I am in the process of building a new Mash/Lauter Tun and am wondering what everyone uses for a false bottom as far as hole size? The way I built this I can’t use a manifold or SS braid and am planning on using perforated SS plate with the outlet under that. I found a piece of perf plate with 1/8" holes and used it once with a lot of issues as far as getting grain husks in my Wort. I have since located a piece with 1/16" holes and am planning on giving that a try but am a little concerned that I may have problems with the holes pluggin up. I know I could order one online with 3/32" holes but I would have to cut it down to fit (as well as spending more $). Has anyone used 1/16" holes and if so were there any problems with plugging?
I made a Papazian Zapap mash/lauter tun that ended up looking like this guy’s: (http://www.mainebrews.com/news/2009/04/zapap-lauter-system/). I think I used 1/8" drill bit. But, I also put a mesh bag inside the bucket.
1/16 should be fine.
I hope so, I put quite a bit of time into this. It’s all SS with a water jacket that has temp probes both into the jacket and mash. I figured with the water jacket I can direct fire and have no concerns about scorching my mash. When I tried it with the 1/8" False Bottom I heated the jacket temp up to my strike temp and it held perfectly with no drop over an hour. I am hoping to be able to step mash once I get it all working.