stuck sparge = anger

[Revvy]

I've not had a stuck sparge with the holed nylon hose put back in the braid, with a ton of holes drilled in it, for over a dozen batches..including several with 14.5 pounds of grain in a 5 gallon cooler and extremely thick mashes....AND evidently neither has FLyguy who recommended putting a piece of vinyl tubing in HIS design in the first place...My hose inside has as many if not more holes in it than bobby's copper inner sleeve, so I believe it's serving the same purpose....

It might also because I have my braid going in a circle on a t inside...but it's been working wonderfully.

 

[aa8jzdial]

Used to get stuck sparges too often. (once is too often)
Had a corona grinder and a ss false bottom.
Gave the corona away and purchased a good roller mill.
The mash/lauter tun is now a 160 qt. coleman (or rubbermaid) marine cooler with ss braid sorrounding a piece of copper tubing with many small holes drilled along it.
Lately we have been brewing big batches. 50+ lb grain bill. No stuck sparge after many big (40 gallon brews).
We always do a 15 minute mash out at 165-170 degs.
For what it's worth.
rick
w mi

 

[CatchinZs]

I use the SS braid but I took two lengths of copper wire and made a coil out of each of them and intertwine them in a double helix pattern. Basically they just keep the braid open under weight.

 

[BierMuncher]

The braid and MLT cooler conversion design is based on FlyGuy's design...

I bought the water supply hose, then removed the hose, leaving the braid..

Clamped a plug on the end, and I was done.

I can see how it could collapse with 12 pounds of grain and an almost full cooler .

Copper manifolds never collapse.

 

[wildwest450]

Copper manifolds never collapse.

Nor does cpvc.

 

[Bobby_M]

I've not had a stuck sparge with the holed nylon hose put back in the braid, with a ton of holes drilled in it, for over a dozen batches..including several with 14.5 pounds of grain in a 5 gallon cooler and extremely thick mashes....AND evidently neither has FLyguy who recommended putting a piece of vinyl tubing in HIS design in the first place...My hose inside has as many if not more holes in it than bobby's copper inner sleeve, so I believe it's serving the same purpose....

It might also because I have my braid going in a circle on a t inside...but it's been working wonderfully.

You're right. As long as you have enough holes, it should work fine.

 

[Bobby_M]

I've never seen my braid collapse and I've had my 48qt cooler packed to the brim with mash. I'm positive it's being done with the mash paddle. Certainly there's no harm in building a manifold if that's the kind of mash mixing you like doing.

 

[hopsalot]

I had a struck sparge, had to dump it out and mess with the braid I got it to work but what a pain in the ass. I like Biermunchers idea about the manifold and a sauce pot of rice hulls.

 

[sleepystevenson]

My braid was just the stainless braid - no center tube. Also, it was slightly bigger diameter than some other ones I've seen, which seemed to make it a little wimpier. Just a simple braid, no circle or anything. It was my first all grain mashtun, so it was definitely a learning experience! And worked fine for a good number of brews!

Good idea putting in a reinforcement pipe inside the braid. I wish I had done that - would have saved a lot of aggravation !

I went with a full stainless false bottom in the new build and have been quite happy with it. I couldn't crush it down if I stood on it....




....i tried!

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

I've not had a stuck sparge with the holed nylon hose put back in the braid, with a ton of holes drilled in it, for over a dozen batches..including several with 14.5 pounds of grain in a 5 gallon cooler and extremely thick mashes....AND evidently neither has FLyguy who recommended putting a piece of vinyl tubing in HIS design in the first place...My hose inside has as many if not more holes in it than bobby's copper inner sleeve, so I believe it's serving the same purpose....

It might also because I have my braid going in a circle on a t inside...but it's been working wonderfully.

+1 on the T and the circle - it actualy makes the process easier becuase you don't need to put a cap on the far end of the braid. And it gives you very even coverage throughout the bottom area of the cooler.

 

[chefchris]

It might also because I have my braid going in a circle on a t inside...but it's been working wonderfully.

Got a picture of that Revvy?

 

[RCCOLA]

I use the SS braid but I took two lengths of copper wire and made a coil out of each of them and intertwine them in a double helix pattern. Basically they just keep the braid open under weight.

