dustinolsen84
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This will be my first all grain using a cooler conversion. I do not have a false bottom. How important is a false bottom? How do I keep the sparge from stopping?
Do I need a false bottom?
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Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
You need a false bottom, a manifold, or a bazooka screen in order to mash/sparge using a cooler. Do you have a valve on the cooler?
dustinolsen84
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Yes a valve on the igloo cooler
A false bottom is a nice addition to a round 10 gallon cooler. Its pretty hard to get a stuck sparge unless you mill your grains to complete flour. 2nd best is some sort of manifold, either stainless mesh or slotted copper tubing. Not as good as a false bottom but will work.
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Bought all my materials for my CPVC manifold for 10 bucks and it took me an hour to make...best decision I made going all grain!
Cheers!
dustinolsen84
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I like the BIAB idea. Where do people get them online? I live in nowhere Wyoming. ..
dustinolsen84
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Also. Have any of you used a igloo without a bag or false bottom? Did it turn out?
JustLooking
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So, dump and hose out a cooler or..... pull dripping grain bag from cooler, dump bag and clean stuck husk material from the mesh, wash bag and still have to hose the cooler?
Not saying it not an effective option, but questioning the easier part.
McKnuckle
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Even in nowhere Wyoming there's probably a hardware store - get a 5 gallon mesh paint strainer bag.
I just started using my BIAB bag in my cooler even though I have a FB and everything. I love it. So easy to dump grain. The last two brew days where I used it are the first brew days where grain didn't end up on my floor.
I have a large bag that was bought to fit my 15-gallon kettle. I use that and I love the construction. I bought it from: http://www.brewinabag.com
For me it is. I brew inside and I had to dump grain into a trash bag, which always somehow resulted in grain getting on the floor, take my FB out and clean that in the sink then take the cooler outside to the side of the yard and hose it out. It is not hard at all really. However, now I pull the bag out, put it in a garden trash bag (the black ones), turn it over and get all of the grain out, rinse the bag out in the sink, rinse the FB out in the sink, and wash down the cooler in place.
Whether it is easier is all subjective. Not having to take it out and hose it down where I end up wet myself and if it is raining it sucked more, is nicer. Also, I wanted to find a method for when I move my brewing to a shed.
Yeah, depends on the process I suppose. For me it's easier to plop the bag in a smaller vessel and then I can let it sit and go dump the grain at my leisure vs. wrestling a bottom-drain keggle outside, turning it upside-down, having a false bottom & stand plop out, etc. Can pretty much CIP the keggle now just by a recirc of PBW with a pump, then recirc rinse, which I did before anyways (but now I don't have to wait to dump / hose out).
But I suppose the bigger / more objective plus is just that you have better protection against a stuck drain vs. any of the other conventional methods. If you have something that works already with how you brew, no need to switch to a bag, but for someone who hasn't purchased anything yet, I think starting with a bag is a good idea.
harry_the_face
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You can make your own bag to fit you cooler by going to the fabric store and buying nylon mesh in the design coarseness then cutting and sewing to fit.
I wouldn't recommend doing this without some way of filtering the grain. You'll end up with a huge mess.
^^ This. Given how much of an F***ING nightmare it has been when i've gotten grain in my manifold or had a stuck sparge (NTM how much it hurts fishing out the pieces and then putting them back in) I would 100% recommend against it. You could probably get away with trying this in a 2 gallon batch, but you'll get a ton of unnecessary trub by dumping your cooler around.
If you're already sprung for the cooler and the bulkhead, do yourself a favor and get some form of false bottom. A biab bag is probably your cheapest/easiest option - it's a great place to start. Cheaper domed false bottoms have collapsed on some people when using heavy grain bills (20# or more) so be mindful of that when you go to purchase.
Your equipment will grow with you over time - don't be afraid to experiment. Just please, for your sanity's sake (or that of your sig other, roommates, parents, etc.) make sure to use some type of false bottom!
Graciefunk
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I have had my false bottom malfunction (not flush with bottom of cooler) so effectively had no false bottom. I can tell you, about 50 ml of liquid will trickle out until it becomes totally blocked with infuriating consequences. False bottom/bag/whatever is ABSOLUTELY essential.
I use a false bottom from jay bird great piece fits like a glove in my 10 gal round igloo but some grain still gets by its no biggie but I can't imagine using anything but a false bottom. A braid only scares me that it would collapse under the weight of the grain bed. Buying a great false bottom has taken that worry away I thought about even adding a braid under the false bottom but I stopped tipping and just corrected my sparge and strike water amounts and that's held out a lot of the grain that seeps through.
If you have the $50 get the full false bottom. You'll spend at least half that on something simple like a manifold or braided tube, and it won't work as well. With a true false bottom in a 10G cooler you can easily get 85-90% efficiency.
With due respect, I'm sure a F/B works well, but my experience, along with many, many others have had great success with a stainless braid available for less than 5 bucks. I prefer a stainless braid.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Watts-3-...ee-LFBK-LBF-12/203789991?N=5yc1vZbqjnZ1z138i0
Brew Hardware stainless screen $10
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/tubescreen.htm
For those that prefer a F/B, Complete false bottom kit from Brew Hardware $69
https://www.brewhardware.com/category_s/1847.htm
dustinolsen84
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I did get a 5 gallon strainer bag. Do you put grain in and tie and then put it in igloo cooler?
ndinh
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I've used a bazooka, steel braid and a false bottom. The steel braid worked the best but still not perfect. The false bottom was a POS. It got stuck numerous times during the mash which caused me to remove hot mash to clear everything out. Very bad experience with it. I'm in the process of making a copper manifold in hopes that it'll be the best method for batch sparging with a cooler.
jtp137
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It depends on how you plan on sparging. If batch sparging there is no channeling and you only need a steel braid
I use to use a braided line, but have since picked up a bag from wilserbrewer. First batch with the bag went great. I like that I can crush my grain as fine as I want with no worry. I also noticed that the bag fits the keggle as well as my 10gal cooler which is nice.
I'd count all of those, as well as manifolds, false bottoms, and BIAB bags in the same category. My understanding from the op's question was whether he could just mash with nothing in the cooler other than grain, water, and a drain.
