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Sack squeezing and haze

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Haha, my lid was a wedding gift I think too. 16 years here.

Upon relooking, it looks like its hanging off your garage door? The way I press I would be worried about damaging something. I am pressing down into a bucket with all my strength. Then rotating the bag and doing it again. Got my fingers caught a couple times and also have to be careful becuase as lauter catching bucket expands with heat I have driven the collander into it deep enough that it has taken a behemoth effort to remove.
 
Haha, my lid was a wedding gift I think too. 16 years here.

Upon relooking, it looks like its hanging off your garage door? The way I press I would be worried about damaging something. I am pressing down into a bucket with all my strength. Then rotating the bag and doing it again. Got my fingers caught a couple times and also have to be careful becuase as lauter catching bucket expands with heat I have driven the collander into it deep enough that it has taken a behemoth effort to remove.

Ease off on the pressing. You won't lose but a few ounces of wort.
 
Yeah, totally. Last time, I was like wtf, all that effort for a pint or two. And also that last bit might be a clarity culprit. I am thinking about buying a pot to do 5g on stove. And getting a colander for the top for gentle drain.
 
Yeah, totally. Last time, I was like wtf, all that effort for a pint or two. And also that last bit might be a clarity culprit. I am thinking about buying a pot to do 5g on stove. And getting a colander for the top for gentle drain.

I don't think the hard squeezing is your problem. Unless you are a lot stronger than me, you aren't squeezing too hard. I squeeze out the wort, add water, squeeze that out, add more water, and give it a final hard squeeze so there isn't a chance of any drip onto the carpet on my way out to dump the bag and I still get clear beer.
 
Hmm, maybe the cheap worn out bag? I wondered because you also do short boils and mashes as well? Have you noticed anything with shorter boils and mashes. Also grain, this was golden promise, wonder if that matters.
 
Hmm, maybe the cheap worn out bag? I wondered because you also do short boils and mashes as well? Have you noticed anything with shorter boils and mashes. Also grain, this was golden promise, wonder if that matters.

I sure have. It takes a lot less time.:D

One has to be cautious with going too short with either mash or boil. Too short on the mash and you don't get flavor, only alcohol. I like my beer to have flavor. For the boil, it takes time to isomerize the hop oils to get the bitterness.
 
I let the earth squeeze my bag. Gravity. 15 minutes. Moving along.

<now where is the thread about silly things you've said about brewing...>
 
Brewed today and sure enough one bag has a large square pattern on it. There was a ton of shat in the brew too. Ugh, pm'd wilser about dang time.
 
I do biab and I've changed a few things since I've started. Not that I was making bad beers but I am trying to get a feel for the different possible outcomes. I used to squeeze, sparge, and did no kind of filtering of my wort at all.
Now I do a no squeeze and just hang and drain for a little while. Usually 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on if I feel like taking a break to do something. It saves me the strain of having to squeeze.
After discovering a small hole in the bag one time I began double bagging with a paint strainer bag encapsulated by one of the biab.com bags.
For filtering wort I've tried a few minor things which have pretty much wound up being useless in eliminating the break matter that makes into my fermenters.
After doing more research today I am going to try placing a strainer bag in my milling bucket to eliminate any excess loose flour as I've read some people who do biab have seen that cut down on break matter. Also I'm going to try a ghetto version of vorlaufing my wort after the bag drains. I'm essentially going to let the post-mash break matter settle to the bottom of the kettle, which most of it does after 30 minutes to an hour, and utilizing the kettle spigot and a pitcher I'm going to pull from the bottom of the kettle and pour that back through the grains in the bag. I'll let you know how it turns out.

The pic posted is one of my most recent brews. An ipa with two separate additions of 3 oz of dry hops each. One added a day after pitching the yeast at high krausen. The other added to the keg with a clear beer attachment. It was only cold crashed and it came out crystal clear.
20181016_155406.jpeg
 
Brewed today and sure enough one bag has a large square pattern on it. There was a ton of shat in the brew too. Ugh, pm'd wilser about dang time.

I don't follow your meaning here. What's the large square pattern from?

My beers are always hazy until they've been in the keg for weeks. I never cold crash or use any fining agents, but I too squeeze the bag over a cullender. I also "sparge" by spraying the grains with hot tap water.
 
