Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Any hardware used for mashing, fermenting or aging.

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ga flatwoods
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Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by ga flatwoods »

As an experiment I tried a new method of grain pressing to remove the liquids from the grain after all the free run has been pulled off and it is to brag about! The secret is in the filter material I used. I took a bucket that once contained chlorine tablets and drilled many holes up the sides and in the bottom. Removed the original handle and fashioned another of rope with only a little slack over the top of the bucket when picked up. Now for the magic. To this bucket I draped a piece of four once, non-woven, needle punched geotextile fabric that did not mquit hand all the way to touch the bottom of the bucket. The extra material on the side overlapp was tucked between the rope handle and the bucket itself. This bucket I now hung in the top of one of my 50 gallon ptfe drums suspended with a cross bar under the rope and across the top of the barrel. To this I now added my grain from the bottom of the mash barrel. As it filled the geotextile it tightened the cloth against the rope and bucket and remained suspended in the tab bucket. All of the remaining water gravity fed through the cloth and bucket into the barrel. It take a moment for a load to drip dry (30 minutes) but when dry it was CLOUD FREE!!!!! Easies method ever! This material is used a lot by construction companies to wrap the joints of concrete pipe to help ensure the soil does not leak into the joint when the pipe is running hard. In this manner it is a cheap insurance to the contractor installing the line. Otherwise, I do not know where it could be obtained outside of an unreasonable amount of material at a high cost.Maybe a septic supplier would carry it as well.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by Truckinbutch »

Interesting . I have been considering using ground cloth in the same way and I got a 16' wide roll of it . Anything to reduce labor when I go to AG .
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by raketemensch »

Could you post a picture? It would make this a lot easier to understand.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by T-Pee »

That would be nice. I'm still trying to decipher "a piece of four once, non-woven, needle punched geotextile fabric".

I think the issue is more than a simple geological difference. :ewink:

tp
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by bearriver »

Here is the fabric in question, or at least something like it. Link: http://www.ktnonwoven.com/pet-needle-pu ... woven.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Geotextiles come in Polyester, Polyamide, Polypropylene, Polyethylene. I am not sure which of the 4 would be the best for this application, but there ya go.

I am a general contractor and can get this stuff from my material supplier. It's not the sort of thing you will find at a big box hardware store. If you know somebody that operates an asphalt or concrete business, then they might have a line on this stuff.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by BaxtersDad »

T-Pee wrote:That would be nice. I'm still trying to decipher "a piece of four once, non-woven, needle punched geotextile fabric".

I think the issue is more than a simple geological difference. :ewink:

tp
That one left me scratching head as well!
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by bearriver »

It made sense to me, minus the "a piece of four once" part. It's probably jargon that geotextile installers use. I'm guessing that he folded it twice, making it 4 layers thick...

Flatwoods, do you really have 55 gallon ptfe drums? Hot damn! You can store liquor in those. They retail over $700 each. :shock:
Last edited by bearriver on Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by woodshed »

Four ounce?
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by still_stirrin »

Take your pick: http://landmsupplyco.com/Geotextiles_ba ... abric.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by FreeMountainHermit »

Weighs 4 ounces per square yard.
Blah, blah, blah,........
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by bearriver »

That missing "u" sure made a big difference. :lol:
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

bearriver wrote:That missing "u" sure made a big difference. :lol:
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by ga flatwoods »

Sorry to have been out of touch since posting this. Yes, a typo makes a big difference in this case. I also misquoted my barrel as ptfe as it is hdpe! I was in a hurry when posting on my phone! Anyway, it is a four ounce per square yard fabric. I have seen this in a white material that looks like heavy spider web but not as heavy per square yard. These materials are very tough and almost impossible to cause a rupture without a cutting tool. The nonwoven aspect means it is a stranded material with many fibers of all orientations making a sheet. Most comes in 12.5 and 15 ft rolls 360 ft long. It can be used as an underlayment for aggregrate base, or soil, for reinforcing where unsuitable soils are found, or as mentioned for pipe wrap of joints, or anywhere else where drainage is needed without allowing the soil to migrate beyond the medium. They make it heavier per square yard for sho nuff difficult situations. Beyond this material a contractor would use a grid tyoe of fabric that looks like fence webbing, generally square or rectangular in shape. This geotextile is not what is typicallymreferred to as silt fence which is woven and will not contain the filtering quality this does. The needlepunching makes this material filter more readily. Anyway, i have included some pictures as requested. Hope this helps.
No press all grain drain.jpg
The cross bar also helps secure the cloth across the barrel while the rope holds the other direction.

