M*ther F*cker!

[McCall St. Brewer]

It's a lucky thing they have forums like this where people can "feel your pain." I suspect that if you told a non-homebrewer about this, they would wonder why you don't just go down to the corner store and buy a six-pack and drink it!

When things go bad, they can really go bad, eh? Sounds like you need to transfer all your fittings and false bottom to a new cooler. I have the same setup from Northern Brewer and mine seems to work fine. Yours must have a slight defect in the bottom of the cooler. That defect would not be a problem for anyone planning to fill it with Gatorade and drink from it at a football game, but it certainly screws things up for your purposes, doesn't it?

 

[Dude]

Chad....have you attempted to use the other cooler as your MLT? Is it warped the same way as that other one?

And--it may have been a combination of reasons why your mash was stuck. 4 lbs of rye can do that. My RER mash stuck like a mofo too.

 

[Kaiser]

Walker,

Can you drill holes into the side of the nipple below the screen or cut slits into it with a angle grinder. This way the nipple can still work as a support for the screen, which is nice, and the wort can flow in as well.

Maybe you already thought about this.

But yes I can feel your pain. I has 2 hrs lauters before b/c the mash kept getting stuck.

Kai

 

[the_bird]

Brainstorming here....

What if you got a piece of round C-PVC, maybe three inches or so in diameter, maybe an inch high. Cut a crapload of holes in it, just leave enough structure to keep it intact so that it can support the weight of the grain. Place that around the nipple in the center of the mash tun and set the false bottom on top. This will support the center of the false bottom, keep it from compacting all the way down to the nipple. The holes will allow the sweet wort to flow into the center of the tun to the inlet. Need a lot of holes so that this flow doesn't get restricted and you lose the suction.

I don't know if that would work, but if it does, it's a fifty-cent solution.

Does that make sense?

 

[Willsellout]

Brainstorming here....

What if you got a piece of round C-PVC, maybe three inches or so in diameter, maybe an inch high. Cut a crapload of holes in it, just leave enough structure to keep it intact so that it can support the weight of the grain. Place that around the nipple in the center of the mash tun and set the false bottom on top. This will support the center false bottom, keep it from compacting all the way down to the nipple. The holes will allow the sweet wort to flow into the center of the tun to the inlet. Need a lot of holes so that this flow doesn't get restricted and you lose the suction.

I don't know if that would work, but if it does, it's a fifty-cent solution.

Does that make sense?

I don't even think you have to drill a bunch of holes...maybe just a few because the false bottom will strain for you right?

 

[the_bird]

I don't even think you have to drill a bunch of holes...maybe just a few because the false bottom will strain for you right?

The holes wouldn't be for straining, just for making sure that the wort can flow unimpeded. You don't want a bottleneck to develop, air pockets to form, and mess up the siphon.

 

[olllllo]

Brainstorming here....

What if you got a piece of round C-PVC, maybe three inches or so in diameter, maybe an inch high. Cut a crapload of holes in it, just leave enough structure to keep it intact so that it can support the weight of the grain. Place that around the nipple in the center of the mash tun and set the false bottom on top. This will support the center false bottom, keep it from compacting all the way down to the nipple. The holes will allow the sweet wort to flow into the center of the tun to the inlet. Need a lot of holes so that this flow doesn't get restricted and you lose the suction.

I don't know if that would work, but if it does, it's a fifty-cent solution.

Does that make sense?

I think it would be hard to find the right length, especially as the grain bill changes. Stuff might scoot around the ouside if the length is too long.

I'm not sure if the bottom has any flex. That could complicate things as well.

I think a new cooler is in order. The rest of us should pay close attention to this design problem when we are buying coolers.

 

[Willsellout]

I just went with the simplest way with mine; SS braid. Worked well with my PM last weekend.


Dan

 

[Dude]

Brainstorming here....

What if you got a piece of round C-PVC, maybe three inches or so in diameter, maybe an inch high. Cut a crapload of holes in it, just leave enough structure to keep it intact so that it can support the weight of the grain. Place that around the nipple in the center of the mash tun and set the false bottom on top. This will support the center of the false bottom, keep it from compacting all the way down to the nipple. The holes will allow the sweet wort to flow into the center of the tun to the inlet. Need a lot of holes so that this flow doesn't get restricted and you lose the suction.

