SS Braided Screen

Mashing
1

So ive been looking at upgrading my mash tun to accommodate for larger batches, right now i use a & gal round cooler that some one made for me. I plan on using a 10 gal rubbermaid round cooler. I also plan on keeping my current tun, for doing 2 batches at once maybe.

Anyways, my question is, I’ve found alot of instructions online about making a homemade bazooka screen for it, and am curious if i could expect some stuck sparges with that? or is it a viable option. i have a false bottom currently.

thanks.

EDIT::: after doing some more reading, I’m gonna go with eh DIY SS braid. Basis: if it’s good enough for Denny, It’s good enough for me.

Any thoughts or tips any one can offer is still appreciated :cheers:

2

Get a SS braid and make one the way Denny Conn has set up. It works perfectly. I never get stuck sparges

Edit: Exactly. and you’ll find that it works.

3

I will! Thanks. You got to it in the 2 mins it took me to edit the original post!!! Thanks Again

4

I’ve brewed 431 batches with the same braid and I’ve never gotten a stuck runoff. Make sure you get the real SS stuff, not the plastic look alike braid. I use toilet hose braid.

5

OK, ive also heard that sink link works well too. is that not correct? Or even washing machine connector?

6

No personal experience. I can tell you, though, that size doesn’t matter. Bigger diameter won’t make it work better. A longer braid only means it tangles more easily.

7

ok, so for the 10 gal rubber maid, should i just use the 9 in. hose? or go for the 12 in.? im thinking drainage area of the bottom of the cooler.
kinda like i see pictured. looks like it would be more effective than just a braid across the diameter

8

use the shortest braid. take out the inside plastic tubing and crimp the end and your good to go.

9

The longest that hose should be is going from the outlet to the opposite side.

Don’t ask me how I know.

10

[quote=“HellBound”]ok, so for the 10 gal rubber maid, should i just use the 9 in. hose? or go for the 12 in.? im thinking drainage area of the bottom of the cooler.
kinda like i see pictured. looks like it would be more effective than just a braid across the diameter[/quote]

I assume you’re batch sparging. In that case, you just need a short piece of braid straight across the floor of the cooler. Snaking it around won’t get you anything but a tangle when you stir.

11

[quote=“560sdl”]The longest that hose should be is going from the outlet to the opposite side.

Don’t ask me how I know.[/quote]

:wink:

12

My advice, skip the 10g (40qt) round cooler and look for a 48-56qt rectangular cooler. More volume for the same/less price.

13

I was trying not to say that…

14

[quote=“Denny”][quote=“HellBound”]ok, so for the 10 gal rubber maid, should i just use the 9 in. hose? or go for the 12 in.? im thinking drainage area of the bottom of the cooler.
kinda like i see pictured. looks like it would be more effective than just a braid across the diameter[/quote]

I assume you’re batch sparging. In that case, you just need a short piece of braid straight across the floor of the cooler. Snaking it around won’t get you anything but a tangle when you stir.[/quote]

Denny - do you put anything inside the braid to keep it from collapsing under the weight of the grain? I ask because a couple times my mash runnings were fine but the sparge was stuck from the start till I applied a little suction on the drain hose to start it flowing - some said my braid may have collapsed under the weight of the grain. I have an IceCube cooler with my braid in a circle connected to a “T” to the outlet.

Thanks,

Mike

15

[quote=“mbg”]

Denny - do you put anything inside the braid to keep it from collapsing under the weight of the grain? I ask because a couple times my mash runnings were fine but the sparge was stuck from the start till I applied a little suction on the drain hose to start it flowing - some said my braid may have collapsed under the weight of the grain. I have an IceCube cooler with my braid in a circle connected to a “T” to the outlet.

Thanks,

Mike[/quote]

This is exactly the set up I started with and I kept hooking the loop with my spoon. However, I never had a problem with collapsed braids, or if I did, it did not affect the run off. Eventually, I just took the loop out and now only have a 8-10" piece of braid and it is perfect. I see no difference at all except the elimination of the PIA of the loop.

I did at 10 gallon batch of Waldo Lake Amber last weekend and no collapse under that weight

16

some cheaper braids now days seem to be thinner than they use to be. my braid is 4 years old and have no problem. but I have heard of some of the newer braids crushing under the weight of the grain, the common solution seems to be instaling 1/4" soft copper tube inside of the braid, or locating thicker higher quality braid replacement.

17

Mine was off of a water heater line, so it was pretty heavy duty

18

It’s hard to believe the braid colapsed then. Did you over crush your grain? I never had a stuck sparge useing a braid.

19

Hmm, well I wish I had read the replies BEFORE going to home depot. Oh well. I went with a 30 in. braid. It’s longer than you all say I need and I’ll use it , good thing about being too long is I can always cut it shorter, right?

So about the cooler size, I thought the depth of the grain bed and amount of head space made a difference in the lautering process?

20

It’s hard to believe the braid colapsed then. Did you over crush your grain? I never had a stuck sparge useing a braid.[/quote]

I’m not 100% sure the braid has colapsed because by just sucking on the tung drain line a bit starts a heavy flow. Could something else be going on?

Another thing about the braiding. Not all braid has the same mesh density.

Mike