Stainless braid or 12" bazooka screen for a mash tun cooler conversion

[beauvafr]

Got this baby for 20$. It will be my first mash tun cooler conversion. I have heard about clogged / stucked mash. If I want to avoid it at all cost, should I get a bazooka screen instead of a cheaper stainless braid?

 

[billl]

I wouldn't worry too much about a stuck sparge in a cooler like that. Either should work fine. If the couple bucks isn't an issue, the bazooka is much stiffer and will tend not to get crushed or damaged.

 

[tagz]

I would go braid. I just switched to a bazooka and I have to recirculate a lot more to get clear wort. The braid is a much finer mesh.

 

[StonesBally]

I switched to a bazooka and now almost always need rice hulls. It easier to attach as It screws right on. I put the supply line on a smaller cooler for 5 gallon batches. I never had problems with a crushed supply line or a sparge until I switched to a bazooka screen. On the other hand, I did tighten up my mill a smudge right when I switched to the bazooka screen.

 

[Xpertskir]

Bazooka.

Eventually you will have a braid collapse that will ruin your brew day, avoiding that day is worth any trivial hassle a bazooka tube introduces.

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

I have the same cooler and use the bazooka screen. After 50 + batches, no stuck sparges, no rice hulls.

 

[chezhed]

I have the same cooler and use the bazooka screen. After 50 + batches, no stuck sparges, no rice hulls.

I have similar coolers (one 17.5 gal and one 12 gal) and converted from a manifold to bazooka screen on each and I've never used rice hulls and I've never had a stuck mash. And I'm over 100+ batches easily.

I also crush my own grain.

I once knocked my manifold apart and it took forever to vorlauf that batch to run near clean.....that's when I switched.

 

[beauvafr]

Thanks guy. I'll probably go the bazooka way. I wonder if a standard weldless bulkhead like this one works with the model I have :

http://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/product_p/weldless-bulkhead.htm

 

[beauvafr]

I once knocked my manifold apart and it took forever to vorlauf that batch to run near clean.....that's when I switched.

Can you explain what means «knocked my manifold apart» ?

 

[beauvafr]

I have the same cooler and use the bazooka screen. After 50 + batches, no stuck sparges, no rice hulls.

Did you use the same weldless bulkhead I posted ?

 

[beauvafr]

I switched to a bazooka and now almost always need rice hulls. It easier to attach as It screws right on. I put the supply line on a smaller cooler for 5 gallon batches. I never had problems with a crushed supply line or a sparge until I switched to a bazooka screen. On the other hand, I did tighten up my mill a smudge right when I switched to the bazooka screen.

Probably related to the grain size? What size is your bazooka screen?

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

Did you use the same weldless bulkhead I posted ?

I don't know if it is the same one but looks close.


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[JoeSpartaNJ]

Did you use the same weldless bulkhead I posted ?

I don't know if it is the same one, but looks close


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[chezhed]

Can you explain what means «knocked my manifold apart» ?

I was mashing in and knocked a tube out of the T-section in the manifold because it was left unglued/brazed so I could clean it easy. I had left about an inch on the sides to try to insure good flow.
Manifold design is a hit or miss thing to me....I hit it, it missed the task

I use a similar weldless design on my bazooka tube, though I kind of cobbled it together from parts I had.

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

Did you use the same weldless bulkhead I posted ?

I do not know if it is the same exact one, but looks pretty close. I bought a complete kit, including ball valve, from my LHBS.

 

[Eamster]

I use a bazooka screen and put a homemade paint strainer bag sock around it. Now I barely have to recirculate. Works great for me.

 

[RADMAD]

I put a home made braid on my first 5 gal MT and a bazooka on my more recent 10 gal MT. both work great but I will say the bazooka was alot simpler and I would go that route again if building a new MT

 

[augiedoggy]

I use a bazooka screen and put a homemade paint strainer bag sock around it. Now I barely have to recirculate. Works great for me.

I've done this with the disposable bags around them but I find putting the stainless braid line inside the course bazooka tube screen works best as a dual filter with the braid stopping any particles that get past the bazooka screen...

I left the whole thing loose enough where it pulls right off when cleaning .
I now use a 30" stainless braid in my boil kettle too to catch the trub. my 300micron hop spider catches most of the hop trub.

 

[Darwin18]

I've been using a bazooka screen in my 10-gallon rubbermaid mash tun for the last five years or so. It's worked great. My only issues with a stuck sparge occur when I mill my grains too fine and it turns concrete-like. A half lb or so of rice hulls is usually I need. They're ridiculously cheap too.

 

[feinbera]

I don't know if I'm "doing it wrong" or what, but, my stainless braid only lasted for five and a half mashes... yes, you read that right, five and a half. I got to spend half an hour I didn't really have on my last brew day dumping my mash into whatever pots and bowls I could scrounge up around the kitchen, disassembling the braid, dremmelling off the collapsed first couple inches, reassembling, etc.

My bazooka tube is already in the mail, although, the secondary mesh bag sounds like a great addition which I'll probably implement.

 

[chezhed]

I've been using a bazooka screen in my 10-gallon rubbermaid mash tun for the last five years or so. It's worked great. My only issues with a stuck sparge occur when I mill my grains too fine and it turns concrete-like. A half lb or so of rice hulls is usually I need. They're ridiculously cheap too.