I don't know if that would work, but if it does, it's a fifty-cent solution.

Does that make sense?

That actually sounds like a good solution....

 

[david_42]

I like the support ring idea. It only has to be 1/4 inch taller than the sum of the nipple and the nut. The false bottom is probably flexible enough to seal the sides.

I'm seriously thinking about hooking into the house's propane tank (130 gallons). Even though I can leave the portable tanks down by the pole barn and they'll get filled, the truck only comes out every other month.

 

[Walker]

Wow... you guys re busily trying to solve my problem, aren't you. I already have my own solution in mind.

I'm just going to put some teeeeny machine screws through the false bottom to give it some little legs that will hold it up off the nipple a small amount. Then, I'll actually USE that mash pad that came with the system to prevent any grain from getting anywhere near the false bottom.

That should take care of the problem cheaply and quickly. It'll be a $0.30 fix.

Kai... I am afraid to drill holes in the nipple, because I don't think that it is solid plastic. If I make a hole in in, I am afraid I will be making a hole that will allow liquid to seep in between the walls of the cooler and would serisouly destroy it.

And Dude... no I have not tried the other cooler as a mash tun. I gave that one to Boston, and he uses it for his mash tun (with a braided hose.)

-walker

 

[olllllo]

Wow... you guys re busily trying to solve my problem, aren't you. I already have my own solution in mind.

So you were just venting.
Because we are guys, we were trying to solve your problem.

How many times have I fallen into this SWMBO trap?

 

[the_bird]

That sounds like it'll work; you hadn't indicated that you already had a solution in mind

EDIT: Olllllllllllllllllllllllllo's right, too - that's what guys do, solve problems. It's how we let people know we care

 

[Walker]

That sounds like it'll work; you hadn't indicated that you already had a solution in mind

I also did not indicate that I needed help solving it.

I was just venting.

 

[Schlenkerla]

So by now your completely ventilated.

I hope you are wrong about the astringency.

 

[Walker]

So by now your completely ventilated.

NOW, I am.... This should do the trick. I'll be trying it out next weekend.

I hope you are wrong about the astringency.

You and me both.

I didn't mean to poo-poo anybody's proposed solution to this problem with my earlier reply. There were a lot of good ideas presented.

But, like most of you guys, I'm inclined to try and do it my own way. I like solving problems. That doesn't mean I like to HAVE problems, but...

-walker

 

[the_bird]

Looks good, Walk. Can't see how that won't work perfectly well. Did you even have to drill out the holes at all?

 

[Walker]

Looks good, Walk. Can't see how that won't work perfectly well. Did you even have to drill out the holes at all?

Yes... I had to make them 1/64th of an inch bigger.

 

[dcarter]

After reading all of the posts in this thread I feel much better about my brew weekend. Two days, 10 gallons bottled and ten gallons in the primary, and Im still alive. Good luck with the astringency Walker and enjoy next weekend!

 

[Walker]

I never finished bitching about the rest of the day, but I don't think anyone wants to hear more bellyaching from me. The other things were more minor in retrospect, but when combined with the huge PITA I had with the tun it was like rubbing salt into a wound.

I'm hoping everything runs like a well oiled machine next weekend.

-walker

 

[david_42]

My business partner will vent about something and I'll try to come up with a solution. And then she'll point out she was just venting.

 

[jeffg]

Hey Walker,
I have the same system. I had never had a stuck mash in ten years of all grain brewing and I've had three or four of them in a row with this system. I feel your pain. My false bottom is not entirely even so I am getting grain underneath which is clogging the system. I may also have your same issue as sometimes the liquid will just not flow. I have debated switching to a bazooka T and sh*t-canning the false bottom. I also read on another site that if you line the edge of the false bottom with some split open siphon tubing it will prop up the bottom a few millimeters and create a seal so grain can't get underneath. I am giving that a go next time. Ungodly frustrating though...