Open cell foam as a false bottom?

I've read quite a few threads about using SS braid or a SS false bottom, but what about using a cut to fit piece of dense open cell foam 1" thick? The grain will sit on top of it and all the wort will flow through the foam. As an added bonus, the foam will also act as a filter.

Has anyone heard of doing this?

looks like it would float. and not sure about the food safety. not to sure about that. interesting concept though.

I have not heard of anyone doing this.What is the makeup of the foam?I'd be interested in how it copes with hot wort(chemical leaching-wise).
I would consider using it if it's safe.I have a lot of trouble with my braid as I stir my grains in the mash.

Never heard of it but it's an interesting idea. Assuming you can keep it from floating and it's food safe, I bet it'd work pretty good, too. You might have to change it every time since I imagine it will get nasty while you wait for the next brew day.

Ah, the old mash pad.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/wtf-thing-mashpad-182801/

Interesting never really thought of this wouldn’t see floating being a problem if you have enough grain to keep it down, seems the only thing to worry about would be if it leached chemicals into your wort or not, you would want to put the pad facing the same way every time so the particles that get stuck stayed in, but it seems like it would work though, gets the gears turning.

Man boob ale?

Hormone altering chemicals are suspected of being a reason why men are now getting man boobs. This includes a common chemical Bisphenol A (BPA), which is found in a range of plastics.

I would be very careful even with the "food safe" ones due to the heat, pH etc in the mash tun. The Bis-phenols are found in some plastics that are allowed to touch food...

more than moderate consumption of alcohol has also shown to reduce and/or inhibit secretion of testosterone in males, ie the big frat boys that get man boobs after rushing....

Of course, moderation should always be key anyways.... I'm sure you could anchor or tie it down to the bottom to prevent it from floating, but i think the issue of it getting a stuck sparge is a bigger concern, since you have tiny tiny pathways that smaller particles that would normally pass through the stainless screen would get stuck in the small pathways of a sponge that also have a larger distance to travel through the depth of the sponge vs a screen. That and I could see you having to replace the foam/sponge pretty often as well.

When I was a kid we put those Styrofoam peanuts in our gerbals cage. Thought it would be fun for them. They ate it. They died a day later. Maybe your not eatng it but I would worry about chemicals.

captainL said:

When I was a kid we put those Styrofoam peanuts in our gerbals cage. Thought it would be fun for them. They ate it. They died a day later. Maybe your not eatng it but I would worry about chemicals.

Click to expand...

Probably from a bowel obstruction from undigested foam....but I'm sure it was the chemicals....

Heh, styrofoam is a type of foam, just like the foam on top of a glass of beer. Open cell foam can be made of metals including aluminum, silicone dioxide, copper, or carbon. The cleaning process may be unfun though, because I'm sure it'll be hard to get the bits of grain out of the pad.

I'd be worried about using styrofoam because of the unknown dangers. But pretty sure a cheap peice of cheesecloth would produce the same filtering result. Wouldn't cost as much either and you could toss it after you're finished.