SS braid Mash tun users - suggestions please!

[solavirtus]

I think I need to switch from a false bottom to a SS braid in MLT. The problem is the middle of my 10 gal round Igloo cooler is warping up a little bit, which has caused the false bottom to have difficulty setting down evenly. In my last few batches, grist has gotten underneath the false bottom, and given me major pains in the form of stuck/slow draining.

I think switching to a SS braid would help, especially since I batch sparge anyway. Does anyone have thoughts? Suggestions for what kind of braid, where to get it, how to put it together? I would just buy a made one if the price were decent.

UPDATE: I got in contact with my LHBS guys, and they are pursuing Igloo about potentially replacing the cooler as defective. That would be awesome, but I'm not counting on it...

 

[SilverZero]

Any SS braid from a toilet / faucet supply line will do (check Lowe's or similar). Use a hose clamp to secure it to the inside of your mash tun drain valve, and just roll and maybe clamp the other end shut somehow. Should be under $10. You could even go the route my buddy did and get a 4" length of copper tubing, stick it through a drilled rubber stopper that fits the mash tun (he didn't have an actual valve assembly), and hose clamp the braid to one end and a drain hose to the other. Works great!

 

[weirdboy]

Not ANY will do. Really inspect the hose you get. It is my understanding that recently many of those cheap hoses don't actually have a SS braid on them, but instead some kind of plastic or other material which resembles SS. The cheaper braids don't work for our purposes.

I have been using a braid on my MLT for 3-4 years now, and am very happy with it. I know some people come on here and complain about the braid collapsing and other crazy stuff, and there are threads about people inserting SS springs into the braids to keep them from doing so. I have never had this happen to me in the many, many batches I've done on my setup. I think they must either be using inferior/incorrect materials for the braid, or there is something wrong with their process.

 

[solavirtus]

I didn't realize it could be quite that simple. How have people dealt with clamping the open end, and attaching to the valve?

 

[weirdboy]

On mine I used a T to make a circle with the braid, and both ends connect to hose barbs with SS hose clamps. If you want a straight one, though, it's easy to just bend one end and pinch it closed with some pliers.

 

[sonex]

make sure the supply braid you get is ss many braids at the big hardware stores are chrome plastic. Check the tag on the supply braid and make sure it says stainless steel. I got mine for 8 dollars at ace hardware.

edit: sorry for the duplicate information weirdboy beat me to it.

 

[stevo155]

I just switched mine from toilet supply braid to one of these:

Kettle Tube Screen | MoreBeer

Done one beer on it and it works well. Best thing is it doesn't float around and didn't crush with 24lbs of grain on top of it.

 

[J8D]

You "may" want to look at putting a SS spring or a slotted copper pipe into the middle of the SS braid. I had issues with my braid getting crushed (read stuck sparge) and ended up replacing with a copper manifold.

 

[solavirtus]

I just switched mine from toilet supply braid to one of these:

Kettle Tube Screen | MoreBeer

Done one beer on it and it works well. Best thing is it doesn't float around and didn't crush with 24lbs of grain on top of it.

Interesting, as I have an extra one of these laying around. I'm assuming that the mesh is fine enough not to let any grain particles through once the grain bed is set?

 

[LordUlrich]

When I built mine I did not cut both ends off, I cut one end, pulled back the mesh as far as I could back toward the remaining threaded fitting, and then cut the inter lining. This gives me a nice threaded fitting and a built in dip tube. On the other end I just tied a knot, to keep the grain out.

 

[Lennie]

Yes the mesh works well for the initial setting of the grain bed, after that the bed itself does most of the work. It doens't even have to be that fine, just enough to snag some husks to create a porous "filter" around the braid.

You know you have a steel braid if it stabs the heck out of your finger when you are handinlg it. I slip one end over the hose that goes out of my cooler MLT (through a rubber grommet that came off a minikeg) and stick the other end in the clamp and tighten down. It is more or less circular this way and doesn't flop around when you stir and I think it probably gives it a little more structural stability (doesn't collapse). Works just fine. You could always keep using your false bottom and have the braid as insurance. My braid has never collapsed, but you could put a piece of copper pipe in the interior to keep it opened up if you want. It just needs to be significantly smaller in diameter than the braid.


The bulging issue probably means your seal on the cooler bulkhead is not water tight and wort is leaking into the interior of the cooler. I can't see Igloo being responsible for the problem.

 

[pearlbeer]

I think all of the Igloos warp at one time or another. I like the kettle screen for a SS filter. Easy to unscrew and clean. When I mashed in an Igloo I used the screen + a false bottom. Why not?

 

[sonex]

never had my braid collapse or stuck sparge, and have been using it for 5 years. can't say the same for the false bottom I first started with. In my brewing with both the braid is the more reliable way to prevent stuck sparges.

 

[solavirtus]

I think all of the Igloos warp at one time or another. I like the kettle screen for a SS filter. Easy to unscrew and clean. When I mashed in an Igloo I used the screen + a false bottom. Why not?

How did you have the screen and false bottom set up?

 

[pearlbeer]

I just lay the FB on top of the screen or manifold.