That's not milled...that's ground

 

[Darwin18]

I went a little fine playing with the gap settings...

 

[emiller0408]

Got this baby for 20$. It will be my first mash tun cooler conversion. I have heard about clogged / stucked mash. If I want to avoid it at all cost, should I get a bazooka screen instead of a cheaper stainless braid?

I have the same cooler and use a long stainless braid. It works fine.

 

[CA_Mouse]

I used the braid for both my 5 gallon round and my 13 gallon rectangle. After about 18 months I crushed the braid with nearly 30 lbs of grain. I just built a CPVC manifold and will try it out this weekend. I built mine to be fairly tight fitting so that I can stir without having to worry about knocking it apart. It really depends on what kind of sparging you are going to be doing. If you plan to fly sparge, I would recommend building a manifold. If you are going to batch sparge, the braid will be fine. I've read that some brewers have coiled 14g copper wire and run that through their braid to keep it from being crushed.

 

[augiedoggy]

I used the braid for both my 5 gallon round and my 13 gallon rectangle. After about 18 months I crushed the braid with nearly 30 lbs of grain. I just built a CPVC manifold and will try it out this weekend. I built mine to be fairly tight fitting so that I can stir without having to worry about knocking it apart. It really depends on what kind of sparging you are going to be doing. If you plan to fly sparge, I would recommend building a manifold. If you are going to batch sparge, the braid will be fine. I've read that some brewers have coiled 14g copper wire and run that through their braid to keep it from being crushed.

I did the coiled copper wire through this fine copper screen tubing I have and that worked well but the issue is that the copper tarnishes and I now believe it was tanting the flavor of my beers...
stainless braid is only 3-6 dollars at the hardware store for a 12inch section... why not splurge and intall it inside a $10 bazooka tube to have the best of both worlds?

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

stainless braid is only 3-6 dollars at the hardware store for a 12inch section... why not splurge and intall it inside a $10 bazooka tube to have the best of both worlds?

So simple and so genius. I may just try this.


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[JoeSpartaNJ]

stainless braid is only 3-6 dollars at the hardware store for a 12inch section... why not splurge and intall it inside a $10 bazooka tube to have the best of both worlds?

So simple and so genius. I may just try this.



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[CA_Mouse]

I did the coiled copper wire through this fine copper screen tubing I have and that worked well but the issue is that the copper tarnishes and I now believe it was tanting the flavor of my beers...
stainless braid is only 3-6 dollars at the hardware store for a 12inch section... why not splurge and intall it inside a $10 bazooka tube to have the best of both worlds?

Yeast feed on the copper. If copper was bad for beer, then everyone using an immersion chiller or a Counter Flow Chiller would have issues. copper does oxidize, but I do not believe that it would cause off flavors.

 

[augiedoggy]

Yeast feed on the copper. If copper was bad for beer, then everyone using an immersion chiller or a Counter Flow Chiller would have issues. copper does oxidize, but I do not believe that it would cause off flavors.

I thought the same thing. and if you can keep the copper clean and free from the oxidation/tarnish it works fine ... but an immersion chiller is easy to wipe off when done. since the beer only touches the outside.
The inside of the copper herms coil I just removed was nasty and black (I always flushed with hot water after use)...I cut a section off to make a dip tube for my keggle to replace the one I was using and thats when I saw how nasty it was inside.

plus my copper mesh screen I used in my MT and HLT for filtering kept turning very dark almost immediately after I removed it from a vinegar/salt solution I was trying to clean it with. When licking it I noticed a terrible flavor .. So I did an experiment by putting the screen section in a pot full of water... boiling it for ten minutes and letting it cool...I noticed an off flavor in the water and that was enough for me.
On the flip side I just built my rims tube from 3/4" copper and lead free solder so if I notice that getting nasty I will be building one from stainless as well.

 

[bobtheUKbrewer2]

a rectangular copper pipe manifold with lots of junior hacksaw slots cut into the lower part of the pipe wrapped in a coarse nylon bag is the ultimate machine IMHO

 

[brewbama]

I use a bazooka tube. Works great.


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[beauvafr]

First batch brewed with a 12" bazooka. No problem at all!

I am thinking maybe I'll add a nylon bag over it next time to get clearer wort and skip vorlauf. Not sure if it's worth the trouble tough.

 

[beauvafr]

By the way here's the total cost of my new 48qt mashtun on the cheap side : 43.50 CAD.

20$ + 7.50$ hardware + 16$ bazooka screen. Not bad for a 12 gallons mash tun! I skipped the weldless bulkhead (too expensive) and replaced it by a couple parts from my hardware store (a 1/2 short nipple, 2 washers, some o-rings and 2 pipe nuts). I did go for a plastic ball valve since I didn't know what a metal valve would bring.

 

[GCGBrewing]

a rectangular copper pipe manifold with lots of junior hacksaw slots cut into the lower part of the pipe wrapped in a coarse nylon bag is the ultimate machine IMHO

This is what I made years ago when I started, and had it installed in a rectangular cooler. Its been since retired, but it always worked great for me.

Now I am using a keggle with a copper pipe and T that extend to the middle of the keg, then double screens that extend the diameter of the bottom of the keg. It came set up this way when I bought it, but I'm strongly considering modifying it so that it extends closer to the bottom of the keg and doesn't leave so much behind when drained.