False Bottom Issues

My buddy and I did our first all-grain batch last weekend using a 10G Rubbermaid cooler with a 12" stainless false bottom as our tun.

Well, the drain spigot became clogged with grain during the sparge. We ended up having to dump the mash into the boil pot, unclog the tubbing and spigot, then return the mash to the tun. There was A LOT of grain under the false bottom

Thankfully, everything came out ok, but we obviously don't want this to happen again.

We think it happened because the metal false bottom was slightly warped, raising some of the edge off of the bottom of the cooler. Stirring the grist forced some grain under the false bottom, and up into spigot tubing and ball valve.

Any ideas on how to prevent this? I was thinking we could place some stainless steel balls (think pin-balls) around the outer edge of the false bottom. The inverted cone shape should help keep them on the outer edge, which should be enough to weigh it down.

Thanks

That is a good idea, never heard that one before, I have heard that the hot water is warping some peoples cooler using the false bottom and having issue with the grains seeping under the false bottom, it isn't likely the false bottom is warped, but is definitely possible, I would check to make sure it is the false bottom, maybe someone else will chime in n your question, I have the stainless braid for my cooler mash tun, anyway, good luck in the future.

I have a Rubbermaid 10 gallon cooler with a MoreBeer false bottom and never have a problem with the fit. If the false bottom fits flat at the edges cold then it should be OK. If the cooler is warping then that is another matter. My cooler wrinkles on the sides from heat.

Did you put the grain in first or the water in first? Water first will help prevent clogs.

I put some water in first, then drain a little (to prevent a vacuum), then add some grains, more water, more grains, etc. I have the morebeer.com false bottom and a 10 gallon igloo round cooler and never had an issue at all.

I cut a lengthwise slit down the entire side of 3/8" tubing and then wrap this around the entire edge of false bottom. You have to be very careful to cut the slit down the inner side of the tubing's natural coil or the tubing won't conform to the outside of the false bottom (took me about 3 tries). Your false bottom should fit snugly into the slit in the tubing, creating somewhat a rubber gasket around the rim of the false bottom. The weight of grain and water resting on the false bottom should press this gasket to the bottom and side of of your mash tun with enough force to create a fairly tight seal and keep grain from slipping under your false bottom. This seal should also increase your efficiency somewhat by keeping the wort from channeling down the sides of the tun when lautering.

Great idea flux. I just happed to have decommissioned some 3/8" tubing this weekend after a nasty blow-off from my Tripel.

I tried the steel balls, worked great, but I had to fish them out of the spent grist after mashing...nasty.

Tube seems like a much better solution.

Welcome, and great first post

Noticed this same issue after I did my first AG

When cleaning out my MLT I noticed a large quantity of grain. Did not have any stuck sparge but thought I had disturbed the grain bed on 2 occasions and did my Vorlof 3 times.

After thinking on it I decided it was either me disturbing the False Bottom during dough in OR it was from me not adding enough water before grain, forcing grains through the holes while I added more liquid.

Since I will be adding much more liquid before grain on future brews I decided to do the Hose trick, my project for the weekend.

Any recommendation on hose types?

Is vinyl safe?

Long time brewer, first time poster. Bending to fit helps, but I too have had problems with grain getting underneath my false bottom in my 5-gal Igloo (used to use a bazooka tube) so I'm considering adding split tubing around the perimeter. I would be interest in hearing views on tubing material & diameter (considering 3/8 silicone), tricks & techniques for a clean split, and whether a simple butt joint where the two ends meet will be sufficient to seal & stay in place. Thanks.


--Rob C
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, 1986.

I don't know if yours is the same but my false bottom has a nut to keep the screen secure, the first time I used it the nut was underneath the screen suspending it, leaving a gap for grain to go underneath. This last time I made sure the nut was on top of the screen, made sure my tubing was really tight and screwed the nut down as much as I could which put enough force on it to close the gaps in the outside. No stuck sparge that time.


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I had same issue with my false bottom to.....I got mine through northern brewer. It was replace...promptly ..... But i was considering to stitch in underneath false bottom a piece of stainless steel screen to keep the grain bits out of tubing. But never did that due to replacement worked much better



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Not sure what nut you are referring to. Mine FB is from Rebel Brewer. There is a large nut which fastens the pickup elbow to the center of the FB and that's it. The FB is not firmly fixed in place; it just sits down in the concave bottom and is somewhat centered up by the stiff tubing between the pickup elbow and the ball valve. Vigorous stirring could move it around some. When i got this FB, it was nice and planar at the perimeter, but I had to bend it a little to follow the contours of the plastic cooler, which has slightly warped over the years. I am hoping the spit tubing around the perimeter will help with sealing out the grains.


--Rob C
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, 1986.