It had to happen...some day, so I guess it was today...
This is the 18th batch for my Brewbag. As a one handed brewer I really like the straps on it as I can feed them over the hook on my cable winch and then winch the bag up out of the wort. It has worked flawlessly until today, and it was my fault...
Brewing a Nut Brown Ale for the fall. About 14 pounds of grain. I use a recirculating eBIAB - 16 gallon kettle. Even though it recirculates via my chugger pump, I occasionally tip the lid back and give it a good stir. Well apparently I was a bit over zealous on my last stir (I assume it was the last stir.) I kind of pop in and out as the grain mashes after I determine I'm getting good flow through the bed and I won't dry out my pump. Just maybe 5 minutes after my last stir I pop back in on the mash and I can see the recirculation line has air in it...yikes! Upon further inspection, I see grain is what is plugging it..double yikes!! I shift my 3-way valve back and forth between whirlpool and recirc. and it takes off again. Grab a hop bag and rubber band it to the recirc line out put and turn it back on...immediately fills half full of grain.
I pull the bag, 80 minutes into a 90 minute mash and see I have torn about a 1" slit in the side of the bag...couldn't have lost a lot of grain I'm thinking but one look at what is in the Brewbag- maybe 10 pounds - I shift back and forth between recirc. and whirlpool a few times - after dumping the bag out - and I get very little more grain. I'm thinking disaster may be averted.
So I start my boil and throw in the 60 minute hops - in a bag. I usually keep the whirpool going as I boil and I notice the pump kind of pulsating, like it is trying to pass something too big...like grain.
You know the rest of the story...shut everything down, pump the wort through a hop bag into a fermentation bucket...clean the kettle, clean the pump, empty the lines...one of which is plugged. As I am cleaning the pump my wife starts putting the wort back in the kettle. I had hung the hop bag in the wort in the bucket as I cleaned everything out. As I get it all going and start to bring it back to a boil (perhaps 15-20 minutes of cleaning) I can't find my bittering hops...the bag is gone. My wife had dumped them out as she was trying to help (not complaining...I appreciate her and her help) so I put a few new pellets in and put it back in the pot...using Perle hops so not high Alpha... I think it will be drinkable!
Away we go again! Might be a bit more IBUs than intended...or maybe less. Which ever it will be drinkable! Now to sew that bag up before I get after my next brew!
Cheers! Don
This is the 18th batch for my Brewbag. As a one handed brewer I really like the straps on it as I can feed them over the hook on my cable winch and then winch the bag up out of the wort. It has worked flawlessly until today, and it was my fault...
Brewing a Nut Brown Ale for the fall. About 14 pounds of grain. I use a recirculating eBIAB - 16 gallon kettle. Even though it recirculates via my chugger pump, I occasionally tip the lid back and give it a good stir. Well apparently I was a bit over zealous on my last stir (I assume it was the last stir.) I kind of pop in and out as the grain mashes after I determine I'm getting good flow through the bed and I won't dry out my pump. Just maybe 5 minutes after my last stir I pop back in on the mash and I can see the recirculation line has air in it...yikes! Upon further inspection, I see grain is what is plugging it..double yikes!! I shift my 3-way valve back and forth between whirlpool and recirc. and it takes off again. Grab a hop bag and rubber band it to the recirc line out put and turn it back on...immediately fills half full of grain.
I pull the bag, 80 minutes into a 90 minute mash and see I have torn about a 1" slit in the side of the bag...couldn't have lost a lot of grain I'm thinking but one look at what is in the Brewbag- maybe 10 pounds - I shift back and forth between recirc. and whirlpool a few times - after dumping the bag out - and I get very little more grain. I'm thinking disaster may be averted.
So I start my boil and throw in the 60 minute hops - in a bag. I usually keep the whirpool going as I boil and I notice the pump kind of pulsating, like it is trying to pass something too big...like grain.
You know the rest of the story...shut everything down, pump the wort through a hop bag into a fermentation bucket...clean the kettle, clean the pump, empty the lines...one of which is plugged. As I am cleaning the pump my wife starts putting the wort back in the kettle. I had hung the hop bag in the wort in the bucket as I cleaned everything out. As I get it all going and start to bring it back to a boil (perhaps 15-20 minutes of cleaning) I can't find my bittering hops...the bag is gone. My wife had dumped them out as she was trying to help (not complaining...I appreciate her and her help) so I put a few new pellets in and put it back in the pot...using Perle hops so not high Alpha... I think it will be drinkable!
Away we go again! Might be a bit more IBUs than intended...or maybe less. Which ever it will be drinkable! Now to sew that bag up before I get after my next brew!
Cheers! Don
