zzARzz

Recipes 

I used 1/8" holes on mine with 1/2" offsets per the article I based the design on here: http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue3.4/palmer_figs.html
I haven't had an issue with the holes getting plugged on mine after pulling it out when I brew (I check it each time to be sure). While doing researched I read many people have an issue with light false bottoms like these floating and causing stuck sparges, that's why I thought it may have been the prime suspect of your issues during your rye brew. An easy way to test that would be to heat 2-3 gallons of water to mash temps, put it in your mash tun, wait 10 minutes or so and check to see if your tubing is flexing too much when it heats up. If so, rigid braided tubing, PVC with some sort of rubber insert to maintain a good seal or copper tubing with compression fittings should solve the problem. Or you could find some sort of brass, copper or SS weights (such as a couple large SS washers where the PEX elbow meets the pan in your dead space) to solve the issue as well.

bferullo

Recipes 

thanks for your input. with a some tweaking I hope to fix it.

Huaco

Recipes 

You want to stay below .100" 1/8" is .125. I drilled over 1,000 holes with #40 drill. That is .098".
Try to add as many holes as you can stand to drill. It is a long process, but well worth it.

rex

Recipes 

I made one of these tonight.

I couldn't find a pizza pan locally that wasn't coated...so I started poking around at work for something I could use. I ended up finding an aluminum (LianLi) computer case that was in the junk pile. I took the two removable sides.



Traced out my 11" circle
Cut using a jig saw
Drew my grid on with pencil
Drilled my 1/8 holes and my center hole
I sanded it down to remove any burrs
Fitted my elbow and tubing



Thanks OP!!!

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zzARzz

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That looks fantastic! I hadn't thought of using an old computer case, but that turned out really well.

bferullo

Recipes 

Be careful. I used aluminum and its lighter than SS, so it ended up floating when i added the water. Hence I ended up with stuck sparge due to grains getting under it. Although, this is only one of my many theories as to what screwed up that brew day. It was a BAD brew session.

passedpawn

Recipes 

Rye is crazy sticky. You need to stir very well and perhaps go with a thinner mash (i.e., > 1.5 quarts per # of grain). My house beer is a rye IPA, so I'm using it all the time. I use a "Jaybird" false bottom. It's the greatest thing.

BTW, aluminum doesn't float (sp. gravity ~ 2.7). Must have had some trapped air under it.

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bferullo

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Ok, makes sense. Was just going off what others have suggested. Like I said lots of things went wrong the first time I used my aluminum bottom. How would one avoid air being trapped?

Hop_Head

Recipes 

I made one of these false bottoms using the microwave splatter screen and used it for the first time last weekend. It worked flawlessly and I got great efficiency hit my numbers spot on. I had to do a little modifying due to the fact that I only have a 5 gal igloo cooler, but nothing that was a big issue. I am hoping to brew again this weekend and will try to take some pictures to share what I did with mine. Thanks to all in the thread for the valuable information.

bferullo

Recipes 

So, it was the Rye. Just brewed with my "$5.00" FB this past weekend. Had great results. Only missed my estimated OG my 3 points. NO stuck sparges!!!