rectangle cooler mash tun false bottom.

[walte1fr]

Anyone have any ideas on a mash tun falsee bottom for a rectangle cooler? My efficiency is down into the 50s% range and looking to get it up a bit. Thanks

 

[opusx11]

i use a custom bag from Jimmy over at biab-brewing in a rectangle cooler.

 

[walte1fr]

So you just p ut the grains in a bag then put that in the cooler? Or do you secure it to the cooler? I thought about getting wire mesh to secure to the sides and let It hang but I would want to remove it.

 

[Durhamite]

I built basically the same thing as this:

Slot the bottom with a wheel on an angle grinder. I didnt even solder mine together. If you make it the perfect size to fit tightly in the bottom, it cant come apart while brewing, and it makes it easier to clean if you can still take it apart.

Used it for 2 or 3 years and never had a single problem with it.

 

[opusx11]

So you just p ut the grains in a bag then put that in the cooler? Or do you secure it to the cooler? I thought about getting wire mesh to secure to the sides and let It hang but I would want to remove it.

Yeah exactly, I put the bag in, add in the strike water, and then dough in. I did put in a ball-valve and just used a stainless steel street elbow from an online homebrew store to act as a pick up. This way I never have to lift the bag. Check out Jimmy's site, he has a video of his similar system in use.

Jimmy's bags come with a loop on each of the 4 corners, so I just use a bungee cord no each side to keep the bag from falling in when I open the lid.

 

[GrogNerd]

from a previous thread. scroll down, he gives the Amazon link

Here is what did in my Coleman Xtreme:

I made the false bottom from perforated aluminum from Amazon. It cost about 17 dollars. I already had a bazooka screen, so I left it there. It does a pretty good job. I regularly get efficiency into the 80s.

 

[k_mcarthur]

I built basically the same thing as this:

Slot the bottom with a wheel on an angle grinder. I didnt even solder mine together. If you make it the perfect size to fit tightly in the bottom, it cant come apart while brewing, and it makes it easier to clean if you can still take it apart.

Used it for 2 or 3 years and never had a single problem with it.

+1 on this type. I consistently get 85% with my mash tun. Only thing is John Palmer suggests to leave 1/2 the space between manifolds on the sides of the tun instead of making it tight. This helps to keep from channeling occurring during lautering and may boost your efficiency.

 

[walte1fr]

I have one manifold going around the entire cooler with aboit an inch of space all the way around. I like the idea of the mesh I wonder if I can pick one of those up locally. What kind of efficiency is he getting? Or I could build another manifold with more lines going through it. Thanks for the help everyone. This is great help.

 

[bsyas89]

from a previous thread. scroll down, he gives the Amazon link

How did you keep your aluminum from collapsing?

 

[GrogNerd]

How did you keep your aluminum from collapsing?

sorry, that's not my aluminum false bottom. I linked to another guy's mash tun build

from the looks of it, it doesn't look like it would collapse.

.063"/1.6mm is fairly thick, not like aluminum foil

here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H9VBRA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[srice]

Even though it isn't technically a false bottom, you might want to consider a BIAB bag (I know I just typed bag bag). Take a look at this video:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZp6AqanvPw[/ame]

These guys - http://www.biab-brewing.com/ sell cooler bags.

I'm converting to one of these in my cooler RIMS system. This should keep all of those pesky tiny particles out of my RIMS tube.

 

[walte1fr]

I Tried mashing longer, re-calibrating my thermometers, and recirculating the mash. never got about 60%. I did 1 BIAB just in my keggle and got ~75%. in my mash tun I have PVC (food grade) slotted and holes in it 4 going across the bottom so I don't think it was that. I can't wait to build my BCS-462 3 keggle system and hopefully fix all of this.

 

[OatStraw]

Even though it isn't technically a false bottom, you might want to consider a BIAB bag (I know I just typed bag bag). Take a look at this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZp6AqanvPw

These guys - http://www.biab-brewing.com/ sell cooler bags.

I'm converting to one of these in my cooler RIMS system. This should keep all of those pesky tiny particles out of my RIMS tube.

I know this is a few months old, but I wonder what the efficiency differences are with this method?