Mash tun question

[LoganO]

I am getting ready to build a mash tun for batch sparing and had a question. If you were building one would you go with the stainless steel braid or would you use one of the bazooka screens? I know the braid is much cheaper but want to go with what will work best. I am going to use a Igloo or Coleman Extreme cooler.

[ApresSkiBrewer]

I have the bazooka T in a converted keg for my mash tun... I thought it would suck on the fluid dynamic's side of things, and leave a lot of dead zones... but I pull between 75-80% efficiency... and that's all I really target anyway.

I would recommend it, but I have no experience w/ the braided whatchamacallits.

[Nate Diggler]

I don't know if Bazooka T's are flexible or not, but the braided steel is, so it lays flat against the contour of the bottom of your cooler. I have the Coleman Xtremes, and they have a slot that slopes down towards the spigot which is below the level of the rest of the cooler bottom. If you use a Bazooka T, and it's not flexible, it would stick up at an angle (insert crude joke here) since the slot is only a few inches long. I use braids long enough that they reach all the way across the bottom of the cooler, so they draw wort more evenly, and when I get close to the end of run off, I tilt the cooler towards the spigot, and the slot helps get more run off.

[ApresSkiBrewer]

...and the slot helps get more run off.

Need I say more.


Anyway... yeah, the bazooka isn't ideal, IMO... but I am impressed that i get between 75-80% eff. w/ it. I thought I would only be in the high 60's low 70's. I also pull pretty fast... about a quart a minute. There is always quite a bit of wort left behind, but I have such a small brewpot (7.5 gal) that I can't run off more, and just boil it down.

Back on topic, I think the copper manifold is a good choice as well.. and I would go with that over the Bazooka T, if I had the chance to go back on it.

[BDawg]

How big is the cooler? Is it round or square/rectangular?

Generally, you get more options if you match your equipment to the sparge process you want to use:

Braid/bazooka = either round or rectangular cooler, but batch sparge only (braids will channel)
manifold = rectangular only + either batch or fly sparge (unless you can get a rectangular false bottom for less than megabucks)
Round false bottom = round cooler + either batch or fly sparge

One other thing, it can be very tough to fit a really big beer grain bill in with the water if you need to step mash, so bigger is better in that case.

HTH-

[LoganO]

I didn't think about the fact that the bazooka screen would not lay flat on the bottom of the cooler. I am looking at a 62 quart Coleman Extreme rectangular cooler that would be used to batch sparge.

[linuxelf]

I've got a hose braid in my coleman 48 quart (non-extreme) cooler. My only problem with it is the hose braid tends to want to rise up into the mash when I stir. It's always an effort to keep it lying on the bottom of the tun.

[Nate Diggler]

I weighted the end of my braids down by pipe-clamping a piece of brass (an end-cap thing) to it. Makes it cleaner looking too, since all of those sharp barbs I folded inside of it, and won't pick you when you're cleaing it or fixing the braid if you ding it with the mash paddle.

I've got a hose braid in my coleman 48 quart (non-extreme) cooler. My only problem with it is the hose braid tends to want to rise up into the mash when I stir. It's always an effort to keep it lying on the bottom of the tun.