Sparge in Plastic Paint Pail

Just a newb brewer. Have read Death Brewers stove top AG and partial Mash threads and they are great and have provided me with so much info. My question is I only have 1 X 5 gal pot so I was wondering if there are any issues with doing the 10 min sparge in a 5 gal plastic paint pail (exactly like fermentation bucket). Paint pail has never been used. I should mention I do 3 gal batches.

Or should I do a no sparge BIAB? Most recipes I enter do not leave much space in the 5 gal kettle so that is why I want to use the plastic to sparge.

Thanks

What number does it say for the plastic?

Why not let the moths out and buy another cheap 15L SS pot? You could heat water in that as well.

I used a plastic pail like this early on, but have since gotten away from it. My pail was food grade, which it sounds like yours may not be, but I was concerned about sparge temps being higher than the rated max temp for the plastic.

I've since taken to raising the bag from the pot with a pulley, tying it off there and rinsing with the sparge water that way.

If your pail is HDPE No. 2 plastic it should work fine, you can even do a cold water sparge if that helps you.

grv said:

I used a plastic pail like this early on, but have since gotten away from it. My pail was food grade, which it sounds like yours may not be, but I was concerned about sparge temps being higher than the rated max temp for the plastic.

I've since taken to raising the bag from the pot with a pulley, tying it off there and rinsing with the sparge water that way.

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There is a thread on here about BOILING in an R2D2 damned bucket.....makes my skin crawl.

Maintaining temps in a bucket even on a 100F day is impossible.

grv said:

I've since taken to raising the bag from the pot with a pulley, tying it off there and rinsing with the sparge water that way.

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I do 3 gallon batches similarly. I have a colander that I put across the pot with the grain bag in it and rinse with the sparge water. Then I squeeze out as much liquid as I can - HOT - STICKY - MESSY!

First of all, Food-Grade buckets are available at Lowe's (at least the one near me) for just a few dollars, if your bucket is not food grade, go out and get one of these.

Second, I assume we are talking about mashing into a cooler, then using the bucket to hold sparge water. Is that correct? Remember, a bucket will not hold temps, so you're going to have trouble with the water cooling, and if you try to mash in a bucket, it'll be worse. What if you used a two cooler system? One to mash, one to hold sparge water at temp while you lauter?

I Just wanted to sparge the grain in the pail for 10 mins after the mash. Everything seem to go fine. Will wait and see as it is fermenting away as we speak.

White five gallon buckets from Home Depot and Lowes are HDPE2, good for temperatures up to 230F for extended periods. They're fine for sparging. I bought two and drilled about twenty 1" holes in the bottom of one. I set it in one of my six gallon fermenters to sparge and drain the bag. Then I use the other bucket to press and squeeze the bag for maximum wort extraction.

I used to heat my sparge water and do the ten minute sparge in it like DeathBrewer suggests (his post is how I got into BIAB too). Now, I just squeeze the bag with my kettle lid on a pizza pan over the kettle, then use hot tap water to do a quick dunk sparge and squeeze the bag again over the pizza pan. I have not noticed any difference in efficiency or otherwise, just saved time. Some days my roommate and I will both do a batch, and we use ale pails for sparging (we only have two kettles). Doesn't seem to make a difference either and I've never noticed the plastic get soft or anything. The only reason I don't use my bucket normally is because I already have two kettles, and then I don't have to worry so much about cleaning. Kettles get a good rinse/light scrub, but usually no soap, unless stuff is kind of caked on them. Fermenters on the other hand...

With a 3 gallon batch, and a five gallon pot, you may not even need a sparge.

FWIW, I would simply mash in the pot, then fill to the brim, pull the bag, if you are short oF preboil volume, just sparge a quart or two through the bag slowly, aka a sprinkle sparge...I like to keep it simple

Forgot to add, stir well!!! Before pulling the bag to help rinse the grain.