Instead of mashing with the grains in the bag, I mashed without the bag. I put all of the grains directly into the water:
Then I used the bag (a 5-gallon paint strainer bag from a hardware store) in my 7-gallon bottling bucket as a lauter tun:
I did a single-batch sparge. I used 15 pounds of grains and got ~77.5% efficiency!!!!!!! I am very happy with the results! IMO, this is way better than mashing in the bag!
Just ran through this whole thread for the second time. Thanks so much for keeping up with it, DeathBrewer.
My first AG ingredients (for a DogFishHead 60m IPA clone) arrive tomorrow, and I found today that my nice new slick-top stove will bring 8 gallons of water (in a SS 8.75gal pot) to a rolling, serious boil in about 30 minutes, so I'm freakin' stoked to do this thing.
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"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson, in letter to William S. Smith, 1787
DeathBrewer, if you ever make it to the hilltowns of Western MA, you drink for free.
My kitchen smells glorious.
I mashed 13.5lbs of grain, sparged it by pouring over the grain bag, teabagging it, and soaking for ten minutes, threw it all together in the fantastic 9g SS pot courtesy of eBay.. Now I have the almost seven gallons of goodness that I scavenged boiling away like mad on the "fancy" stove that my wife insisted we get (God bless her.. I wanted the cheap one!) and it's a good night.
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"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson, in letter to William S. Smith, 1787
Deathbrewer, thanks for such an awesome tutorial. I have 2 questions if you don't mind. In your example did you use 3.25 gal of strike water and then 3 for sparge? I am just confused by this part of your post:
"i started with 3 gallons and i lose a gallon to absorption, so i want my sparge water to total 3 gallons...this will give me 5 to start"
Also, was this a 5 gallon batch recipe? Would I use a five gallon all grain recipe with your method? Thank you!
If anyone else knows the answers to these feel free to chime in, I'm pretty psyched to try this since I don't have the time/money right now for a tradition all grain setup.
The grain absorbs some of the liquid (although a full gallon with this method is doubtful, so I should change that post) so if you mash with 3 gallons, you won't end up with 3 gallons in the end. That's all that post means.
I mashed with 3 gallons of strike water. I then transfer the bag to 3 gallons of sparge water and then let it drain...this gives me 5+ gallons to start my boil.
You can use a much larger sparge volume if your pot can hold it and your burner can handle it.
This was a 5 gallon batch, but if you start your boil with 5 gallons at the beginning of your boil, you will need to top off at the end.
DeathBrewer, thanks for getting back to me. So, with this method it would be OK to use a recipe that is made for a 5 gallon batch? Also, while I am at asking a dumb question... how do you measure efficiency?
Yep, you should use about 1.25-1.50qt/lb of grain. Use this calculator to determine your strike water (water heated before grains are added) temperature.
Those calculators will also tell you how big a vessel you need to mash however many pounds you want. I generally want at least 0.75 gal of headspace for stirring and room for the bag, et cetera.
DeathBrewer, one more final question if you don't mind. Which of the below bags would you recommend for steeping the grains in with your stovetop method?
Thanks again!
Extra Fine Nylon Bag (Drawstring)
Extra Large Muslin Bag
Jumbo Coarse Nylon Bag
Large Coarse Nylon Bag
Large Muslin Bag
Efficiency is measured by taking an hydrometer reading and comparing it to your extract potential (the amount your grain can possibly extract vs what you did extract.)
You will need to take a sample, cool it, and take an hydrometer reading. You will need to know what volume you are at to determine your efficiency.
Software like promash or beersmith can help with the calculations.
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