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Lil' Sparky said:
Holy melting PVC, batman! Were you using a Saturn V booster rocket to boil your wort? How did it get that hot?
Click to expand...


nah, just a 142,800 BTU burner....sounds like a freaking jet engine....gonna be a warm winter in the garage
 
Was the PVC part submersed or was it just the steam that melted it?

Mine is barely deformed where the nuts are snugged up on the bolt and where the hose clamp has been.
 
to be honest, I don't know, I just "turned around for a minute" and it was falling in
 
I don't know, dude. Sounds like you're "special" then.

Just curious, how many homebrews did you have before you turned back around? ;)
 
my mommy used to tell me I was spedcial

ummmmmm, I can't count, but actually I didn't even have a sip....I drank the most while teh wort was cooling
 
Lil' Sparky said:
Mine is barely deformed where the nuts are snugged up on the bolt and where the hose clamp has been.
Click to expand...


Hee-Hee!:D I couldn't resist quoting this!:D
 
OK Guys,

I finally got mine. I had a friend of mine custom make it for me.

HopBagHolder1.JPG

I just need to get a 5 inch worm clamp and I'm good to go.



HopBagHolder2.JPG

It's welded stainless and it holds the 5" to 4" OD reducer by the collar.

HopBagHolder3.JPG

This puppy won't slide off either. I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl next brew session.
 
Thats so pretty Ed you could resell them. But then you'd have to do that whole vendor membership thing and vendors don't seem to hang around here much. :cross:
 
Looks good, Ed! Remember that this little gadget can also be used to mount a sparge apparatus. One of these days I'm going to fix an adjustable height sparge ring onto it for recirc/sparge. Or, maybe I'll just make a separate one of these just for the MLT instead.
 
DesertBrew said:
Thats so pretty Ed you could resell them. But then you'd have to do that whole vendor membership thing and vendors don't seem to hang around here much. :cross:
Click to expand...

I told my buddy that he could sell these puppies. Rolling the 4 inch ring was a PIA though. I can't wait to give it a whirl. My next two weekends are taken up with Scout training. This weekend is Wilderness First Aid and next weekend is NRA Rifle Instructor so I can be the Rifle Merit Badge Counselor.

Thanksgiving weekend looks to be a brewing holiday to me.
 
I threw mine together yesterday, and just finished my first batch with it. Lovin' it! As usual, I poured from the kettle to my fermenter through a mesh strainer. But instead of the liter or so of hop gudge that usually clogs the strainer, I had about a tablespoon...which was mostly the hydrated Irish moss.

I also tried out the wort chiller I got as part of my Craig's List score a few months back. While I'm not real confident about its construction, it did the job. It was nice not having to go out and buy ice.

9557-hopbag.jpg
 
Sorry to bump and old thread, but I wanted to get some input from those of you who use this type of bag.

I started using this a couple months ago and have done at least a dozen batches with it. I should also mention I switched to a CF chiller at the same time, but I'll come back to that in a minute.

Since I switched I get a TON of cold break protein in my beer now. The only time prior I recall getting a noticeable amount was when I used a fair amount of honey during my boil. I thought it might have something to do with my CF, but the protein is clearly visible in the line prior to chilling, so I'm 99% sure it has to do with using a suspended hop bag. When my hops were mixed with my wort, I never saw this volume of protein before. I'm aware this isn't a bad thing, but I can't help but be curious about the cause. Any explanation would be appreciated.
 
If it's prior to chilling, then it's hot break. I think that has more to do with it. I don't think the hops have anything to do with the break, which are coagulated proteins from the wort. I noticed MUCH more cold break after switching to a CFC.
How did you like it otherwise?
 
Lil' Sparky said:
If it's prior to chilling, then it's hot break. I think that has more to do with it. I don't think the hops have anything to do with the break, which are coagulated proteins from the wort. I noticed MUCH more cold break after switching to a CFC.
How did you like it otherwise?
Click to expand...

I love it (both the CF and the suspended bag). I once heard that the hops also have the added benefit of working as a scrubber for this type of solid protein. By not allowing the hops to flow freely in the boiling wort, you don't get that benefit. Perhaps I was mis-informed or misunderstood. This protein seemed to start showing up about the same time I switched to the bag, so the explanation made sense.

If it were hot break, would it not clear up as it passed through the chiller? I still must not have a good handle on the hot/cold break science. My beers are coming out clear by the time they make it through the 2nd into the keg and I'm hitting my gravity so as I mentioned it's not effecting me adversely, but I'm really curiously.
 
The hot break doesn't just go away when you chill the wort. It's still there. I'm not sure about the "scrubbing" effect from the hops. I hadn't heard of that.

The bag I use is giant. It almost sits on the bottom of my keggle, so the hops are able to easily roll in the boil. If they were more confined I might be concerned. Even with 3 oz pellets and 8 oz leaf hops for the 08-08-08 brew, the hops were able to roll around, although the bag was getting a little full at the end. I haven't had any hopping/bitterness problems since I've been using it, anyway.
 
