Mash in a bag?

[bricks]

I used to brew extract brews several years ago, then got out of homebrewing. I am thinking about it again, and have been reading about the stovetop method of all grain brewing.

Would it be possible to use a 5 gal. cooler as a mash tun, and use a bag to contain all of the grains, then pull the bag up out of the cooler and drain the mash liquid into a brew pot, then sparge with water to bring the brew pot up to a 5.5 or 6 gal. level? It seems to me that the bag method would be a lot easier than building a mash tun with copper tubing or pvc tubing. If this method would work, I think I may try to give it a run. If it won't, I still think I will get back into homebrewing, and build a mash tun and get after the all grain brewing.

Thanks in advance.

Bob

 

[beninan]

That would definitely work. The only problem that I'm sure you will find, is holding that bag of wet grain. A 10 lb bag of dry grain weighs about 1000 lbs when wet (or at least is feels like that after standing there and holding it for several minutes while it drains).

This is what the brew-in-a-bag method is, except you are using a cooler as a mash tun, instead of the boil kettle.

 

[sculpin]

A bag would fit better in a 5 gal plastic bucket, which is a good enough insulator.

You can add a spigot at the bottom of the bucket. To keep the bag away from the spigot you can use a stainless or plastic strainer that will hold the bottom of the bag and will act as a false bottom. The strainer should be at the bottom of the bucket and roughly the same diameter.

When the mash is over you can batch sparge: fill the bucket with sparge watter, stir and collect the first runnings, add the rest of sparge water, stir, let sit for 10 min and collect the rest of the wort.

You could try to add a spigot to the cooler as well and some sort of false bottom or something else to keep the bag away from the spigot so you won't have to hold the bag to drain.

Maybe having the bag touching the spigot won't plug it, but you'll have to try.

 

[ultravista]

I mash in a bag with a large homemade bag made out of voile material. The voile panel came from Wal-mart, $4.75 for the large. Each panel made two bags.

Seamed like jeans and double stitched, the bag easily holds the grains - no issues.

Mashing in a bag has made my progression to all grain easy. Never a stuck sparge this way, it is impossible. The run-of is clean and particle free.

Go as large as you can with the bag, if your mash tun can fit inside of it, it's the right size. Too small and you'll restrict the grains and flow. Think of a large pillow case, not the small 5 gallon paint strainer bag.

I also agitate my mash with an electric drill and paint mixer (clean of course). Without having to worry about disturbing the grain bed, the mixer ensures no dough balls or uneven spots in the tun.

 

[chapa]

Why not just put it straight in your brew kettle? I do that, and then if I ever need more heat, I just turn the burner on low and start stirring.

Get a decent size turkey fryer kettle, that way you can fit the entire amount of water + grain. I think the one I use is about 10g and it came with the turkey fryer/burner kit($40 craigslist)...I put 7g of water in, heat it to strike temp, dough in and mash, when done you just pull the grains and start your boil-no sparge! You don't have to hold the grains too long, and they definitely don't weigh 1000lbs after you drain a decent amount just drop the bag in a separate pot or container with an upside down colander to drain and cool (after it cools down I'll squeeze as much as possible) and add back to the kettle.

I've been using this method exclusively on 5g batches, rather than busting out the keggles and cooler mlt. I ended up putting a ball valve on my little pot and using a pump to recirculate through the bag and hop bag as well, to create a crystal clear wort and for easy racking into the carboy.

Do some further research on Brew in a Bag (BIAB). There is actually a site dedicated to just that. Good luck!

 

[wheathead]

A bag would fit better in a 5 gal plastic bucket, which is a good enough insulator.

You can add a spigot at the bottom of the bucket. To keep the bag away from the spigot you can use a stainless or plastic strainer that will hold the bottom of the bag and will act as a false bottom. The strainer should be at the bottom of the bucket and roughly the same diameter.

When the mash is over you can batch sparge: fill the bucket with sparge watter, stir and collect the first runnings, add the rest of sparge water, stir, let sit for 10 min and collect the rest of the wort.

You could try to add a spigot to the cooler as well and some sort of false bottom or something else to keep the bag away from the spigot so you won't have to hold the bag to drain.

Maybe having the bag touching the spigot won't plug it, but you'll have to try.

What about using the bottling bucket? It has a spigot, and with a threaded elbow angled down, the bag & grains won't interefere with the discharge.

 

[beninan]

What about using the bottling bucket? It has a spigot, and with a threaded elbow angled down, the bag & grains won't interefere with the discharge.

you can use a bottling bucket, but due to the bacteria in the grain that dies off when you boil, you will want to dedicate this bucket for mashing, and dont use it for bottling, because you will run the risk of infecting a batch when you bottle with it.

 

[sculpin]

What about using the bottling bucket? It has a spigot, and with a threaded elbow angled down, the bag & grains won't interefere with the discharge.

It should work. Worst case scenario: you'll have to lift the bag while it drains.

Watever bucket you are using, make sure it has a lid. To minimize the heat loss you can wrap the bucket in a blanket or sleeping bag.

 

[puter]

you can use a bottling bucket, but due to the bacteria in the grain that dies off when you boil, you will want to dedicate this bucket for mashing, and dont use it for bottling, because you will run the risk of infecting a batch when you bottle with it.

Sanitizing with Star San would not take care of this?

 

[beninan]

Sanitizing with Star San would not take care of this?

it may, but if there are small scratches inside, who knows if its 100% sanitized.

Bottling buckets are pretty cheap anyway. So why not play it safe and get a separate vessel?

 

[dancness]

That would definitely work. The only problem that I'm sure you will find, is holding that bag of wet grain. A 10 lb bag of dry grain weighs about 1000 lbs when wet (or at least is feels like that after standing there and holding it for several minutes while it drains).

This is what the brew-in-a-bag method is, except you are using a cooler as a mash tun, instead of the boil kettle.

I agree holding a bag of wet grain up for 5-10 minutes is tiring.

That's why you use a strainer or colander. Just set it in your kettle and rest the bag of grains in the strainer. If the diameter of the strainer is smaller than your kettle, support the handle using a sturdy metal spoon (I use my stainless steel brew spoon).

The other option is to find a way to suspend the bag of wet grains above the kettle. Some people make bags with handles, which you could thread rope through and suspend hanging above your kettle to drain.

 

[wheathead]

I would think that by leaving the spigot open on the bucket that most of the liquid would drain from the bag of grains and the bag could be squeezed in place.