Beer Forum

amcn wrote:However I have to ask, has anyone tried the bag method in traditional mashing, ie lining the tun and using a finer grind and even batch-sparging it etc? Can this improve mash efficiency?

A few guys have tried it over here amcn. The reports I get or have read say that it works fine with batch-sparging which makes sense to me. It also makes cleaning the tun out a fair bit easier which is always good!

I imagine it would work very well with fly-sparging as well as the drain, if you have the right material, is quite gentle.

Cheers,
Pat

For those having difficulty sourcing the correct polyester (voille) for their BIAB bag or just couldn't be bothered sewing, I did a design about six months ago and have supplied it (free of charge etc) to my local retailer over here, [url="http://www.gryphonbrewing.com.au/store/product_info.php?cPath=61&products_id=341"]GryphonBrewing[/url] (Superfly, it is almost identical to your design without the hoop, so good on you!!!)

This design is what I now use and is the best I have been able to come up with especially to suit a wide range of kettles. It works very well. Making it yourself is a bit of a PITA and quite time-consuming so buying would probably be the better option if wanting to use this design. I imagine the postage to US would be pretty cheap and I think he only does PayPal but his is the cage to rattle if you want to buy one. (I'll keep hastling him to make his site more internationally-friendly )

For those who have the right material and want to make their own bag, their are a few very easy designs - just tried to post them here but can't work out how to do it sorry - I will post them up on [url="http://biabrewer.info/Home_Page.html"]BIABrewer.info[/url] within the next few weeks. They will be under the FAQs page and will post here when they are published.*

Cheers,
Pat

* ThirstyBoy sent me a great draft for the BIABrewer FAQS a few months ago but, old woman that I am, I keep fussing over them Anyway, they are coming soon. (Ah, my old girlfriend used to say that too!) I am on the final draft which involves converting a lot of metric stuff for you guys and your crazy size equipment! Don't say us Aussies aren't good to you

Just wanted to post some pics of another BIAB brewer's brew set-up. (Pants from Aussiehomebrewer)

He proves that our original concerns that BIAB is only suitable if you want to brew 5G batches - are overly cautious.

He is brewing batches with 15-20G pre-boil volumes!! Finishing I presume with 10-15G of beer. He does need a reasonably robust pulley system though.

I'll let his pictures do the rest of the talking. TB.

I like it.

I'm just waiting for cooler weather before I brew my next batch. Start at 100F then add 30,000 BTUs for a few hours and even the homebrew stops cooling you off.

Ive done two wheat batches (12 gal) with the grain bill at 24.5lbs no problems with the bag....though you do need a pulley....
I lift the bag out with the pulley (after draining and squeezing) ,and then lift it high enough to put a lid on my pot
& lower the bag onto a container resting on top of my pot for removal...I plan on 30lbs soon...My pot is a Morebeer 26Gal Megapot
with a SS wire rack on the bottom...I also apply heat to the pot with bag in with no problems so far...

Worked my way through this whole thread!

I am planning on trying this soom with smaller 2-3 gallon batches. Mainly to try and shorten my brew day as much as I can.

I was hoping to get the voile on line. I think I have found what I need. Is the material in the link what I am looking for?

http://www.onlinefabricstore.net/sheer- ... abric-.htm

Thanks!

That Looks to be it jhollist

I got mine at Hobby Lobby for cheap if you have one of those around.... Use Poly thread also....

Great!

Here's another question. As I have no easy access to a sewing machine (or someone to sew it), I had planned on just making a giant circle of voile (radius equal to 1.5*height + kettle radius). That should give me enough material to line the kettle, have some extra over the top of the kettle, and then gather and tie a knot to pull and drain the bag. Has anyone tried this type of simple "bag"?