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Cooler mashtun - carboy bung okay to use?

Mashing
#1

Sorry if this seems redundant, but wanted to get confirmation from y’all. Would it be okay to use a carboy bung inside of a cooler with a piece of hose shoved through it with a braided hose attached to it? What I’m really asking is, is the carboy bung fine to use at higher temperatures? It’s one of the rubber bungs. I shoved it in pretty far and I’d really have to repeatedly smack it with my mash paddle to knock it loose. It won’t come out easily, that’s for sure, and I’d really really have to try to get it to come out.
Anyway, was looking at Denny’s site and he used a minikeg bung, but was wondering if a carboy bung would be just as good…

Thoughts?

Otherwise, I can use the original drain with a piece of hose shoved through it. This is a 36qt Coleman Xtreme.

Thanks!

Jesse

#2

Personally, it would concern mr if there was any way possible to dislodge it. What a mess that would make!

#3

It really would take some effort to dislodge. I took apart my ball valve from my round cooler and, MAN!, was that NASTY. I rinsed it out always after using, but there was some build up. Who knows what off flavors that may have been giving my beer. This system is much more easily replaceable and simpler. Just hoping the carboy bung doesn’t leach into the wort.

#4

You will be just fine. I have used the carboy type bung in the past in a 5 gal cooler. No problems.

#5

Sweet, thanks, man.

For those of you that use braided hoses, how do you not ding them up? I used one in the past and messed it up once stirring a stuck mash. They’re pretty delicate things.

#6

I put a piece of copper tubing in mine. I also wrap it around and secure the end back under the hose clamp so its a little round braid.

I have squished it right where it attaches to the hose, and that was a big disaster. Had to scoop out the mash to get it fixed. Now I pay attention to where the braid sits and try not to whack it with the spoon, I’ll stir an inch above it.

I’ve used the little bungs from one of those 5L kegs, and it lasted for years. I only recently found out you can use one of the Kettle Valves as a cooler bulkhead. This is the valve I used on some of my kettles for a weldless valve. In fact you can buy the 3/8" Kettle Screen and have a very nice setup for a cooler MLT for under $40. Compare that to maybe $10 for a bung and braid that you have to manufacture yourself. the Kettle Screen is quite stiff, I’ve only used my new config once but it drained very nicely.

#7

Thanks, Lennie. I’ll definitely try and be careful stirring the mash. I just have some 5/16" tubing shoved through a bung that fits 1 gallon carboys and that is shoved into the opening of the cooler as much as I can; it’s probably halfway through, so it’d take some doing to knock it out of there. I got a 24" braid, so it’s pretty long. I thought about sticking a ball valve back in there and using my bazooka screen, but decided to try something different. The bazooka screen is nice, but maybe it’s the cooler setup with a thick grain bed, but it gets stuck if I mill too fine. Would that be a thicker grain bed issue?

Maybe I’ll adjust my mill back up to .035" from .032".

#8

Gotcha on the bung, sounds fine. I’d shorten up that braid, the longest I’ve used is 6" and honestly I think the majority of the runnings comes through the inch or so nearest the bung.

Don’t think a thicker bed is an issue so much as it is the protein gunk that tends to get liberated and clogs the top of the bed. You can rake to get it going again. That works better with a thicker bed too. I suppose a braid can be a little more coarse than a screen. You can still use the Kettel Valve with a braid, just get a 3/8" MPT fitting with a 1/4" barb that you can attach the braid to. I had to do this with my 5gal round MLT since the screen was too long.

#9

[quote=“Beersk”]Sweet, thanks, man.

For those of you that use braided hoses, how do you not ding them up? I used one in the past and messed it up once stirring a stuck mash. They’re pretty delicate things.[/quote]

Then you need a different braid. I’ve used the same one for 15 years and 440 batches. It’s beat to crap, but still performs perfectly.

#10

That is true.

#11

Hmmm, I’ll try this setup out, see how it goes. Thanks so much for the replies, guys.
I think I’ll readjust my mill back up to .035", .032" might be just a tad too fine. I feel like the screen is coarser than the braid, at least mine seems to be. Which I think that’d make it easier for it to get gummed up during runoffs.

#12

Forget the measurement, pay attention to the crush and performance.

#13

Will do, thanks, mang.

#14

I tend to crush the crap out of my malt, although I don’t measure the gap. I want a lot of flour coming from the crush. THe stuff runs slow sometimes but I rarely have stuck sparges.

#15

I get a LOT of flour also, but I caonly think of one or two times it’s slowed the runoff. Never had a stuck runoff.

#16

I use the bunh in the hole method on all three of my MLT’s for many years now with no problems ever. See below:

#17

Muller, that’s a good use for the inside of the water supply line, I may have to employ that in the future. I’m not a DIY person, but this was the easiest thing I’ve done to make something for brewing. My ball valve was NASTY and I thought I cleaned it pretty well or at least rinsed well enough. Yuck…

Maybe I’ll keep my gap where it is and see how it goes. There’s a fair amount of flour, but the husks aren’t shredded completely either. Wondering if I’ll need to try and shove the bung in further, it looks to be about halfway in; pretty snug. Maybe I just need to get a size smaller, but it’s one that goes in a 1 gallon carboy.

#18

Whats it matter, this is all on the preboil side of things anyway. It doesn’t have to be sanitized.

I’d think the pressure is going to be pushing the bung into the hole, not out. So a good snug fit ought be be adequate, regardless of what sticking out on the inside.

#19

[quote=“tom sawyer”]Whats it matter, this is all on the preboil side of things anyway. It doesn’t have to be sanitized.

I’d think the pressure is going to be pushing the bung into the hole, not out. So a good snug fit ought be be adequate, regardless of what sticking out on the inside.[/quote]
You don’t think nasty build up of gunk in the ball valve makes any difference even if it’s pre-boil?

#20

Basically, no. Although I would probably want to clean it every so often.

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