Mashing in 10gal kettle

[samircanada]

Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum, would appreciate your wisdom on this topic.

I recently acquired a 10 gal kettle to allow me to brew on my stove top, I am in Canada and I want to avoid the garage brewing conditions and my 16 gal wouldn't have fit under the range hood. I have already tested it out with an extract brew and I got a decent boil from the gas power burner.

I want to mash in the kettle and I am looking for a biab alternative since I imagine the 6" thermometer probe would get in the way or rip the bag! My kettle would accept a 14-1/8" false bottom, I have found some of them online, not cheap though. Do these work well? does the grain bed settle on them and allow for gentle heating and recirculating to the top of the kettle once in a while? Another option I am told is a bazooka screen attached to the spigot. Does this work well??

Please fire off your suggestions to me if you have any recommendations!

 

[Riot]

You could put the metal braid from a hot water heater line on the kettle output, those work pretty well if you don't want to spend big money on a false bottom. I like those better than bazooka screens, though those work alright as well

 

[72Chevelle]

I have the hot water heater metal braid on my cooler Mash Tun and it works really well. As far as BIAB you could always get one of the boil baskets, I got one with my pot I use for shrimp boils. that way you could protect your bag as well.

 

[wilserbrewer]

If you are reasonably careful, BIAB will work fine. A bag will conform around your temp probe during the mash and not be a problem.

Just remember to push the bag clear of the probe whith a long spoon when removing the bag....very simple in practice.

Or just remove the kettle mount thermo and use a hand held...

Mashing in your kettle, collecting the wort, removing grain and then putting the wort back in the kettle sounds like a major hassle.

 

[samircanada]

Thank you for the insight everyone, I thought washing bag vs washing kettle no much difference. I would just pour the wort in my 7 gallon plastic pale.

I was thinking the false bottom would help for sparging the grains. Any advice on how to do when using a bag? do you not need to sparge?

thanks

 

[bonecitybrewco]

Thank you for the insight everyone, I thought washing bag vs washing kettle no much difference. I would just pour the wort in my 7 gallon plastic pale.

I was thinking the false bottom would help for sparging the grains. Any advice on how to do when using a bag? do you not need to sparge?

thanks

With BIAB, the only sparging done is a "dunk" sparge, however, a lot of people are moving to no sparge BIAB. They mash the full volume of water and grain. It is a hit to efficiency, but more grain just makes up for that. I have doubts that your thermometer would tear a nylon mesh bag, though crazier things have happened. Then again, I have no problems brewing in -40 outside in Saskatchewan

 

[Morrey]

I no sparge BIAB with 82% efficiency. Squeezing is accepted and encouraged despite what some may say.

My thermometer probe is in the way of the BIAB bag as you know, but I push the bag back gently with my stir paddle as I am removing the bag. I suggest looking into Wilser Bags as a premium choice for BIAB.

Unless I mis-read your original post, you have a range hood in the way. With BIAB, you have bigger issues than a therm probe in the way since you need to lift that grain bag out of the kettle with a range hood holding up the show.

Just my .02, but your setup leaves you somewhat limited. I'd be looking for options and alternative ways to think thru this and I think you are aware of this as I interpret your original post to indicate you are looking for ways to brew inside. The braided shield from a hot water hose is fine for your uses. Look on the brite side....you'd have little problems chilling your wort if you did brew outside!!

 

[samircanada]

I followed the link to the Wilser bags, first time I have heard of them but will look into it further. By the way, you would be surprised how much time cooling wort outside in the winter can take. I thought simply putting the kettle down on in the snow bank and leaving it a while could work when I first got into brewing. It was well over an hour to reach pitching temps at -10 degrees outside.

Also, thanks for providing the info on brewing with more grain to achieve the efficiency equivalent to batch sparging. I will read more about this.

The range hood sits at 24" (approx) above the heat source. The kettle I bought for indoors is 15 1/2" tall, so it will be tight but not too bad. My outdoor kettle is 19 1/2 without the lid so it wouldn't have fit nor could I stir or throw in hops very comfortably.

If I go BIAB, I think I would move the kettle from the stove to the floor in order to lift the bag. I not going to be doing more than 5 gal batches indoors so the weight, well it will not be pleasant, but it would be manageable for me.

Seems many people have experience with BIAB and I thank you for your insight. I would love to hear from someone with a false bottom in kettle as I am thinking false bottom would avoid making a mess with the bag and allow moving the kettle after it has drained.

 

[bonecitybrewco]

I followed the link to the Wilser bags, first time I have heard of them but will look into it further. By the way, you would be surprised how much time cooling wort outside in the winter can take. I thought simply putting the kettle down on in the snow bank and leaving it a while could work when I first got into brewing. It was well over an hour to reach pitching temps at -10 degrees outside.

Also, thanks for providing the info on brewing with more grain to achieve the efficiency equivalent to batch sparging. I will read more about this.

The range hood sits at 24" (approx) above the heat source. The kettle I bought for indoors is 15 1/2" tall, so it will be tight but not too bad. My outdoor kettle is 19 1/2 without the lid so it wouldn't have fit nor could I stir or throw in hops very comfortably.

If I go BIAB, I think I would move the kettle from the stove to the floor in order to lift the bag. I not going to be doing more than 5 gal batches indoors so the weight, well it will not be pleasant, but it would be manageable for me.

Seems many people have experience with BIAB and I thank you for your insight. I would love to hear from someone with a false bottom in kettle as I am thinking false bottom would avoid making a mess with the bag and allow moving the kettle after it has drained.

You could absolutely do a full all grain no sparge batch with a false bottom. The problem comes when you need to drain the mash tun. All grain really isn't designed around 1 vessel very easily. How are you going to accomplish this process? One thought would be to heat the mash water in your smaller kettle and mash in the larger kettle and surround it with blankets or other insulation during the mash. Once the mash is complete, drain to your smaller kettle and lift to the stove and start your boil.

The only downside would be the lifting involved, though not much more than a bag...