[dmtaylor]

I think that if you %u201Cmash in a bag%u201D like I do, a false bottom is almost necessary - I forgot to put the bottom in once, and when I turned on the wort pump, it sucked the bag into the drain valve and stopped the flow into the boil kettle.  Not fun; haven%u2019t forgot to put in the false bottom ever since.

I used to put something between the bag and the spigot just to keep the bag from getting sucked into the valve.  I just grabbed a coffee cup or two, or whatever I had laying around.  Worked great.

[kpfoleyjr]

I used a slotted spoon to get through the debacle when I forgot to install the false bottom.  The false bottom is better, to me anyway.