Braided Hose!

[Steven Driessen]

Hello!
I've been scrambling to set up my own brew kit while not spending too much money. Recently I finished making a braided hose false bottom for my mash tun, however I only just went to test it's flow rate and it turns out the braided hose is actually lined with rubber. How stupid do I feel.
So if somebody could offer me advice or hook me up with a length of braided hose (without the lining!) then that would be awesome.
The covering would have to have a diameter of about 20mm if it was going to work the way I imagine...
Cheers!

[warra48]

You need to make your own. Most of us use the hoses you get from a hardware or plumbing supply store.
You cut off one of the fittings and secure the other fitting in a vice.
Scrunch up the braid a little so the end of the rubber shows and you can get a good hold on it.
Then just pull and maintain it and the rubber will eventually let go at the other fitting end and come out.
Then either fold the loose braid end over itself once or twice to seal it, or use something like a cable tie or a hose clamp.

That leaves you with a braided hose with a fitting which tends to fit most of the plumbing we use in our brewing setups.

If you just want the braid, you can cut the fittings off from each end.

[James P]

Yep, as warra said you have to pull the hose out of the braid. I cut off both ends, bought some "ferrules" to use with my compression fittings. Job done.

[Mark Kessell]

yup. i just bought a length of hose from mitre10, just 1 end off, and stabbed the other end with a screw driver until it was cut sufficiently to break the rubber hose, so i could pull it out.

also, i've found that you dont need a false bottom if you have a braided hose.

hopeully you can see this:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#/album.php?aid=123877&id=7540...

thats my mash tun.

[Steven Driessen]

Cool mash tun!
Yea, sorry I'm not making a false bottom - just using the braided hose.
I see that you've made it so only one end of the braided hose attaches to the tap, how does this work for you? I could easily do the same with my setup. I am just using a basic Fermtec plastic fermenting barrel for my MLT, so I have to configure the braided hose in a circle. I had a T-fitting from the tap where both ends of the braided hose could screw on, but if only one end is necessary then I'll just block one side of the T.
hopefully you can understand that rant! Haha.
Well, thanks for your help folks :)

[Mark Kessell]

the whole point is to have uniform drain flow while lautering. making the braided hose like i have is perfect for a converted rectangular chilli bin. but not for a cylindrical type arragement.

and to get a better understanding that, and how you can potentially configure your cylindrical MLT, have a read of this: http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD.html
it explains everything.

have it screw into the internal wall of the MLT works best for me as it's easy to remove and clean.

[denimglen]

the whole point is to have uniform drain flow while lautering. making the braided hose like i have is perfect for a converted rectangular chilli bin. but not for a cylindrical type arragement...

Only if you're fly sparging - if you're batch sparging it doesn't matter.

I made mine round so that I had the option to do both, but never have, and probably never will fly sparge.

I just used some half inch copper, a 45deg elbow, and a T, and brazed it together. Then crox'd the copper pipe and used a crox nut to join it to the nipple.

[Fairlane]

I can get the overbraid for people if there is suffucient demand... The minimum diameter is 3/4".

[Pilgrim]

I'd be interested in a metre. What sort of price are you talking about?

[Fairlane]

$30/m

[Pilgrim]

Sounds reasonable. You've got me interested.

[Fairlane]

Well just let me know if you get more than interested and I'll get it sorted...

[Pilgrim]

"I can get the overbraid for people if there is suffucient demand".

Sorry, I thought you were just guaging demand at this stage. I'll definitely take a metre.