 

[step]

Used a SS braid for ~9 mo and started to have sparging issues so I built myself a quick and cheap CPVC manifold and it works great so far. Not knocking the braid, but I have more confidence in the new manifold withstanding the test of time...

 

[kosmokramer]

If you want to get rid of that false bottom ill take it, pm me a price!

 

[LuiInIdaho]

I think switching to a SS braid would help, especially since I batch sparge anyway. ..

This is exactly the reason that I switched from a false bottom to a stainless braid for my Rubbermaid 10 Gallon Cooler. I went with the Water Heater Supply Line for the stainless weave. I love this setup. The 5/8 in compression fittings I bought work great. Mark

 

[J8D]

never had my braid collapse or stuck sparge, and have been using it for 5 years. can't say the same for the false bottom I first started with. In my brewing with both the braid is the more reliable way to prevent stuck sparges.

Perhaps you have a heavier braid or something. I was brewing a ten gallon milk stout recipe and it flattened it like a pancake. I was using a large rectangle cooler as well which should have spread the weight out but it didn't. Felt like I was three years old all over again with that damn toilet lid coming back down...

 

[Revvy]

You "may" want to look at putting a SS spring or a slotted copper pipe into the middle of the SS braid. I had issues with my braid getting crushed (read stuck sparge) and ended up replacing with a copper manifold.

A lot of us do something to prevent that, we've talked about it throughout here, including in the "cheap and easy..." thread, here's what I've posted;

I've used mine for 5 years and have never had the braid collapse. I took that nylon tube that is inside of it, and I drilled holes in it like a machine gun barrell, and put it back into the braid, which keeps it from getting crushed.

This web pic sort shows what I'm talking about except the one in the plumbing line is white and nylon, I think. You clip off the ends, push the ends of the braid towards each other to loosen, then using needle nose pliers pull out the hose, and drill a lot of hole all through it, then put it back in.

I also have it in a circle using a t-fitting like this;

I often even forget to vorlauf and don't get a lot coming through. Just having the braid free floating may cause the gaps in the mesh to be wider than mine- since the braid is in a sense like the chinese finger trap

on mine the gap between mesh can be adjusted. And mine is pretty tight, almost the original tightness as if I never tore it apart and got the core out and put it back in.

The nice thing about my t-fitting is that it's removable, and at the furthest point from where it is connected to the ball valve it actually touches the bottom of the cooler, so there's also not a lot of deadspace in my cooler, only about 1/2 gallon or so.

The t thingy fits perfectly into the hose ends inside the braid, then I used zip ties (really tiny ones) to hold the braid in place. It's been perfect for like 5 years now.

But with the hose in there, it doesn't compress whatsoever.

After drilled holes in it I boiled it for 15-20 minutes, that helped blow out all the little nylon or whatever particles were generated by drilling through the hose. But basically yup, that's all I did.

Putting the hose back in can be a hassel but just remember the chinese finger puzzle concept, pushing the ends towards each other makes it wider and easier to get the hose back in, pulling outward makes it tighter. I use needle nose pliers and long tweezers to help pull the braid in and out as needed.

There's a couple other solutions in here.

 

[solavirtus]

Thanks a lot Revvy.

That looks a lot like what I'll do if I end up going this route. It looks like you get a little bit more deadspace in the MLT than I get with the false bottom (about 1 qt) but I can deal with that. It sure beats stuck/slow sparges.

 

[Revvy]

Thanks a lot Revvy.

That looks a lot like what I'll do if I end up going this route. It looks like you get a little bit more deadspace in the MLT than I get with the false bottom (about 1 qt) but I can deal with that. It sure beats stuck/slow sparges.

I get like 2 cups of deadspace. Not much at all.

 

[weirdboy]

Thanks a lot Revvy.

That looks a lot like what I'll do if I end up going this route. It looks like you get a little bit more deadspace in the MLT than I get with the false bottom (about 1 qt) but I can deal with that. It sure beats stuck/slow sparges.

The trick that you can do with a SS braid MLT is just stick something under the back end of the MLT when you start your vorlauf/sparge to tilt it a bit more towards the valve. Then you can do your vorlauf/batch sparge and drain pretty quickly, but leave the valve open with an extra vessel (like a bucket) there to collect the drips while you start the boil. By the time your wort gets up to a boil your MLT should be pretty much done dripping, so close the valve and add those runnings to the pot. Or dump them if you've already hit your numbers, or drink it, or save it, or do whatever.

Using this method, by the time I clean out my MLT I usually have one cup or less of liquid left in the bottom.

 

[DSmith]

I get 2 cups of extra water in the bottom of a 5 gallon mash tun with braid without grain if it's tilted. Grain displaces a lot of that volume and it's an insiginificant amount of wort if tilted with a 2x4 under the back of the MLT.

A vorlauf does a great job setting up the grain bed as a filter but I also use a very fine meshed boil bag at the end of the MLT hose to catch any sediment. I'm always surprised how little sediment there is but I'm sure there's none in the kettle.

 

[Lennie]

I'm a cheapskate, not only do I tilt my MLT to drain better, once it slows to a trickle I start my boil but keep collecting a few more cups of wort in a pitcher. I add it every so often, up to almost the end of the boil.