Using An Urn For Brew In A Bag - Tutorial

[Forever Wort]

I am an advocate of the Crown Urn. Sensational piece of equipment. Not a single drama since I bought mine a few months ago.

 

[panzerd18]

I am seriously considering a Crown urn with concealed element but one negative I have heard is it cannot sustain a boil due to some engineered protection.

 

[HBHB]

Anyone use the tea strainer on the crown urns here.

I imagine its too small and not strong enough for the grain but a pricey hop spider i suppose.

No good for hop additions. Have tried one. The strainer isn't long enough to reach right down into the boil and the mesh is way too large. After 3 minutes all of the hops are in the boil.

I am seriously considering a Crown urn with concealed element but one negative I have heard is it cannot sustain a boil due to some engineered protection.

There's nothing wrong with the Crown urn. Several months ago, the constant boil temp was elevated and that negated any need to disable the boil dry protection and thermostat control.

Boil is vigorous enough to do full sized boils without any tweaks.

IMHO, Given they're an Australian company doing a great product at a reasonable price with outstanding warranty, i think they're a better option than some of the lesser units from OS.

 

[indica86]

+1 for what Martin stated. I bought one from him and it is great, gets a decent rolling boil going without issue.
I have easily made 20 litre 8% IPAs in mine.

 

[Drewski]

I am seriously considering a Crown urn with concealed element but one negative I have heard is it cannot sustain a boil due to some engineered protection.

I got one from grain and grape maybe two months ago, it boils constantly with no problems at all. I asked about this when i purchased due to comments on here and was told they had been changed by crown to remedy this. So unless you get old stock should be all good.

 

[tj2204]

Thanks Bribie G.

Did my first AG & first BIAB last night. It actually seemed easier than a full extract with steeping grains , getting the boiling wort out of the kitchen where there are dogs and babies running around was a huge bonus too.

A big thank you to everyone on AHB for sharing all your knowledge and making things easier for newbies like me.

Cheers.

 

[Bribie G]

Welcome to the dark side. Even after nearly 7 years of BIAB in urn I still find myself wondering if I've missed something out in the middle of a brew session, because it can't be this quick and easy.
But it is.

 

[Aydos]

Bribie G was the reason I got into all grain and I still have my biab rig in use to this day.

 

[mrwoody1985]

Dunno if that's a compliment or not??!! :lol: But Thirsty, I'm seriously blushing and there's no need for that!! Buggered if I can find the post either... I guess its about time to pop a link in the sig block. When I find it... maybe this one?

Anyway, NickJD's the guy for small stock BIAB batches although today he's upping the ante with a high- gravity boil. I've basically been doing what he's shown us this evening, and as I've been doing it for a while now, can safely say the smaller vessel need not be an impediment to filling a fermenter. 3/4 fill the vessel with water, mash whatever the grain bill is (if there's not enough room then reduce water volume), lift & drain, dunk sparge+mashout with enough to fill the vessel. Redunk with a few more litres aiming for a similar mashout temp, add this to top up the vessel during the boil. Should get high- 70s efficiency, if not better. Dilute at pitching, no matter how you chill, although I've heard that dilution after fermentation might be worth a whirl too, some might consider that sacrilege though.
Additional Water Volume = Actual SG / Target SG * Actual Volume - Actual Volume
(A fairly rough calc, Nb. SG 1.045 expressed as 45, 1.072 as 72 etc.)

Again, I'd have to second what Thirsty and others say, that the sort of farting about I go through for this process is not for novice BIABers, please do the no- sparge version until familiar with the equipment. After that, everything should become fairly obvious and things like sparging and dilution should be a simple enough process.

Edit: Spleeing.

hi guys and girls, this is my 1st post here, My question is can i BIAB or AG to a higher percentage of alcohol to store in the 15ltr food grade bottles? the reason i ask is because i am rapidly acquiring all the gear to do AG for the 1st time ever.. im still very new to brewing and would like to go straight to AG. the smaller but stronger batches is because i today got a 30l urn for BIAB and after much research i find that it will not be sufficient to give me a 19l final volume (for my kegs) can i get away with a 15l batch and dilute before ferment as you do when buying AG in 15l tubs at HB shops? Now i think this quoted comment states that i can, but i would need to get my recipe and do it as per recipe minus 5L of final water volume, is that correct? any help is great.. ive been reading this forum for 3 nights now, wow what alot of knowledge you guys have. i feel like im learning alot. if anybody can point me in the direction of a recipe i can take to the HB shop and get the ingrediants to perform this monuver thatd also be great. thank you

 

[RdeVjun]

Yep, if I've understood your post correctly, you sure can.
One way to do this is as a simple 'full volume' (well, 'full urn' really) BIAB with dilution at ferment- that seems to be where you are headed.
Alternatively, start with the entire grain bill in the urn, full to the brim as above, reserve the water that won't fit for a sparge step. Then after the initial lauter that additional sparge liquor should get your volume and SG there. I do this regularly in a 36L kettle, usually get a 19L cornie and half a dozen PET bottles of product.

Tip: Suggest also to be cautious when adding the grain to the urn, aka' dough in', make sure you have enough space for it, otherwise it may overflow. I set aside the water in a 19 stockpot, reserving some which is used for the sparge.


What a blast from the past this thread is!!

 

[mrwoody1985]

I think im just going to go for it, from what i can understand it "might" work if i do the following with 5kg of grain.
1. Heat 20l of water up to 71deg and add it to cooler (cooler will be pre heated)
2.add grain stiring vigorously. Checking temp gets to 66deg (adjusting accordingly) & let it rest for 60-90 mins watching temp.
3.have sparge water ready at 80deg and once my strike/mash is back in kettle heating up for boil, add 10ltrs of 80deg water into cooler with grain bag in there and stir for 10 mins, adding this to the mash in kettle one the 10 mins is finished.
4. Start a 60min timer once rolling boil is achieved and start hop additions accordingly, and hald a whirlfloc at 10 mins to go.
5. Cool is as fast as possible with my immersion chiller to 22deg
6.add to fermenter and pitch yeast? Obviously sterilization is everything post boil.

Is this going to work? I dont know if im calling the steps or products the right names (strike/sparge etc) but i hope you understand?

 

[Bribie G]

Note:
Anyone coming across this thread, the "tutorial" has been rewritten.
The more up to date version is now in the All Grain Sub Forum.

Using a 40L Electric Urn for BIAB - a guide.