Did my first brew with the bag last night. I hit my gravity dead on. The bag cleaned up in no time. I'm beyond thrilled.
Ya know... These bags are just an awesome deal for the price. However, sometimes I like to buy new shi* and this effing bag won't break, rip or shred.. Lol ohhhhhh... I've tried. More than 150 batches on the damn thing and for the life of me I can't tell I used it.
Cheers!
Order Placed.:rockin:
I have grown weary of trying to hit temps in a cooler mash tun. I've used paint strainer bags a few times for 1 gallon batches. Lots of particles in the wort. I just wasted $5 at the LHBS on an L.D. Carlson fine nylon mesh bag, thinking it would magically fit perfectly. Its tall and too narrow and it looks like its going to fall apart already and I haven't even used it.
I'm looking forward to simplifying things.
I'm looking forward to simplifying things.
I didn't order the pulley because I don't think I'll need it. Someone mentioned the possibility of the cord eventually thinning and possible slipping in the ratcheting mechanism. The thought of that bag splashing back into the hot wort on my kitchen stove is a little scary. I can rig something up if I need to and I'm trying to save money. I have pulleys and stuff around already. I really don't want to put an eye bolt in my kitchen ceiling either. I'm doing 5 gallon batches with less than 15lbs of grain. I should be able to lift it. If not, I usually have help around or I'll scoop some out of the bag until I can lift it. My plan is to mash in my 10 gallon pot, pull the bag out and set it in a bottling bucket. I'll have my 5 gallon pot heating sparge water during the mash. Sparge in the bottling bucket, then prop the bucket up above the BK to drain the rest of the wort right in the the BK while it heats. My cooler mash tun leaks at the ghetto bulkhead and requires preheating and blankets to keep temps. The bag system sounds like it will be easier for me to manage. I may be wrong. I like the simplicity of the voile bag for straining, however you choose to use it. I may end up using it in a cooler. I'll see how fussy it is to keep temps on the stove first.
With due respect, rather than simplifying things, your process sounds awfully complicated. The major upside of BIAB in my opinion is simplicity...
....... As far as the quality of the bags goes, they should last for years with care. I don't know if I would want to hang it from the nylon cord with wet grain in it though. It is just a single layer of voile up to the edge of the openings for the cord.....
biablasphemy...
I brewed again today and had all kinds of problems that were mostly due to thinking i didn't need a pulley system for this bag and a 10 lb grain bill. I spilled wort everywhere. When i lifted the bag, because of my low stove vent hood, i had to pull the bag out while it pressed against the side of the pot. When the grain level got to the top, it started spilling wort down the side of the pot, down into the ceramic stove burner. It sucked. Eventually I got close to my boil volume. I did try holding up the bag from the nylon cord this time. I noticed that the stress points I was concerned about actually have zero stress on them. (Where the top rim of the bag opens and the nylon cord comes out) All of the weight is spread over the other parts of the top rim of the bag. The weight spreads quite well. I could actually lift up the openings of the voile where the cord comes out and there was no pressure on at least the first half inch on either side. That negates a large portion of my concerns about the bag. I now think that something to suspend the bag above the kettle is almost a necessity. The crush was not as fine on this batch as last time and it seemed to take a longer time to drain. It also absorbed probably twice as much water. I used the standard crush of my LHBS mill this time vs my pasta roller grain mill last time.
So I have a question.. I'm sure its covered but do you squeeze your hop bag? i boiled in mine for the first time over the weekend and i wasn't sure if i should squeeze my hop bag or not.
So I have a question.. I'm sure its covered but do you squeeze your hop bag? i boiled in mine for the first time over the weekend and i wasn't sure if i should squeeze my hop bag or not.
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