How effective do you guys think a false bottom in a boil kettle would be? Would it just clog up or would it strain hops pretty well?
I’m curious for this response. Friends are in the process of putting together a keggle system and we were wondering how to filter out of the boil kettle because we use a plate chiller. We already use a hop bag
Well I know most people use a pick up tube. You can see an example on Denny’s website, but I dont have the ability to weld anything so I was looking for a way that didnt involve that. But if you have the ability to weld, you should look at doing a pick up tube. Ive been told they work really well.
I have a Keggle system and use a 10" SS false bottom in the Boil Kettle. I use whole hops loose in the boil and pump the Wort thru the hop bed while whirlpool chilling.After chilling it’s pumped to the fermenter.On occasion I use some pellet hops plus a main charge of leaf hops and hardly ever get any hop material into the fermenter. This would work without a pump if a system is gravity type.
Your choice of hops will help in your decision, if you use pellets a short pickup tube to the side of the BK then whirlpool. I made a copper pick up tube for the FB in the BK with solder, the leadless type. Soldering is not hard. Also you should look at websites like bargianfittings.com to get some ideas if you don’t want to build it yourself. Cheers,Mike.
My system is made from converted kegs. The mash tun and boil kettle have identical false bottoms from Sabco. Pickup is from the center at the moment. This works great for loads of leaf hops, but has a limited tolerance for pellets when used in larger quantities alone. When pellets and leaf are used together it works well to a point. When pellets are used alone or in larger quantities, they are placed in a nylon strainer bag held to the sides of the kettle so they circulate a bit.
I’d say the false bottom is great when whole hops are present as they also serve as a filter for trub when I recirculate after the boil at the start of chilling.
My next modification will be to make a side pickup tube instead of the current center one, and a whirlpool immersion chiller to try and use free-floating loads of pellets. This way I may be able to whirlpool the trub and pellet debris to the center before chilling and racking to the fermenter.
There is no perfect answer, just combinations that work in different cases.
I have watched the video from Mullerbrau on his website several times. He uses a pickup tube and the whirl method (stir in the opposite direction to where the tube points before draining out of the valve). It looks like he gets a pretty clean wort out of the brew kettle with that method.
