Bottom Drain mash tun disadvantages

[Izzie1701]

Are there any disadvantages. I was thinking of using a false bottom and then having it drain out the bottom of the mash tun. Like directly from the bottom not out the side towards the bottom. It will be a recirc system. I was thinking this may work best to avoid any dead space. I hate to see any wasted wort. The drain will drain out the bottom of the brew stand to the pump. Are there any disadvantages to this vs the drain out the side other then you wouldn't be able to mash on a table that doesn't have a hole in it?

 

[ebstauffer]

Only that if you'll (most likely) need to cut a hole in whatever surface you're brewing on. I loved my (since then sold) inverted keggles.

 

[TheFlatLander]

I was thinking of doing this too, Izzie. Figured I could use the cut out bottom piece to make a false bottom by drilling a metric crap ton of holes in it. Keep me posted on how it comes out if you do it.

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

As long as you don't plan to direct fire it, there are no major disadvantages. You can have a side port drain without much deadspace if you use a good diptube, but there is a brewing induced deadspace-like problem with side ports. While draining, sometimes you run it off faster than the wort can wiggle down through the grain. Then you suck air and the flow stops. 5 minutes later you have a gallon more in the bottom waiting for you but now you lost pump prime and starting it up is a hassle. Bottom drain for the win.

 

[Yooper]

The only disadvantage I found is that I did it upside down, and the flower petal pattern on the bottom meant any grain that slid around the false bottom sort of set up there, and when I turned on my pump, it clogged the piping. I added a bag to the set up, and now it's awesome. I love the bottom draining HLT and MLT I have.

 

[mxstar21]

My stout kettles mash tun has one and works very well for me. Leaves less dead space than a side mounted ball valve would.

 

[Islandboy85]

This is interesting. Thanks for posting. I currently have two keyholes for my BK and MLT with dip tubes. I direct fire the mash tun. I'm in the process of building a HLT for a EHERMS, and was contemplating making a new bottom drain MLT while I was at it. The loss of the ability to direct fire it in case the EHERMS isn't keeping up has made me pause the build for a little bit until I figure out if it will all work out. I really like the idea of not having to worry about dead space in a brew vessel. The HLT will probably be made by inverting the keg and clamping up a trick over cap to the keg coupler end. Question though. Aren't we essentially making a bottom drain vessel if we have a dip tube close to the bottom of the pots? One of the reasons I thought about switching is that sometimes it's hard to get the pump to prime for me, and I was hoping this would help solve that issue.

 

[BrewKaiser]

Almost done with my bottom draining build. All three keggles are bottom draining. I fabricated sanitary fittings for the bottom with two separate ports for my MLT (1 to HEX, the other to BK) as I hate switching lines during brew day. The dead space in bottom of the fitting should catch any grains that make it past false bottom. Hope this works as intended. Being able to capture all wort and then CiP will hopefully work out well.

 

[Izzie1701]

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