Frankly I think you’re over analyzing this braid thing brother.
For one thing when you clip the ends off the braid is naturally going to open up a bit. The grain bed is really where your filtering is going to occur after the vorlauf. That’s why people still get clean wort from more porous devices like a false bottom or bazooka tube. So if you think one braid is looser than another and you’re worried about stuck sparges then get that or get a bazooka tube.
I bought a water heater hose because it was longer and I wanted to do something like Greg’s design. In retrospect I think that was overkill. I later read a post from Denny saying that a 4" braid would likely work just fine since the liquid is going to get pulled from the suction point right by your valve anyway.
Having said all that, bottom line is it’s YOUR MT so build it YOUR way. This hobby is all about doing it your way and there’s a lot of trial and error.
And just for the record, I don’t think ‘luck’ has anything to do with Denny’s success in brewing.
[quote=“dannyboy58”]Frankly I think you’re over analyzing this braid thing brother.
For one thing when you clip the ends off the braid is naturally going to open up a bit. The grain bed is really where your filtering is going to occur after the vorlauf. That’s why people still get clean wort from more porous devices like a false bottom or bazooka tube. So if you think one braid is looser than another and you’re worried about stuck sparges then get that or get a bazooka tube.
I bought a water heater hose because it was longer and I wanted to do something like Greg’s design. In retrospect I think that was overkill. I later read a post from Denny saying that a 4" braid would likely work just fine since the liquid is going to get pulled from the suction point right by your valve anyway.
Having said all that, bottom line is it’s YOUR MT so build it YOUR way. This hobby is all about doing it your way and there’s a lot of trial and error.
And just for the record, I don’t think ‘luck’ has anything to do with Denny’s success in brewing.
:cheers: [/quote]
I think Denny’s had good luck using a braid and so have other folks. Not sure why you’re commenting on success in brewing.
Feel free to build your MT any way you want, no one is forcing your hand.
Please keep the discussion to why some folks are successful with braids and some aren’t.
I tried the braid a while back just for the hell of it. It worked fine the first time, but I got a stuck sparge the second time I tried it.
My theory is that most of it collapsed under the weight of the grains, and the remaining entry points just got clogged with grain particulate. This could likely be fixed by inserting a piece of copper tubing, but I decided to go back to the bazooka screen rather than experiment with it any further.
For whatever reason, some pieces of equipment always seem to work better for some people than others.
[quote=“GeneticBrew”][quote=“dannyboy58”]Frankly I think you’re over analyzing this braid thing brother.
For one thing when you clip the ends off the braid is naturally going to open up a bit. The grain bed is really where your filtering is going to occur after the vorlauf. That’s why people still get clean wort from more porous devices like a false bottom or bazooka tube. So if you think one braid is looser than another and you’re worried about stuck sparges then get that or get a bazooka tube.
I bought a water heater hose because it was longer and I wanted to do something like Greg’s design. In retrospect I think that was overkill. I later read a post from Denny saying that a 4" braid would likely work just fine since the liquid is going to get pulled from the suction point right by your valve anyway.
Having said all that, bottom line is it’s YOUR MT so build it YOUR way. This hobby is all about doing it your way and there’s a lot of trial and error.
And just for the record, I don’t think ‘luck’ has anything to do with Denny’s success in brewing.
:cheers: [/quote]
I think Denny’s had good luck using a braid and so have other folks. Not sure why you’re commenting on success in brewing.
Feel free to build your MT any way you want, no one is forcing your hand.
Please keep the discussion to why some folks are successful with braids and some aren’t.[/quote]
My MT was built long ago. I seldom use it as I BIAB but yea I think you reiterated my point.
Just trying to offer my 2 cents on the topic of discussion. Sorry if I said something that offended you.
What kind of braid do people have that they think can be crushed? Are they really so flimsy? I don’t think mine would crush unless you were standing on it.
[quote=“Slothrob”]What kind of braid do people have that they think can be crushed? Are they really so flimsy? I don’t think mine would crush unless you were standing on it.[/quote]Really? Perhaps you never pulled the tube out of the inside?
I remember 15 yrs ago pulling the plastic out of the braid, putting a stainless screw in the end and clamping it with a stainless clamp to plug it. It’s about 8" long. I can pinch it closed if I try hard, but even if I use 16-17 lbs of grain it always flows nice, not too fast not too slow. Guess I’m just lucky.
Yeah, I just checked to make sure I wasn’t remembering wrong that it was that rigid. I have to use a reasonable bit of force to push it flat and once I do it stays flat. I’d know if it had ever been crushed. I’ve had 1.5-2 feet of wet malt on top of it and it is still nearly perfectly round after 100+ batches. It’s just the cheapest one I found at the local TrueValue hardware store.
Any flow problems I’ve ever had could be cured by conditioning the malt, which makes me think it has a lot to do with the crush quality, though.
On my set up, a Barley Crusher at the factory gap and a bazooka screen in the mash tun works great. For someone else, a stainless braid and a Monster Mill may be the way to go.
I’ve learned there are 5 things that contribute to using a stainless steel braid to lauter a mash:
1.) The braid should be made of high quality stainless steel, to prevent crushing under the weight of the mash.
2.) The braid should have a loose weave, to prevent clogging from fine mash particles and proteins.
3.) The braid should be connected by a hose to the mash tun outlet to allow flexibility in the joint and avoid pinching or binding (as opposed to clamping the braid directly to a metal hose barb) should the braid be lifted off the mash tun bottom.
4.) The braid should have its unclamped end rolled up and pinched shut (and perhaps fastened with a screw) so as to form a tube and provide rigidity to the braid/tube structure.
5.) The clamp should compress the braid around the hose enough to “push” the weave open slightly.
Combine these techniques with a proper crush and the braid should work well for lautering a mash.
