Sous Vide BIAB

[RM-MN]

After my post above I read a bunch of threads on stirring mash and it seems the main issue people have is with heat loss. Of course, with the sous vide, that isn't a problem. Also, some mentioned that commercial brewery mash tuns have stirring mechanisms. So, I'm definitely giving your method a try.

I have a few issues though:

1. My kettle is tall and the sous vide doesn't reach the liquid. I've been tying it to my kettle handle and lowering it in for whirlpooling, but I guess I need to make a special mount.

2. How do you keep the bag from sucking in to the sous vide?

3. Is it super slow doing a step mash? With the outside cooler method I can just drain some water and add boiling water to quickly get to the next step.

Thanks!

1. Your batch size is just too small. There isn't anything magical about a 5 gallon batch. Just a little calculation and you can easily brew a 6 gallon batch if that is what it takes to reach the liquid.

3. There are several ways to get a faster heating for a step mash. First it to forget about it. Most people cannot tell the difference between a step mash and a single infusion. Second is exterior heating supplement. Third is starting a little short on the mash water and add boiling to bring the temp up part way quickly, then use your sous vide to get the precision you desire. Fourth would be a decoction mash with the sous vide providing the final push to get the precise temp.

 

[farmersteve]

I wish I could lobby anova to change the device to allow for a longer drop into liquid. Not sure what that would look like and also allow a larger gap for the screw on holder. Some coolers are thicker than the gap allows.

I agree on the step mash thing. I just do a mash around 150 most of the time and then mashout at 168. I think there is a Brulosphy experiment where he can't tell the difference between step mashing and a single temperature mash. I'm not sure he even does a mashout with his setup.

 

[RM-MN]

I wish I could lobby anova to change the device to allow for a longer drop into liquid. Not sure what that would look like and also allow a larger gap for the screw on holder. Some coolers are thicker than the gap allows.

I agree on the step mash thing. I just do a mash around 150 most of the time and then mashout at 168. I think there is a Brulosphy experiment where he can't tell the difference between step mashing and a single temperature mash. I'm not sure he even does a mashout with his setup.

Unless you are fly sparging there isn't any need for a mash out. You'll be draining the mash tun before the mash out would have any effect.

 

[christyle]

I don't feel like an Annova can get anywhere NEAR quick enough times for step mashing or mashouts for my liking. Agreed on the mashout being unnecessary, enzymes will be denatured in the quickly ensuing boil. You always want to be circulating/agitating your mash if possible, the only reason not to, for me, was to get the grain bed settled for batch sparges, with this, the recirc sets the bed just fine. I made a very rudimentary hanger for mine using a few bucks worth of steel strap from the hardware store. I'll try to take a pic if anyone's interested.

 

[oddcopter]

I'm completely committed to 2.5 gallon batches. Too many reasons to list. Here is my "rudimentary hanger" to give farmersteve's method a try:

 

[oddcopter]

Also, I have a larger aluminum pot that is bigger than this stainless steel kettle I brew in. I think I will use it as a double boiler to raise the heat between steps on my hef. I even went out and bought a 5 gallon carboy to give me extra headspace for my 2.5 gallon batch. Between trub and the crazy hefeweizen yeast I'll need it. I usually ferment in a 3 gallon carboy.

 

[oddcopter]

Double boiler farmersteve method works great. I tried it today. Double boiler ramps fast and the Anova holds the mash temp. No clogs.

 

[farmersteve]

Hey that's cool. I never thought about a double boiler, but with the Anova I would think it could keep up with temperatures of an uninsulated pot. I routinely do mine in an 8 gallon SS kettle without insulation and don't have any trouble keep up the temperatures.

 

[kyosho]

Damn! Why haven't I thought about this the other way! I thought of buying to me a sous vide machine but they cost 120€ here and I have Bulldog brewery that I could use to make some nice meat! Now I have to buy a vacuum machine

 

[farmersteve]

Any of these electric brewing systems can do sous vide https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=619308&page=1

 

[PrivateWiddle]

There's quite a few people doing this now. There's a facebook group called Sous Vide Beer Brewing (link in my profile but not sure if ok to post it here).

I use an external heat source (induction hob) for getting to strike temperature and then hold using the sous vide device. Its perfectly able to ramp temperatures that are not too far from each other (beta/alpha/mash out). Obviously the boil is done using external heat.

If you are interested in this then please run by our group.

 

[PrivateWiddle]

What do you think would be the max volume of a full volume Mash BIAB that the Anova could handle?

A lot of people on our group (Sous Vide Beer Brewing on facebook) are doing batches up to 5 gallons with no problem at all even without insualtion. Beyond that the constraints of thermo-dynamics kick in.

