lslbrew
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- Joined
- May 9, 2016
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I use a 3 vessel setup for 10 gallon batches but use a brew bag as my mash filter. I can drain in a couple of minutes with the valve fully open but, like many others, the bag will get sucked into the valve and slow the flow dramatically. After working this a few different ways I finally solved this in my setup.
I tie a rope from the handle on one side, route it thru the pull handles of the bag and the handle on the other side of the cooler. The only exception is that I skip the two pull handles on the valve side of the cooler. I use a carabiner for those two handles. Any type could be used. I just happen to have two already that have the cleats on them.
The rope does two things. 1) it keeps the bag from getting pulled into the cooler when you pour the grains. 2) becomes a rail for the pull handles to slide on. I used a taught line knot to make the rope tight around the cooler. A bungee cord would probably work too, but like the carabiner, I had this rope sitting around already.
Mash as normal. Then, when running off the wort, I unhook the carabiners from the front and pull that part of the bag to the back of the cooler and hook to the back handle. The bag slides back as needed along the rope rail. You are only really pulling part of the mash back so it is not very heavy to pull. The clips hold it and it can drain without getting caught in the valve.
I batch sparge so I just ran the bag and clips back to the front each time. Took only seconds. After running what I could I put a block under the back end of the cooler while the wort was getting up to boil. I went back later and drained another gallon out of the cooler. I don't think I could have gotten much more if I squeezed the bag. It just took time instead of pressure to get more wort out.
I tie a rope from the handle on one side, route it thru the pull handles of the bag and the handle on the other side of the cooler. The only exception is that I skip the two pull handles on the valve side of the cooler. I use a carabiner for those two handles. Any type could be used. I just happen to have two already that have the cleats on them.
The rope does two things. 1) it keeps the bag from getting pulled into the cooler when you pour the grains. 2) becomes a rail for the pull handles to slide on. I used a taught line knot to make the rope tight around the cooler. A bungee cord would probably work too, but like the carabiner, I had this rope sitting around already.
Mash as normal. Then, when running off the wort, I unhook the carabiners from the front and pull that part of the bag to the back of the cooler and hook to the back handle. The bag slides back as needed along the rope rail. You are only really pulling part of the mash back so it is not very heavy to pull. The clips hold it and it can drain without getting caught in the valve.
I batch sparge so I just ran the bag and clips back to the front each time. Took only seconds. After running what I could I put a block under the back end of the cooler while the wort was getting up to boil. I went back later and drained another gallon out of the cooler. I don't think I could have gotten much more if I squeezed the bag. It just took time instead of pressure to get more wort out.