DIY false bottom for iglo marine cooler mash tun

[JUST_BREW_IT]

Hey fellas, I'm looking for ways to improve my woeful efficiency and was kicking around the idea of upgrading to a false bottom for my igloo marine mash tun.

I have a 140 qt igloo marine cooler that I am currently using as a mash tun. I put together a bulk head with a hot water heater stainless supply line as my screen at this time. Unfortunately the drain on this cooler sits about an inch above the very bottom of the cooler. I've seen many coolers where there is a recessed area in the bottom of the cooler where the drain is. Not so here. For this reason I feel like I am leaving a bunch of good stuff behind. I'm wondering if any of you ran into this problem and how you remedied it???

I'm sure that there are other issues with my efficiency (primarily crush) however I am going to take on one thing at a time.

Thanks for any advice/help.

 

[n240sxguy]

I have I think a 96 qt igloo marine cooler. Same situation with the drain. I built a copper manifold in the bottom that let's me drain out all but a half gallon. I saw a video somewhere of a guy who made a false bottom using some kind of plastic square grating, some stand offs, and a screen. That let him mash, then completely drain and start the fly sparge.

 

[JUST_BREW_IT]

I have I think a 96 qt igloo marine cooler. Same situation with the drain. I built a copper manifold in the bottom that let's me drain out all but a half gallon. I saw a video somewhere of a guy who made a false bottom using some kind of plastic square grating, some stand offs, and a screen. That let him mash, then completely drain and start the fly sparge.

A half gallon seems significant to me?

 

[n240sxguy]

Without a bottom drain, or a more vertical mash tun, not sure how you can get much lower than that. 3/4in of liquid over that large an area adds up.

 

[JUST_BREW_IT]

Without a bottom drain, or a more vertical mash tun, not sure how you can get much lower than that. 3/4in of liquid over that large an area adds up.

true on all accounts. I just sucks. I may need to look at alternate mash tun options

 

[Felixio]

Is there a corner that is lower then the others?

I wonder if you could find a stainless steel baking sheet that fits in the bottom of your cooler, then drill 1/8" holes in it and install a dip tube into the low corner? Or set it so a corner is just slightly lower then the others (just enough for liquid to flow, no enough to mess with the grain bed).

 

[Monster Mash]

If you can fit a copper elbow in there to bring it to the bottom it will solve your problem. My valve is about 1" up and I get all of the liquid out.

This will not solve your efficiency problem though because if you were leaving 1 gallon behind and you added 1 gallon to make up for it you should get your volume with the same efficiency. If you are stirring properly and vorlaufing the extra gallon won't matter if you calculate it into your recipe.

 

[Monster Mash]

If you can fit a copper elbow in there to bring it to the bottom it will solve your problem. My valve is about 1" up and I get all of the liquid out.

This will not solve your efficiency problem though because if you were leaving 1 gallon behind and you added 1 gallon to make up for it you should get your volume with the same efficiency. If you are stirring properly and vorlaufing the extra gallon won't matter if you calculate it into your recipe.