Fermenter met its match

[Yonder]

I ferment on the grain in a 15.5 gal blue barrel. A long time ago I gave up on all of that squeezin’ nonsense and designed a false bottom that worked just fine. The barrel has a drain valve connected to a false bottom that’s covered with a 600 micron screen. A half inch piece of slit silicone tube wraps the edge and effectively seals it. To get my wash, I would hook a pump to the valve and run it to my boiler. Sucks the mess quite dry. Very nice, clear boiler charge every time.

Lately I’ve been experimenting on how fine I could grind the . Well turns out “almost flour” ain’t the right answer . Clogged the whole damned thing up and I was scooping wet grain and squeezing for hours.

Guess I’ll back up a mil or two on my grinder… sigh.

[Steve Broady]

Well turns out “almost flour” ain’t the right answer . Clogged the whole damned thing up and I was scooping wet grain and squeezing for hours.

Guess I’ll back up a mil or two on my grinder… sigh.

Yeah, same thing happened with my last batch, though on a smaller scale. I think I’ll back off my grind as well.

[MooseMan]

I ferment on the grain in a 15.5 gal blue barrel. A long time ago I gave up on all of that squeezin’ nonsense and designed a false bottom that worked just fine. The barrel has a drain valve connected to a false bottom that’s covered with a 600 micron screen. A half inch piece of slit silicone tube wraps the edge and effectively seals it. To get my wash, I would hook a pump to the valve and run it to my boiler. Sucks the mess quite dry. Very nice, clear boiler charge every time.

Lately I’ve been experimenting on how fine I could grind the . Well turns out “almost flour” ain’t the right answer . Clogged the whole damned thing up and I was scooping wet grain and squeezing for hours.

Guess I’ll back up a mil or two on my grinder… sigh.

Yonder I'm planning a false bottom setup for 2 100l plastic vessels when I get them.

May I ask what you built yours from?
I looked at stainless, too pricey, so I'm actually thinking of using hardwood to make a frame, covered in fine mesh, then a wrap over the top of that with a coarser mesh to try reducing clogging?

[Swedish Pride]

False bottom and pump made a huge difference to me too.

Went from 30+min to 5 min to fill the still.
Untill something goes a miss, then you are back to scooping and cursing yourself.

For me it's lack of precision, have a gap in some spots in the false bottom, every so often I get grain falling through and plug the bazooka filter in the bottom of the fermenter.
Have been meaning to fix it but just do the next mash instead.


@Moose.
I used some copper coil I had laying about for the frame of it and then some keg spears to strengthen it and legs.
Mesh from AliExpress.

[MooseMan]

Thanks SP, those pics are literally gold to me, so thank you for taking the time to add them to the post for me.

[Yonder]

Glad to oblige. You’ll see a small gap in the silicone ring. That usually is compressed by the barrel. I also coverit with a piece of thin cloth to keep the grit out.

[MooseMan]

Thanks Yonder.
That's a very neat solution!

So your plate sits almost flat on the base of the barrel, only held off by the silicone wrapping the edge?

[Dancing4dan]

Have not used a false bottom for corn but I am interested in doing corn without the BIAB. My BIAB are getting worn out so looking for alternatives.

I ferment barley on grain in a 20 gallon pot with a course false bottom. After steam stripping the false bottom allows me to drain or pump out the liquid. If it plugs up I run the pump so it is pumping into the space under the false bottom. This pushes the fine goop back into the grain bed and allows the liquid drain. This might be worth a try with corn.

Question for you guys doing corn. Is that corn only? Or is there some barley or rice husks in the mix?

I made a screen mesh to sit on the false bottom like yonder has but have not used it yet. Not sure if adding barley will prevent a plugged drain or not.

[Yonder]

Thanks Yonder.
That's a very neat solution!

So your plate sits almost flat on the base of the barrel, only held off by the silicone wrapping the edge?

Thats right, almost flat and there are two small ridges molded in to the barrel, maybe a quarter or half inch. Pump sucks a 15 gal barrel dry in a couple of minutes right into the boiler. I usually turn the pump on again briefly about 30 min later to get any residual.

[MooseMan]

Thanks Yonder.
That's a very neat solution!

So your plate sits almost flat on the base of the barrel, only held off by the silicone wrapping the edge?

Thats right, almost flat and there are two small ridges molded in to the barrel, maybe a quarter or half inch. Pump sucks a 15 gal barrel dry in a couple of minutes right into the boiler. I usually turn the pump on again briefly about 30 min later to get any residual.

Gotcha, thanks for clarifying.
I've got a plan for when my vessels become available, now made clearer by yourself and Swedish Pride, thank you.

[shadylane]

Lately I’ve been experimenting on how fine I could grind the . Well turns out “almost flour” ain’t the right answer . Clogged the whole damned thing up and I was scooping wet grain and squeezing for hours.

Guess I’ll back up a mil or two on my grinder… sigh.

As you found out, finer might get better conversion but it comes at a price in labor.
Somebody I know has "experimented" with a DIY way to getter done.
It's not perfect but the basic idea is a modified food grade plastic barrel laid almost on its side, with internal wooden strips and fabric for drainage. Either rock the barrel or use something for vibration to keep the mesh from plugging up. Blowing interment CO2 up through the mesh also did the job but is more complicated.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but if Bubba suspected I was try to, he might be tempted to remove the batteries from my phone at gun point.