Enhanced Biab With Lauter Tun Stage

[RdeVjun]

Great thread Bribie G, you're always trying out new and interesting things while putting loads of thought and effort into it. :super:

As a long- time 19L Maxi-BIABer I can relate that dunk sparging doesn't seem quite as effective as dropping the bag into an empty bucket and quasi- batch sparging by pouring in a few jugs of near- boiling water while stirring and after a pause, lifting the bag to lauter, then repeating the process. That's similar in some ways to what you're doing with the lauter, however it doesn't vourlaf or recirculate so the runnings are quite turbid so instead of draining the bed it is just the bag lift, the same as mashing. As you've noted though, turbid wort isn't necessarily the deal breaker, but of course it would be preferable if it were clear. I also leave sparge runnings to sit for a few minutes and much of the debris settles, so it is discarded.

Its also a given IMO that just one heated vessel and not two is much more attractive to novice brewers equipping for AG. B)

Q. Would the LT drain by siphon do you think? Might need a bit of a suck to get going perhaps, maybe also with silicone tubing to help prevent it collapsing under suction. I know it is no biggie to drill a hole, but trying out a few different LTs without rendering them thereafter useless is what I had in mind. Was at CB yesterday and was eyeing off the falsies, knew I should've nabbed one then and there!

Oh, and nice pink mop too, that's one classy bit of kit! :lol:

 

[Bribie G]

You're not a real man till you get a rotating pink mop (goes into a whirling bucket a bit like a lettuce drainer thing - awesome action)

Syphoning would work fine, the tube doesn't care if it's going through the side of a bucket or not. I'll just put a bandaid over the hole in the big bowl and it can become my dry grist collecting bowl for the Marga.
I'm picking up the 9" falsie on Saturday and my next couple of brews will be a one man systems war. B)

Mash in the tun and boil in the urn (bagless - oh the humanity)

Drill a heap of big holes in the bottom of a handipail (fits snugly in a Crown Urn but a bit tall for a Birko), fit false bottom with elbow plugged of course, and BIAMP, hoisting the Malt Pipe with my new accurate double-double pulley (BribieEzyPullinator).

The first two brews (still cubed) are a sort of Golden Fat Squire Creatures thingo so I might go a ghetto XXXX for the next couple.

Next-darren will I'm sure be interested in the efficiency and volume results, which I'll publish here over the next couple.

 

[MarkBastard]

Bribie please post heaps of pics of the crown setup!

 

[Bribie G]

Mark, more than welcome to come up for a brew day.

 

[RdeVjun]

The first two brews (still cubed) are a sort of Golden Fat Squire Creatures thingo

:lol:

Next-darren will I'm sure be interested in the efficiency and volume results, which I'll publish here over the next couple.

I'll be watching, for sure. :icon_cheers:

 

[ashley_leask]

Mark, more than welcome to come up for a brew day.

I have a 20 odd litre aluminium pot I was thinking of using to test this process out. It will slot nicely inside the Crown if I remove the handles, and I can lift using the same rig I use to lift the bag. Considering drilling a series of holes through the base for drainage, manual vorlaufing bag through the raised pot. If it works out well I'll invest in a pump for recirculation.

Thanks for testing out the idea and for all the pics & explanation.

Ash

 

[argon]

As much as i enjoy the ingenuity of all this to get a little less trub and a touch more efficiency, i'd expect that the extra work/mess will quickly get tiresome.

As someone who used to do BIAB with alot of faffing about to get the efficiency i was after (40L out of 50L pot) the simplicity of moving to a lauter tun system was fantastic. No lifting/draining/squeezing messiness. My efficiency is now greater... close to 85% pre boil, with great wort clarity in the kettle and only about 1L loss in the kettle.

I'd suggest (even as a trial to see how you feel about it) do a 2V with both urns, using the false bottom in one and the other as a HLT/Kettle. I think you'll be surprised at the simplicity, clarity and efficiency you'll get out of it. You can still do steps in the tun with a bit of stirring/pumping as before, so that flexibility is maintained.

Of course you can no longer do side by sides with the 2 urns running concurrently. But i guess i you still maintain that flexibility if you chose to go back and it anyway with the double BIAB.

 

[Bribie G]

Yup as I type, Urnold is back from Hospital and doing his first batch - I'm cranking out a simple bog standard BIAB Bulimba Gold Top 70s style for a forthcoming BBQ - however It will be great to have flexibility to do lautering with bigger beers, or to get better control when doing say a Helles or a Bo Pils where I really want to get as close to commercial practice as possible whilst still keeping a foot in the BIAB camp.

