MyAlement
Active Member
Hello! First, I want to thank everyone here for all of the great information. I did my second batch last night, an AG Anchor Porter clone using BIAB method. It really couldn't have been much easier. To give credit where it is due, I used a similar BIAB set up as Seven's BIAB in the sticky thread, minus the fancy kettle, lol. I decided awhile back to do 2.5 gallon batches so I could brew a lot of different recipes. This is a no-sparge full volume mashing.
My set up is a 5 gallon SS pot with propane burner, a SS strainer that fits into the pot, two 5 gallon buckets, two 5 gallon paint straining bags from Lowe's (~ $4), a pulley system, a blanket and your basic brew kit items. The SS strainer goes into the pot to keep the bag off of the bottom of the pot.
I used one bucket as my sanitation station. I put the siphon hose, 1 strainer bag, and the usual stuff that touches wort after boil in the sanitizer bucket. I put the other strainer bag in the second bucket and put my grains in the bag. This was an easy way to hold my grains while the water was heating up.
When the water hit strike temp, I killed the heat and put the grain bag in the pot. The elastic band on the strain bag secured it to the pot perfectly. I mixed the grains well, put the lid on the pot, wrapped it in a blanket for the mashing process. Afterwards, I used the pulley system to pull the grain bag out of the pot. It was easy to tie off the rope and let the bag drain into the pot with some manual work to squeeze the bag. At this point you can fish out the strainer if you want. I then added the hops to the wort per the schedule for the boil process.
I boiled the wort and chilled it using an ice bath. I emptied my sanitation bucket and put the sanitized strainer bag in the bucket to strain the wort. I transferred the wort from the pot to the bucket, using the strainer bag to help aerate the wort. After seeing how well the strainer bag contained the particles, I ended up dumping the whole pot in the bucket. I then pulled out the strainer bag. It caught nearly all of the hops and other particles, leaving a beautiful wort behind. I then pitched the yeast from my starter (1 liter using DME) and put the lid with an airlock on the bucket. That's it! Oh yeah, I'm using an ice chest with a water bath and frozen 1 liter water bottles to regulate fermentation temps. So far, it's holding in the mid 60's pretty well.
I didn't measure my volumes after mashing, so I don't have an accurate efficiency number. However, I did hit my OG within .004. I used some of the available calcuations for strike temp, grain absorption, boil-off, etc to come up with my volume and temperature numbers. Thanks to everyone for providing great information and tips on the forums. I can't seem to write a short post, so I apologize for the length of this one. Hopefully it helps someone who's looking into AG on the cheap.
My set up is a 5 gallon SS pot with propane burner, a SS strainer that fits into the pot, two 5 gallon buckets, two 5 gallon paint straining bags from Lowe's (~ $4), a pulley system, a blanket and your basic brew kit items. The SS strainer goes into the pot to keep the bag off of the bottom of the pot.
I used one bucket as my sanitation station. I put the siphon hose, 1 strainer bag, and the usual stuff that touches wort after boil in the sanitizer bucket. I put the other strainer bag in the second bucket and put my grains in the bag. This was an easy way to hold my grains while the water was heating up.
When the water hit strike temp, I killed the heat and put the grain bag in the pot. The elastic band on the strain bag secured it to the pot perfectly. I mixed the grains well, put the lid on the pot, wrapped it in a blanket for the mashing process. Afterwards, I used the pulley system to pull the grain bag out of the pot. It was easy to tie off the rope and let the bag drain into the pot with some manual work to squeeze the bag. At this point you can fish out the strainer if you want. I then added the hops to the wort per the schedule for the boil process.
I boiled the wort and chilled it using an ice bath. I emptied my sanitation bucket and put the sanitized strainer bag in the bucket to strain the wort. I transferred the wort from the pot to the bucket, using the strainer bag to help aerate the wort. After seeing how well the strainer bag contained the particles, I ended up dumping the whole pot in the bucket. I then pulled out the strainer bag. It caught nearly all of the hops and other particles, leaving a beautiful wort behind. I then pitched the yeast from my starter (1 liter using DME) and put the lid with an airlock on the bucket. That's it! Oh yeah, I'm using an ice chest with a water bath and frozen 1 liter water bottles to regulate fermentation temps. So far, it's holding in the mid 60's pretty well.
I didn't measure my volumes after mashing, so I don't have an accurate efficiency number. However, I did hit my OG within .004. I used some of the available calcuations for strike temp, grain absorption, boil-off, etc to come up with my volume and temperature numbers. Thanks to everyone for providing great information and tips on the forums. I can't seem to write a short post, so I apologize for the length of this one. Hopefully it helps someone who's looking into AG on the cheap.
