favorite false bottom for boil keggle

Just trying to get an idea of what people like for false bottoms on their keg boil kettles.

I brew lots of IPA's and Pale Ales that usually have a mix of leaf hops and pellets. Just looking for a way to filter out my whole hops, and let the pellet junk go thru to the carboy.

I've found that a dip tube with a scrubby on the bottom WILL clog with enough pellet hops. I'm not even going to bother w/ a screen, I know how that will turn out.

Seems a false bottom might best suit my needs.

And no, I don't want to use the 5 gallon paint sock, I like the utilization I get without one...

Any suggestions?

I first would use a hop filter made with a CPVC coupling and a paint strainer bag. That will help you a ton. I hear people talk about utilization, but I've split brews and couldn't tell a difference. I made a DIY hop stopper out of
16 x 16 stainless mesh. Looking forward to using it. Whirlpool, strainer, and dip tube should solve the problem.

MTHarrington said:

Just trying to get an idea of what people like for false bottoms on their keg boil kettles.

I brew lots of IPA's and Pale Ales that usually have a mix of leaf hops and pellets. Just looking for a way to filter out my whole hops, and let the pellet junk go thru to the carboy.

I've found that a dip tube with a scrubby on the bottom WILL clog with enough pellet hops. I'm not even going to bother w/ a screen, I know how that will turn out.

Seems a false bottom might best suit my needs.

And no, I don't want to use the 5 gallon paint sock, I like the utilization I get without one...

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

I'm guessing that means you've actually tried the hop sack? I have and I'm with Dog House Brew in that I haven't noticed a difference either.

However, I'm planning to convert my keggle to electric and though I prefer the hop sack, I might have to go with some sort of false bottom since I'm not sure the hop sack would have enough clearance above the heater element for a 5 gallon batch.

I've tried a variation of the hop sack...

But beyond utilization, I am not a huge fan of dangling a plastic sack, made of who-knows-what into my wort.
I mean, there's enough plastic stuff in the world that you really shouldn't expose to boiling temperatures. So, rather than guess about if the sack is going to release some sort of carcinogen, I'd just as soon use metal.

I was hoping to see if a false bottom COULD be used for the boil kettle, and successful allow pellet hops thru, while straining out the whole hops.

Sabco's is the best, IMO, for a keggle. Pricey at $80+S/H but so worth it.

MTHarrington said:

I've tried a variation of the hop sack...

But beyond utilization, I am not a huge fan of dangling a plastic sack, made of who-knows-what into my wort.
I mean, there's enough plastic stuff in the world that you really shouldn't expose to boiling temperatures. So, rather than guess about if the sack is going to release some sort of carcinogen, I'd just as soon use metal.

I was hoping to see if a false bottom COULD be used for the boil kettle, and successful allow pellet hops thru, while straining out the whole hops.

Click to expand...

I actually use a muslin bag for my filter

Dog House Brew said:

I actually use a muslin bag for my filter

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How big is it? If its huge, where did you get it?

I buy the material at the local fabric store and sew it to fit my kettle. Then with my home made hop stopper screen I don't have the trouble with hops. The muslin is cheap and comes in a few different grades. I did see a store that had several diffrent sizes, Brew Masters or Austin maybe. Can't remember.

PM Jaybird. His are quality and no need to spend a ton of $$.

Soulrebel said:

PM Jaybird. His are quality and no need to spend a ton of $$.

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I'd echo that - we bought 2 off Jaybird, good quality and sturdy FBs. Plus he will make them to your spec. We got 2 hinged, 15" (sits higher which we liked), and 1/2" dip tube hole.

mplutodh1 said:

I'd echo that - we bought 2 off Jaybird, good quality and sturdy FBs. Plus he will make them to your spec. We got 2 hinged, 15" (sits higher which we liked), and 1/2" dip tube hole.

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And you use it in your BK? Good for filtering out whole/leaf hops I imagine, but not really for pellet hops I suspect?

MTHarrington said:

Howdy there,

I was told in a thread today that you make 15" folding false bottoms for sanke kegs...

How much do you charge for one?

Thanks!!!
-Matt

Click to expand...

Matt
Your PM box is full
Yes I do.. They are $95 shipped anywhere in the US
I have 1 available at the moment that I can ship tomorrow if you want it.
Cheers
Jay

Baron ken said:

And you use it in your BK? Good for filtering out whole/leaf hops I imagine, but not really for pellet hops I suspect?

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Well that's my question.

I want to know if a jaybird's or anyone's false bottom will filter the whole hops, but let the pellet hops pass thru.

I'm just interested in having good flow to my CFC and dealing with the pellet hops in the carboy.

MTHarrington said:

Just trying to get an idea of what people like for false bottoms on their keg boil kettles.

I brew lots of IPA's and Pale Ales that usually have a mix of leaf hops and pellets. Just looking for a way to filter out my whole hops, and let the pellet junk go thru to the carboy.

I've found that a dip tube with a scrubby on the bottom WILL clog with enough pellet hops. I'm not even going to bother w/ a screen, I know how that will turn out.

Seems a false bottom might best suit my needs.

And no, I don't want to use the 5 gallon paint sock, I like the utilization I get without one...

Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

I would also like to know if a false bottom will work. I have a bazooka screen in my keggle and it plugs also. Even with small 5 g batches and 4 oz. of hops it still will plug before fully drained. On my large batches with 8-9 oz. of hops I have to scrape the screen. Any ideas?

Check out Climax Homebrewing on Ebay, too. I just got (2) 15" 16ga, plasma cut, hinged false bottoms with 1/2" holes for $110 shipped: They're pretty burly, but I haven't used them yet. I've used everything under the sun to filter hops. I'm going with a false bottom because:

1) Hops can float free, and utilization will never suffer. I use whole hops whenever I can, as they are usually fresher and have higher AA%.
2) Hopefully no carcinogens.
3) Should be able to remove dip tube and pull most of hop sludge right out.
4) Wasted wort should be less than a cup or 2, with no worries about clogs. I can simply scrape the FB if it gets completely covered.

It is difficult to clog the surface area of a 15" FB, but very easy to clog a diptube or bazooka tee that is surrounded by sludge. Any small particles that do get thru will not affect your pump or chiller if you take care to recirc PBW when done.

That Climax Homebrew false bottom looks pretty damn nice for the money. What's your prognosis having used this now?

I've always let my hop gunk run right into my fermentation buckets. I realize I'm losing wort to trub but thought it still helped with flavor (obviously wrong). What is the big reason for keeping hop trub out of the fermentation buckets?

False bottom in the boil kettle. Used 100% pellet hops in these pics:

Catt22 said:

False bottom in the boil kettle. Used 100% pellet hops in these pics:

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That's pretty cool.

So, I basically gave up on pellet hops and use leaf hops exclusively. I changed my downtube so that it has a T on the end of it with two 4 inch stubs with slots on the bottom of it. Does a fine job and I discovered that with my hop supplier (Brew Brothers and Hops Direct), I have no problem getting the hops I want.
Cheap solution, no more clogs.

The only issue I have is that whole hops tend to soak up more wort, so I usually adjust my final volume to compensate for that.