I am not sure. Maybe a lot of use or maybe it was like this when I got it. Think it might be a mix of both. I'll upload a picture and I think it will be easy to see how bad the weave is. The Weave has turned into a square pattern that is unusually big.
 
I do biab and I've changed a few things since I've started. Not that I was making bad beers but I am trying to get a feel for the different possible outcomes. I used to squeeze, sparge, and did no kind of filtering of my wort at all.
Now I do a no squeeze and just hang and drain for a little while. Usually 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on if I feel like taking a break to do something. It saves me the strain of having to squeeze.
After discovering a small hole in the bag one time I began double bagging with a paint strainer bag encapsulated by one of the biab.com bags.
For filtering wort I've tried a few minor things which have pretty much wound up being useless in eliminating the break matter that makes into my fermenters.
After doing more research today I am going to try placing a strainer bag in my milling bucket to eliminate any excess loose flour as I've read some people who do biab have seen that cut down on break matter. Also I'm going to try a ghetto version of vorlaufing my wort after the bag drains. I'm essentially going to let the post-mash break matter settle to the bottom of the kettle, which most of it does after 30 minutes to an hour, and utilizing the kettle spigot and a pitcher I'm going to pull from the bottom of the kettle and pour that back through the grains in the bag. I'll let you know how it turns out.

The pic posted is one of my most recent brews. An ipa with two separate additions of 3 oz of dry hops each. One added a day after pitching the yeast at high krausen. The other added to the keg with a clear beer attachment. It was only cold crashed and it came out crystal clear. View attachment 594032
Am I the only one who sees the ghost in this beer?
 
I can’t give much advice on BIAB as I’ve only done it a few times. However, regarding clarity, I’ve been using Brausol Special finings - gets rid of proteins and yeast in suspension, and therefore chill haze too. Can’t recommend it enough. I use 8ml per 20L brew a day or two before bottling. Crash cooling helps, but I didn’t crash cool at all on my last brew and the beer has turned out nice and bright.
 
I’m also a squeezer. I use pvc gloves and squeeze the bag while it’s hoisted above on a pulley system.
I ferment in a modified chest freezer, so I cold crash and use gelatin for finings. Beer comes out crystal clear.
 
My squeezing comment was meant to be a joke.
I use whirfloc or Irish Moss during boil, and everything drops out...same as 3v.
Edit:
This sounds harsh...not intended to be. Hard to relay tone through text/writing.
 
Last edited:
Glad this was bumped ;)

Because I felt I owed it to you to show this s..t bag vs a wilser. Look how fine the wilser is. I think this was my problem and first brew granted its a light beer has very little trub. I wonder if those who "try out" biab end up with cloudier beer because of this bag from the lhbs. Btw wilser is very generous and quickly got me bags. Thanks again wilser. Look and see for yourself.
Screenshot_2019-01-03-09-27-09.jpeg
Screenshot_2018-12-30-08-52-09.jpeg
 
I always squeeze, never cold crash (not have setup), sometimes use gelatin, sometime No Boil, sometime 15 minutes boil and my beers is sometime crystal clear, sometime not, but never murky.

I think it depends on the grain type and yeast (FG). My beers is always clear with Saison yeast (BE-134, FG is under 1.005) and lighter grains (Maris Otter). If use Pilsner grains and S-04 yeast my beers is not clear.
 
Perhaps the variable in question is that pos bag I was using, among other possibilities.

all this sack squeezing talk, I can't stop chuckling [emoji12] I am witholding all other comments for obvious reasons but will be disappointed if someone doesnt take this bull by the horns and run with it.
 
I don't think the hard squeezing is your problem. Unless you are a lot stronger than me, you aren't squeezing too hard. I squeeze out the wort, add water, squeeze that out, add more water, and give it a final hard squeeze so there isn't a chance of any drip onto the carpet on my way out to dump the bag and I still get clear beer.
sorry, I missed this. You double batch sparge with squeezes inbetween. Doug has given me charts and helped me to understand this process a little and it intrigues me very much. plus I know you mill your grain fine, so what kind of efficiency does that result in? Do you mind sharing how you do that? I am also curious because I remain curious about partigyle with biab. Curious if I should squeeze or how, much, maybe just boil first runnings?
 

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