Stainless Mesh False Bottom - Can It Be Too Fine?

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splatter gaurds etc are far far to fine to be ideal. Lauter tun bottoms should be more surface than hole - buggered if i can remember the exact ratio, but a fine mesh is way more hole than "non" hole. it messes with the flow rates, differential pressures, flow patterns and a bunch of other stuff that I have made an effort to forget since my exams... its all in the books though if you really want to punish yourself with theory.

Suffice it to say - that a bog standard perforated FB is probably on the "too much hole" side of the equation if you are being really pedantic, but they're not far off ... those Yardy style home made FBs look pretty damn good to me....

If you were just doing a bog standard sparge - i suspect it wouldn't matter that much. But if you are going to run a recirculating system, I think getting it closer to "ideal" is going to matter a lot more. Dont skimp on your FB.
 
splatter gaurds etc are far far to fine to be ideal. Lauter tun bottoms should be more surface than hole - buggered if i can remember the exact ratio, but a fine mesh is way more hole than "non" hole. it messes with the flow rates, differential pressures, flow patterns and a bunch of other stuff that I have made an effort to forget since my exams... its all in the books though if you really want to punish yourself with theory.

Suffice it to say - that a bog standard perforated FB is probably on the "too much hole" side of the equation if you are being really pedantic, but they're not far off ... those Yardy style home made FBs look pretty damn good to me....

If you were just doing a bog standard sparge - i suspect it wouldn't matter that much. But if you are going to run a recirculating system, I think getting it closer to "ideal" is going to matter a lot more. Dont skimp on your FB.

Thanks for the advice.

I havent as yet cut the vessel, and will do it in such a way I can re-use the top as a fb. Those Fb'sd in the trhead have inspired me!
 
I've picked up a 450x450x1.5 stainless sheet with 2.5mm 50% perf for $45, so I'm just hinging it in the centre like the beerbelly one and fitting it into one of the lower keg "ribs".
 
that's me mate, mr safety :D
Really?

manicut.jpg

Sleeves rolled up
Using a welding shield instead of a face shield (no double eye protection I bet)
Where's the handle from the grinder?

Accident waiting to happen :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
haha, out of shot i am also standing in a wading pool, i did have on my steel capped speedos though..
 
splatter gaurds etc are far far to fine to be ideal. Lauter tun bottoms should be more surface than hole - buggered if i can remember the exact ratio, but a fine mesh is way more hole than "non" hole. it messes with the flow rates, differential pressures, flow patterns and a bunch of other stuff that I have made an effort to forget since my exams... its all in the books though if you really want to punish yourself with theory.

Suffice it to say - that a bog standard perforated FB is probably on the "too much hole" side of the equation if you are being really pedantic, but they're not far off ... those Yardy style home made FBs look pretty damn good to me....

If you were just doing a bog standard sparge - i suspect it wouldn't matter that much. But if you are going to run a recirculating system, I think getting it closer to "ideal" is going to matter a lot more. Dont skimp on your FB.

The recommended open area for a commercial lauter plate (false bottom) varies according to brewing style. Traditional German breweries go with a 10% to12% open area while English breweries will around 15 to 20% open area. Most HB false bottoms are a compromise because of material availability and tend to be around 35% or more. This means you need a courser crush to stop the grist falling through. Minimum hole size or grid spacing also varies - 0.6mm to 0.8mm with back relief for the traditional German lauter plates and 1.0mm to 1.5mm for English style plates.

Tradition lauter plates are milled slots but mostly we see "wedgewire" or "V" wire plates in microbreweries these days because of cost. You can use perforated stainless but it is hard to find a hole size and pitch that is ideal. I have a 0.75mm thick perf stainless sheet plate with 1.0mm holes on 2.0mm spacing - around 23% open area. That worked fine but needed multiple supports to carry the grist load. I have also seen an English mash/lauter tun with a drilled plate - 2.5 to 3.0 holes probably 25mm apart. It also worked well but only with a courser crush and a traditional floating mash.

If you intend to drill s/s yourself, get some cutting compound (Trafalex or similar) and use cobalt steel drills running as S-L-O-W as you can.

Wes
 
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