BIAB - Bag Only - How do you lift it?

[jhomer]

I am working on a BIAB set-up.

3 things you need to know:

(1) I don't want to buy a large stainless steamer / strainer (I don't want the cost)

(2) My mother-in-law is going to sew the bag for me out of voile.

(3) I want to be able to do up to 10-gallon brews.

My questions is this: How do you design the top of the bag so it is able to support the weight when you lift the saturated grains out? I am thinking of reinforced holes, or a pocket all the way around the top of the bag with rope in it. How have folks done this without a strainer / steamer basket?

Thanks!

 

[Paymygasbill77]

I would add a grommet on each side of the bag and use a carabiner attached to a rope.
I wold also hang a pully above so you can let the bag hang and dry over your kettle and for ease in lifting. A grain bag for a 10 gallon brew will be mighty heavy.

 

[Mysticmead]

I have the top edge folded over and sewn to form a tunnel. I threaded parachute cord through it as a drawstring. para cord is known as 550 cord due to it having a 550lb breaking point. I then lift the bag up and let it drain. albeit that's for 5 gallon batches. for 10 gallon I would add a pulley above to hoist the bag up and let it hang to drain.

 

[motorhead69]

I'm a BIAB brewer myself though i only do 5g batches.

To support the weight i know some people have added grommets or used nylon webbing. I would also recommend using a pulley setup. Those grains will get heavy and unless you have the arms of the terminator they'll probably give out while waiting for the excess liquids to flow out of the bag.

I hope this helps

 

[captainL]

I just did a 19.5 lb grain bill. My bag was bought at the local brew store. The owner was confused because it is a bag for making fruit wine. It was about $6 and 2 ft by 3 ft. I was worried about lifting 19.5 lbs of grain plus about 2 gallons of water = 35 to 40 lbs. I twisted the bag and lifted no problem. The bag was much stronger than I had imagined. Once it was lifted out, I put one of those fridge baskets across my 15 gallon kettle and set the grain bag on that to drip into the pot. Then I poured 1 gallon of sparge water over it to rinse. All in all it worked a lot better than I imagined it would.

Reinforce holes might stress over time. I like the idea of mysticmead.

 

[Mysticmead]

here's a pic of my bag.. you can see the folded portion at the top and the para cord if you look through the bag.

 

[lakedawgs]

Welcome to the forums.
I also live in Indy and am also working on getting my BIAB bag together. I think I am going to go with the pocket/tunnel method like Mysticmead.
If you need a pulley and are not too far from me, I have an extra. They are cheap, but if you live/work close, free is better.

 

[beaksnbeer]

here's a pic of my bag.. you can see the folded portion at the top and the para cord if you look through the bag.

Damn looks like underpants without the leg holes.

 

[brewmcq]

I'm doing 5gal batches right now, and have yet to find a grain bill myself or the g/f can't lift. When I graduate to 10gal batches, I know this won't be the case.

I will probably go with a double-or triple-stitched channel like the "underpants without leg holes" (sorry, but they do look like granny panties.. lol - no worries though, cause my bag does too. Methinks the person in the background is thinking the same thing.. lol).

 

[ElDuderino]

You can sew webbing, which is what back pack straps are made from, around the opening of the bag. Then roll this over a couple of times and sew it in place. The opening is now very strong and you can attach grommets or sew on handles or just work with it as is.

 

[Boy]

Somebody posted a great how to on BIAB where they used pullies mounted to the tracks for the garage door on the ceiling. Then there was no heavy lifting. Believe the thread is now a sticky.

 

[emjay]

Somebody posted a great how to on BIAB where they used pullies mounted to the tracks for the garage door on the ceiling. Then there was no heavy lifting. Believe the thread is now a sticky.

I've heard of that a bunch of times. I just don't the point of not just going 3V if you're willing to go to lengths like this, and other complicated stuff I've seen people do (like making a platform for the burner and kettle that is raised and lowered by a jack. Stuff like this seems to defeat the entire purpose of BIAB.

 

[Mysticmead]

I've heard of that a bunch of times. I just don't the point of not just going 3V if you're willing to go to lengths like this, and other complicated stuff I've seen people do (like making a platform for the burner and kettle that is raised and lowered by a jack. Stuff like this seems to defeat the entire purpose of BIAB.

its just like why people build 3 vessel single tier fully automated electric HERM or RIMS systems... because they can and like to tinker.

