Wilzerbags.com I think