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pyrosx

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Basic question: can anyone see any huge problems with mashing-in-bag-in-an-esky?

Couple of reasons for me thinking about this bastardisation of what would otherwise be a nice clean 1 vessel BIAB technique.
- The stock pots I already own aren't 19L - they're only 15-16L.... which i'm glad I realised before trying to mash 4.5kg grain with 12L of water as per NickJD's wonderful tutorial.... could've got messy.
- Ultimately I want to buy a 70L pot to do BIAB properly (I have a 2L/h gas reg & wok burner already), but am looking for a bargain or i'll have to wait till after the Fat Red Jolly Man Cometh, and don't want to waste funds on an intermediate option (19L)
- I have an esky - but I want it to -stay- an esky as well - so no drilling. But I like the idea of the insulation etc. and it has a tap on the bottom, so draining back into the pot shouldn't be an issue.
- I have a BIAB bag already - otherwise i'd look at some kind of copper-tube-manifold sort of thing. (And also, I sucks at the tools)

I figured the pot would heat the strike water, water goes in esky, bag goes in esky, grain goes in bag. Then the bag would hoist out the grain out of the esky, the tap can drain the sweet wort back into the 16L pot, and the boil can go on as planned now that the 4kg of grain has given me some headspace in the smaller pot.

I realise that this is adding a few liquid-movement steps to the process, but i'm willing to live with the hassle until the time comes to get a proper size pot.

Thoughts?
 
I did this for a few brews before I got my gear sorted (although sounds like my volume may have a been a little lower than yours). Really made me hurry up and get my gear sorted. You might enjoy it more than I did. Regardless, it will certainly work.
 
Basic question: can anyone see any huge problems with mashing-in-bag-in-an-esky?

Couple of reasons for me thinking about this bastardisation of what would otherwise be a nice clean 1 vessel BIAB technique.
- The stock pots I already own aren't 19L - they're only 15-16L.... which i'm glad I realised before trying to mash 4.5kg grain with 12L of water as per NickJD's wonderful tutorial.... could've got messy.
- Ultimately I want to buy a 70L pot to do BIAB properly (I have a 2L/h gas reg & wok burner already), but am looking for a bargain or i'll have to wait till after the Fat Red Jolly Man Cometh, and don't want to waste funds on an intermediate option (19L)
- I have an esky - but I want it to -stay- an esky as well - so no drilling. But I like the idea of the insulation etc. and it has a tap on the bottom, so draining back into the pot shouldn't be an issue.
- I have a BIAB bag already - otherwise i'd look at some kind of copper-tube-manifold sort of thing. (And also, I sucks at the tools)

I figured the pot would heat the strike water, water goes in esky, bag goes in esky, grain goes in bag. Then the bag would hoist out the grain out of the esky, the tap can drain the sweet wort back into the 16L pot, and the boil can go on as planned now that the 4kg of grain has given me some headspace in the smaller pot.

I realise that this is adding a few liquid-movement steps to the process, but i'm willing to live with the hassle until the time comes to get a proper size pot.

Thoughts?
Only bad thing I can think of is that eski's are typically polystyrene which is really bad for leaching nasties especially at high temps, basically that's the reason it's not a food rated plastic.

EDIT - Apparently PS is food grade! Yikes...
 
I have done it for larger grain bill.

I find it easier and quicker to drain the bag, then siphon without splashing into pot for the boil.

A good idea to insulate the top of the grain bed to help any dead space issues.

I started BIAB and probably wont change, so doing it in what ever vessel is needed at the time does not really make a difference.
 
A good idea to insulate the top of the grain bed to help any dead space issues.

Do you mean the esky DOES insulate? Or that I should BE insulating.

If the latter - how does one go about that?
 
Plenty have done, and some continue to do, exactly that. When clicking on the search function up the top, type your search in the google bar - it is much better than the default forum search; 'mash in a bag in an esky'.

