Draining a mash tun

[paulindevon]

Hi all. I made my 2nd AG brew yesterday. I use a stainless keg with the top cut off as a mash tun. I have fitted a perforated false bottom connected by silicone tube to the outlet, controlled by a ball valve. I bought the false bottom from my local HB shop, and Ive seen pictures of very similar items on other brewers kit, so I don't think there is anything unusual about it. My first brew was a bit of a disaster, mainly because the silicone tube came off the spigots, but I fought on and it is all now bottled. OK I thought, simple job to get a couple of jubilee clips and all will be well next time. So I brewed yesterday, all going to plan, and I open the ball valve and nothing!. Mild panic sets in, so I open the ball valve and set about poking in there with the end of my thermometer, which is all I had to end. Yes, I know that was a stupid idea. Still nothing. So then I blew up the tube and suddenly the wort gushes out, and I had no further problems. I know that next brew, I'm not going to enjoy the day until I can start successfully sparging.
So is this a common problem with a false bottom, or have I just been unlucky? I've seen posts from brewers who advocate a grain bag, which seems an obvious way to go, maybe keeping the false bottom in place too. Any advice would be gratefully received.
By the way, thanks to all the guys who posted such useful advice and encouragement after my first brew. Yesterday went pretty much according to plan, thanks in large part to your help

[alix101]

I had trouble with false bottoms in the past I went for a dome shaped one manufactured in the end and never had any problems since.
possibly like the on you have.
It sounds like you got some grain stuck no biggie you blew it away and it went.
Result.
It's when it won't come out no matter what you do when it becomes an issue.
It's about getting to know your kit the type of grist that will cause you problems and settling your grain bed with a few run offs.

[chefgage]

Hi all. I made my 2nd AG brew yesterday. I use a stainless keg with the top cut off as a mash tun. I have fitted a perforated false bottom connected by silicone tube to the outlet, controlled by a ball valve. I bought the false bottom from my local HB shop, and Ive seen pictures of very similar items on other brewers kit, so I don't think there is anything unusual about it. My first brew was a bit of a disaster, mainly because the silicone tube came off the spigots, but I fought on and it is all now bottled. OK I thought, simple job to get a couple of jubilee clips and all will be well next time. So I brewed yesterday, all going to plan, and I open the ball valve and nothing!. Mild panic sets in, so I open the ball valve and set about poking in there with the end of my thermometer, which is all I had to end. Yes, I know that was a stupid idea. Still nothing. So then I blew up the tube and suddenly the wort gushes out, and I had no further problems. I know that next brew, I'm not going to enjoy the day until I can start successfully sparging.
So is this a common problem with a false bottom, or have I just been unlucky? I've seen posts from brewers who advocate a grain bag, which seems an obvious way to go, maybe keeping the false bottom in place too. Any advice would be gratefully received.
By the way, thanks to all the guys who posted such useful advice and encouragement after my first brew. Yesterday went pretty much according to plan, thanks in large part to your help

This is exactly what was happening to me when i first started using a false bottom. How i overcame the problem was to get rid of the silicone hose and jubilee clips because in my opinion what is happening is the false bottom will love about and slightly lift up when you are stiring allowing grain to get under the false bottom and into your pipework thus blocking it.

The solution i found is to get yourself a short length of stainless tube and a couple of stainless compression fittings. I then put a very small bend/ kink in the tube so that when connected up the tube pushes the false bottom hard to the floor of the vessel. Now even with vigerous stirring the false bottom cannot move.

[paulindevon]

Thanks for the advice. I've done 2 brews since this post and decided to wrap the false bottom in a big grain bag. Still sits flat on the bottom .Doesn't look very slick but no issues at all and even the first runnings come through pretty clean.

[Kev888]

Glad you got it resolved. FWIW, false bottoms can block (the mash can stick) as the weight of the grain compacts it, especially if you run off the wort too quickly. But this almost always happens as the run-off progresses, to get nothing at all initially does suggest a blockage; that isn't normal.

If the domed false bottom is smaller than the diameter of the mash tun, it can sometimes move about whilst stirring the grain, or you can catch the pipe with the mash paddle and move it about that way too. Which can let grain in or else if you're unlucky it can kink the flexible hose, which will also have the pressure of the grain acting on it.

Rigid piping is one solution, or with a keg some people put in a bottom drain/outlet, so there is no tubing needed inside the mash tun. In the past i've seen people attach spacers to the false bottom to hold it centrally in the tun, too, but TBH I've not seen any that looked very elegant.

BTW, if you do use hose clips try to avoid zinc plated ones and go for stainless, as the zinc can get dissolved into the wort.

[Tony01]

Just a thought, do you add grain to the water, or water to the grain?

[jamieN]

Hi

Grain to water unless you underlet the grain

Jamie

[Rookie]

I recently converted a 10 gallon square Igloo cooler into a mash tun. I unscrewed the drain fitting that came with it and carefully screwed in a weldless SS spigot which serendipitously was the same size. It was a pretty tight fit and after tightening the nut was waterproof. I then screwed on a kettle screen and was done. I've used it one time so far and it works like a charm: the run off is clear almost immediately.