False bottom in BK?

[HopOnHops]

Bought a stainless false bottom on a whim because it was erroneously priced at 2 bucks. I didn't need one, just curious if they would cancel the order. They didn't. Now I'm curious of I can use a false bottom in the BK to eliminate hop matter and trub. Possibly line it with a higher mesh for better filtration?

 

[Junkster]

Sure - I had a homemade one in my kettle and it helped. I always used some whole leaf hops along with pellets and together they would establish a pretty good filter bed for pretty clear runoff. If it seems to clog a little, you can reach in with the paddle and scrape some of the gunk aside to get a little better flow. I don't think the addition of a finer mesh would be needed.

 

[Gartywood]

The challenge with a false bottom in a boil kettle can be that the liquid under the false bottom superheats (gets about boiling). I'd try it out with an inexpensive batch with a small quantity of hops first.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

The challenge with a false bottom in a boil kettle can be that the liquid under the false bottom superheats (gets about boiling). I'd try it out with an inexpensive batch with a small quantity of hops first.

I agree, but a lot depends on the width and height of the FB as well. I boil with a 26gal megapot and use the FB for filtering and it works perfectly for pellet and leaf hop filtering. Its over 19" in diameter with 3/32" holes and sits about 2" off the bottom (almost 3 gallons of liquid sit under it). I have never had any issues with scorching or extraneous color darkening even during rigorous boils. That said, I would expect that if I had a smaller diameter kettle and the FB didn't hold as much liquid under it that I might start seeing some of those issues.