Hmm...has anybody used one of these who does electric brewing, because i fear that the possibility of the bag hitting the heating element would not have good results
 
Mine hangs about 2/3 of the way down in the keggle, any lower and my valve sucks it up. I still need to add a siphon tube to my ball-lock.
 
Doc Thirst said:
Mine hangs about 2/3 of the way down in the keggle, any lower and my valve sucks it up. I still need to add a siphon tube to my ball-lock.
Click to expand...
How do you get all the wort out of your keggle then? I've still got like 2 gallons below where my ball valve sits.
 
Lil' Sparky said:
How do you get all the wort out of your keggle then? I've still got like 2 gallons below where my ball valve sits.
Click to expand...

Tilt. Its a pain, I still have to leave behind 1/4 gallon give or take. Its not the bucks worth of copper keeping me from it, its the drive down to the hardware store.
 
I really wish I would have seen this before New Years...

It would have helped with my last batch (brewed on Jan 1st) quite a bit. Used 9oz of hops and had to abandon the bottom gallon or so as I couldn't siphon anymore out as I was plugging up the autosiphon and line.

This has been added to the project list...
 
Isley said:
It would have helped with my last batch (brewed on Jan 1st) quite a bit. Used 9oz of hops and had to abandon the bottom gallon or so as I couldn't siphon anymore out as I was plugging up the autosiphon and line.
Click to expand...

Welcome aboard Isley! Yeah, I know my carboys are a bit fuller now that the hop sludge is contained. BierMuncher does another paint strainer trick, where he puts the bag around the chiller, and racks from inside, leaving all the cold break behind. That might be worth a try too.
 
Makes me wish I had an immersion chiller.

I'm just waiting for my first batch to get infected because my CFC wasn't clean enough. I've just been storing it with the inner copper tube full of StarSan, then dumping the SS out right before hooking it up. Does SS eat away at copper?

Can't wait to build one, though, because it's still LESS to go through the CFC. Plus if I ever get an IC, I'm set!
 
Actually, I have read storing it that way can cause problems...but what do I know...I don't have a CFC. You're probably better off storing it really dry. Then just be sure to clean with pbw after brewing, and run starsan thru before use. I was really looking hard at a chillzilla, but I'm glad I stuck with an IC. I used a modified version of Jamil's whirlpool chiller last brew and cooled 5 gallons from boil to 70F in 9:45. Good enough for me....
 
My ritual:

1. Run SS through CFC
2. Chill Wort
3. Run hot water through CFC
4. Run SS through CFC
5. Blow out CFC with CO2
6. Store for next batch

Repeat
 
Sorry to bump this up...

I can't find the paint straining bags in my country but I'm trying to find something similar.

What are the dimensions of the bag and how fine is the mesh?

Cheers and beers,

Glenim.
 
denimglen said:
I can't find the paint straining bags in my country but I'm trying to find something similar.

What are the dimensions of the bag and how fine is the mesh?
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Really? I'd think ANYWHERE that sold house paint would have them...specifically, they would be near the roller trays and stirring sticks. They are very cheap.

I'd say they're about 1' x 2', with an elastic band around the opening. They are quite fine, this ad says 75 micron.

Paint Strainers
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Lowe's sells them too. I used one yesterday. Worked like a charm.

One thing, I have a lined PVC glove that I use to handle pulled pork, briskets, etc. I washed & sanitized it and then used it to squeeze the hop bag and all its goodness when I pulled it out at the end of the boil.
 
BlindLemonLars said:
Really? I'd think ANYWHERE that sold house paint would have them...specifically, they would be near the roller trays and stirring sticks. They are very cheap.
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks.

I've yet to try places that supply only to the industry, they might be a better shot.
 
Crap. It seems the pics can't be viewed anymore. I have a photobucket account....we just had our first kid and I started a new album. Naturally, I made it private...but I naively made ALL my albums private at the same time; forgetting that my pics were linked to this forum. I have since made it public, but it seems the photos are still inaccessible. Sorry guys! If you really want to see pics, let me know and I will repopulate.
 
denimglen said:
Sorry to bump this up...

I can't find the paint straining bags in my country but I'm trying to find something similar.

What are the dimensions of the bag and how fine is the mesh?

Cheers and beers,

Glenim.
Click to expand...
I couldn't find paint straining bags either, and the guy at the hardware store looked at me like I was stupid when I asked. But then I remembered I have a net curtain left over from when I made my brew-in-a-bag bag, and that it would be perfect for making a hop sock. So if you have no luck with finding paint strainers, you can use net curtain fabric (or "swiss voile" as I believe it's called). I think using swiss voile in brewing was an Australian idea originally, so it should be readily available at least somewhere in the antipodes. If you google BIAB or brew-in-a-bag you should be able to find out the exact material.
 

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