False bottom any good

[Brewing1976]

I just did my first BIAB. Using the damn auto siphon sucks. Not getting as much beer out when transferring. Would it make sense to get false bottom in my next kettle?

 

[Vinman58]

Yes imho, ball valve and dip tube if you can swing it.

 

[McKnuckle]

'76, I believe you use propane, correct? The false bottom is really to keep heat off your brewing bag. It has nothing to do with transferring wort from the kettle to your fermenter.

For transferring wort you should have a ball valve at a minimum, preferably with a pickup tube inside the kettle so you can minimize tipping. Tipping the kettle is no big deal of course, but the tube is convenient.

 

[IslandLizard]

Not getting as much beer out when transferring.

Mind you, until you pitch yeast, it's still called wort.

Was there a lot of wort left in the kettle because you tried to prevent transferring much of the trub?
Did you tilt your kettle toward the end to keep the 'wort well' you're siphoning from as deep as possible?

Yes imho, ball valve and dip tube if you can swing it.

That's probably the best, but you're still going to transfer some trub or leave wort behind. It's a teeter totter between the two.

There are many ways to minimize your wort losses.

 

[Pappers_]

As the others have said above, a false bottom doesn't do anything for BIAB folks in terms of transferring. If you are direct heating the mash tun, with the bag in it, then you might want to raise the bag off the the bottom of the kettle. A false bottom could do that, but it seems like a lot of expense for such a limited function.

I agree with the adding a valve to your mash tun if you don't have one.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Nothing wrong with a valve but if your having trouble with an auto siphon your doing something wrong.
I use an auto siphon and its easy as came be. When I'm don transferring 12 gallons I only have around a shot glass or 2 of wort in the pot. BIAB

 

[Brewing1976]

Nothing wrong with a valve but if your having trouble with an auto siphon your doing something wrong.
I use an auto siphon and its easy as came be. When I'm don transferring 12 gallons I only have around a shot glass or 2 of wort in the pot. BIAB

How do you do so you get so little waste?

 

[Lefou]

'76, I believe you use propane, correct? The false bottom is really to keep heat off your brewing bag. It has nothing to do with transferring wort from the kettle to your fermenter.

For transferring wort you should have a ball valve at a minimum, preferably with a pickup tube inside the kettle so you can minimize tipping. Tipping the kettle is no big deal of course, but the tube is convenient.

Kettle with ball valve, 1/2" or 3/8" arbor (nylon or steel), and a food grade silicone tube. Wort can then be gravity-fed into another container. I use a modified circular steel false bottom from my Igloo cooler in a tri-clad Anvil. Works great and no need for a siphon.

 

[cswant88]

Check out the dual purpose siphon on ballandkeg.com. It works way better than an auto-siphon, and you'd save yourself having to drill your kettle and buy the additional hardware for it. It comes with a nice stainless steel racking cane and can also be used to aerate your wort as it transfers into the fermenter.

 

[Ninoid]

I transfer the wort from the kettle to fermenter with pitcher through colander. Very simple.

 

[lump42]

How do you do so you get so little waste?

I only just got a kettle with a valve. I would use a standard racking cane, just fill the hose with star san. Drain the star san in different container to start the siphon and then transfer to fermentor. A plain racking cane doesn't have and tight turns to get clogged. When it got towards the bottom I would tilt the whole kettle about 20-30 deg, and that would get most all the wort. Though a lot of trub came along too, but I've never worried about that.