BIAB plus cooler for sparge?

[Thedutchtouch]

Looking to make the jump to AG soon, and BIAB may be the best route for me. I brew in 5gallon batches, I currently do extract and partial mash on the stovetop but am having difficulty getting a good rolling boil with larger volumes, so a propane burner and moving outside is in my near future regardless of how I continue to brew. I'd like to also switch to AG, however do not have the space for a three vessel setup. My idea would be to boil water in my brew pot, half into a 5 gallon drink cooler (the cylindrical ones with a tap at the bottom), setting this aside for the sparge, half stays in the brew pot for Strike. Mash in as normal, lift bag out and use fryer basket/colander to suspend over wort, and then sparge with the reserved heated water in the cooler. I already own the brew pot and cooler, which is why I am interested in this route. The brew pot is ~15 gal so large enough to skip the sparge completely and mash in with full volume, however I was under the impression that this would lower my efficiency. I would of course have to do a "dry" run to see if the sparge water holds temp long enough, but am assuming that it will as these coolers are used as mash tuns, and can avoid low sparge temps by having the water temp higher when it goes into the cooler. Any comments/suggestions/changes to the plan/threads where this may have been done before?

 

[smyrnaquince]

I'd like to also switch to AG, however do not have the space for a three vessel setup.

Given that you have room for a cooler and 15-gallon brewpot, you only need room for one more pot that is beg enough to heat the sparge water in. A steel braid would be enough to convert the cooler to a mash tun.

The brew pot is ~15 gal so large enough to skip the sparge completely and mash in with full volume, however I was under the impression that this would lower my efficiency.

BIAB should easily get in the 80s. Mine does and other experienced BIABers that I've emailed with.

 

[Thedutchtouch]

Given that you have room for a cooler and 15-gallon brewpot, you only need room for one more pot that is beg enough to heat the sparge water in. A steel braid would be enough to convert the cooler to a mash tun.


BIAB should easily get in the 80s. Mine does and other experienced BIABers that I've emailed with.

I was under the impression that a 5 gal drink cooler would be too small for mashing in? But if that will work then yes, that may be the better way to go

 

[RM-MN]

Can I change up your plan? Start with about 7 1/2 gallons of water in your big pot. While bringing that water up to strike temp, put a small amount of ice in the cooler, say 3 or 4 pounds of it. Set about 4 brews in that cooler with the ice. Now stir your grains into the big pot (inside of the bag, of course) and let them have their mash period. While the grains are being in the mash, take out one of the cold brews from the cooler and sip it. When the mash is done, pull the bag up, letting it drain as you lift it, and then set it in the colander over your pot full of wort and squeeze out the wort that comes out easily. Pour a bit of cold water over the grains (I like to open the top of the bag and stir the water into the grains to get the most sugars dissolved in it) and then squeeze the bag of grains until you can't get any more wort out. Your burner should be going during this period to get the wort up to boil but if you didn't have it lit, now is the time. Watch the temperature and be ready to turn the burner down as you approach the boil or you will overflow the big pot with hot break material, even with that big pot. Once the hot break drops back, add your hops and open another brew to sip while that wort boils for the hour. Get the Idea? When the boil is done, you need to chill the wort. That takes a little time so open another brew if you want. When the wort is cool enough (I like mine to be down to the low 60's) you can pour it into the fermenter and pitch your yeast. Put the lid on (stopper if using a carboy), fill the airlock and set the fermenter where it will stay cool to ferment. Clean up any spills, put away equipment, and reward yourself for a job well done with another brew. Now do you see why there were 4 beers in that cooler?

I don't really notice any difference in efficiency between hot water sparge and cold. What I do notice is that I can use my hands to squeeze out the last of the wort without burning them.

 

[smyrnaquince]

I'll admit that I haven't tried the 5-gallon cooler myself and also I think that BIAB is easier. However, at Palmer's site I find this:

My preference for most 5 gallon batches is the 5 gallon cylindrical or the 24 quart rectangular coolers. These sizes give a good grainbed depth for 1.040 - 1.060 beers.​

I have his 3rd Edition book at home so can't check it now, but I kind of doubt that the cooler recommendation has changed.

You could use whatever recipe/calculator you plan to use and see what it says for mash volume.

 

[241]

Try single vessel BIAB. That's the whole point of BIAB. Especially since you have a big enough 15 gal pot. I net between 73-75 brew house efficiency. Mash out for 15 minutes if you're concerned about efficiency. I suspect you'd like the results. If not, re-examine your process and tweak it until you're happy with it

 

[sumbrewindude]

I just got a 5Gal cooler and really enjoy it, it removed a pot from my brewing setup and allowed me much more control for the total amount of the wort (I got weird volumes when I tried dunk sparging).

I've found that if you preheat the cooler with hot water first you'll have no issues with maintaining the temps. If your volume is lower, a piece of tinfoil over the mash helps once it's sealed up.

In an effort to stream line my system, I opted for a mashout/sparge once the intial mash was completed. Instead of removing the bag and then dunk sparging for 10min, I just added the hot sparge water directly to the cooler (which I can do because I'm brewing under 2gal), did the mashout in the cooler, then drained that into my brew kettle. That way I hit my boil amount perfectly.

Numbers have been good so far, and I had a lot less issues moving hot/sticky objects around. I like it, so I'm going to stick with it until something proves to be better/easier.