Grain Filters

The bag in “Brew In A Bag”, a fabric filter, is a heat resistant, non-reactive, fabric bag. These allow for single vessel brewing, letting you to buy and clean less equipment. They are usually inexpensive, easy to use, and have a nice tight mesh to keep your wort clear of grain particles.

Used in “Brew In A Basket”, this is exactly what is sounds like. It has the same advantages as the Fabric Filter, except that it is somewhat expensive. Stainless Baskets have the additional advantage of extreme durability.

A false bottom is a plate of stainless steel with small holes in it that sits just off the bottom of a mash tun and connect to a drain valve. These require you to have either a separate mash tun or to drain your kettle/mash tun into a container until the spent grain can be cleaned out. They are easy enough to use, requiring only one extra step to clear the wort before you begin draining it.

Bazooka Screens are stainless mesh tubes that sit on the bottom of the mash tun and connect to the drain valve. These have the same disadvantages as a false bottom with the added disadvantage of not contacting the whole bottom of the grain bed. This can more easily lead to a stuck sparge. Bazooka Screens have the advantage of being very inexpensive.