Going from BIAB to a traditional mash tun. Any advice about little details I'm not thinking about from those who have made that change in the past?
BIAB to Mash Tun
- Thread starter Ridire
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OP
OP
Thanks. Tun is not not need of building. I am just wondering if there are any brewday tips that someone who has only done AG as BIAB might not know.
OP
OP
There's a good example. What are the things I should look out for as far as stuck sparge? What do I do when I have a stuck sparge? My memory says that I read to do an "x" across my false bottom.
I just recently made the switch from BIAB to traditional mash tun brewing.
The only hiccup I had was a bit of a stuck sparge on my first batch. What happened was I opened the valve too much and the wort flowed to fast for the vorlauf. That caused a layer of proteins to form over the top of the grains. So, I had a bunch of wort sitting on top of a protein barrier that wouldn't let it through. A little bit of a stir and another vorlauf fixed the issue, though.
The next batch, I just opened the valve slowly and I only had to vorlauf a few cups of wort before it ran clear the rest of the way.
And the grain bills were pretty similar with both of those batches, so it wasn't an issue of one batch just having more proteins than the other.
Other than that, everything was pretty familiar because of my BIAB experience.
Oh, I guess the one thing I haven't quite nailed yet is getting the right volume. I just haven't figured out my actual boil-off rate and other loss rates (dead space in mash tun and such). But that is because I also stepped up to a new kettle and outdoor burner at the same time. I had only done kitchen stove boils before this.
The only hiccup I had was a bit of a stuck sparge on my first batch. What happened was I opened the valve too much and the wort flowed to fast for the vorlauf. That caused a layer of proteins to form over the top of the grains. So, I had a bunch of wort sitting on top of a protein barrier that wouldn't let it through. A little bit of a stir and another vorlauf fixed the issue, though.
The next batch, I just opened the valve slowly and I only had to vorlauf a few cups of wort before it ran clear the rest of the way.
And the grain bills were pretty similar with both of those batches, so it wasn't an issue of one batch just having more proteins than the other.
Other than that, everything was pretty familiar because of my BIAB experience.
Oh, I guess the one thing I haven't quite nailed yet is getting the right volume. I just haven't figured out my actual boil-off rate and other loss rates (dead space in mash tun and such). But that is because I also stepped up to a new kettle and outdoor burner at the same time. I had only done kitchen stove boils before this.