Due to money restraints and the urgent compulsion to drink copious amounts of beer I am still at this stage; mash in a bag in an esky, two pot full volume boil (I did stick a better tap on the 55L esky when I first used a braid manifold, kept the tap, replaced the manifold). Personally I am saving up slowly and buying bits and pieces to get to a bigger 2v set up, but I am in no rush. The focus becomes clear wort into the fermenter rather than into the kettle. Whirlpool and syphon does this in smaller pots when not using flowers to assist with filtering the break when pouring/straining.

I've made lots of shit beer - but that was me, not the equipment. I am generally pretty comfortable with the beers I am producing now - all because I slowed down and learnt more about the theory rather than simply 'upgrading' my gear.

There has a been a lot of chat about methods of AG brewing, but the key point is that it is AG brewing, and even my average beers have been vastly superior in flavour to my extract and partial brews - and it's truckloads more fun as a hobby (purely my experience of it, not knocking anyone else - peace and mung beans to all). Get into it! :beer:


edit: re- deadspace, I use alfoil to create a lower 'false top' which also seals the joins when I put the lid on, then wrap the whole esky in a warm snuggly blanky for a happy little sacchy time. Just do it, measure the temp at 60mins and learn your lesson for next time - if you have a smaller esky you may not even have much airspace above the grain anyway.
 
Do you mean the esky DOES insulate? Or that I should BE insulating.

If the latter - how does one go about that?

find yourself a styrofoam box, cut to size then cover in foil , shiny side out and place on top of your grain.
 
My google-fu failed me this time - didn't find much that was helpful. In fact, while on the subject of google-fu - I also fail at finding a proper explanation of whirlpooling - most of what I can see involves pumps (which I don't have) or discussions of when, why, and what's going to happen - but not the WHAT part, which while I think I get the gist (stir in a circular motion, crap ends up around the edges, siphon from the middle?)

Foil is a great idea - I believe my esky is a 55L job. I wouldn't have thought further insulation on the outside would have been overly necessary, but I guess that's an experiment for later on - it's only going to waste 30 seconds farking about with some blankets, so might as well do it.
 
(stir in a circular motion, crap ends up around the edges, siphon from the middle?)
Pretty much except the trub is the middle (in a compact cone, if you're lucky) and you collect wort from the edge.
 
I use an esky 55 lt and have only insulated the top of the grain bed with a piece of styrofoam wrapped in al foil and the digital thermometer stuck thru into the mash . Only lose 1/2 to 1 * C over the hour mash .
 
I've tried this method of bag-in-esky and was quite happy with the results.

I have a 50L "Esky/Nylex" that was sitting around and noticed the drain pipe on it was the exact same size as a fermenter tap. With this i could adapt my usual transfer hose without the need for drilling or any other modifications/expenses.

My grain bag isn't one of the "jumbo" types but easilly holds the usual grain bill. Placing the grain bag next to the drain pipe and recirculating a few times produced a wort clarity much better than expected. Some may argue a clear wort isn't a must at this stage, but I prefer it.

You may also notice the fine "sand like" debrie that has escaped the grain bag on the bottom of your esky. I again, prefer to leave this out of the wort and this IMO an advantage over BIAB (single vessel).

Cheers mate.
 
You may also notice the fine "sand like" debrie that has escaped the grain bag on the bottom of your esky. I again, prefer to leave this out of the wort and this IMO an advantage over BIAB (single vessel).

That's the secret ingredient of BIAB.
 
My google-fu failed me this time - didn't find much that was helpful. In fact, while on the subject of google-fu - I also fail at finding a proper explanation of whirlpooling - most of what I can see involves pumps (which I don't have) or discussions of when, why, and what's going to happen - but not the WHAT part, which while I think I get the gist (stir in a circular motion, crap ends up around the edges, siphon from the middle?)

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Whirlpooling

Down at the bottom is also a diagram that shows why the trub ends up in the middle and not on the sides.
 
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