Colander

[Chupidacabra]

Anyone know of a good colander I could set on top of my bk for draining my biab? I recently did a 20lb grain bill and it was rough to drain. I have a pulley but my idea is set my bag on the colander and smash with the bk lid to drain the wort.

Anyways, any thoughts or a link would be gret! Thanks.

 

[Chupidacabra]

Great

 

[MarcusKillion]

You are going to need one strong colander for that amount of grain and to smash it .
You may have to make your own to get one that big . Steel screen with a strong frame .
How about buying a cheap 30 dollar brew pot from menards or where ever and drilling some holes in it and turning it up[side down on your pot . it would not take a lot of small holes since you have bag , just a few 1/2 inch ones around the center .

 

[Chupidacabra]

You are going to need one strong colander for that amount of grain and to smash it .
You may have to make your own to get one that big . Steel screen with a strong frame .
How about buying a cheap 30 dollar brew pot from menards or where ever and drilling some holes in it and turning it up[side down on your pot . it would not take a lot of small holes since you have bag , just a few 1/2 inch ones around the center .

That may be genius. I work in the food industry and the last store I was in had these badass SS colanders that would work amazingly and fit right in the top of my kettle but they don't know where they got them. Had been with the restaurant for 10 or so years.

 

[Foosier]

Here's another thought. Even cheaper too.

I pull my bag and let the heavy draining occur over the kettle then I just throw it into a clean bucket (can use a botting bcuket really well for this) to continue to drain. Once the boil get's going, I dump the collected wort into the kettle. Works like a champ and it keeps me from trying to hold the bag up for the entire drain. If you want to smash the bag, you can do that easily inside the bucket.

 

[tob77]

I am using this one:http://www.katom.com/158-575950.html. It was a little pricey, but it's big and stainless. It would fit perfectly in my keggle if the handles didn't stick out so far.

 

[Cottonmouth]

I'm not sure if it would work for that much grain but I have heard of using a grate from a bbq grill and sitting it on top your bk.

 

[1MadScientist]

You have a pulley, so I recommend squeezing in-place over the kettle with two pot lids.

3/16/2013 by Mad Scientist Brewhaus, on Flickr

 

[alers22]

This is the method I use:

1. Place plastic colander upside down in plastic bucket
2. Set grain bag on top of upside colander
3. Press down on bag several times with lid to extract remaining wort

It works great!

 

[wilserbrewer]

I've played the squeezing game, but on my last batch I just let the bag drain over the kettle for 20 - 30 minutes on a ratchet pulley while coming to a boil. It takes will power just to let it be, but given time the bag drains pretty well and squeezing really didn't produce much.

I know, everyone loves to squeeze, but I like to eliminate any labor I can from the process.
Cheers!

 

[bikesandbrews]

i use a pasta strainer built for my 30L BK. tiger chef sells different straining baskets. what you can do is add stops or locks on the sides of it so when you pull it up they click into place on the brim of your kettle and allow the grain to drain. it also allows you to lauter into a bucket so you can use the vorlauf technique to your advantage with a biab system.

 

[Chupidacabra]

I guess I never thought of just letting the bag set. I will definitely give this a try next time. What kind of efficiencies are you guys getting?

 

[bikesandbrews]

i get between 78% to 85%. i also crush my grain finer than you would for a sparging set up.

 

[Carlscan26]

Here's what I use:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CICFB6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Just lift the bag, let it drain a bit then slide this under and let it drain some more. You can then Squeeze or smash it just let it sit and drip.

 

[Chupidacabra]

That is perfectly what I was looking for. Thanks.

 

[Chupidacabra]

Does it hold up to some weight?

 

[Cottonmouth]

I'm just getting set up for BIAB, got my voile yesterday, but I think I will probably go with something like this:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-Pl...-in-Kettle-Grills-7440/100683984#.UnjcUvnrwfp

 

[Carlscan26]

Does it hold up to some weight?

I had 16lbs on it and it was fine. I didn't press down on it but I imagine it would be fine within limits.

 

[fvirzi]

I bought a replacement grate for a grill and it fits across my 10 gallon kettle. I can sit the bag on it to drain and squeeze it if I want.. Works great

 

[squash1978]

Here's another thought. Even cheaper too. I pull my bag and let the heavy draining occur over the kettle then I just throw it into a clean bucket (can use a botting bcuket really well for this) to continue to drain. Once the boil get's going, I dump the collected wort into the kettle. Works like a champ and it keeps me from trying to hold the bag up for the entire drain. If you want to smash the bag, you can do that easily inside the bucket.

This is basically what I did but I took it a step further. I bought 2 five gallon food grade buckets from Lowes for about $4 each. I drilled a bunch of holes in one bucket and then stack it inside the undrilled bucket. I then place my bag inside drilled bucket which acts as a colander and drains into the bottom bucket. Very simple and no need to balance anything on top of my brew kettle. Once the bag is done draining I can just pour the collected wort back into my brew kettle.

 

[HotRodBrewing]

Here's what I'm going to do Friday for my BIAB, I have a strainer type basket that fits inside the kettle(turkey fryer basket/colander.) my grain bag will go in there through the whole mashing process and then to drain so I won't have to hold it, a round grilling grate from a weber kettle grill will go over the top of my BK, and the colander will sit on that. Then I can pour my sparge over the grains without holding anything.