Steeping two grain bags at the same time

[The Brewed Palate]

Recently I bought ingredients to brew my first all-grain IPA, and realized that my boil kettle isn't wide enough to steep all the grains in one muslin bag so I came up with the following idea.

1) split the grains (10.5lbs two-row and 1.25lbs specialty grains) into two bags (one muslin and one nylon) and steep one on top of the other.

2) to sparge I'd put a strainer (colander) on tap of my brew kettle and pour 170F over the bags (one at a time) until I reach 5 gallons.

My questions are the following:

1) is this a good idea? 2) how much water do I need to steep the grains in?

 

[HoppyDaze]

You are going to find it really difficult to get any kind of effiency doing an all grain batch with no mash tun.

I suggest doing partial mashes until you get a mash tun. It will make just as good beer as all grain

read this https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-partial-mash-brewing-pics-75231/

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

If you are doing AG, you need to mash, not steep....unless your trying the BIAB method which I can't help you with maybe someone that uses the BIAB method will chime in?

 

[nanofreak]

If you are doing AG, you need to mash, not steep....unless your trying the BIAB method which I can't help you with maybe someone that uses the BIAB method will chime in?

You still mash, but it is in the kettle in a bag. You have to hold the proper heat for the proper time, and you need a finer bag. It is the same as mashing, just in a bag in your boil kettle.

 

[HoppyDaze]

You still mash, but it is in the kettle in a bag. You have to hold the proper heat for the proper time, and you need a finer bag. It is the same as mashing, just in a bag in your boil kettle.

True, as long as the brewer uses the appropriate water to grain ratio which was not brought up by the OP...

 

[dcp27]

How big is your kettle? I've fit that much grain into a 21L pot with BIAB, so its doable, but it brought it to nearly the brim and I had to split off some of the runnings for part of the boil so its a pain. You're going to want to mash in about 14L of water (1.25qt/lb)

 

[oceanselv]

What batch size are you going for? With 5 gallons pre-boil you will likely wind up with 3.5 - 4 gallons. Also what temperature and for how long did you steep the grain? The purpose of mashing crushed grains is to extract the starch from the grain and then let the heat and water of the mash tun convert the grain to sugar. To make the jump to all grain you will need just a few things. They are a mash tun and a pot which is at at least 2 or 3 gallons larger than your final batch. I made the jump to all grain for approximately $125. I bought 10 gallon cooler for $30 and made a false bottom and added a ball valve for about $15. I bought a Bayou Classic Turkey Fryer from Home Depot with a 8 gallon aluminum pot for $65.00. The rest was high temperature hose, hose clamps and other odds and ends. With this set up you can carefully do a full 6.5 gallon boil and a full mash as well.

 

[The Brewed Palate]

My kettle is 8 gallons (32qt.) I was just afraid of the bag touching the side and bottom of the kettle, but if I don't keep the flame on I can use my kettle as the mash tun and sparge either with the colander or moving the grain bag to my bottling bucket. Sound good?

 

[oceanselv]

My kettle is 8 gallons (32qt.) I was just afraid of the bag touching the side and bottom of the kettle, but if I don't keep the flame on I can use my kettle as the mash tun and sparge either with the colander or moving the grain bag to my bottling bucket. Sound good?

I wouldn't do it. For a mash tun to work properly you need to maintain a consistent heat. This is why many of use an insulated cooler. Others who use a true 3 vessel system either keep the heat on their mash tun or insulate in some way. If I were you I would break down and buy the cooler and convert it to a mash tun. Otherwise you will never get the maximum efficiency of your grains and everything from the taste of your beer to the alcohol content will vary greatly.

 

[dcp27]

I think the BIAB is a fine stepping stone before moving to a true mash tun if you can't yet. I've done it a bunch of times with good results so it's procrastinated me stepping up to something better. I usually just use clips to keep the bag a bit off the bottom of the kettle while the flame is on, but my temp holds pretty consistent so I rarely need to turn it on.

 

[nanofreak]

I wouldn't do it. For a mash tun to work properly you need to maintain a consistent heat. This is why many of use an insulated cooler. Others who use a true 3 vessel system either keep the heat on their mash tun or insulate in some way. If I were you I would break down and buy the cooler and convert it to a mash tun. Otherwise you will never get the maximum efficiency of your grains and everything from the taste of your beer to the alcohol content will vary greatly.

I have consistently hit 75% eff with grains from BMW doing brew in a bag.

 

[The Brewed Palate]

what's the easiest way to sparge with the brew in a bag method in an AG recipe?

 

[dcp27]

i usually put the sack onto a big colander above the kettle, sparge over that, then batch sparge in a pot, the sparge again in the colander, and repeat if necessary.

 

[jjones17]

what's the easiest way to sparge with the brew in a bag method in an AG recipe?

You need to read Deathbrewer's thread on BIAB. See:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/

I do this method all the time using 2 grain bags, and 2 pots. Is no problem, and I get 80-85% efficiency every time.

Since you are new to this though, see the above thread - follow it to the letter, and then deviate from there. Just my recommendation