New mash tun/unexpected improvement

[bklmt2000]

Over the winter, i upgraded my old rectangular mash tun to a Rubbermaid 10-gal setup, with a SS braid in the bottom for lautering.

The first runnings i’m getting today are some of the very clearest i’ve ever seen in my 10+ years of homebrewing; the runnings after 1 quart were clear enough to read an insurance policy through, which i’ve never had happen before.

I’m using the same water, same process, and so on, so at least that part is the same as I was doing with my old mashtun.

For those of you who mash/sparge in a similar setup, have you experienced the same or similar?

Bklmt2000

[sonex]

I don’t think it was the cooler that was the difference. My guess its the new braid that made the difference. Getting clear wort is just the process of being able to filter out the grain particles, as long as you have a few inches of grain above the braid and the braids holes are not too big all coolers should be able to produce clear wort.

[bklmt2000]

@sonex

I don’t think it was the cooler that was the difference. My guess its the new braid that made the difference. Getting clear wort is just the process of being able to filter out the grain particles, as long as you have a few inches of grain above the braid and the braids holes are not too big all coolers should be able to produce clear wort.

Ironically, i’m using the exact same SS braid setup that i had in my old cooler. :cheers:

Bklmt2000

[bethebrew]

Yes stainless steel braid mash filtering is great. For added filtering if your setup allows it you can use a stainless steel braid for the boil pot too. I went an extra step and stuffed a stainless steel braid into one of those coarse screens. The coarse pulls out the leaf hops and yet allows plenty of wort to get through to be screened by the inside braid.

[tealblue]

The same thing happened to me using the stainless steel braided. I went with the round rubbermaid cooler and braided setup and my eff went up 10 to 15 points on my first two batches. I am having to now ajust the amount of grain I use. definately a clearer wort.

[fimbrew]

I have a cheap plastic false bottom in my Rubbermaid. I get clear runnings after a cup of runoff and the efficiency is PHENOMINAL. I have the SS braid in my kettle. It lets some trub through unless I have a big bed of hops.