ChrisHansen
Active Member
true but seven's setup is sweet! It takes lifting work out of it
Unfortunately I'm working with a 12" opening on the top of my newly converted kegel, so the only basket I can find that fits is this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00062VZOW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
downside is it's only 30 qts. do you think it can adequately do the job for an AG BIAB setup? thanks again
Unfortunately I'm working with a 12" opening on the top of my newly converted kegel, so the only basket I can find that fits is this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00062VZOW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
downside is it's only 30 qts. do you think it can adequately do the job for an AG BIAB setup? thanks again
Amity said:Here's what I use for helping to drain my grain bag:
It's a strainer intended for vegetables and such, with extendable arms for a sink. It supported my 10 lbs of wet grain very easily. I was able to squeeze the bag very easily (except that it was hot...).
I got 85% efficiency today.
Nice. Where did you buy the colander?
I'm curious about your setup because we both have very similar gear and processes. I notice you have a valve on your larger aluminum kettle. Do you use it and was it difficult to install? Where did you get it? I could really use one on both my 17 gallon and 7.5 gallon kettles because I no-chill. I'll probably install one on my much less expensive 7.5 gallon kettle first.
Has anybody had any problems with tannins from squeezing the bag? It always seemed like a no-no from what I have read, but everybody here seems to do it.
Ok so quick question, I'm a newb brewer and looking to go all grain. If you have a good blichmann kettle why are you using a bag? Why not just get the false bottom designed for the pot and skip buying the basket, bag and pulley system? Seems more complicated.
If you are interested in raising the basket (build legs) I found a great way to do this. All I needed was 4 5/16" carriage bolts, any length you wish, 4 acorn nuts, 4 hex nuts and 4 washers. Put on the hex nut and washer onto the carriage bolt. Feed the bolt through one of the holes and cap on the inside of the pot with the acorn washer. Do this for the 4 legs. It works great for me. I have my basket elevated about an inch off of the bottom. I think I will have to use the ladder pulley trick. This is a great write up of a great way to brew beer! I hate to clean more than I have to.
Oh it is all stainless! I also disassemble it, wash and dry it after every brew. No other way to brew.make sure all that hardware is stainless..
I have a question for all the fellow BIAB'ers: How do you deal with the excess trub in the kettle?
Short of reading the whole thread (Yeah, I'm lazy...or busy, I have a set of 3 year old twins a six year old with mommy at dance and have to make dinner), I have heard that squeezing grain bags can extract tannins making the beer taste bad. Many BIAB brewers are squeezing the bags. Is there any evidence that squeezing the bag releases tannins or not? Are there any peer reviewed studies? If not, this would be a great one to publish...if we can find the appropriate journal? Maybe a microbiology, biology or chemistry journal?
squeezing is fine. mainly its high temps that release the tannins that or over sparging. Since you normally don't sparge with BIAB (yes I know some do dunk sparging but that's not the same) and you aren't heating to high temps tannins release isn't a problem.
Forgive me if is is a stupid question, but all your grains go in during the mash, and all your hops are added during the boil at a certain time is this accurate? I'm researching BIAB brewing, but I want to do everything in one pot all at once, the way you have. Thanks for this thread and pics!
Mysticmead said:yep.. all the grains go in the bag for the mash. then hops are added during the boil at certain intervals depending on the type of hops and the amount of bitterness you want.
Thanks for the fast reply! My lovely better half has Just given me a turkey deep-fry kit, so I'm looking into trying a BIAB soon. Where does everyone buy their ingredients? My local brewery store doesn't carry a lot of hops and grains.
Alton Brown has a pulley setup that may work for those of us who can't or don't want to permanently attach pulleys to ceilings. In season 10, he did an episode called "Fry Turkey Fry" and built a rig off of his aluminum (I think) ladder that would accept a pulley system along with a cleat to lock the grain bag in place above the brew kettle. It seems to work well and is adjustable in position so you can make sure you don't get any swing or motion when lifting it out of the brew pot. I'd trust the set up to hold at least 40 lbs when using a sst bucket like Seven did, if your mounting is secure enough, with some decent sized bolts.
I'm going to try this method out when I do my first BIAB, but I need a fermy chamber built before this so it'll probably be a few months.
Great advice though!
im sort of exploring both methods as well. advantage of 3 vessel seems to me to be no lifting and draining of the bag, which is a bit cumbersome, especially for bigger than 5 gallon batches.
i think clarity is generally not as good in BIAB as you don't have the grain bed filtering. those are small issues IMO, but some slight disadvantages to BIAB.
Do any of you all filter your beer before Kegging and force carbing?
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