I wanted to know if anyone had great directions on mashing. I want to get into all grain brewing, but mashing has gotten me a little confused. There mashing then sparging... And I'm wondering the difference. In general the whole process would be great if anyone knows where i can find them.

John Palmer's How to Brew - http://www.howtobrew.com has a good section on mashing etc.

Also Chalie Papazian's classic book, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, has a good description and is fun and easy to read.

I've gotta run now but if I get a chance I will try to write up a little more information on the topic myself.

I hate to just leave this with just a few references but....

- Scott

you can find some very good instructional videos on youtube if you do a search. sometimes seeing it done can help clarify any of the questions you have

I agree with Stihler on The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. It's probably the most informative book I've read on the subject of AG brewing.

Here's the instructional that got me started with all grain brewing:
http://cruisenews.net/brewing/infusion/index.php

When it comes to brewing, I think that it's best to start off simple, and then get more complicated as you go. At least, that's what's worked for me. The only thing that I'd suggest doing differently than this instructional, is to add the strike water to your tun, and then add your grain to the strike water while stirring.

Cheers
Dave

Mashing is the cracked grains sitting in hot water(about 155 ish) for an hour for the enzymes to convert the starches in the grain into fermentable sugars.
Sparging is running the water(now called wort) off into the boil kettle.
It sounds way more complicated than it actually is for the most part. You just need to get the temps close.
Here is a short writeup i did on one of my brews a couple years ago. Its a real basic how to.
http://www.flatfenderbrewing.com/brewing.html

I've only recently started all-grain brewing and mash. My question is about the tun. I have seen home made tuns out of coolers which are pretty ingenious ideas. I've seen simple ideas using a crimped water line, for the manifold, and a stopper to replace the drain valve on coolers. Why not just put a screen on the drain valve instead of going into all sorts engineering contortions to put another drain in it? The purpose of the tun is to separate the mash from the wort. So if the cooler has a drain that flows well unobstructed, then I do not really understand the reasoning for inserting tun manifold into the cooler and drilling out the old cooler outlet and installing some other outlet. I don't see the difference in using a cooler as is for separating wort. I add the grains to the cooler and pour the hot water over the top for them to steep. Then after 60 minutes I connect a clear tubing to the drain on the cooler and open the valve and let the wort pass through the clear tubing into the boiling pot for the wort. I use regular window screening to keep the grain from clogging the outlet valve on the cooler. I just slide it down the inside of the cooler in front of the drain valve, after sterilizing it first, and when I'm done, I remove the screen for cleaning. I don't have half the mess screwing around with trying to make a tun manifold to fit the cooler.

What am I missing in how a tun manifold is used and why should I use one?

That was a very good question.

I always assumed the use of a false bottom or manifold was because not using them resulted in poor extraction efficiencies but I've never actually seen that spelled out.

Well, I did a bit of research and I believe I found some answers.

Wort flowing out of the mash tun follows the path of least resistance. As a result, flow through the grain will not be uniform. Some parts of the grain bed will be well rinsed while others will remain totally unrinsed. This process is known as channeling.

Without something like a manifold, false bottom or even some rolled up screen attached to the end of a piece of tubing, the wort will flow out of the cooler without rinsing the majority of the grain.

The manifold and rolled screen methods still have some so called dead zones (i.e. areas that are not properly rinsed).

False bottom systems don't really have dead zones but because of that have a relatively large drainage areas but one needs to take particular care that during lautering the outflow is not too fast. Too fast an outflow can result in grain compaction and, therefore, stuck sparges.

I came across a great article that was published in BrewingTechniques several years ago. Forunately, it is available online at:http://brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue3.4/palmer.html.

Here are two other good sources of information about lautering systems: http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter17-2.html and
http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD-1.html

Cheers,

Scott

Most window screens are either aluminum or galvanized metal i think. I would use stainless or copper only for mine.
The easiest is to use the stainless braid from a toilet line(preferably new!!). push it off the tube an connect to a hose.
The idea with replacing the original valve is to provide a large enough hole for flow and to be able to run it wide open, adjustable, and off.
I would think the window screen would push to the bottem and clog. Dont worry about sanitising the mash tun, just clean it.
You only need to sanitize anything after the boil.

I would agree, the wort follows the path of least resistance as another poster already commented. I don't trust that home made screens or filters do the job that a professional false bottom would do. That doesn't prevent you from making your own mash tun though. Here are the instructions I followed for making a home made mash tun: http://www.homebrewgarage.com/index.php ... lauter-tun