New BIAB False Bottoms

[wilserbrewer]

I'd be curious about your feedback on the false bottom and the boilcoil (4500watt I think Blichmann recommends that their element not be used to directly heat the mash, not sure if this even applies in BIAB.

Direct heating a mash is not recommended, Blichmann or otherwise.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Depends on what they mean, exactly, but isn't that just the definition of eBIAB, as long as the grain doesn't contact the element?
I guess they could mean "don't literally stick this in a grain bed"

 

[swimIan]

That's exactly what I thought.

Since there are approximately 3.5-4 inches of water below the grain bag, do you have any problems with keeping the grains submerged? Small or large grain bills?

 

[griffi]

I currently use a High Gravity eBIAB, 11gal bayou classic kettle with the steamer basket. I'm considering trying this false bottom to keep the bag off the element and get rid of the basket. I want to use a whirlpool return at the end of the boil and during cooling. Do you think this false bottom will disturb the whirlpool?

 

[andrewmaixner]

I currently use a High Gravity eBIAB, 11gal bayou classic kettle with the steamer basket. I'm considering trying this false bottom to keep the bag off the element and get rid of the basket. I want to use a whirlpool return at the end of the boil and during cooling. Do you think this false bottom will disturb the whirlpool?

it wasn't hard to pull the bottom out before the whirlpool on my first batch last week, using a long stainless spoon. I haven't yet tried a whirlpool with it in, as I'm just getting used to my new eBIAB hardware/system/process

 

[jrodmfish]

I'd be curious about your feedback on the false bottom and the boilcoil (4500watt I assume) after you've done a batch. I think Blichmann recommends that their element not be used to directly heat the mash, not sure if this even applies in BIAB.

I'll be brewing this weekend, I'll report my experience.

 

[swimIan]

Thx. I look forward to hearing about your experience. I am in the process of upgrading our kettle. I use the boilcoil in a keggle currently in a 2 vessel no sparge configuration but am moving to single vessel BIAB or basket.

 

[aprichman]

Directly heating a mash is not a good idea, Blichmann or anyone else ....

Are you talking about step mashing / maintaining mash temperature while recirculating and doing BIAB?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Direct heating without stirring constantly or recirculating will not distribute the heat throughout the mash and can scorch the grain or bag.

 

[jrodmfish]

Thx. I look forward to hearing about your experience. I am in the process of upgrading our kettle. I use the boilcoil in a keggle currently in a 2 vessel no sparge configuration but am moving to single vessel BIAB or basket.

Finally got to brew using the false bottom. No issues with the boilcoil or the grain bag. I mashed for 60 minutes and ramped to 168 before removing the bag. There was plenty of separation and I hit my target OG on the nose. I was nervous about how effective my whirlpool would be but I got a nice trub cone in the center so two thumbs up!

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[ZmannR2]

Man that's awesome

 

[swimIan]

Thx for the info! Nice work.

 

[swimIan]

Finally got to brew using the false bottom. No issues with the boilcoil or the grain bag. I mashed for 60 minutes and ramped to 168 before removing the bag. There was plenty of separation and I hit my target OG on the nose. I was nervous about how effective my whirlpool would be but I got a nice trub cone in the center so two thumbs up!

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How much dead space do you typically have in your kettle? Do you recirculate while mashing?

 

[jrodmfish]

How much dead space do you typically have in your kettle? Do you recirculate while mashing?

I didn't measure on the last brew but it's not much. I'd guess .20gal-.25gal.

I recirculate the mash continuously.

 

[explosivo]

Can someone confirm if 13" diameter false bottom fits Bayou Classic 1044/1144. Wondering if the lip that holds basket will interfere.

thx

 

[griffi]

Can someone confirm if 13" diameter false bottom fits Bayou Classic 1044/1144. Wondering if the lip that holds basket will interfere.

thx

I will tell you soon because I just ordered one for mine...

 

[explosivo]

cool.. hope it fits.. I want to ditch the basket.

 

[Bobby_M]

It does fit.

 

[griffi]

Thanks Bobby- here's a pic - can't use the center leg with my element but I think it should work great.

