Switching to all grain

[djfriesen]

BIAB is awesome. That's how I do 90% of my beers (big ones will occasionally be partigyle in a 100qt cooler mashtun). It's super easy, takes all of the mystique out of All-Grain, and can save you a BUNCH of money and hassle. You can crush grains finer because you don't need to worry about a stuck sparge, which equates to better efficiency and cheaper grainbills. You'll probably either need to find a good LHBS that will let you mill your grains yourself, or invest in a mill and do it yourself. The second option has the potential to save even more money, as you can buy and store base malts in bulk, which is a significant savings over the per-pound method with most retailers.

My only hang-up with it is cleaning the bag. I used to painstakingly rinse the entire bag out in the kitchen sink. What a pain. Eventually, I just started getting a majority of the spent grain and hulls out in the sink, and then putting it through a rinse cycle in the washing machine.

 

[RM-MN]

BIAB is awesome. That's how I do 90% of my beers (big ones will occasionally be partigyle in a 100qt cooler mashtun). It's super easy, takes all of the mystique out of All-Grain, and can save you a BUNCH of money and hassle. You can crush grains finer because you don't need to worry about a stuck sparge, which equates to better efficiency and cheaper grainbills. You'll probably either need to find a good LHBS that will let you mill your grains yourself, or invest in a mill and do it yourself. The second option has the potential to save even more money, as you can buy and store base malts in bulk, which is a significant savings over the per-pound method with most retailers.

My only hang-up with it is cleaning the bag. I used to painstakingly rinse the entire bag out in the kitchen sink. What a pain. Eventually, I just started getting a majority of the spent grain and hulls out in the sink, and then putting it through a rinse cycle in the washing machine.

Since the only thing going back into the bag is more milled grain, all you need to do is a quick rinse to get the sugars out so it won't mold and then hang it to dry. The tiny bit of grain particles left won't matter a bit in the next mash. Any bacteria that the grain particles might harbor will be killed in the boil anyway.

 

[DurtyChemist]

As a fellow BIAB brewer I just found out a hanging plant pot (the wire mesh kind) works great on a keg to support the bag while it drains.

I do batch sparging using hose water and a bucket. Fill the bucket with 2 or so gallons, slowly pour it over the grains and let it drain into the keggle. Once I have my pre-boil volume I bring it to a boil. Some people heat their wort while sparging but since I'm standing over it I don't always do that.

Look into checking your pre-boil gravity and mash efficiencies. It's helpful to get your technique down and hit numbers consistently.

 

[Cajunbrewer87]

Thanks for all the replies! Ill be getting the bayou classic 16 gallon stainless pot, and a thermapen since My thermometer isnt very accurate. Now I just need to figure out what kind of bag to get. Ive heard some people use paint strainer bags, do they get the job done?

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Honestly, as a satisfied customer, I'd suggest you go with Wilserbrewer here on the forums. He's having a black Friday sale where he'll refund your shipping. My guess is he already has a bag that will fit that pot. The material he uses is Swiss viole, and is super fine and super strong.

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks for all the replies! Ill be getting the bayou classic 16 gallon stainless pot, and a thermapen since My thermometer isnt very accurate. Now I just need to figure out what kind of bag to get. Ive heard some people use paint strainer bags, do they get the job done?

So far as I know, there isn't a paint strainer bag that will fit that big of a kettle properly. I'll agree with Black Island Brewer and say that your best bet to purchase a bag is from Wilserbrew as then the bag will fit right. You want the bag to be big enough that your can stir in the grains without them being pushed tight. A loose mash is what you are looking for.

 

[Cajunbrewer87]

Awesome, I'll definitely try out one of his bags. So it looks like all i need now is a chiller. Any suggestions? I dont mind spending a little extra for one that gets the job done well. I just dont want DMS to be a problem

 

[TexasWine]

Awesome, I'll definitely try out one of his bags. So it looks like all i need now is a chiller. Any suggestions? I dont mind spending a little extra for one that gets the job done well. I just dont want DMS to be a problem

My understanding is that DMS is taken care of during the boil. Boil long enough and it won't be a problem. Somebody correct me if that's way off base.

Concerning a chiller, you don't absolutely have to get one unless that money is burning a hole in your pocket. Several of us here just let it chill naturally, sometimes over night, and pitch yeast when it gets cool enough.

My reasons for going this route are that it's less equipment to set up and break down, it saved me some cash, and Houston tap water is 80F a good majority of the year and I don't want to buy ice every time I brew during hot weather.

 

[Cajunbrewer87]

I havent heard of that yet(Ive only been brewing for a couple
months or so)but it would definitely save money and more equipment to deal with as you said. Ive just heard on brew strong in the dms episode that the faster you get the temperature below 170(I think) the less chance you have of DMS forming. I tend to take what those guys say as gospel haha but maybe I should give the no chill method a try since people do have success with it.

 

[TexasWine]

I havent heard of that yet(Ive only been brewing for a couple
months or so)but it would definitely save money and more equipment to deal with as you said. Ive just heard on brew strong in the dms episode that the faster you get the temperature below 170(I think) the less chance you have of DMS forming. I tend to take what those guys say as gospel haha but maybe I should give the no chill method a try since people do have success with it.

Third attempt at responding to this. I'm on the brink of throwing this HBT app out the window.

I looked this up in Palmer's online book.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

"DMS is continuously produced in the wort while it is hot and is usually removed by vaporization during the boil. If the wort is cooled slowly these compounds will not be removed from the wort and will dissolve back in. Thus it is important to not completely cover the brewpot during the boil or allow condensate to drip back into the pot from the lid. The wort should also be cooled quickly after the boil, either by immersing in an ice bath or using a wort chiller."

Here's where I'm at on this issue. You may come to a different conclusion.

I can buy that we don't need to boil with lids on the kettle. And Palmer presents very good reasons not to. But he never presents a clear reason for chilling quickly. He doesn't discuss the pathway that DMS will become a problem if one doesn't. Therefore, because it's never caused issues for me, I will continue no chilling.

BTW, you can boil with the lid partially on to save power/propane and not have DMS issues

 

[Cajunbrewer87]

Well, tonight I have my first batch of all grain in the fermentor. I made the brown porter from brewing classic styles. I did order my bag from wilserbrewer, fit in my pot perfectly and did the job awesome. I used grains with a standard crush, and added an extra pound of base grain. 60 minute mash, every 20 mins I would lose a degree or 2 so I would fire up the burner for a minute to get it back to 152. Anyway, I hit the target gravity exactly! Didnt have to make any adjustments. And while I only got 60% efficiency I'm on cloud 9 that I hit my gravity. Just wanted to thank you guys for steering me in the right direction. BIAB rocks! Cheers

 

[TexasWine]

Congrats! Let us know how it turns out.