Holding the grain bag on top of the kettle for sparging?

[petrolSpice]

I usually just lift the bag out of the wort with a rope/pulley and let it hang above the kettle while I squeeze,then toss the grains. I'd like to try sparging by pouring water through the bag/grain. With the bag hanging from the rope, it has a teardrop shape which is not ideal for poring water through it.

I need a way to rest the bag over the kettle so it can lay flat-ish. Then I just pour water through the bag and it drips into the kettle.

I'm thinking of a strainer basket of some kind that rests on top of the kettle. I have a BC 62qt pot which is like 15.5" in diameter.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I've used a clean, round grill grate before. Worked ok but the bag did want to fall over the sides so I ended up sitting a metal colander on top of the grate.

 

[PDevlin75]

Instead of pouring water over the bag, why not let it soak in a separate pot of sparge water, like a tea bag? After that, maybe let it drain through the colander like you mentioned. But when all of that is done, pour it into your boil kettle...

Pouring the water over the bag while it's over the boil kettle sounds like it could get messy

 

[meridianomrebel]

Here is what I do:
1. Lift the bag out of my brew kettle and squeeze it like there's no tomorrow.
2. Lower the bag into a second smaller kettle for my dunk sparge.
3. I'll then raise the bag out and squeeze the crap out of it again. If my sparge water is short in volume, I'll take a water hose and spray it through my bag to fill up the remaining needing volume.

 

[petrolSpice]

Intuitively it seems like pouring water through the grain would rinse the grain better than dunking it into another pot. I don't have the science to back that up though.

 

[Tarpon87]

Homedepot, Lowes, Target etc all sell replacement grates for kettle grills. Definately have some big enough for most kettles and they are fairley cheap. All grilling stuff is on clearance right now to at the Target by me. Picked up bags of charcoal for 2.38 each last weekend.

 

[Johow]

I found a large stainless bowl with a lip edge that exactly fit my kettle. I drilled a bunch of holes in it and turned it into a sieve. It works pretty well unless I had a huge grain bill, then it could get messy. On my most recent brews, I decided to try a dunk sparge. This has actually improved my efficiency by quite a bit. I think the pour over sparge was not saturating the grain bag well enough. The only thing about a dunk sparge is you need to calculate fairly accurately, the volume of water you will use so as not to dilute your wort too much.

 

[iijakii]

Intuitively it seems like pouring water through the grain would rinse the grain better than dunking it into another pot. I don't have the science to back that up though.

The problem is as you've seen with it hanging -- really hard to get an even distribution. You wind up rinsing just a small portion of the grain. Dunking and thoroughly stirring in another pot would work well. I bet a grate will be awkward/messy/clumsy and hard to really pour over more effectively.

Personally I just let it hang and drip dry and don't mess with it.

 

[petrolSpice]

Homedepot, Lowes, Target etc all sell replacement grates for kettle grills. Definately have some big enough for most kettles and they are fairley cheap. All grilling stuff is on clearance right now to at the Target by me. Picked up bags of charcoal for 2.38 each last weekend.

Thats a good idea! As long as the diameter of the bag resting on the grate isnt larger than the kettle it should work well.

I found a large stainless bowl with a lip edge that exactly fit my kettle. I drilled a bunch of holes in it and turned it into a sieve. It works pretty well unless I had a huge grain bill, then it could get messy. On my most recent brews, I decided to try a dunk sparge. This has actually improved my efficiency by quite a bit. I think the pour over sparge was not saturating the grain bag well enough. The only thing about a dunk sparge is you need to calculate fairly accurately, the volume of water you will use so as not to dilute your wort too much.

Also a good idea. I looked at sieves and might see if I can find one that will sit on the lip thats inside the BC kettles. Sieves usually have a tall side that would help hold the grain in place.

Or something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ADPFLE2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[wilserbrewer]

I usually just lift the bag out of the wort with a rope/pulley and let it hang above the kettle while I squeeze,then toss the grains. I'd like to try sparging by pouring water through the bag/grain. With the bag hanging from the rope, it has a teardrop shape which is not ideal for poring water through it.



I need a way to rest the bag over the kettle so it can lay flat-ish. Then I just pour water through the bag and it drips into the kettle.



I'm thinking of a strainer basket of some kind that rests on top of the kettle. I have a BC 62qt pot which is like 15.5" in diameter.

Try reserving a gallon of sparge water and try slowly pouring it a cup at a time or so over and through the bag while it is hanging over the kettle.

Like you, I also thought this would not work well, but I was very surprised how well the sparge water disperses and rinses the grain. The poly voile bag is so porous that the water seems to go right through into the grain and disperses downward.

Is this method as good as a perfect fly sparge, of course not. Not sure how it compares to a dunk sparge in a separate pot, but I do know that it is a helluva lot easier.

Ps. I don't do this to chase efficiency, basically I sparge to reach a determined preboil volume. I like not having to be to concerned about mash water volumes, but just sparge to desired volume.

