Alternative for False Bottom Stand

[redone17]

I am using a kettle that will act as my boil kettle for one or two more batches. (new bigger/better kettle delivers in September!) I am finally getting around to installing a weldless ball valve to make it easier to transfer hot liquids to the HLT and/or mash tun.

Since I will be using it as a boil kettle this weekend I need to come up with something to avoid sucking in a ton of trub into my fermentor...I don't think a kettle screen is the answer.

I know they sell those false bottoms w/ stand - but that's a significant investment for a temporary solution.

appreciate any input.

Cheers,
CP

 

[HumulusHead]

This past weekend I tried something to combat the same issue. Not sure if it's an acceptable procedure but here is what I did.

I have this large nylon bag that I used to do biab-esque brews with. Now it just sits around so I decided to use it to filter out my trub.

I sanitized the bag in star San. The bag is big enough that it completely covers the inside of a 6 gallon pail and can fold over the top a ways.

I lined the bucket with it and drained everything from my kettle into the bucket including all trub.

I then lifted out the bag and drained the beer out until all that was left in the bag was hop pellet residue and any grain that made it out of my mash run.

Seemed to work really well!


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[redone17]

not a bad solution! I guess I could ferment in a bucket this time around...I usually use carboys. That is certainly the best way to get ALL of the wort out of the kettle too.

thanks for the suggestion!

I am planning on using a Johnson Temp Controller for the first time this batch as well - do they read on the outside of plastic buckets as well as glass carboys?

 

[HumulusHead]

I recently switched back to buckets from glass and haven't noticed much of a difference with the temp controller.

I tape it to the side of the bucket with some insulation over the probe.

Tho I have heard people saying they think the bucket may insulate between the beer and the probe a bit more. I haven't noticed that tho


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[redone17]

thanks for the tips. I will follow up on how it works out.

cheers!
CP

 

[redone17]

that worked out really well! Thanks again. I got a large coarse mesh bag - and the trub still gunked it up and I needed to move the contents around a bit and squeeze some out towards the end - but overall a totally reasonable solution.

CP

 

[HumulusHead]

that worked out really well! Thanks again. I got a large coarse mesh bag - and the trub still gunked it up and I needed to move the contents around a bit and squeeze some out towards the end - but overall a totally reasonable solution.



CP

I also had to do some squeezing but I really like how much trub it filtered out. If a guy wasn't impatient (I.e. Not me) the bag would prob fully drip out if suspended above the pail. I'd guess it'd take like an hour tho, prob not worth the contamination risk

Glad it worked out for ya tho!!


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[soupfist]

that worked out really well! Thanks again. I got a large coarse mesh bag - and the trub still gunked it up and I needed to move the contents around a bit and squeeze some out towards the end - but overall a totally reasonable solution.

CP

Yeah I've done many a successful batch this way - used to be my only option before I got a kettle with a valve. The nylon bags come 2 to a pack at my local Home Depot, and I used to use one of them to BIAB and the other to strain the wort out of the fermenter as I poured it in. The only down side is you're invariably doing a lot of squeezing if you're using above an ounce or so of hops, and while I never had a bad batch because of it, it was time consuming at a point in the brew day where I'd rather just drain & pitch, plus I never felt right about the sanitation risks of honking on a big ol' wet bag of hops and hot break with my "sanitized" bare hands (again, though, never had a problem). When I got a kettle with a valve and a bazooka screen I stopped fooling with it.

One tip I can give from learning the hard way: despite the elastic around the top, those bags are too short for a 6.5g fermenter bucket and the elastic isn't as strong as it seems, so pour slow until the water level comes up to the bottom of the bag, or else the caught material will push the bag into the wort and you'll look like this guy.

 

[Bobby_M]

The solution is bag your hops in nylon bags. Or.... I'm assuming you chill with an immersion chiller. Once it's cooled, remove the chiller, cover the pot and let everything settle out for 15 minutes before pouring or racking to the fermenter.

 

[redone17]

soupfist - a bazooka screen works? I would think that would clog up with all that wort rushing out of the valve...

 

[soupfist]

soupfist - a bazooka screen works? I would think that would clog up with all that wort rushing out of the valve...

Coincidentally I was just having this conversation in a different thread. Yes it works, but you have to do a bit of sloshing to dislodge the hops from the screen for that last 1-2 gallons. And I suspect that sloshing is keeping the cold break in suspension in smaller particles, which mostly make it through the screen. Also, I suspect I'm only getting away with it at all because I'm not one of those IPA-crazy uber hoppers -- I am usually only using 1-1.5 oz hops total per batch. Any more than that, I can see it becoming a big nuisance.

Still, I would rather slosh around a screen at this point than go back to the nylon bags, but that's just preference. I may eventually try just whirlpooling without the screen and see if that gets better results.

 

[redone17]

I am not a massive hophead myself the last coupld of years - tastes change...I guess it would be a good thing to have around! Turns out I may have another brewday under my belt with this kettle...my brother is visiting from the west coast - and of course he wants to brew an IPA...I am thinking of doing skeezerpleezer's clone of Zombie Dust. Luckily I will have my new Speidel fermentor by then...should make it easy to sift out the trub using the nylon bag method again.

Cheers,
Chris