False Bottom question

[Thirsty Mallard]

Hey brew brothas,

I am thinking of investing in a false bottom for my mash tun and boil kettle.

I'm just confused about the mechanics of the ones I see. It appears that a tube runs up then out... are those made for closed systems because I can't see that working very well with my gravity feed.

It would seem to me a false bottom that is just above the spout opening, allowing me to just open the floodgates, would be more efficient.

Am i just looking at the wrong style? Any of you B3 guys know what I can get? I have a 10 Gallon Gott and a 7.5 gallon brew kettle.

-Jeff

[Speyedr]

Hey Jeff,

Thems the right ones for COOLER Mash Tuns. The wort drains down throught the false bottom and then is collected up through the elbow on top. You connect this to your output using tubing and a barb. It works well, except occasionally you can have a vacuum build up and stop the sparge. To deal with that you can put a tee in the tube INSIDE the cooler (between the OUT on the FB and the Spigot) and bring another length of tube up and out the top to allow air in and stop the vacuum. Also, opening the ball valve slowly helps as well. That's the only problem I have ever had with mine.

Rob

[brewmaster68]

You can try a ss braided hose, I've been using one for a while and love it.

Scott

[Thirsty Mallard]

I have a nice copper slotted manifold... it just seems I would be better off with a false bottom.

No?

[Steve]

Hey brew brothas,

I am thinking of investing in a false bottom for my mash tun and boil kettle.

I'm just confused about the mechanics of the ones I see. It appears that a tube runs up then out... are those made for closed systems because I can't see that working very well with my gravity feed.

It would seem to me a false bottom that is just above the spout opening, allowing me to just open the floodgates, would be more efficient.

Am i just looking at the wrong style? Any of you B3 guys know what I can get? I have a 10 Gallon Gott and a 7.5 gallon brew kettle.

-Jeff

I believe the ones your looking at are designed for use with modified S/S kegs! These have a bottem that is deeper than the sides so they are designed to use a separate pickup tube that will allow somone to drain every bit of that keg. A second look at a keg reveals you can only go so far down on the side to drill the hole for your spigot that this pickup tube is nessesarry. Otherwise you'll always have a gallon or so of lost wort.
Steve

[Danno]

I used a FB with my Gott for years and still use one with my Hobby Beverage MT. The dip tube works great. The FB does have to be off of the bottom. Mine had SS bolts for feet and I did set it so it was above the spigot. There is one type that is formed and is my pick for the best one. It is really stiff (hehe, I said stiff). Watch out for the B3 ones. Some are to thin for this application.

[brewmaster68]

With a ss braid, you don't have to calculated any foundation water in you brewing program, the surface area of the braid is usally greater than a slotted type or perferated false bottom, I also have not even come close to a stuck runn off, since fabing it up. It is very simple and easy to build.



Scott

[mexican]

With a ss braid, you don't have to calculated any foundation water in you brewing program, the surface area of the braid is usally greater than a slotted type or perferated false bottom, I also have not even come close to a stuck runn off, since fabing it up. It is very simple and easy to build.

Did you just use a length of braid with one end blocked and the other atteched to your outlet ?

What sort of efficiency do you get from these ? Better or worse than a manifold or SS false bottom ?

Could certainly be easier than building a complicated manifold system.

mexican