 

[TexasWine]

Thanks Bobby- here's a pic - can't use the center leg with my element but I think it should work great.

I thought the center leg wouldn't with with mine either. But if I rotate it just right it fits.

But looks like you have one of those fold over elements so it might be a different story with your set up.

 

[BeardedBrews]

Thanks Bobby- here's a pic - can't use the center leg with my element but I think it should work great.

You could just spread the element arms out a little bit, the element doesn't mind being Gently bent.

 

[Bobby_M]

On this size FB, you really shouldn't need the center leg anyway. Just don't try to recirculate too fast.

 

[mwm5461]

I thought the center leg wouldn't with with mine either. But if I rotate it just right it fits.

But looks like you have one of those fold over elements so it might be a different story with your set up.

I was able to rotate the false bottom around so the element doesn't interfere as you noted TexasWine; however, the leg is awfully close to the element. I imagine that during recirculation and any movement in general within the kettle could cause the leg and element to touch. Is this something to be concerned about while mashing? Could that contact damage the element? Appreciate any advice/help!

 

[TexasWine]

Could that contact damage the element? Appreciate any advice/help!

You'll be fine. It shouldn't damage the element or the false bottom.

 

[roblanderson]

We bought the 17.5" version for our 20 gallon Spike kettle and have used it 3 times now. Quick history of our eBIAB system:

We built it about 1.5 years ago and have about 25 batches on it. Most 10 gallons with a few 5 gallons. It is a recirculating mash setup with a 5500 watt element using the BrewHardware element tri clamp enclosure - highly recommend the enclosure. The biggest question mark we had when we built it was how to keep the BIAB bag off the element. We ended up taking an old stainless lid and cutting it in a rough rectangle (about 6" x 12"), punched a few holes in it and used stainless bolts to raise it high enough above the element. This worked, but it was a pain to use. It slid all over the place and the bag would tumble down around the sides making stirring the mash very difficult. We also had trouble with the bag getting sucked into the drain port a couple times.

Along came these new false bottoms and we were very excited. First use was a bit of a disaster. We'd always recirculated (chugger pump) at full blast with our old crude element cover and did the same - big mistake! If you get one of these you'll definitely want to significantly reduce the flow. We must have sucked the area under the bag dry - it ruined our heating element and created enough downward suction that the false bottom was significantly warped.

We were about to pound out the false bottom flat enough to keep using it and got a new element. 2nd use we slowed the flow out of the pump and didn't have any problems pumping the bottom dry, but ran into issues with mash temp. I think that the re-circulation was so slow that the temp wasn't getting spread throughout the mash evenly. Under the false bottom was quite a bit warmer than the rest of the mash in the bag.

3rd attempt we tried opening the flow back up a bit more to get better temp distribution (maybe half way) but it was too fast. Luckily we caught soon enough so we didn't damage our element, but we did warp the false bottom again.

I really like the product, I'm just perplexed by how much it slows down wort flow through the bag. I suppose it allows the grain bed to set much better at the bottom of the bag.

So the false bottom is a nice product and I don't want to discourage anyone from buying it, just be careful if you recirculate to not suck the area underneath dry.

I'm not sure what we'll do going forward. The big temp swings probably aren't a huge deal and it is certainly better to have that then risk damaging the heating element & false bottom even more.

 

[Bobby_M]

I moved my temp probe down to the space under the bag and the temps are now much more stable at a reduced flow rate. I run 1 quart per minute recirculation.

 

[roblanderson]

I forgot to mention that our temp probe is part of the recirculation, not in the kettle. So the wort goes through the pump, some more tubing, then into a T fitting with a probe before going back in the kettle.

I'll measure how much volume per minute we're moving on the next brew.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I moved my temp probe down to the space under the bag and the temps are now much more stable at a reduced flow rate. I run 1 quart per minute recirculation.

Temp probe in a larger volume, and a slow recirculation seems like a good idea to me.

 

[Bobby_M]

I forgot to mention that our temp probe is part of the recirculation, not in the kettle. So the wort goes through the pump, some more tubing, then into a T fitting with a probe before going back in the kettle.

I'll measure how much volume per minute we're moving on the next brew.