I did something similar.I took stainless welding wire and wrapped it around a pencil forming a spring which I then inserted in my toilet braid.It will never mash shut.I've brewed w/up to 5.5lbs. wheat4.5lbs 2-row and 1lb oats w/o a stuck sparge,but did use 1/2lb. rice hulls.

 

[WeHeavy]

In the process of transferring the mash to another pot to free up the stuck sparge I slipped and dropped the mash on the kitchen floor.

The wife was very calm about it and the next day I retrieved my pots from the snow drift in the yard and swore off drinking while making beer.

That's when the wife said I need to take it to the garage.

Was I MAD when that happened.

 

[BierMuncher]

The wife was very calm about it and the next day I retrieved my pots from the snow drift in the yard and swore off drinking while making beer.

I learned early on never to drink whilst:

• Weighing out grain grist.
• Measuring out the hops.
• Mashing in.
• Mashing out.
• Boiling.
• Chilling.
• Racking to fermenter.
• Pitching yeast.
• Moving fermenters.
• Cleaning heavy equipment.

So yep...I'm dry and sober during my brew sessions. But after????

 

[mmb]

I never read about that ... heard it first here on HBT -

So, do you base the amount on # of pounds of grain ? Or do you just wing it ?

I tried measuring out the rice hulls but I've since just gone with two big handfuls and I add a little more strike water to compensate for more "stuff" in the mash. Five pounds of rice hulls fills a 5 gallon bucket and can be found online for $4.50 or so.

False bottom from Northern Brewer now because I kept moving and crushing the braid while doughing in.

 

[springer]

Got a picture of that Revvy?

not Revvy's but the basic idea

 

[Revvy]

Yep...Springer's pic is pretty much the same as my setup.

 

[chefchris]

Nice. Any basic instructions to go with that?

I'm on my way to buy another SS braid, mine's had it. This time I'm gonna try to drill some holes in the center tube and re-insert it. I had thought about doing this a few weeks ago and was glad to see someone else had thought of it and had good results.

 

[Revvy]

Nice. Any basic instructions to go with that?

I'm on my way to buy another SS braid, mine's had it. This time I'm gonna try to drill some holes in the center tube and re-insert it. I had thought about doing this a few weeks ago and was glad to see someone else had thought of it and had good results.

I bought a plastic Nippled "T", and used a 1" piece of hose to join it to the nipple inside the cooler, then I used zipties to attach the braided hose to the t...but you can to it like the one in the picture in all brass...

Do a lot of holes in the inner hose...make it look like the barrel of a machine gun, then I boiled the hose for 15 minutes to make sure to loosen all the material left in the hose from the drilling...

 

[springer]

How many batches have you made with the present setup? I have a SS braid and have done in the order 10+ and its just like it was when I started. My set up 10 gallon gott cooler

I have had over 23lbs of grain in there(BierMuncher's OktoberFAST Ale ) and it never even moved . Now I did use a large water heater hose for the braid it was I believe a 3/4 inch hose and is much heavier that a one for a faucet feed. You can see how much it crimped down on the 1/2 barb

 

[Revvy]

Springer, I think it's been 12 or 13 batches with the setup, with no problems (Mines in a 5 gallon cooler) and several of the batches were pretty maxed out for the cooler grain bills with really thick mashes (Saturdays TAFTHB was 14.5 pounds and the water wasn't 1.25 quarts but closer to 1....I'm talking grain and water to nearly to the top of the cooler, and leaked a bit when I put the lid on)

And it was all good....

 

[boyurboy]

I have a stainless braid circled in my mash tun (10G igloo, and not nearly as nice looking as the picture posted earlier) and have had no problems with it being crushed. It survived the 24# grain-bill of my partigyle last weekend with nary a problem.

edit: and mine is with the nylon hose removed entirely.

 

[Revvy]

I still can't get over how we make beer......


with a beverage cooler and something that can be found on the back of a toilet.


It's kinda funny...it begins at the toilet...and ends there.

 

[boyurboy]

I still can't get over how we make beer......


with a beverage cooler and something that can be found on the back of a toilet.


It's kinda funny...it begins at the toilet...and ends there.

Deep Thoughts by Revvy