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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by S-Cackalacky »

Flatwoods, you make very random holes.

Don't remember, but has anyone identified a retail source for the material? The way it's described, it sounds almost the same, in structure, as wool felt.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by ga flatwoods »

S-Cackalacky wrote:Flatwoods, you make very random holes.

Don't remember, but has anyone identified a retail source for the material? The way it's described, it sounds almost the same, in structure, as wool felt.
It is indeed much like wool felt. Advanced Drainage Systems is a pipe supplier in my are of the country and sell wholesale to Companies like our local hardware company, Lowes , HD, erosion control spe ialty companies, municipal governments, contractors, etc.
I could hardly believe that the liquid drained clear!
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by S-Cackalacky »

I wonder if it's the same thing they sell as weed blocking material for gardens. Might take a look in Lowes on the gardening aisle and maybe the concrete aisle.

I bet that stuff would work really well in the ass press. Pretty much the same design as what Flatwoods is doing. The straining bucket just sits down inside a beer bottling bucket with the drain valve used to run the liquid into a 5 gallon plastic water jug - similar principle.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by ga flatwoods »

Depends on if the landscape material is woven or not. It probably is woven SC.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by Haus »

S-Cackalacky wrote: I bet that stuff would work really well in the ass press.
Not trying to hi-jack the thread but do you have a picture of that ass press? I need a visual. :?
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Post by FullySilenced »

@Haus6565 for your eyes only

Kinda like this:

https://paulboylan.files.wordpress.com/ ... .jpg?w=450" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

But Different! :esurprised: :econfused: :ebiggrin:
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

Haus6565 wrote:I need a visual. :?
Be careful what you wish for: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=54261

GAF, what was your mash? Did it have a lot of corn in it, or was it mostly other grains? If this stuff works for corn, I'd like to check it out.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by Haus »

FullySilenced wrote:@Haus6565 for your eyes only

Kinda like this:

https://paulboylan.files.wordpress.com/ ... .jpg?w=450" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

But Different! :esurprised: :econfused: :ebiggrin:
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by ga flatwoods »

MCH it was corn, wheat, and rye. Very heavily ground to almost flour paste and therefore very dirty wash. I wish I had taken a picture! I was truly amazed after dealing with grain draining since I started the hobby.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by VAHillbilly »

Is the material cleanable?
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by ga flatwoods »

VAHillbilly wrote:Is the material cleanable?
I have washed mine many times and most often just rinse with a hose.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by VAHillbilly »

Sounds great thanks
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by corene1 »

That is such a good idea. I use a planter for my hot peppers that are called Geo Pots, available at hydroponics stores and online. They come in 1 to 50 gallon sizes, a 3 or 5 gallon would fit nicely in a bucket and are made of a porous fiber material that lets water drain out and lets the roots breath . They are very durable and washable. I have a bunch of them so I think I will try them and see if they work. They are only 5 to 7 dollars a piece and have handles sewn into them. Good experiment for this coming weekend, just happen to have a mash that need straining.
geo pot.jpg
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by HDNB »

coulda used some of this today. i used some barley/oat crumb it works pretty much like flour, so i use a little and add cracked corn so i have some hulls to strain with.
except my cracked corn turned out to be whole corn.(never trust the guy at the feed store to just throw it into the back of the truck)

so i ran the corn thru the blender...basically flour.

so flour +flour =goop.

the slough ate well tonite. i dumped the whole mess :evil:
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by cuginosgrizzo »

That fabric looks like the one used inside kitchen/stove hoods as filters. At least here in my part of the world, dunno if elsewhere it is easily found.
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by HDNB »

here is the whole poop on it:
http://nilex.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

used this stuff when i built my driveway, wish i would have kep some scraps. :problem:
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Re: Best All Grain Press is a "No-Press"!

Post by LBHD »

corene1 wrote:That is such a good idea. I use a planter for my hot peppers that are called Geo Pots, available at hydroponics stores and online. They come in 1 to 50 gallon sizes, a 3 or 5 gallon would fit nicely in a bucket and are made of a porous fiber material that lets water drain out and lets the roots breath . They are very durable and washable. I have a bunch of them so I think I will try them and see if they work. They are only 5 to 7 dollars a piece and have handles sewn into them. Good experiment for this coming weekend, just happen to have a mash that need straining.
geo pot.jpg
Bought a 7 gallon one. How are the handles holding up? I am thinking I could pour a whole bucket in there and let it drain into the pot rather than rack + clear
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