Has anyone attempted to squeeze a grain bag with a cider press? The most laborious portion of my brew day is squeezing the bag. If it can work, using a press seems much more efficient. Thanks.
Squeezing a biab bag with an apple press
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deepcdan99
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You really do not want to squeeze thebag out at all, just sit it in a strainer over a bowl. Squeezing the bag can relase tanins into your wort causing off flavors. Iave never tested the theory, I just don't do it from what I have read.
Ok...go ahead and squeeze all you want...but getting out a apple press for 12 oz of beer. I simply let the bag hang over the kettle to drain for ten minutes or so w/ an accasional squeeze...sure ther might be something left, but really, at 60 cents a lb for grain, maybe 20 cents left...IDK???
I just move the bag over and let it hang into a bucket while I start heating up the wort in the boil kettle. Usually by the time the wort is boiling, I have another quart or so of wort to add to the boil. I pour that in, and put it back under the bag for a while, but not much else comes out after that.
ChessRockwell
Well-Known Member
I've squeezed before, with no adverse effects (noticed by me), but to go to that extreme, like others have said, I wouldn't think worth the risk for so little benefit.
william_shakes_beer
Well-Known Member
+1. I squeeze the bag until my hands blister. Of course I have soft girly hands...
No, squeezing will not release tannins. It takes a combination of high pH and high temperatures to do that with pH being the deciding factor. If your pH is low, you can boil the grains in the wort without extracting tannins (see decoction brewing).
How much work is it to get the bag into the apple press, and collect the runnings and pour them back in?
If its not a big deal, then go for it.
The only concern I would have is you might put a lot of stress on a corner of the bag and eventually weaken (enlarge the stitching) and burst it.
Letting the bag hang and drain will recover a fair amount of trapped wort.
Squeezing will get out a smaller quantity of very high gravity wort.
With a higher gravity beer (i.e. larger grain bill), I will do a sparge. (Drain and squeeze the bag) then soak it in a smaller pot of hot water for 5 minutes, then drain and squeeze.
Foosier
Well-Known Member
+1 to not going to any extra effort to squeeze. It really won't make a huge difference. Certainly not enough to b worth the effort.
I just sit mine in a bucket and let it keep draining there. Dump what comes out back into the boil. np... Easypeasy
I just sit mine in a bucket and let it keep draining there. Dump what comes out back into the boil. np... Easypeasy
I wouldn't want to infect an apple press with lacto and all the other bugs on the grain. If you do, make sure you clean and sanitize well before using it for something else. And yes it is ok to squeeze the bag
OP
OP
As the OP, I would like to move away from whether it is ok to squeeze a bag or not. There are plenty of other threads to debate that. After 6 years of brewing, I am comfortable squeezing the bag. With that, maybe I need to do a couple identical brews and really focus on the effeciency difference in squeezing and dripping. I double batch sparge so considering that, maybe whatever is left after dripping is insignificant.
Captain, I think you bring up a good point about the risk of infection of a press as you can't clean it the same way you can a brew pot.
Captain, I think you bring up a good point about the risk of infection of a press as you can't clean it the same way you can a brew pot.
>>With that, maybe I need to do a couple identical brews and really focus on the effeciency difference in squeezing and dripping.
I wouldnt even bother. Squeezing gets you a maybe a couple more points of sugar. I do it because the bag is in front of me after its dripped, and I have gloves, so I might as well squeeze. But there is not going to be too big a difference.
I'd like to point out that soaking the dripped bag (i.e. sparging it) in a pot of hot water, then redrip drying it (and maybe squeezing too
) can get you additional sugar. This will be more noticeable (i.e. worthwhile) for higher gravity beers). I think you will get several points more sugar this way, than putting that water in your original mash.
I wouldnt even bother. Squeezing gets you a maybe a couple more points of sugar. I do it because the bag is in front of me after its dripped, and I have gloves, so I might as well squeeze. But there is not going to be too big a difference.
I'd like to point out that soaking the dripped bag (i.e. sparging it) in a pot of hot water, then redrip drying it (and maybe squeezing too
) can get you additional sugar. This will be more noticeable (i.e. worthwhile) for higher gravity beers). I think you will get several points more sugar this way, than putting that water in your original mash.
Laughing_Gnome_Invisible
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Skillful thread steering there! If only more people would drive their threads through the traffic cones like this!
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