manifold vs. stainless steel braiding

[barleypopmaker]

I agree with Techie101. I think the jump came from going from no sparge to batch sparging. Basically you went from not rinsing out more sugars from your grain, to rinsing them out and getting more sugars. So braid or manifold I would think you would have got a huge jump anyway once you sparged if you were not doing so before.

[NobleBrew]

Has anyone used a stainless braid in their brew kettle?

[mexican]

Has anyone used a stainless braid in their brew kettle?

Yep. Though I wouldn't recommend it. It clogged up to the point where I couldn't get anything out of the kettle. This occurred with both pellet and plug hops. THe wort that did come out was crystal clear, until it clogged up. I've since taken the braid out of the kettle and put it in the mash tun.

I've to a stainless filter I cobbled together that is similar to a hopstopper. It works as long as the hop bill isn't too large. Tends to clog up when using a pump. A real hopstopper may be better.

mexican

[awalker]

Is there a big difference in a stainless steel braid to the copper manifold with cuts in it ?
Is it just more of a chunk stopper?

As I have just got the manifold.



But could put some stainless steel braid over it, If it would make a difference.

[beer_bear]

I just have a SS braid in one of my mash tuns. I have been thinking about doing just this to one of my boil kettles. I'm under the impression that it would be a bit like a poor man's Hop Stopper. I'm trying to find something that will spread out a bit wider to give me more surface area.
I think that the SS is just more of a strainer and could get clogged easier though.

[mexican]

I just have a SS braid in one of my mash tuns. I have been thinking about doing just this to one of my boil kettles. I'm under the impression that it would be a bit like a poor man's Hop Stopper. I'm trying to find something that will spread out a bit wider to give me more surface area.
I think that the SS is just more of a strainer and could get clogged easier though.

Yep, thats the idea I had. I foudn that the stainless briad produced a really clear wort out of the kettle but, due to its small surface area clogged up really quickly.

I built a 'hopstopper' type gizmo from two stainless splatter screens sandwiched together with a pickup tube inside that. It works well for leaf and plug hops but is a complete pain in the arse where pellet hops are concerned. As I use a pump to whirlpool at th eend of the boil, the duction causes pellet hops to form a thick coating over the filter. Clogs up.

For those interested, I got two splatter screens, cost around $4 for both, and folded the edges over to form a round 'envelope'. I then stuck a pickup tube in the side and clamped it in place in the bottom of my kettle.

I'm now testing a hop bag that we can get here in oz that is supposed to be pretty good. Shouldn't have any colgging problems with that one. Hopefully....

mexican