A Guide To All-grain Brewing In A Bag

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Waiting with baited breath Bunyip! Was it really good and you drank too much to post or really bad and you are now dead?

LOL
Pat
 
ok so i'm 20 minutes into the mash and i have done it differently this time, as last time i found temperature control a challenge with a 4 ring burner.

what i did:

- i've used 2 x 15L SS pots on the gas stove to get them to 70c and then poured them into the kettle.

- i then put the mashbag in and found the temp went down to 62c.

- then lifted the kettle onto the stove and sat it over the 2 front burners which are the main ones

- gave it a burst of that for 10 mins, temp goes up to 66c

- dropped them back to minimum and checked over 2 x 5min periods, still 66c.

this way i can have far greater control over the temp and at the same time conserve my gas bottle for the boil only B)

i must stress that you should BE CAREFUL lifting the kettle as it could be hazardous :ph34r:
 
Just put the lid on pot then to no-chill after a more successful second BIAB, an American IPA!

Once again however, even with the voile bag, I had lots of trouble removing the bag, a very large amount of water retained in the bag when lifting, making it extremely awkward :S. Eventually moved it and suspended it above another pot, and took me aboot 30 mins to squeeze the heck out of it. Definitely was a two person job, that I had to manage on my own lol.

Smelt a lot sweeter and richer than my first (previous) BIAB, hopefully the efficiency is better this time, though its probably not hard to beat 40%! :S

Recipe follows:
4kg BB Pale
1kg JW Light Munich
1kg BB Galaxy
0.25kg JW Caramalt

25g Chinook 13% 60min
25g Chinook 13% 15min
2 plug Cascade 6% 15min
2 plug Cascade 6% 2min
Total: 53IBU

US-56 yeast

Expected OG 1.060 (70%) for 23L


Hops smell delicious!

-Adam
 
I had quiet the mishap this morning doing another BIAB partial APA. Everything was going well for the mash, i lifted out the bag at 90 mins and let it drain for a bit. i tilted the bag to try and get all the liquid to run to the corner and the material/overlocking gave way. lots of grain straight back into the pot :( I'm not sure if it was the nylon, or the overlocking, but i'd definitely recommend a line of stitching in 3-5cm from overlocking just to be safe.

all went well in the end, i poured the hot liquor into 4 other pots so i could clean it out, then poured it all back into the big pot through a strainer. i dont know about HSA around 65, but if it's possible I've got it.

well, it was fun while it lasted but i think my BIAB days are over. I'm gonna get the plumbing bits i need to get my mash tun up and running so i dont risk this again.
 
I had quiet the mishap this morning doing another BIAB partial APA. Everything was going well for the mash, i lifted out the bag at 90 mins and let it drain for a bit. i tilted the bag to try and get all the liquid to run to the corner and the material/overlocking gave way. lots of grain straight back into the pot :( I'm not sure if it was the nylon, or the overlocking, but i'd definitely recommend a line of stitching in 3-5cm from overlocking just to be safe.

all went well in the end, i poured the hot liquor into 4 other pots so i could clean it out, then poured it all back into the big pot through a strainer. i dont know about HSA around 65, but if it's possible I've got it.

well, it was fun while it lasted but i think my BIAB days are over. I'm gonna get the plumbing bits i need to get my mash tun up and running so i dont risk this again.

Sounds like a pretty stressful brew day Lucas...kinda' like my last when the internal "tun" vessel fell into the kettle and wort splashed all over the kitchen walls, please don't dob on me! :eek: :ph34r:

Dang, now you are freaking me out, as I've got all my gear ready to go for the first FLB full batch next weekend...was gunna go BIAB...maybe I'll start looking for a good bucket after reading this...I don't own a sewing machine and was going to either farm the work out or do it by hand over many, many hours B)

PZ.
 
Fingerb...
I get buckets from Bakery...Maccas....Deli.....FREE ....Ice Cream Man at markets......($2.00)
PJ
 
Fingerb...
I get buckets from Bakery...Maccas....Deli.....FREE ....Ice Cream Man at markets......($2.00)
PJ

PJ, thanks for that but I've tried it before and every joint around here seems to just say"no"...some even deny ever having them...WTF?!?! :angry:

I'll keep asking though :ph34r:

PZ.
 
Finger..
Maybe Nowra more friendly......
If ever in Nowra I have some DIFFERENT sizes
PJ
 
The trick may be to design your bag so that there is no seam across the bottom.

Having said that, mine has a seam across the bottom. Not even overlocked, just a normal seam on a normal machine. It has survived it's first few brews, no signs of trouble.

BIAB is working out great for me.

Got any pics of your bag lucas?
 
Just thought I'd ask PJ, as a mate has has place and goes fishing down there all the time.

BUT, just realised my dad is at Tuross...surely the bakery there won't be pricks and I think a girl I once used to know might still work there...so I'll ask him to check it out tomorrow :beer:

PZ.
 
Finger ...Bakery may have 10lt and 20 lt...they have Dairy Farmers..Products in them.
Cream ...etc..
PJ
 
pretty much like anything, if you have thought it through and designed it accordingly, you minimize yuour chances of trouble.

ditching BIAB due to poor design doesn't mean that your next method will work...

lucas, i'm keen to see how your bag was designed....

i wouldn't go onto plumbing until i could hold a pile of grain in a nylon sheet myself :unsure:
 
I don't own a sewing machine and was going to either farm the work out or do it by hand over many, many hours B)

PZ.
for the record, i dont own a sewing machine and placed several (approx 10) triple stitched "locks" around the bag and fed the drawstring through. this took around 15 minutes.
 
I have no seam on the bottom, they are on the sides and top. Works fine for me, but I don't think it would handle double batches (even thoughthe bag is big enough).
 
The trick may be to design your bag so that there is no seam across the bottom.

Having said that, mine has a seam across the bottom. Not even overlocked, just a normal seam on a normal machine. It has survived it's first few brews, no signs of trouble.

BIAB is working out great for me.

Got any pics of your bag lucas?
nah, it's at the bottom of my wheelie bin. i'll describe it though. it was basically made a like a liner for the pot, round bottom with straight up sides. not a design i'd recommend, far too much stitching to go wrong.
 
Just on my way out but a couple of things...

If you order your grain with a coarser crush, you'll find the bag drains far more quickly and is easier to lift. I just hang mine from a door handle for about ten minutes once removed and it drains in about ten minutes. I give it a quick squeeze then but usually bugger all comes out.

Lucas, go and get your bag out of the bin - lol! I'm thinking that maybe the thread you used wasn't nyon or, more likely, the stitching on the corner wasn't finished off properly? Shame to see you do all that work though and not have another try as the BIAB is very easy and time/labour effective.

In any brewing method things can go wrong in the early days that cause a bit of a nightmare - tuns leaking, manifolds coming apart, sparges sticking, taps being knocked open etc. All part of the fun eh?

Though I haven't had any of these problems, so far with BIAB, we've learned...

1. Coarser crush makes things a bit easier.
2. A NASA in a keg will burn the bag.
3. The bag needs to line the kettle (as per the booklet) and your stitching needs to be solid and done with nylon.

I can't see anything else unexpected popping up but you never know!

Sorry you had to take one for the team though Lucas and thanks for helping in the pioneering here. Hope the brew turns out yummy after all your hard work. Cheers mate.

Uh oh! Now I'm running late...
 

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