Anyone have any thoughts on how to make a cheap and easy false bottom? I need one about 18" Diameter. Would aluminum screen work? I realize that people make these things, but I don't really have the money for a $100 FB addon for the SS kettle I just bought and fitted w/ thermometer, ballvalve, and sight glass. It is going into the bottom of a 70 qt boil kettle. Thanks.
I had a SS braid that was the same size as that Bazooka, and it would clog shut. If I were to use it on the current set up I lose 1.5 gallons of wort. With the current pickup tube (unclogged) I can get all the wort out accept maybe a cup. I found one of these in town for about $8: Aluminum Pie Tray. I could cut it to fit around the pickup and put some feet on it (SS bolts and nuts) to raise it up a few inches. The holes are definitely too large for mashing, but for whole cone hops (mostly what I use) it might just work. Thoughts?
Sounds like a DIY'er project if you're handy with a drill. Fairly sure you'll be happier with SS plate, probably something heavy duty. All you'll need to do is shape it like a dome, drill it (3/32 holes on 5/32 centers is industry standard), and insert an elbow pick-up in the middle. Use heavy weight silicone tubing to your ball valve and you are in business. If you would rather not earn the title "Boilermaker" (and save a case of drill bits), search Google for "stainless steel plate with holes" . . . lots to choose from.
Any particular reason a heavy duty aluminum won't work when weighted down? The cost difference over $8 is probably going to be substantial
Just considering overall strength. It looks like you are doing 15 gallon batches (@8lbs/gallon) with ~30-40 (?) lbs of grain. I don't know the strength of your alum, but would certainly test under these conditions before brew day.
Sorry for the confusion. This is boil kettle only, 10 gallon batches, some 5. My MLT is a 42qt cooler. No grain weight issues for the false bottom, only keeping it down on the bottom during a boil.
Buy two of those and and put them on top of each other. Rotate one of them enough to reduce the openings. Assemble with screws as you mentioned.
So this is what I ended up doing: It is 2 Aluminum Pizza Screens over lapping with SS screws threaded threw (the dark spots around edge and near middle) with SS nuts holding them tight, raising it off of the bottom, keeping the 2 screens together, and adding some weight to the whole thing. The ones in the middle will give some stability when the chiller is added. I will cut off around the edge to get it to fit snug in the bottom (this is 18.75" across and bottom of kettle is around 17.5"). I will give it a test run with boiling water soon to make sure it isn't going to just lift off of the bottom. If too light, I will add a large SS hex plug and nut in the middle to keep it weighed down and for more support for the chiller. A groove cut along the edge for the dip tube should get it ready for use. Thoughts?
Save yourself the trouble and use bags for hops in the boil kettle...for mashing, I've had fewer problems with a bazooka screen than a traditional false bottom (use rice hulls for both as a little insurance). Hops do NOT equal crushed grain : ) ps: Use 25% more hops in bags to compensate for lower utilization...unless you find you like the lower IBU IPAs : )
Thanks for the response. I have done hop bags in the past, didn't care for them much at all. I had zip ties that didn't stay zipped, I've tied the bag off, etc., etc. I got tired of emptying them out every time I brewed, and never got them clean again (fuzzy stuff would attach in the laundry). I thought of just buying new ones every time, but that seems like a waste of money as well as contributing to land fills. I compost all my spent hops, so getting all the bags out, opened, emptied is so much more timely than just dumping out the kettle into the pile. I also found that my aroma and flavor extraction was very low. Any suggestions on an easier way to bag hops? Can the paint strainer bags just go into the compost bin? Do I just add 25% more hops on all additions?
Also, were I to go this route again... do you recommend the 2 gallon or the 1 gallon bags? The price difference is less than $.10 per bag when you buy 30 on Amazon
Let me just say that there might be more than one adequate solution to the problem of hop-clogged MFs (you know what that means : ) I use paint strainer bags from the hardware store simply because they are cheaper and bigger...and they can be tied in a knot easily. If they do fuck up...simply take them out...better than fucking with a clogged FB or BS. Consider a hop spider for ease of multiple additions. Don't be afraid to manipulate with sanitized hands...hops are pretty forgiving If you think 2 oz of FW bittering hops for a 10 gal batch of IPA is enough...use 3 oz : ) Cheers
They can be a pain to clean (always at the end of a brew session), but a little oxyclean will make them look new again...go big and/or stay at home : )
Here is my solution for my boil kettle using a bazooka screen. I used only whole hope loose; I bag any pellets. I really need to solder most of the copper together; right now it is just friction fit. It drains very efficiently (i.e., no clogging issues), and there is room to the side for my immersion chiller.
Paint strainer bags do not go into the compost, they are nylon. In fact I do not put my spent hops into the compost either. Spent grain, yes, but not the hops. Maybe it is just over-concern, but I don't want any anti-microbial activity in my compost. And I have never used the washing machine for the bags. I don't think it's a good idea to mix them in a wash soup with all kinds of microbes, but again that could just be my over-concern. Oxyclean, then Star San and/or boil them and they get beautifully ready for next use. Guys I brew with all think I am too sanitary, but I don't think there is such a thing.
Seems the consensus is to go with hop bags, clean, wash in Oxyclean, and reuse. I will give this another try. I did the hop spider thing before, the hops all just stuck to the side of the bag on the way in and didn't get down to the boiling wort, and then I had to move it up and out of the way to get my IC into the kettle before the boil was over. One thing I really liked about hop bags before was the ability to squeeze the wort from the bag to avoid losses.
I just spray out the hop bags with a garden hose and hang them up to dry. I will boil the ones I use for dryhopping right before use, but no need to sanitize the ones that go in the boil.
