[tschmidlin]

The last one topped 70 kilos... She carried it into the house by herself (I was at the office). Anyway.

  They deliver 70 kilo packages?

I'll just wrap the whole thing in steel wool. This way I don't have to brave the crowds at the shopping center where the hardware shop is. Does that sound like it'll work?

I don't think you want to use steel wool, I think you'll end up with too much iron in your beer.  But maybe at mash pH it would be fine.

[denny]

Oh! It's like a chinese finger trap.

That's how I usually describe it, but most people are too young to have ever seen one!

[phillamb168]

The last one topped 70 kilos... She carried it into the house by herself (I was at the office). Anyway.

  They deliver 70 kilo packages?

I'll just wrap the whole thing in steel wool. This way I don't have to brave the crowds at the shopping center where the hardware shop is. Does that sound like it'll work?

I don't think you want to use steel wool, I think you'll end up with too much iron in your beer.  But maybe at mash pH it would be fine.

Yup, freight delivery. I'd say we get a new wood pallet every three to four months.

For the steel wool, I've seen elsewhere on the forum people say steel wool is fine. Maybe it should be pickled first? Is the iron thing real?

[tumarkin]

stainless steel scrubbies are ok, steel wool is not. yes, the iron thing is real. gives an off-flavor that is blood-like.

[bluesman]

stainless steel scrubbies are ok, steel wool is not. yes, the iron thing is real. gives an off-flavor that is blood-like.

+1

Stainless steel shouldn't cost much more.

http://www.briwax-online.com/GMTStainless.html

[phillamb168]

Quick follow-up: Stainless Steel wool: Would it be in the soldering section, the plumbing section?

[denny]

Quick follow-up: Stainless Steel wool: Would it be in the soldering section, the plumbing section?

You should look for a Chore Boy in the cleaning section of a grocery store.

[tumarkin]

Quick follow-up: Stainless Steel wool: Would it be in the soldering section, the plumbing section?

You should look for a Chore Boy in the cleaning section of a grocery store.

+1  Chore Boy is a brand name. Maybe not in France, a more generic term here would be stainless steel scrubbie. They're for dishwashing, not really like steel wool. I'd expect they're available there, but may be a language communication issue to find them. I think you've said your dad sends you packages. If so, they're small & light.

[sharg54]

If your still looking for a false bottom for you kettle you may think about a stainless vegetable steamer tray. The type that folds in on it's self. You can pick them up at most cutlery or cooking shop fairly cheep. They come in a lot of different sizes and all you have to do is drill out the center, flip it over and connect your plumbing to it. They come out easy and clean up is a snap and the holes are fantastic for holding out the grain. I've seen a cooler or two set up that way but I don't see why it wouldn't work in a pot and you could still use your present fly sparge system.   

[maxieboy]

Manifold. End of story, IMO. 

[alikocho]

The other question about the braid is, what about channeling? Or should I RDWHAHB. I'll RDWHAHB. I found Denny's post about braids, seems that he just buys the hose I'm talking about and pulls the rubber out. I'll give that a shot. Just to confirm, this is the stuff, right?

http://www.castorama.fr/store/Flexible-double-Gripp--10-L-30-cm-PRDm514113.html?isSearchResult=true&navAction=jump

Re: channeling, I assume you would batch sparge so RDWHAHB.

But keep in mind Drew's post, make sure it is actually stainless braid.  The link you posted looks right, but I don't read French.

That would be stainless. The 'inox' is the word your looking for.

[phillamb168]

Well, yesterday I took the boy out for his very first trip to a hardware store so mom could have a bit of a rest, and we did some searching. I found zero stainless steel wool (found some regular steel wool, which I didn't buy) but I did find: 1. a nice long flexible water hose thing for a SS braid and 2. a scrubby that is supposedly composed entirely of stainless steel ribbon. It doesn't look like the scrubbies from the US - this looks like a big ball of 0.2 cm wide SS ribbon that's pretty darn thin. I'm thinking it would work well. I suppose the best test is just to leave it in a bucket of water and see what happens?

As for the braid, thanks to Denny's instructions, it was super easy. Fits in there real nice, and seems to draw off liquid no problem. All this new equipment makes me want to do a test brew with something super basic, though, because I don't want to use my specialty yeasties for anything that might taste bad. Probably do a basic SMASH with some old hops just to get the system checked out.

[tschmidlin]

All this new equipment makes me want to do a test brew with something super basic, though, because I don't want to use my specialty yeasties for anything that might taste bad. Probably do a basic SMASH with some old hops just to get the system checked out.

A test brew is a great idea - I recommend water to start, you might not want to waste ingredients if you're not confident in how the brew day will go.

[denny]

All this new equipment makes me want to do a test brew with something super basic, though, because I don't want to use my specialty yeasties for anything that might taste bad. Probably do a basic SMASH with some old hops just to get the system checked out.

A test brew is a great idea - I recommend water to start, you might not want to waste ingredients if you're not confident in how the brew day will go.

I f you do a test with water, don't be too concerned if your cooler loses heat.  When you have additional mass of the grain in there, it will react differently.

[phillamb168]

Tried a CAP Saturday with the new braid ala Denny. No stuck sparge, everything went great. I really like the new setup. I got -85%- efficiency, if my calculations are correct. I need to post pics of my setup soon. I really, really like it.