Draining the mash tun

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pabloj13

pabloj13

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I have been having nothing but trouble with a false bottom in my 10 gallon Igloo mash tun so I just took it out and make a CPVC manifold. 1/2" pipe with hack saw cuts every half inch on the bottom side.

IMAG0250.jpg


What is the best way to drain the mash tun with a manifold like this (i.e. open it full bore, let it go slowly at first, etc.)? I am doing a wheat beer next and would like to avoid a stuck sparge if I can.
 
Well first of all if you're doing a beer with a decent amount of wheat I'd most certainly put in 0.5# of rice hulls.

Second, I always start the runnings super slow to help it get a nice compact grain bed that won't get stuck. Nothing wrong with another 5 minutes added to the brew day to ensure it doesn't get stuck (which would likely add a lot more than 5 minutes)
 
Reno_eNVy said:
Well first of all if you're doing a beer with a decent amount of wheat I'd most certainly put in 0.5# of rice hulls.

Second, I always start the runnings super slow to help it get a nice compact grain bed that won't get stuck. Nothing wrong with another 5 minutes added to the brew day to ensure it doesn't get stuck (which would likely add a lot more than 5 minutes)
Click to expand...

Yeah, rice hulls were for sure in this batch. So you open it just a crack and then once you see the top of the grain bed, you crank it wide open?
 
pabloj13 said:
Yeah, rice hulls were for sure in this batch. So you open it just a crack and then once you see the top of the grain bed, you crank it wide open?
Click to expand...

No. I just crack it so it's draining a trickle for 5 minutes (usually as long as it takes me to assemble and set up my burner and chiller), then open it 1/4 full for a minute or two, and then run it about 1/2 open until I'm convinced it's okay to open up 100%
 
Reno_eNVy said:
No. I just crack it so it's draining a trickle for 5 minutes (usually as long as it takes me to assemble and set up my burner and chiller), then open it 1/4 full for a minute or two, and then run it about 1/2 open until I'm convinced it's okay to open up 100%
Click to expand...

My manifold looks the same and this is what I do. I always toss in 1 or 2 handfuls of rice hulls in my brews.
 
What kind of problems were you having with the FB?
I use a plastic one and the only problem I've had with it is that I have to be sure to get the air out from underneath or it'll try to float, which lets my grain get underneath and cause a stuck sparge. I did that the first time I used it and now I just tap it a few times with a spoon when I put my strike water in to pre-heat it. I also open the valve for a second to get the air out of it as well. Since I've been doing that, I've had zero problems.

I'd like to upgrade to a metal one at some point though. Is yours metal? Wanna sell it? ;)
 
+1 on the rice hulls, but a handful or two is enough. don't bother weighing it. You're just separating the sticky stuff and giving a bed of more firm material to help keep the sticky wheat out of your manifold openings.
 
krazydave said:
What kind of problems were you having with the FB?
I use a plastic one and the only problem I've had with it is that I have to be sure to get the air out from underneath or it'll try to float, which lets my grain get underneath and cause a stuck sparge. I did that the first time I used it and now I just tap it a few times with a spoon when I put my strike water in to pre-heat it. I also open the valve for a second to get the air out of it as well. Since I've been doing that, I've had zero problems.

I'd like to upgrade to a metal one at some point though. Is yours metal? Wanna sell it? ;)
Click to expand...

The problem I was having was that the grain would push the elbow fitting down into the bottom of the cooler and leave almost no room for wort to flow. It is a metal one from homebrewing.org here. Fits the 10 gallon Igloo perfectly. I have friends that swear by theirs, but I suck at getting that to work for some reason. If I put a little pressure downwards on the outside valve I could open it up and it would flow fine, so I know it wasn't a stuck sparge. I actually am probably going to sell it, though NC to CA shipping would probably make it not worth it for you. It's a nice slotted SS FB though.
 
Did you try adjusting the elbow so it sits a little higher? That must be some cheap thin SS, the weight of the grains and water should not be enough to push the FB down far enough for that elbow to touch the bottom of the cooler..
 
poislb said:
Did you try adjusting the elbow so it sits a little higher? That must be some cheap thin SS, the weight of the grains and water should not be enough to push the FB down far enough for that elbow to touch the bottom of the cooler..
Click to expand...

The way this one was plumbed, the elbow just sits loose in the hole of the FB. To their credit, they sent me another elbow to try to remedy the problem. I'm sure I could make it work, but since I am batch sparging, I don't really need a FB. I think the manifold will be better for me.
 
I brewed today and had a problem with the runoff and used rice hulls.
Problem was false bottom was not tight to bottom of MLT and hulls got
under false bottom.Obviously I have to adjust pick up tube (bend) to put more
pressure on the false bottom to hold it down tighter.Anyway,had to stop runoff
and blow though the spigot and managed to runoff in 70 min.Hit my numbers
but was a learning experience for me.Don`t put rice hulls in MLT before the grain,
add it altogether.Besides dropping thermometer in kettle while cooling brew day
was fairly smooth.

Cheers
 
Got ya, so you got the hard plumb kit with it i take it? If ya wanna trade or sell it it out right let me know. I almost pulled the plug on it a while back. I would replace it with a regular barbed nipple and use a high temp hose....Just let me know. Cheers, hope the manifold works better for ya..
 
pabloj13 said:
The problem I was having was that the grain would push the elbow fitting down into the bottom of the cooler and leave almost no room for wort to flow. It is a metal one from homebrewing.org here. Fits the 10 gallon Igloo perfectly. I have friends that swear by theirs, but I suck at getting that to work for some reason. If I put a little pressure downwards on the outside valve I could open it up and it would flow fine, so I know it wasn't a stuck sparge. I actually am probably going to sell it, though NC to CA shipping would probably make it not worth it for you. It's a nice slotted SS FB though.
Click to expand...

The fix for that would be to drill a couple holes in the sides of the elbow, in the threads below the FB. That way if it presses against the bottom of the cooler, it can still flow through the sides. This is how my plastic FB came and it works fine.
But hey, if you're still looking to sell it, let me know what you want for it. I might be interested!
 

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