can u siphon ur mash instead of using a ball valve spicot?

[mattsmitty]

a friend gave me a 5 gallon water cooler the other day and im wanting to make my first all grain batch. I haven't had time to put a ball valve spicot and filter in the cooler yet, but i was wondering if anyone has ever just mashed in a cooler and used a few feet of hose to siphon your mash back into your boil kettle. I could probly zip tie a piece of cheese clothe or something over the end of the hose to somewhat filter. just a thought. anyone think this would work??

 

[Bobby_M]

What you'll end up with is an experience that will turn you off to all grain brewing. Have some patience and wait until you have a chance to convert it. If you really want to try mashing without the braid/drain, get a big grain bag and use that to contain the grain. Then you can use the stock spigot to drain or just pour the wort out after you lift the bag out.

 

[USAFSooner]

^+1. If you really want to, then go get a 5 gallon paint strainer bag from Lowes or HD and put the grain in that in the cooler and do some sort of hybrid BIAB thing. The parts to convert it to a mash tun isn't all that much. If I had to do it again, I would use SS parts instead of brass. The SS washers can be found at Ace.

Hint: Bobby's site is a good place to buy the stuff...