 

[petrolSpice]

Try reserving a gallon of sparge water and try slowly pouring it a cup at a time or so over and through the bag while it is hanging over the kettle.

Like you, I also thought this would not work well, but I was very surprised how well the sparge water disperses and rinses the grain. The poly voile bag is so porous that the water seems to go right through into the grain and disperses downward.

Is this method as good as a perfect fly sparge, of course not. Not sure how it compares to a dunk sparge in a separate pot, but I do know that it is a helluva lot easier.

Ps. I don't do this to chase efficiency, basically I sparge to reach a determined preboil volume. I like not having to be to concerned about mash water volumes, but just sparge to desired volume.

So do you target a mash thickness, then sparge with whatever extra water you need to reach preboil volume? That is what I was thinking of doing. This would only be for smaller beers. With a big >1.080 OG beer the mash is so thick even with a full volume mash that I wouldn't want to make it any thicker by setting aside sparge water.

 

[doug293cz]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0096BZ61M/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I have the BC 62qt kettle, and this fits pretty well on the top. Great for squeezing the bag as well.

Brew on

 

[petrolSpice]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0096BZ61M/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I have the BC 62qt kettle, and this fits pretty well on the top. Great for squeezing the bag as well.

Brew on

Pics of it in action? I'd be worried about pushing too hard on it and breaking the handles off.

 

[wilserbrewer]

So do you target a mash thickness, then sparge with whatever extra .

No, I just ballpark total water required in my head and mash with a gallon less, I keep it very simple. The only measuring I do is in the kettle.

Doug, I have used strainers and colanders a few times through the years, the downside is if your going for max volume or batch size, the wort level in the kettle can be above the strainer bottom.

Won't happen doing a 5 in a 15 pot, but could doing a 10 in a 15.

 

[doug293cz]

No, I just ballpark total water required in my head and mash with a gallon less, I keep it very simple. The only measuring I do is in the kettle.

Doug, I have used strainers and colanders a few times through the years, the downside is if your going for max volume or batch size, the wort level in the kettle can be above the strainer bottom.

Won't happen doing a 5 in a 15 pot, but could doing a 10 in a 15.

So far I have only done 5 gal in my 15.5 gal pot. Could be an issue with 10 gal batches.

Brew on

 

[doug293cz]

Pics of it in action? I'd be worried about pushing too hard on it and breaking the handles off.

Should have taken a pic yesterday. It doesn't really get supported on the handles, but mostly by the kettle rim on the bowl itself. I lean on it pretty hard without ill effects.

Brew on

 

[Tarpon87]

Thats a good idea! As long as the diameter of the bag resting on the grate isnt larger than the kettle it should work well.



Also a good idea. I looked at sieves and might see if I can find one that will sit on the lip thats inside the BC kettles. Sieves usually have a tall side that would help hold the grain in place.

Or something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ADPFLE2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Weber makes a 21 1/2 grate that they sell for 19.99. Its not SS but should clean up just fine. Its what i use for my weber kettle and i buy a new one every season

 

[atcsat]

This works for me, and was easy and inexpensive. Large pizza pan w/holes that fits on top of my brewpot that holds a 5gal bucket (with several drain holes drilled in bottom). I hoist the bag out of brewpot, place the pan and bucket over pot and drop the bag in the bucket. Open bag over side of bucket and sparge thru the bag/bucket! I only have an 8 gal brewpot, so I keep 2.5 gal out and at 170 to sparge up to my pre-boil volume.

I don't squeeze, my (simply estimated) efficiency seems to stay over 75%, and grain absorbtion rate is about .06 to .07 gal per lb. I'm really happy with my simple BIAB system!!!

 

[petrolSpice]

This works for me, and was easy and inexpensive. Large pizza pan w/holes that fits on top of my brewpot that holds a 5gal bucket (with several drain holes drilled in bottom). I hoist the bag out of brewpot, place the pan and bucket over pot and drop the bag in the bucket. Open bag over side of bucket and sparge thru the bag/bucket! I only have an 8 gal brewpot, so I keep 2.5 gal out and at 170 to sparge up to my pre-boil volume.

I don't squeeze, my (simply estimated) efficiency seems to stay over 75%, and grain absorbtion rate is about .06 to .07 gal per lb. I'm really happy with my simple BIAB system!!!

Love the ingenuity on these forums

 

[mwill07]

Sunday was my second ever BIAB brew so I'm no expert here, but my method seemed to work well. I simply hoisted my bag of grains into my old 5-gallon mash-tun and let that drain into the kettle as I brought up to boil.

the next step, I think, is to find a better way to squeeze while in the tun.

I really like this because:

1. reuses equipment I already have.
2. mash-tun keeps grainbed warm while it drains.
3. no spills - everything stays clean, no unexpected drips.
4. I can squeeze at my pace and take as long as I want to let it drip, without me leaning over a near-boiling keggle.