Questions about mashing with false bottoms

[neomantra]

So I'm starting to do some AG batches but have several questions. The goal here is simply to make good AG beer without a major hassle on brew day and without doing a lot of DIY construction labor (I live in a small apartment, have very few tools, am lazy, etc).

From slowly upgrading things over the years at this point I have a 5 gallon kettle (cheap stainless from target, no spigot), a 9 gallon kettle (probably meant for cooking food more than beer, it's tall and narrow w/ spigot), and then finally i got a 10 gallon megapot w/ spigot and brewmometer.

Note: I only ever make <=~5 gallon batches

1) I was thinking I could just buy a false bottom (http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/false-bottom-for-10-gal-megapot.html) for my Megapot. Would this allow me to use it for mashing? If so I could use my 5 gallon kettle for heating up strike/sparge water and the 9 gallon for collecting the wort right?

2) If I did this, and then transferred the wort collected in the 9 gallon pot back to the 10 gallon (after emptying grains of course) would it make sense to leave the false bottom in there to help filter hops/trub/etc?

3) Has anyone bought this combination of kettle and false bottom? Does the false bottom sit high enough that it's above the spigot valve inside the kettle? Did you install a dip tube or whatever to collect more of the wort without having to tilt the kettle? If I don't tip the kettle at all I've figured out that I lose about 1.5 gallons in the bottom of the kettle.

Any other tips or things I should be concerned about?

 

[neomantra]

I just noticed AHS also has something like this: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_82_88&products_id=12687. Maybe I just need one of those instead of a false bottom?

 

[ajf]

I have a 10g polarware kettle with false bottom and spigot. I wouldn't like to use it for mashing, because there is about 1g water beneath the false bottom (which would complicate my strike water calculations), and because of the potential temperature loss during the mash without installation. I'd also have to collect the runnings in something else as you obviously can't collect them in the kettle.

I love the false bottom for catching the hops (I always use leaf hops), and draining through the CFC.
I use a round cooler as a MLT. See https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-10-gallon-rubbermaid-mlt-conversion-23008/
Yes, it does take up a bit more space, but the false bottom (if that's the way you want to go) is much cheaper.
The false bottom is great for fly sparging, but the braid works just as well for batch.
For a kettle filter, I think either a braid or false bottom would work well for whole hops, but I don't think either would work with pellet hops unless you use a hop bag.
The false bottom in the kettle would also interfere with the operation of an immersion chiller.

-a.

 

[neomantra]

So I guess my best bet is just to buy that SS braid for my kettle and use that to mash. Sounds like I could get away with leaving that in as an extra filter during the boil too if I use a hop bag (i alternate between whole and pellet sometimes). I'm assuming it'd be ok to drop a copper coil in there on top of it if it's all stainless...not like light weight of the coil should damage it if it's putting pressure on it right?

 

[HickoryMike]

So I guess my best bet is just to buy that SS braid for my kettle and use that to mash.

I'm not a fan of the SS braids. I saw a friend brew with a mash tun that had a SS braid and he had to Vorlauf for a loooooong time to get wort to run clear. Watching him vorlauf by hand was pathetic. I use a cooler with a DIY copper manifold and it runs clear after a single, 2qt vorlauf. I think his efficiency was pretty average too.

That was my experience, but I bet there's a lot of folks on HBT that would give you more positive feedback.

I would go with the FB and add a dip tube, but that might be pricier than what you're hoping for.

 

[darkstar79]

I use a false bottom. all you need to do is figure out how much water sits beneath it and add that to the strike water, then just subtract that amount from the sparge water and you'll be fine.