A Guide To All-grain Brewing In A Bag

[Amber Fluid]

Bribie's method is cool too. If I remember correctly he sits a wire fridge shelf on top of a bucket and sandwiches it between another fridge shelf. Think there's some pics floating around somewhere.

 

[tonyt]

Nah, wasn't my idea, i read it here too, but am happy to take the credit for it.

Cheers

 

[Andrewbarnes83]

Hi guys, I recently started doing biab but when I ordered my grain I forgot to ask for some acidulated malt to correct the ph (my LHBS normally add about 100 grams I think). Can the the ph be adjusted with epsom salts and if so, how much would I need?

Thanks

 

[Dan2]

Hi guys, I recently started doing biab but when I ordered my grain I forgot to ask for some acidulated malt to correct the ph (my LHBS normally add about 100 grams I think). Can the the ph be adjusted with epsom salts and if so, how much would I need?

Thanks

Epsom won't change much. It will drop pH a little, but about half as effective as Gypsum and Calcium Chloride.
All will affect the end flavour, and a number of other things.

To use salts effectively, you need to get a grasp of what they will do and what you wish to achieve with them. Don't be afraid of learning though.
It's not easy when you start reading, or listening to podcasts, but somewhere along the line something will click and it all just seems pretty straight forward.

Sorry I can't give you a straight up "add a teaspoon of x and y and she'll be right" answer, but each grist and water combo (and hops too I suppose) requires different amounts of salts

 

[danestead]

Hi guys, I recently started doing biab but when I ordered my grain I forgot to ask for some acidulated malt to correct the ph (my LHBS normally add about 100 grams I think). Can the the ph be adjusted with epsom salts and if so, how much would I need?

Thanks

I think I read the other day someone adding citric acid to their mash. Maybe do a search for that to see if it is a suitable alternative for this brew. Personally, I use lactic acid. Its the same acid that is found on your acidulated malt.

 

[Dan2]

I think I read the other day someone adding citric acid to their mash. Maybe do a search for that to see if it is a suitable alternative for this brew. Personally, I use lactic acid. Its the same acid that is found on your acidulated malt.

Good point danestead - I should have mentioned this. If you aren't ready to jump into salts, and you're only looking at dropping the mash pH, Lactic Acid is ideal.

 

[brewermp]

Just curious how long brew days are for people around here. With a 90min mash and 60 min boil im usually hitting 5 hours from go to wo. Just curious on other BIABers. I'm a no chiller btw

 

[takai]

Just curious how long brew days are for people around here. With a 90min mash and 60 min boil im usually hitting 5 hours from go to wo. Just curious on other BIABers. I'm a no chiller btw

On Australia Day i managed to get two brews in from 9:30-5pm. Both with 90min boils and 90min mashes. Was very bloody tight, and involved getting the strike water ready for the second brew before the first one was tapped. But it worked.

Also for BIAB, what do people use for grain bags for higher grain bills. Im finding that my bags are seriously unhappy with much more than 6kg of grain, to the point that for my 10kg grain bill i split it into 2x5kg bags and nested them inside each other.

 

[fletcher]

On Australia Day i managed to get two brews in from 9:30-5pm. Both with 90min boils and 90min mashes. Was very bloody tight, and involved getting the strike water ready for the second brew before the first one was tapped. But it worked.

Also for BIAB, what do people use for grain bags for higher grain bills. Im finding that my bags are seriously unhappy with much more than 6kg of grain, to the point that for my 10kg grain bill i split it into 2x5kg bags and nested them inside each other.

i recently got a heavy duty bag from the site sponsor - craftbrewer, and it's awesome. not affiliated by any means. the bag is strong as all hell and reinforced. other people have used materials and have made their own bags (but i'm all thumbs with that). there are a few threads on making your own bag on here i'm sure.

 

[Bribie G]

Bags ain't bags

big circle of Swiss Voile, hem round the outside and learn to do a hangman's noose to hoist the thing.

No seams to weaken, hangs like a teardrop and to clean as you dump the grain, (dump then flap flap) then rinse the sheet and hang to dry, or Napisan overnight if you wish.

 

[takai]

Still 10kg to haul out though. The bags tend to not break at the seams but through the weave.

Tempted to drill a bunch of holes in my busted 19L BigW pot and put it in there.

 

[brewermp]

i recently got a heavy duty bag from the site sponsor - craftbrewer, and it's awesome. not affiliated by any means. the bag is strong as all hell and reinforced. other people have used materials and have made their own bags (but i'm all thumbs with that). there are a few threads on making your own bag on here i'm sure.

+1 for craft brewer. Strong bag.

 

[contrarian]

Would have to agree with the craftbrewer bag. Did an IPA over the weekend with about 15kg of grain and it held up fine.

 

[Blind Dog]

Bags ain't bags

big circle of Swiss Voile, hem round the outside and learn to do a hangman's noose to hoist the thing.

You don't even need to hem, you can just gently heat the outer edge of the circle over a low flame and the very edge will melt so that you end up with a nice neat edge that doesn't fray.

 

[Bribie G]

I've had bags from Craftbrewer, From Nev in Perth and had 2 made by a local seamstress. Ended up giving them all away and using a circle of voile I bought in 2011 for around 11 dollars. I bought a backup in 2012 when I moved down here. Still in drawer.
Advantage of the sheet is that you take it out to the veg garden, grab at one point, pull to deposit grain, go flap flap and rinse off. Trivial.
Standing at sink with a running tap trying to hunt down every little bit of grain and turning bag inside then out was a PITA

 

[contrarian]

to clean my bag I usually just turn it inside out, hang it on the clothes line and hose, every few brew I put it through a short wash cycle with some sodium perc has never seemed to onerous to me.

 

[Nick667]

Another Biab complete yesterday. I did a JSGA clone with great results again.
If you are using BrewMate, it's pretty important to test the temp of your milled grain & adjust strike temp accordingly.
I had my grain temp set at 20.0deg & the actual grain temp was 31.1 so I ended up over shooting my strike in temp by almost 2deg.
Aiming for 66deg & ended up at 68deg so frantically aerated the mash & around 5mins later it settled at 66.2deg. Lid on & covered for 90mins.
Mash out after the sacc rest & hoisted the bag. I was aiming for a finished volume of 23lt @1.048 & ended up with 23.5lt @1.048 giving me 81% efficiency into the cube.
[/quote


How do I set grain temp on Brewmate?
I use it but I cant see grain temp and it is always a guess.

 

[Rambo]

Click on the "Brew Day" button on the right hand side of the screen. Inside, there is a section to change the grain temp (in the "mash" section).

 

[fletcher]

I've had bags from Craftbrewer, From Nev in Perth and had 2 made by a local seamstress. Ended up giving them all away and using a circle of voile I bought in 2011 for around 11 dollars. I bought a backup in 2012 when I moved down here. Still in drawer.
Advantage of the sheet is that you take it out to the veg garden, grab at one point, pull to deposit grain, go flap flap and rinse off. Trivial.
Standing at sink with a running tap trying to hunt down every little bit of grain and turning bag inside then out was a PITA

agree with this however recently i've just got as much out as possible, hang it out, and let the rest of the grains dry on it. after a few hours or what not, i just come and shake it, and the rest of them just fall off.

EDIT: crap, sorry. just replied to a very old post :unsure:

 

[Coodgee]

was up in Townsville earlier in the year and stopped into a HB shop there. "let me show you this new method mate, it's called brew in a bag". I said I had I new all about it and he replied " I don't think so mate, this is brand new". I was just thinking to myself that it was being done on here by PP more than 10 years ago!!