Buying a bag to prevent slow lautering

[MapleGroveAleworks]

Hi all - I mash in a 70qt Coleman Extreme rectangular cooler with a toilet supply false bottom. I have to use lots of rice hulls and every batch and still get some stuck sparges and slow lautering.

I thought if I ordered a wilserbrewer bag and just stuck it inside the cooler - I will not have any lautering issues anymore correct? Do I leave the braid in there or can I take it out? I will not be utilizing a ratchet or pulley or anything, still just a regular batch sparge - just a bag inside to prevent stuck sparges. I can't think of any disadvantage to this and figure it will pay for itself in about a half year with me not having to buy rice hulls. Thanks

 

[IslandLizard]

How fine is your crush?
Batch or fly sparge?

With 'toilet supply false bottom,' you mean the stainless braid around a 1/2" plastic water supply line?
If so, that's not a false bottom, that's a braid. And yup, they tend to clog up in a mash tun, or even collapse. A 'bazooka' tube is much, much coarser and won't clog. It's also sturdier.

I build a CPVC manifold for my mash tun, the smaller, 52 qt. version of yours. I love it!
Although I thought I may do fly sparging, I only did it once before switching to batch sparging since.

 

[McKnuckle]

The bag should eliminate your problems. It is essentially a giant false bottom that fills the cooler. People use them that way all the time. In fact, you can typically crush a lot finer and get better extraction, too. And you're correct that you shouldn't need the braid anymore either.

 

[cyberbackpacker]

Like McKnuckle said, go for it... many (myself included) use a grain bag in "traditional mash tuns" all of the time. One caveat, you can remove the stainless braid, but make sure you have something between the bag and your valve outlet; if you don't the bag will get sucked into the outlet and you'll have stuck sparge issues!

 

[McKnuckle]

^Yes, that's a valid point about the barrier. When I mash with a bag, I leave the circular false bottom in my round cooler (with center pickup tube that faces down).

 

[IslandLizard]

I simply hate stirring inside a bag. YMMV.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

hmmm...I used a mesh bag in my lauter tun for a few years before I ever heard of BIAB (my later tun was a 6.5 gal plastic bucket with a plastic "Phil's Phalse Bottom"). The bag was handy for cleaning out the grain and it helped when I got a stuck sparge (I could lift it up and get the sparge going again without having to do a full stir), but, at least in my case, it did not prevent a stuck/slow sparge.

If in your case the stuck sparges are caused by particles clogging up your false bottom, then I could see a bag helping out quite a bit. I am not sure I would be on board with it being a miracle cure for general stuck sparges or allowing for a finer crush.