The reason I'm not a fan of putting it inline with the flow is that if you lose prime for any reason, the temp will run away on you.

 

[andrewmaixner]

The reason I'm not a fan of putting it inline with the flow is that if you lose prime for any reason, the temp will run away on you.

good point!

 

[stever1000]

The reason I'm not a fan of putting it inline with the flow is that if you lose prime for any reason, the temp will run away on you.

I didn't consider this...thanks for pointing that out, looks like I may relocate my probe!

 

[mwill07]

I brewed my first batch with this part - huge improvement. This was my second attempt at BIAB - the first one, I tried using a cookie drying rack to keep the bag off of the element and it didn't work at all. The grain got too compacted wasn't draining very quickly, it built up a vacuum beneath the bag and a big air bubble developed beneath (lower pressure caused boiling).

With this false bottom in place, I ran again. To keep an eye on the pressure beneath, I fashioned an ad-hoc Pitot tube out of silicone and vinyl tubing. Even when I had the recirc pump running wide open, I didn't see any pressure drop beneath the bottom. In other words, I had full flow through the bag with no risk of compaction. I think part of what helped is the huge grain to water ratio in vull-volume BIAB: I was running 2.9 qt/lb of water. The super thin mash didn't compact at all.

The 13" bottom didn't fit super snug inside my 14" keggle. to take up the gap and to keep it from moving around (and to keep the bag from being sucked down and onto the element), I press-fit in some silicone tubing. It really snugged it in place perfectly.

 

[roblanderson]

We've brewed a couple more times since my last post. Slowing the recirculation speed down significantly seems to have made the difference. Our false bottom is a little bent out of shape from the vacuum suction we put it through the first couple uses, but still works great.

 

[jcglezen]

This has really improved my brewery. Was able to do away with the steamer basket which also allowed me to install Bobby's Spincycle whirlpool return. Win-win. Happy with the set-up

 

[Roboutwest]

I am very keen to get one of these, having just finished my EBIAB controller upgrade to my rig. I have the water holding at about 0.2 deg C accuracy! But the pizza dish I have doesn't flow nearly enough to work. This is definitely the answer and I tried to contact the maker months ago and again last week but my emails get no reply. I wrote because the shipping calculator on their page originally quoted me $17 then, $67... I can't figure out why and $67 seems a bit much for a flat object, even overseas. Anyway, I hope someone might see this who can suggest how to get in touch.

Great to read everyone's experience!

 

[NeoBrew]

I am very keen to get one of these, having just finished my EBIAB controller upgrade to my rig. I have the water holding at about 0.2 deg C accuracy! But the pizza dish I have doesn't flow nearly enough to work. This is definitely the answer and I tried to contact the maker months ago and again last week but my emails get no reply. I wrote because the shipping calculator on their page originally quoted me $17 then, $67... I can't figure out why and $67 seems a bit much for a flat object, even overseas. Anyway, I hope someone might see this who can suggest how to get in touch.

Great to read everyone's experience!

If you look on their front page you will see they are closed for the week. Great vendor, I've ordered (other items) multiple times and am happy with them all.

 

[Roboutwest]

Thanks Neo,
I took a link straight to the product page and didn't see this. Hopefully I hear something in a week or so. If not, I'll try ordering with a note.
Cheers

 

[Bobby_M]

Please email me one more time with your address and a Reminder that you need a shipping quote for the BIAB false bottom. The shipping calculator may think it is over 4 pounds which forces priority mail.

 

[Roboutwest]

Ok Bobby,
Just letting you know I wrote the requested follow up mail to your business 10 days ago and also PMed you, but I'm still having trouble getting a response to my request. Can you help me out here, please?

 

[DSP-brasseur]

Hi Bobby,
I have a 16 gal kettle which is 19" inches high and 15.5 inches wide. I am looking to order your hot-rod stick with a 5500 w element, would that be able to fit under the 14" false bottom if I put the 3.5" feet on it? I plan on putting a 90 degree bend on the hot-rod.

Or would it be better to just not bother with a false bottom, and remove the rod before sticking in my bag and grains? Thanks!