false bottom vs ss hop spider in bk

[KaSaBiS]

If both were the same price, which would you choose and why. The false bottom doesn't cause temp change. Would it let more pellet dust through unless I went all out on jaybirds level 3 setup? It would help with hot break as well. But the hop spider is lighter and I would assume easier to clean. Anyone work with both?

 

[maida7]

The false bottom can clog

 

[stpug]

I don't see those as mutually exclusive items. I would say that if your goal is to have (mostly) hop-free wort flow out of the BK then the hop spider would be the way to go.

 

[KaSaBiS]

I am in a keggle and although I whirlpool with a side pickup I still get quite a ton of hot break in my fermenter and with my ipa's half my fermenter is filled with the two (before it settles) and I don't know if its worth it to wait a day to pitch (sanitization practices permit). Looking at the 3 stage filter false bottom on nor-cal site looks promising. I am hoping I can get away with one or the other. If I were to clog it I would lose my mind. If the FB works as good as advertised I would love it as I can repurpose it if need be when I get out of my cooler MT
Thanks for responding

 

[stz]

I'm in the middle of a brew day and my 10gal boiler is fitted with a tap which I prefer to use so can't whirlpool+siphon. I ordered up some stainless hose/mesh stuff but I don't think it'll work as well as I thought and I'm usually paranoid about under utilisation of hops when I bag them.

This brew day, I'm going to try taking a large nylon mesh bag I've got and use it to line my boiler entirely before I add my wort to it. I'm going to keep it in the boiler throughout the boil and even while the chiller goes in. I'm going to open my tap as usual and hope that the bag contains all the hot break, cold break, hop sludge etc and I'm just going to poke it if it clogs up. In effect it is acting as a false bottom. I'll squeeze it if it turns out I'm losing significant amounts of wort.

I'm going to run out of the tap, through 2 layers of nylon filter bag in a funnel and straight into my fermenter afterwards. I love the idea of engineering solutions but I figure why throw money at it sometimes.

 

[KaSaBiS]

I hear ya. I am looking for a "set it and forget it" method. getting more wort out of my kettle, avoiding anything getting stuck, and durability/ease of cleaning/fiddling is what I want to spend my cash on. I really don't want to buy both, but if I were to the FB can always move to my new (when I build it) MT

 

[Dolomieu]

I am in a keggle and although I whirlpool with a side pickup I still get quite a ton of hot break in my fermenter and with my ipa's half my fermenter is filled with the two (before it settles) and I don't know if its worth it to wait a day to pitch (sanitization practices permit). Looking at the 3 stage filter false bottom on nor-cal site looks promising. I am hoping I can get away with one or the other. If I were to clog it I would lose my mind. If the FB works as good as advertised I would love it as I can repurpose it if need be when I get out of my cooler MT
Thanks for responding

I have one of those in my mash tun and love it. I do whirlpool when mashing out and have had no problems. thats with grain bills for 10 and 5 gallon batches. I would like one for my bk to complement my hops spider but i need to move to a CFC first. Oh and my hop spider is from stainless brewing and i love that thing. Best of luck.

 

[KaSaBiS]

I have one of those in my mash tun and love it. I do whirlpool when mashing out and have had no problems. thats with grain bills for 10 and 5 gallon batches. I would like one for my bk to complement my hops spider but i need to move to a CFC first. Oh and my hop spider is from stainless brewing and i love that thing. Best of luck.

awesome. Im glad to hear that you see a place for both. I am thinking jump on the FB for the time being. If I weren't buying a new house I could sneak both the purchases past swmbo.

we should knock a few back next time I am in Cbus (when the next beerfest is) Id love to see them in action.

Ever wish your hop spider was 300 mesh?

 

[Komocabo]

I love my false bottom with center dip tube. Its the same as my mash tun. Never a stuck a large, or clogged yet with either application.

I brewed a 10 gal batch the other day and had 14 oz of hops (mmmmm). No clogging and the hops acted as a filter for the hot break... awesome!

 

[KaSaBiS]

I love my false bottom with center dip tube. Its the same as my mash tun. Never a stuck a large, or clogged yet with either application.

I brewed a 10 gal batch the other day and had 14 oz of hops (mmmmm). No clogging and the hops acted as a filter for the hot break... awesome!

Great!. Just placed my order with a level 3 filter. I may be able to get away from the non boil zone/reduction in isomerization that the hop spider gives.

how much of those 14 oz were leaf?