 

[samc]

I've heard of that a bunch of times. I just don't the point of not just going 3V if you're willing to go to lengths like this, and other complicated stuff I've seen people do (like making a platform for the burner and kettle that is raised and lowered by a jack. Stuff like this seems to defeat the entire purpose of BIAB.

The purpose behind any system you make is to brew beer, why does it matter how someone else does it? 3V is more work, an automated 1V is easier to store & clean.

 

[chapa]

I've been pulling the bag out and letting it drain over the top for a minute, then I quickly toss it in another pot or bucket with a flipped over strainer(in my case, the small stainless basket that came with my turkey fryer) at the bottom, to let the rest strain through. Once it cools down a little I'll squeeze the crap out of it, to get as much as I can, and add it to the pot.

 

[MazdaMatt]

Is holding up 40 pounds for three minutes really that big of a deal? It gets lighter as you hold it, too.

(sorry if OP is an old lady)

 

[Mysticmead]

similar to what I do.. I use a colander over my old 5 gallon kettle. since I'm switching to my keggle and hopefully 10 gallon batches, I'll use an oven rack over the keggle unless I find a nice stainless colander that fits the keggle opening.

 

[BigRob]

I use a length of 2x2 maple and the nylon drawstring around my bag to both lift and drain my bag. Of course I carry the entire kettle full of hot mash to a draining area made of some cardboard on the floor and a couple chairs to rest the wood on, so the weight of the bag seems to be a non-issue given that I carried the entire kettle over moments earlier.

Apartments are the pits for brewing, oh what I would do with a garage or shed or even just a room of my own for brewing.

 

[brewmcq]

I have a colander that I use as well over my BK.. and a smaller one to use over my MLT (yes, I have an MLT... it works for me).

What I'm going to eventually get though is one of those boat winches with a crank, and use that to raise and lower my bag... I figure moving up to 10 gal batches will put my grain bill at 20-35 pounds, depending on what I'm making, plus whatever water has been absorbed, and at ~8.5 pounds per gallon, that gets heavy quickly.

 

[chapa]

I have a colander that I use as well over my BK.. and a smaller one to use over my MLT (yes, I have an MLT... it works for me).

What I'm going to eventually get though is one of those boat winches with a crank, and use that to raise and lower my bag... I figure moving up to 10 gal batches will put my grain bill at 20-35 pounds, depending on what I'm making, plus whatever water has been absorbed, and at ~8.5 pounds per gallon, that gets heavy quickly.

How do you incorporate a mlt into a biab setup?

 

[Mysticmead]

How do you incorporate a mlt into a biab setup?

simple... put the grain bag in your cooler... add water and grain.. drain..then sparge... remove bag with spent grain when done.. at least that's how I would think it was done... correct me if I'm wrong

 

[chapa]

Thats what I was thinking, but I was trying to see the logic behind it...so it's just a way of minimizing clean up of your mlt? Seems like the bag would actually be more work than just emptying out the mlt, since your still going to have to clean it out anyway.

To each his own...as long as it works for you. I was just curious

Sorry for going OT there.

 

[brewmcq]

simple... put the grain bag in your cooler... add water and grain.. drain..then sparge... remove bag with spent grain when done.. at least that's how I would think it was done... correct me if I'm wrong

That's pretty much exactly how I do it... although I don't sparge while it's sitting over the MLT..

After I take the grain bag out of the MLT and let it drain, I put the bag into my BK, which has a couple of gallons of mashout water in it. I let that sit for 10 or 15 minutes or so, then do some "rinsing" by "teabagging" it in and out of the mashout water. I then set the bag of grains in the colander over the BK and let it drain.

While it's draining, I run the sweet liquor from the MLT into the BK, then top the whole thing off with water that I dump over the bag of grains.


I suppose that yes, I *could* just use the MLT with a manifold and get basically the same results, however, with a bag there is no "dead space" in the MLT, and cleanup is a whole lot quicker... I just hand the bag of spent grains to the g/f who packages them up and freezes them for bread and dog treats. No more scrubbing husks and crap out of a manifold... and the clarity of my beer has improved ten-fold.. as has my efficiency.

One of the beautiful things about this hobby is there is no one right way to do things... we are free to pick and choose methods we like and that suit our style of brewing best. Even if I were to ever go pro, I'd still be using bags. ;-)

 

[brewmcq]

Thats what I was thinking, but I was trying to see the logic behind it...so it's just a way of minimizing clean up of your mlt? Seems like the bag would actually be more work than just emptying out the mlt, since your still going to have to clean it out anyway.

