Tilting false bottom

[RobJ]

I'm starting another thread on this as I've got a thread on hear about my MLT being too wide and this problem came up. I've got 2" of 'dead space' under my false bottom, I'm using wort pumps to recirculate through my HLT coil. The problem is my grain to water ratio is not working to cover the grain bed, my thoughts on this is that if I tilt the false bottom as I can just lower it for the bottom valve, I will get rid of this dead space and lower the grain so it should be covered with the right amount of water instead of adding more during mashing. My other thought is is this classed as 'dead space' as the recirculating is moving the wort around and through the grain? I still need to lower the false bottom to get the grain bed covered without adding too much water. For a 10 gallon batch I use 17lb of grain and 5 gal of water for mashing and 7-8 gal for sparging, but to cover the grain bed I ave to add 7.5 gal for mashing, which is too watery. Any thoughts and help would be good as I'm ready for my 4th batch now and wouldn't mind getting this one bang on!
Cheers
Rob


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[dyqik]

Can you place a dip tube through your false bottom, and lower the whole thing considerably? This is how the domed false bottoms work, for example.

Tilting the false bottom shouldn't be too much of an issue in itself, although it won't fit as well as it used to - there'll be a 1.25 mm extra gap at the high and low sides, if you tip it by the full amount, and the grain bed on the low side will be thicker than the high side, so it might not be sparged as effectively (if you fly sparge). Don't know how big that effect is likely to be, possible not much.

 

[RobJ]

Can you place a dip tube through your false bottom, and lower the whole thing considerably? This is how the domed false bottoms work, for example.

Tilting the false bottom shouldn't be too much of an issue in itself, although it won't fit as well as it used to - there'll be a 1.25 mm extra gap at the high and low sides, if you tip it by the full amount, and the grain bed on the low side will be thicker than the high side, so it might not be sparged as effectively (if you fly sparge). Don't know how big that effect is likely to be, possible not much.

Makes sense that it won't fit properly, dip tube is the way forward, how much space do you reckon I should leave under the false bottom, was thinking 3/4" and have the dip tube 1/2", cheers for the help bud
B


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[TreeBeard]

I have a similar setup; my MLT has 1.75 gallons of dead space. I correct the mash water volume by adding the correct grist to water ratio amount plus the 1.75 gallons to fill the dead space. Then I subtract the 1.75 gallons from the sparge water in order to keep the wort collection amount the same.

 

[dyqik]

Makes sense that it won't fit properly, dip tube is the way forward, how much space do you reckon I should leave under the false bottom, was thinking 3/4" and have the dip tube 1/2", cheers for the help bud

That makes sense, but you could go even lower - look at the domed false bottoms - these only rise about 1/2 an inch above the base of the pot, and the elbow hose barb screwed through them gets to about 1/4 in above the bottom of the pot. No problems with mine in a couple of RIMS brews, and about 10 non-RIMS brews.

The elbow is held in place with a second nut on the underside. (image found somewhere on the forum, but mine is just like this).

 

[RobJ]

I've been trying to get 20" domed bottom like yours but I'm struggling in the UK. I've managed to get mine down to 1/2" now, I had to notch the bottom for the 2 outlets then make copper caps (had no stainless) to cover the notches, made a right mess trying to solder them on, I know solder doesn't stick to stainless steel but thought it would bond through the holes, managed in the end but made a right old mess of it. Will post a pic soon, it will work ok but not to sure about the copper in the MLT?? Anyhow I'm still searching for a domed false bottom so hopefully mine will only be for a couple of brews, cheers for your help


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[Thedutchtouch]

You could also just not care about a thin mash. I've done the exact same recipe as full volume mash BIAB and "normal" multi vessel brewing with a thicker mash and sparge, and nobody could tell any difference

 

[RobJ]

You could also just not care about a thin mash. I've done the exact same recipe as full volume mash BIAB and "normal" multi vessel brewing with a thicker mash and sparge, and nobody could tell any difference

I've done it now bud, done a brew on Friday but finished way off, 1042 instead of 1050, having trouble calculating how much boil off I'm getting in the BK, need to check out a few threads. I'll get there soon, must have got over the little teething problems now, cheers


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[RobJ]

I have a similar setup; my MLT has 1.75 gallons of dead space. I correct the mash water volume by adding the correct grist to water ratio amount plus the 1.75 gallons to fill the dead space. Then I subtract the 1.75 gallons from the sparge water in order to keep the wort collection amount the same.

I've done 3 batches now, added the extra water for the dead space which wasn't much now I've dropped the bottom. Never worried about the sparge water just the amount collected in the BK, it my OG spot on on the all 3 batches, wrecked the first coz a never put the hop filter in (tit), second 2 were class tho, happy days, cheers mate


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[jeffmeh]

How does getting some hops in a fermenter ruin a batch? Or did something else happen?

 

[RobJ]

How does getting some hops in a fermenter ruin a batch? Or did something else happen?

Hops blocked chill plate and couldn't get me hand in to sort it with the wort being a bit warm, it was only spoilt because I was 2 gal short and it was all the strong hoppy flavoured wort


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[govner1]

Have you considered making a cooper manifold for use in your MLT. Very easy to construct in a hexagonal shape a reduces your deadspace to 1/2" or less.


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[RobJ]

Have you considered making a cooper manifold for use in your MLT. Very easy to construct in a hexagonal shape a reduces your deadspace to 1/2" or less.


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Hi there
Sorry for not getting back, I havnt been on here for a while


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[RobJ]

Have you considered making a cooper manifold for use in your MLT. Very easy to construct in a hexagonal shape a reduces your deadspace to 1/2" or less.


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Hi there
Sorry for not getting back, I havnt been on here for a while, I don't know what you mean, I think I've sorted the problem but always open for suggestions and new ideas, cheers


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