 

[argon]

Actually thinking about it... You could do double batches with the 2 urns set up in lauter mode. Easily fit 10-12kg in the 40L urn i'd think. Just do a post boil top up after boiling the max pre-boil volume you're comfortable with.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Those who say that current technology has plateaued are destined to find their foot in their mouth.

But unfortunately what I mostly see is people wracking their brains to invent one of these...

When half an hour with a search engine would do the job for them.

And quite frankly what i see a hell of a lot of are brewing versions of one of these...

I expect that the second version is more your style.

 

[Nick JD]

But unfortunately what I mostly see is people wracking their brains to invent one of these...

When half an hour with a search engine would do the job for them.

Unfortunately what I mostly see is people wracking their brains for new ways to kick the crutch out from people trying to make a process fit their ideals.

Sure, it's all been done before, but why not just sit back and rest easy with your supreme knowledge in your right hand and your KY Jelly in your left and let them succeed or fail on their own terms.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I'm not interested in coming up with ideas to sound smart or to be the guy that makes the next big thing, I'm interested in how to make brewing easier for myself. So Wobbly's post was excellent.

I'm only teasing Mark - wobbly's post is hopefully a way for people to see a few different options that have already been explored.

But to be honest i think that Bribies OP method was about as simple and effective as its going to get, although I think its debatable whether keeping the bag in the mix actually reduces the amount of work or increases it vs just scooping the mash from the mash vessel to the lauter tun with a jug. The transfer itself might be faster and perhaps easier - but then again you have to have a bag, insert a bag, worry about a bag burning or tearing, clean a bag..... All OK in normal BIAB, but somewhat of a waste if you're using a multi vessel system anyway.

I imagine that Bribie will try both ways and find out for himself.

 

[Bribie G]

It took them 2500 years to reinvent the laptop



Probably take another 2500 years for gen Y to stand up on the train and let pregnant ladies sit.

 

[yardy]

Probably take another 2500 years for gen Y to stand up on the train and let pregnant ladies sit.

:lol:

 

[Bribie G]

Got the 12" false bottom replaced by the 9" I had originally ordered and paid for, so back in business.

BribieLautinator Mk II
Handi pail with a hole drilled, and a flow controller that I jammed together for around $8 with the aid of hot water and lube: a few bits of beer line inside the main hose, and clips and a little plastic tap from my local water distillation and turboyeast dealership up the street

Now we're cookin (without gas of course)

It's a Dortmunder Export, Planned to hit 21L at 1055 with 75% eff. Which should get me 20L into a cube and hopefully 500ml for a starter and only 500ml unrecoverable trub.
My trub management today is a triple header -

• lauter for clear wort into kettle to reduce coagulated trub after boil.
• Hop sock (using some flowers as it happens - just investigating something else as well)
• trub straining of what's left in the kettle

Ok lets get that sparge water heating to 80 degrees:

Finished mashing and a mashout, hoist the bag out of the urn, drain a while and dump grist into tun
That's a good deep grain bed this time

Add the runnings already collected, and start running off

Well, didn't need to recirculate much at all - came out clear almost immediately

Come to Daddy you sweet little thang; :wub:

Edit: fly sparged with about 12 L which took the runnings eventually down to 1010. Sweet.

So boiling now, I'll let you know how it went - love this midnight brewing :icon_cheers:

 

[stux]

Still waiting

 

[Bribie G]

Just finished the boil, letting it settle for 15 mins then cube it. The break, using BrewBright was spectacular - instant breadcrumb soup

 

[Bribie G]

Final washup: 1054, but I bloody well did it again and ended up with 23L instead of 21L - I'll have to recalibrate my sight tube and cut back on the water a tad next time. But hardly any loss to trub at all - I used Hallertau aroma flowers and strained the first runnings and the left over wort back through a hop bed in a strainer into a stockpot which is in the fridge overnight and I'll use it in a starter. And I've got a full FWK of absolutely clear wort.

So adjusting in BrewMate I actually got an efficiency of 80% which is very pleasing. My poor camera has run out of charge, I'll take a couple of piccies in the morning.

Of to bed. :icon_cheers:

 

[RdeVjun]

Now you're talking Bribie, great stuff! B)

That sight tube isn't Chinese is it?

 

[MarkBastard]

When you wake up give us some more details please! Also why didn't you just use the pail as the 'bag'?