Recirculation for LoDo

[TheCount]

Hello!
So, I've been forced to eliminate the smell during brewing so I'm going to try LoDo-brewing. I've bought a giant pot lid that is supposed to work as a mash cap and som fittings to connect it to the recirculation arm on my Brewzilla 65. Is it enough to just let the water pour through the QD Disconcect on my lid (I have a nipple I can add to the bottom if I want) or should I also add some sort of recirulation manifold under the lid to help distribute the water during mashing? My main concern is that adding some sort of weight that can also get stuck in the grist might prevent the lid from floating. I'm also reluctant to buy stuff I don't need.

What are your two cents on this?

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

You should try to distribute the flow of the wort if possible otherwise it will tend to make 'channels' through the grain, leaving the other areas of the grain bed 'dry' (as it were) and lowering your mash efficiency.
It doesn't need to be anything complicated: I just use a spiral of plastic line with holes drilled in it; or you can get commercial products like this:
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/manifold-for-mash-re-circulation/

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

FWIW, I find that the majority of the smell I get while brewing tends to come during the boil (especially when the hops go in) but I'm told that it's important to keep the lid mostly off during this stage because you need to let DMS and it's precursors boil off - although apparently that is less of a problem than it used to be due to improved malt production techniques.

 

[TheCount]

Thanks! I was looking in to buying the SS manifold earlier but decided to try something else first since it's quite expensive. But it seems I'm going to have to buy one anyways. I'm really bad at DIY so something I made my self from plastic isn't really an option.

I bought a steam condenser to prevent smell from the boil. I'm told the water dripping down in the bucket tends to smell a lot of DMS for the first minutes but that the it isn't as persistant as the usual malt derived smells.

Edit: But if i use the top filter plate on my mash pipe, will that help distribute the water evenly? I'm thinking the principal should be somewhat similar to when you just use the silicone tube when mashing with the normal method. That way the tube isn't connected directly to the grist, but spreads it on top of the filter.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

But if i use the top filter plate on my mash pipe, will that help distribute the water evenly?

I’m afraid I’m not sufficiently familiar with that equipment to know, but perhaps if you could post a pic or diagram?

 

[TheCount]

I'm not going to be home until wednesday but this is what it looks like when mashing with Brewzilla (picture taken from google). What I'm considering is just attaching the silicon tube to a nipple on the mash cap and let the tube lie on top of the filter. It works pretty well without a mash cap. The rod you see is just a removable handle to lift the mash pipe when sparging. Thinking of it, it should work pretty well. Especially if I use one of these plastic things on the end of the tube to spread the wort.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Yes I should think that'll be fine.
Perhaps worth checking your SG pre-boil so that you can get some idea of the mash efficiency