To each his own...as long as it works for you. I was just curious

Sorry for going OT there.

I seem to have already answered most of your question before you posted it.

Cleaning out the bag is easy.. dump the grains, turn it inside out, give it a good shake, then agitate it in some water in the sink. Hang it up to dry. Done. It takes 2 minutes, if that. If there's anything left in the bag after all that, another good couple of shakes once it's dry, and those bits fall out as well.

It also significantly shortens the brew day since I don't have to worry about "setting" the grain bed and spending extra time sparging or vorlaufing. I also never deal with clogged anything (manifolds, bazooka braids, whatever).

And once I start milling my own grains, I'll be able to go with a much finer crush which will raise my efficiency, in theory, at least.. other BiaBers are reporting good luck with finer crushes.

So as far as I can tell, it's a win-win-win all the way around. I know I use more than "traditional" or "purist" BiaB, but on the other hand I use a whole lot less stuff that "traditional" or "purist" 3v systems as well. It's a happy medium, and I really dig happy mediums.

Most importantly, my beer is really good. I like it, the g/f likes it, and my friends like it.

The last paragraph alone deserves a banana dance.

 

[Mysticmead]

another plus for using a bag in the MLT.... if the runoff gets stuck... lift the bag a little and presto... it's no longer stuck

 

[beerkrump]

We have a celebrity! Wilson from "Home Improvement" is a member of HBT.

here's a pic of my bag.. you can see the folded portion at the top and the para cord if you look through the bag.

 

[Mysticmead]

We have a celebrity! Wilson from "Home Improvement" is a member of HBT.

crap.... my secret is out!!!!

 

[chapa]

Ahh gotcha. I didn't realize you were sparging. Along with eliminating deadspace and stuck sparges, and not having to clean out manifolds, it definitely does sound like a win-win!!

Ever since I installed the ball valve on my smaller kettle, I've been using a pump to recirculate through the mash bag, as well as the hop bag, which really cut down on trub. That's about the most equipment I've incorporated into my biab brew day. I actually used my mlt on my last brew. I didn't use a bag, but I didn't sparge at all, and just did a full mash.

It's funny how you start off wanting to go big, with 1/2 barrel kegs and big stands, but then as time goes on, you just want to brew, so you start streamlining the setup to be as minimal as possible.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how complex or simple the setup is, as long as it works for you and makes good beer!!

 

[brewmcq]

Ahh gotcha. I didn't realize you were sparging. Along with eliminating deadspace and stuck sparges, and not having to clean out manifolds, it definitely does sound like a win-win!!

Ever since I installed the ball valve on my smaller kettle, I've been using a pump to recirculate through the mash bag, as well as the hop bag, which really cut down on trub. That's about the most equipment I've incorporated into my biab brew day. I actually used my mlt on my last brew. I didn't use a bag, but I didn't sparge at all, and just did a full mash.

It's funny how you start off wanting to go big, with 1/2 barrel kegs and big stands, but then as time goes on, you just want to brew, so you start streamlining the setup to be as minimal as possible.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how complex or simple the setup is, as long as it works for you and makes good beer!!

Exactly!

I don't have a pump (yet), but I'm sure I'll be recirculating something at some point to maintain mash temps... or at least so i feel like I'm doing something while the hot water and grain get it on and do their thing... ;-)

I hear ya on the size thing.. bigger is better and all that, then of course when I saw some of the brew sculptures and Kal's OMG electric setup, I *had* to have one. Of everything. Fortunately, I am on a rather fixed budget, so I can't go all hog-wild... instead, I need to focus on what I can get that can be reused/recycled if I change things.

The 1/2 bbl keg is on the top of my list. I just haven't decided if I'm gonna bottom drain it or not.

Streamlining has become VERY important... now that I've cut my brew day down to about 4 hours, that means I can brew back-to-back. and be done in about 7 hours (set up once, clean up once, the lighter of the two beers goes first.. lol)


Wow.. we've strayed REALLY far OT.. apologies to the OP about that.


All the suggestions I've seen here would work out really well... even if you just tied a clove hitch around the bunched-up top of the bag, that would work well too.

The bag design I'm working on for 10 gallon batches will incorporate the channel and rope around the top.. however, I'm going double-fold the channel then double or triple stitch it... I'm also going to leave four "slots" in the channel, so I will have four "loops" of rope to evenly distribute the weight. when it comes time to lift the bag, I'm going to clip the four "loops" of rope to the boat winch, then start cranking.