Mash Tun Coolers - Why the Round Ones?

I prefer rectangular. I use for fly and batch sparging, as well for keeping beer cold at parties and filling with food for trips. It's a true multitasker.

I guess you can do that with a round one as well, but it probably won't travel as well.

 

I've got a rectangular I made into my mash tun with an upgraded spigot and built a copper manifold. I've used it for 2 batches now and it works great - keeps temps exactly where I need them with no problems and will easily hold enough grain if I want to do a big barleywine in 5 gallons, or a standard in 10, if I ever go that big.

 

Are you talking about the "filter" that keeps the grains from running out the drain? I used the braid and coiled copper wire at first, exactly as you are describing here. I found that it wasn't really up to par with what I wanted. It worked, but when I saw the bazooka tube at the LHBS, I switched it, and I think the whole mash tun is better off for it (LOL, even tho the bazooka tube is slightly too long, but it's still stronger and works better, so yeah). The braid/copper setup just seemed to flop around too much, and it certainly had a particular place on the braid that was the weakest point, which was stressed during cleaning. The bazooka tube does not have that problem, as it is both lightweight and rigid, and doesn't flop around when I turn it upside-down for cleaning and drying..

Perhaps I just "did it wrong," but I'm pretty handy with DIY projects, and I don't think that was the case. I just think the design from the webpage I originally used would do better to recommend a bazooka tube rather than the braid/copper setup.

This is how mine is now, pretty much. My tube is shaped slightly differently, and it's just a touch too long, but essentially it's the same setup as this:




If we're not talking about the same thing, please ignore my ramblings.

Now on my new system, I was going to fly sparge, and have a nice piece of stainless steel that I'll be fashioning into the false bottom for the mash tun keg. However, I was wondering if anyone also uses a bazooka tube underneath the false bottom, or if that's just not necessary, or how you did it?My new false bottom is going to be made from a lid from a pan that never seemed to match up to what's in the cabinet in my mom's kitchen. So when I saw her toss it into the recycle bin one day, I grabbed it in a hurry! Handy for me, as it's about the perfect size for my kegs, has a handle built into it already, and is basically the exact correct shape. Also it saves considerable money over buying a false bottom (those things are expensive, looks like about 35 bucks is pretty standard).

Anyway, it's late and I'm rambling. Not that this is at all uncommon...

 

^^^this. I wouldn't trade the coleman xtreme for any other kind. It holds the heat with little to no temp drop.

 

I've started pouring sparge water over the mash paddle held above the grain bed for a pseudo-fly sparge. It's a little faster than doing a batch sparge and I seem to get slightly better efficiency.