So I have decided to “go all grain” rather than “go back to extract” for the first lager brew.
I think the majority of my hesitation is the performance of my mash tun.
Here’s the back story: I got a bazooka screen for the cooler I bought.
Here’s the admission: I didn’t buy the right one for the cooler size that I have.
Oh well, I can use the screen I have now as a strainer when I use plugs or whole hops in my boil. It will screw into the outlet in my kettle.
Now, I could buy a bazooka screen that fits a 5 gallon cooler…and that’s the screen that is shaped like a “T”.
But I think I will buy a false bottom. I want to understand the performance of the false bottom. This lager brew gives me the chance to buy one and report on its performance.
So that’s the first step. The next step is buying ingredients…but that is another post.
travis
I started out with a bazooka type screen as well as the braided false bottom John Palmer outlines in the “el-cheapo” mash tun. Both worked just fine and gave me comparable results to what I get now with my copper mash tun that covers the whole bottom. BYO’s Chris Colby did some research on the performance of both.
Marcus
You could always use DME to reach your O.G. if you have a low efficiency.