 

[outside92129]

my false bottom clogs up all the time so i've been using hop socks with great effect, I have a hop spider device that i'll have to explain today/tomorrow when it arrives from arborfab.com : )

 

[Dolomieu]

awesome. Im glad to hear that you see a place for both. I am thinking jump on the FB for the time being. If I weren't buying a new house I could sneak both the purchases past swmbo.

we should knock a few back next time I am in Cbus (when the next beerfest is) Id love to see them in action.

Ever wish your hop spider was 300 mesh?

Yeah i think since i already have it i could use it with the FB with no problem. Gives me a way to split them up for those big IPAs. I did have a home made one that worked just as well. I wish i would have jumped on that 45 dollar sale he just had but i too have recently purchased a house and am still trying to get it around. The thought of a spider with bazooka tube has crossed my mind too. I have a buddy that uses just a bazooka tube and has never had an issue. He makes a wicked Pliny clone.

I think the next beer fest in columbus is in August and the LC pavilion. I may be volunteering for that one. I wold be happy to slam a pint or two with ya. I have a buddy that has 8 taps running at all times, same guy with the bazooka tube. Maybe we drop in there as his set up is way more impressive than what i have

I don't really. I have the 400 and just did the purrring kitten session IPA with all pellet hops. I whirl pooled into it as i was cooling and it caught a lot of the pellet debris. In fact i am considering leaving the spider out next time until the last few minutes of boil and only whirl pooling into it at the end. At least when i am only using pellets. I am concerned about the lack of utilization with this spider. i didn't have an issue when using the 5 gallon strainer bag spider set up but am thinking this one may have a bit of an issue with it. We will see, i brew more in the fall so i should have a better feel for that when i get to brew more frequently.

 

[Komocabo]

Great!. Just placed my order with a level 3 filter. I may be able ff get away from the non boil zone/reduction in isomerization that the hop spider gives.

how much of those 14 oz were leaf?

I only use hop leaves. I have nothing against pellets at all, but I grow a lot of my own hops, and the LHBS has a bigger variety of leaf hops. I'm in the Willamette Valley (Oregon) and there are a lot of commercial growers around here which is great. Good luck with the new equipment!

 

[KaSaBiS]

my false bottom clogs up all the time so i've been using hop socks with great effect, I have a hop spider device that i'll have to explain today/tomorrow when it arrives from arborfab.com : )

Can you describe your FB for me? is it single layer? anything like the nor-cal with level 3 filter by chance?

I think the next beer fest in columbus is in August and the LC pavilion. I may be volunteering for that one. I wold be happy to slam a pint or two with ya. I have a buddy that has 8 taps running at all times, same guy with the bazooka tube. Maybe we drop in there as his set up is way more impressive than what i have

I will hop on here and get at ya when the time comes. and I thought I was lucky with 5 taps lol

The bazooka tube in a bk worries me. Ive smashed mine a few times in my MT, and even after stuffing a spring in it, I still get a slow sparge some times. Couldn't imagine what pellet hops would do to it

 

[Komocabo]

I used a bazooka tube for a few batches (whole hops) and it would clog all of the time, slooooooow draining sucks.

 

[outside92129]

My FB is a DIY keg bottom with a bunch of slots cut into it w/ an angle grinder. It works well with leaf hops, it's a disaster with pellet and irish moss. It doesn't do sludge at all (i don't whirlpool... yet).

 

[KaSaBiS]

I almost exclusively use pellet hops. I am thinking if the new FB purchase choke on the break then at least I have a FB for my MT. I may have too much confidence in it but this sounds promising:

Ithe level 3 is designed for pellet hops and the trub you get during the boil...yes the holes are all the same
Here is how it works. We know the 15" alone will stop about 80% or more of the pellet hops.and if layered like we do we use hops and trub to create a filter, kind of like you do in the MLT. I have used the system with well over 16oz of hops in a 10 gallon batch and was, after a quick recirculation able to collect my wort in a carboy with very little hops transferred. Would say the system will easily filter 95 to 97% of your trub and hops. I was able to filter more than that but I dont.want you to think its 100% Its close, very close..QUOTE]

 

[Komocabo]

Ah, the silver lining

 

[outside92129]

whoa, that level3 + the fb is pretty nice looking. Way more than what my DIY rig can do. If you get it can you report back?

http://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/Level-3_15-Inch_FB_Stand.html