Larger cooler type mash tuns can be used due to their insulation and shape. With a 15 gallon stock-pot style kettle its possible to get to strike temperature but the device is sitting high up. They tend to fire horizontally so after doughing in the temperature in the mash starts to stratify. That means stirring and application of external heat. At that point the whole point of doing it has been lost. However for small-batch brewers and people doing standard 5 gallon/full-volume BIAB it really works well and takes a lot of messing around and time off the brew day.

 

[PrivateWiddle]

11 gallon Bayou Classic with basket plus bag, wrapped in Reflectix. Will it mash with the Anova?

In response to a question from me, another user on our facebook group posted:

"
Mine is an 11 gallon pot. This brew had 7.5 gallons of water and 11 pounds of grain. Handles it well.
"

He wasn't using insulation and was outdoors as you can see in his photo.

 

[PrivateWiddle]

Hey koolvik91!

I choose to keep the Anova out off the wort for two reasons.

1. I didn't want risk ruining it with gooey wort.
2. I think I read somewhere that the mash needs to soak and not be constantly circulating.

I did another brew day without the sous vide and just set the pot directly in the warmed up cooler with the lid closed. It wasn't near as exact and I had to add boiling get water to the cooler to keep the temp up above 150. I was constantly monitoring it. With the sous vide it was set it and forget it. However, the setup time on the sous vide bath may not be worth the effort.

Opinion on the question if in or out of the bag is split on our group. One user does all his batches inside the bag with no additional filter (say a hop spider) He insists that he's never had an issue. Nevertheless most of us are outies not innies.

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

Opinion on the question if in or out of the bag is split on our group. One user does all his batches inside the bag with no additional filter (say a hop spider) He insists that he's never had an issue. Nevertheless most of us are outies not innies.

Sweet! Think I'm gonna have to give this a try.

 

[beernutz]

I bought my wife an Anova for Christmas which she loves. I would like to try a BIAB mash with it but I need to wait until she is out of town on business.

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

I bought my wife an Anova for Christmas which she loves. I would like to try a BIAB mash with it but I need to wait until she is out of town on business.

Sneaky

 

[deadwolfbones]

Just wanted to add that you can also use the Anova for ferm control in the winter months, especially when doing sours/saisons and other beers that like to ferment warm. I did a number of saisons, setting the fermenter in a water bath controlled by the Anova and finished them nice and hot. Worked great.

 

[OaklandHills]

I'm new to home brewing and decided to bypass extracts and go straight to BIAB.

My wife and I bought a sous vide machine a few years back. We used it a couple of times then it got stored away.

When researching BIAB, I read a lot about temperature control and the sous vide immediately came to mind. I watched a few videos of people using the machine directly in the mash, but the sous vide is designed to heat water to a stable temp forming a bath to cook.

So, this is the approach I took. After, adding my grain to the brew bag, I moved it to a sous vide bath in a cooler. Here is a pic:

The logistics involved were a bit more complicated than the photo implies.

As soon as I read about what a sous vide machine does, I thought about using it to control the temperature in a BIAB mash. But, if you just stick the sous vide wand in the mash tun, you'd end up with a sticky mess that would be hard to clean. So the idea with your setup is to keep the sugary mash away from the sous vide heater altogether? You've put the grain inside a metal pot for good heat transfer. How long does it take to reach your mash temperature? I assume you still have to stir to get uniform temperature inside the mash tun?
Do you set the sous vide at the final mash temperature, or do you set it higher initially for dough in, then dial it down?

 

[RM-MN]

As soon as I read about what a sous vide machine does, I thought about using it to control the temperature in a BIAB mash. But, if you just stick the sous vide wand in the mash tun, you'd end up with a sticky mess that would be hard to clean. So the idea with your setup is to keep the sugary mash away from the sous vide heater altogether? You've put the grain inside a metal pot for good heat transfer. How long does it take to reach your mash temperature? I assume you still have to stir to get uniform temperature inside the mash tun?
Do you set the sous vide at the final mash temperature, or do you set it higher initially for dough in, then dial it down?

My idea of what a sous vide machine does for you is let you fill the kettle a few hours ahead of your starting time and have the water at strike temp when you have the grain ready to go into the kettle while you sleep or go off to work. With BIAB you can have the grain milled very finely which then gets you a fast conversion. Once conversion is complete the temperature of the mash isn't critical as all you are really accomplishing is extracting the color and flavors. That means that it isn't necessary to keep the sous vide machine in the kettle getting all sticky. I now mostly mash for 30 minute instead of 60 and could cut that to 20 if I am in a hurry.

If you want to see how long conversion takes for your system, get a bottle of iodine and use it to test for starch left in the particle of grain (not the wort, just grain) at various times. A tiny amount of the grain and a couple drops of iodine will tell you if you have starch left to convert. People will worry about the enzymes continuing to convert the dextrines to short chain sugars and making a more fermentable wort if the temperature falls but that isn't my experience at all.