New peco boiler

[Thumper]

Hi all, and happy New year!

Santa was nice so I finally have the kit to do BIAB! I intend to do my first brew in it tomorrow, but have a couple of questions first.

What I have is a peco boiler with a false bottom. The false.bottom fits above the tap and looks fine enough to filter out hop debris, however I have seen instructional videos that recommend you remove the false bottom before boiling. Any truth to this, or can I leave it in?

Secondly, I'm sure I read some advice on here that said to soak peco boilers before the first use to avoid a plastic taste to the first beer, but I can't find the thread anywhere. Did I dream it, or do I have to soak the boiler overnight before using it tomorrow?

Cheers all.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
I believe that the false bottom will lift during the boil, so it makes sense to remove it after the mash.

 

[Alside101]

Hi i have that boiler had it for a few years i always leave the false bottom in when i boil. I never soaked it and its been fine

 

[Greg167]

I have the same boiler and mesh infill but use a coolbox as a Mash Tun. The “false bottom” I found tends to push up when boiling as the bubbling from the boil gets trapped under it and pushes it, this when using it to boil the wort and add hops. But as you are doing BIAB this should be fine as the weight of the grain make keep it down. It will stop your bag sitting against the Element of the kettle.

As for soaking it I’ve not read anything on that

 

[Greg167]

You may be best just filling it so it’s a couple of inches above the false bottom and letting the water boil to see what happens.

And remember to have fun!

 

[Alside101]

Mine never moves

 

[pvt_ak]

Hi i have that boiler had it for a few years i always leave the false bottom in when i boil. I never soaked it and its been fine

Same here .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Leon103]

Beware that the measure gauge is often out so you may need to be careful with your water addition

 

[Thumper]

Excellent, thanks everyone.

If the worst that can happen is that the false bottom will lift then I'll leave it in. If it lifts I'll take it out.

Doesn't sound like I need to soak it either, which is one less job!

 

[Alside101]

Beware that the measure gauge is often out so you may need to be careful with your water addition

That's a good point mine was well out so i corrected it

 

[Thumper]

Yes, it's just a sticker on the side of the bucket :lol: I intend to spend some time with a litre jug and a sharpie before doing the brew. I'll work out any dead space while I'm at it.

Also need to stop my wort chiller leaking. I've tried Vaseline on the threads but it didn't do the trick. I may have to buy some of that tape (PTFE tape?). But it's not leaking much, just a few drips, so I may get away with it for tomorrow.

 

[photek1000]

I ditched the false bottom for my Peco after two brews, useless at what it did, never stayed in place and caused a really funny uneven boil, also it was really tricky to clean well.

I added a basic copper pipe hop filter after this whilst still BIABing, and since changed tap and to a bazooka style filter.

The measurements on the sticker will be way off and you'll need to use a known measuring jug and a marker to make your own if you want to be close to correct volumes, doesn't need to be spot on but close enough.

I didn't purposely clean mine down for any plastic taste removal, but I did do a test fill and boil just to check for leaks, so may have done by accident.

As for chiller leaking, are you sure it's leaking from the threads, mine leaks from the Hozelock style connectors, I have checked the o-rings and upgraded the hose end connectors I have and it still leaks, I just put a tea towel down to soak up the drips, and it drips a lot.

I may go back to trying again or I may ditch the quick Hozelocks and just jubilee some hose on and hozelock the tails to see if it helps.

 

[Brew_DD2]

I got a chiller from Geterbrewed and it leaked something rotten. The hose connecters were cheapy hozelock copies. Changed them out for real Hozelock connectors and used plenty of PTFE tape and I'm now leak free.

I wish companies wouldn't cheap out on parts. Or maybe test their products.

 

[AdeDunn]

I don't use a PECO, but the method is the same. You don't need the false bottom when you boil. It's purpose is to keep your BIAB bag away from the element whilst you mash. Once you have finished mashing, you remove the bag with grain (optionally sparge) before you boil, so the false bottom isn't at all needed. At best it'll just clog up and make it harder to transfer your wort to the FV. That's what I found with the one in my ACE boiler anyway, and that's a perforated SS plate one...

If you haven't done a BIAB before, here's a tip that improved my results massively. Stir your grain really well! Make sure you get it right up off the bottom of the bag when you stir, so it moves around in the water column. I was too careful and gentle with my first BIAB mash, and lost efficiency because of it. :thumb:

 

[Thumper]

Thanks all for your advice!

I did put my own scale on, as expected the one on the boiler was way off. Also as expected, the false bottom floats off the second any bubbles happen, so I took it out. It turned out the hops were in tea bag type things, so that wasn't a problem, but I got quite a bit of break material in the FV. I may need a bazooka filter for the future!

The chiller didn't leak today, so maybe the Vaseline did do the trick? I'm happy, either way!

I'll post a separate thread about the brew day for any who are interested!