Is this nuts or just not helpful - Rocks as false bottom

So I had a crazy idea overnight while thinking about building a small mlt for mini mash stuff. I remember reading how the more area of the grain bed you collect water from the better, so people coil up "large" amounts of stainless braid in the bottom of their cooler.

I was thinking about getting two grain bags big enough to fill the bottom of the cooler. Put some marble size rocks...or marbles if I can find some cheap enough... in one and put it on the bottom near the spigot. Then do a second one with small aquarium rocks on top of that. It shouldn't take a very thick layer to keep the grain up on top of that I wouldn't think and aquarium rocks are made to not put chemicals in the water, so they should be safe/sanitary.

The reason for putting the stuff in grain bags is after your done and your grain cools off you could just reach down, pull them out and rinse everything off/out.

I haven't been able to get to the store yet, but I think that this will be a fair amount cheaper since you will only need to replace the spigot on the cooler with a better one, get the rocks, and your done.

What do you guys think? Does this have any future worth pursuing?

You may be on to something, I think that could work.

Just make sure you don't accidentally move the rocks if you stir it.

A stainless braid is $4, can't get any more value than that.

I think this could work. My experience with aquarium rocks is that you have to rinse them before use and they give off a lot of dust. I would find some that aren't colored and are as natural as possible.
Actually, now that I think about it, if the rocks are in a grain bag the bag will do the filtering and not the rocks. The rocks would only be there to hold the whole thing down against the bottom and the spigot. I don't think you would even need aquarium rocks.
The braided stainless would be cheaper but if you want to try this why not!

Bobby_M said:

A stainless braid is $4, can't get any more value than that.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I wasn't as much looking to minimize the cost of the braid, but all the other nipples and attachments that I see people getting to connect the braid to the spigot...basically trying to make a false bottom at below braid prices.

Of course after my order with AHS yesterday I told SWMBO I wasn't going to be buying any more brewing stuff, so this is all a practice in theoretical brewing right now

RichBrewer said:

Actually, now that I think about it, if the rocks are in a grain bag the bag will do the filtering and not the rocks.

Click to expand...

True, maybe the grain bag and rocks is overkill/redundant....

You can use a big grain bag as the filtering mechanism but using something underneath to help keep the flow moving towards the outlet does have merit. I don't know that I'd want to clean up all the sticky rocks through. There's got to be something in the kitched that would work.

Bobby_M said:

There's got to be something in the kitched that would work.

Click to expand...

A decent sized metal trivet would do the same thing as far as just elevating a grain bag.

Metal trivet isn't a bad idea... but what if... when it is time to collect your runoff, you just lift the strainer bag a little? Instead of the 'brew in a bag' technique, instead this is 'mash in a bag'.

If you're trying to KISS, I think easiest method is Just One Grain Bag, no rocks, and lift the bag slightly when it's time to runoff.

If you're trying to innovate, don't let me stop you Brainstorm away!

damn you and your kiss method That's a good idea too....I will have to see what I can throw together around the house when it comes time to do my partial mash system...heck who knows. With summer time coming I might just go all grain here in March.

You're gonna hold it up the whole time while it drains and while you sparge? I suppose you could use like 4 large spring clips over the edge.

Marbles are WAY easier to clean than rocks. i like the grain bag idea too. This is pretty cool stuff.

I mash for 1 gallon all grain batches in a small beverage cooler. I've used muslin bags in the past and I can say from experience that it's a royal pain. It's damn near impossible to vorlauf until the wort's clear because the mash get's stuck over and over and every time you stir it to get the mash unstuck you upset the grain bed. That said, I'm not using a dip tube, just the spigot on the cooler.

Last week I picked up a vegetable steaming basket (like this one) @ Goodwill for $2. It fits perfect inside my little cooler. And the legs keep it high enough that I can still use the spigot on the cooler with out any dip-tubes or other modification. I plan on trying it out this week.

CrookedChris said:

Last week I picked up a vegetable steaming basket (like URL="http://www.kidsmartliving.com/eaststvestba.html"]the one[/url]) @ Goodwill for $2. It fits perfect inside my little cooler. And the legs keep it high enough that I can still use the spigot on the cooler with out any dip-tubes or other modification. I plan on trying it out this week.

Click to expand...

This is what I would do...I know The Pol used a SS vegetable steamer in a 5gal Gott cooler so it should work for a smaller cooler...

Good point, other Chris, I've assumed that thus far, we've been talking about nylon fine mesh grain bags. If they're too coarse or especially if they're muslin instead of nylon, you may experience issues with flour seeping through, poor vorlauf, etc. YMMV.

Off topic, I used my hop thingy last night for the first time, and I can attest that the Paint Strainer bags from Home Despot are really quite nice (for hops).... I was very pleased. So those bags could be an experiment for someone too.

Jonnio,

I've actually thought about this "rock" thing myself. Then again maybe I'm nuts. For cheap and easy batch sparging the braid cannot be beat!!!!

If you are lookig to do away w/ the hardware (valves, nipples etc.) you could do what I have done.

If your cooler has a spigot...obtain a piece of tubing 3-4' long that is 1/16" diameter greater than the spigot hole. Take a small slice w/ a utility knife 2-3" lengthwise out of the end of the tube so the end will fold or roll in on itself. Compress the cut end of the tube so you can jam it through the hole. You will probably be able to start it through, but will need pliers to grab it from the inside of the cooler and pull it clear.
Trim the end...slide braid over tube and clamp w/ hose clamp. No valve needed, clamp or attach the tube to the top of the cooler during the mash and lower into the kettle to sparge. I screwed a 1/2" metal binder clip w/ a ss screw to the top of the cooler to clamp the tube during the mash.

If the cooler has no spigot...just drill a hole 1/16 larger than the hose and pull her through.

easy peasy

Mike

I dont know, With my Exp in Laying Water Main and Sewer pipe Rocks were the best water TRAP it just seems to me it would give you a stuck sparge but im probably wrong, But I do know rocks are a natural water trap.

My guess is to use rocks that are generally all the same size (such as marbles). If you had a good gradation of rock sizes, you'd increase the chance of a stuck sparge.