Barley Belly's Biab Masher

First post by Barley Belly, 14 years ago

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Just upgraded from 3V AG to 40ltr BIAB Single Vessel and I thought I'd also treat myself to a new stainless BIAB masher.

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That's exactly what I use :) A large potato masher I bought at a restaurant supply shop.

It works great for busting lumps and general stirring.
A rapid up-and down motion really gets the grain off the bottom.

Bag lift

First post by Ralph, 14 years ago

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If I ever get to the stage where I want a semi- permanent pulley arrangement for lifting my BIAB bag, this cycle lift would probably be the sort of thing I'd press into service.

As an aside, some retailers' record for stocking more than a handful for these sorts of 'while stocks last' sale items is not great though, so I won't bank on getting one from them, but I'll give it a try for $14.99.

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That looks like a good system Ralph. It even looks like it has a built in rope lock, so no need for cleats on the wall.

If I was anywhere near an Aldi, I'd be getting one.

How high quality Pots are made

First post by stux, 14 years ago

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cheaper pots are stamped, others are spun...

this video is interesting :)

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Imagine having some of that machinery in your shed :drink:

Mash Pot Jacket

First post by paulbigelow, 14 years ago

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One of the problems with BIABing in an unheated garage during a Canadian winter is how to keep the mash temperature stable. I try to brew on warmer days, but that's a relative warmer . It's still below freezing. If I leave the pot unwrapped, I lose several degrees over just a few minutes. I had been using a ratty old sleeping bag tied on with bungee cords, but even then I still had to fire up my burner 3 or 4 times during the mash to regain lost heat.

Since my objective was to be able to go...

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I'm going to have to make one of those! This week our average temp will be single digits Fahrenheit... This will make life a little easier.

Barley Belly's False Bottom

First post by Barley Belly, 14 years ago

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Here a few pics of my custom false bottom. I originally planned to use a big stainless sifter as a false bottom to keep my bag away from my element. But I wasn't really happy with the idea and yearned for something better. An idea came to me and I got a local stainless fabricator to build it for me. All for $50.

It's 340mm in diameter, which fits nicely inside my 355mm urn and has 50mm feet on it which keeps my bag a safe distance from the element and best of all it's stainless.

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Wow :shock: more shiny things :champ:

Problems with gravity readings at different temperatures.

First post by iijakii, 14 years ago

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I've been using my hydrometer with use of a temperature adjust chart, but I guess that's still wildly inaccurate. Pre-boil gravity: Right on the mark. Post-boil gravity: Boom, good. Then I put it in my nochill cubes and the next day what do I notice? Massively far off from the gravity. Yay, I just made 9 gallons of water-beer.

So, got a refractometer with auto-temp correction. Hope this helps my recent bad streak, depressing.

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:argh: I just had a quick scroll through my last post here and nearly broke my mouse wheel :lol:. It's not hard to tell when I have had a hard, long day at work - just look for posts like that :P.

I'm too scared to read or edit what I wrote but hopefully some of it made some sense jak.

Regarding your thermometer problem, make sure you have one of the ones pictured in this post. These are cheap and their accuracy at all temperatures including mash temperatures has always been within one...

Is this Gas burner up to it?

First post by Yeasty, 14 years ago

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Hi Guys

Having done 2 brews on my electric hob (45cm pot, full volume 5gal batchs) and now having to stick the wall paper back with drawing pins :idiot: I'm looking for a gas burner so I can relocate to the garden.
I've found this one on the Tinternet, it looks like the Italian spiral I've seen mentioned in other threads/forums. Do you think it will do the job?

Quoted Output:18186Btu 5.33 kilowatts

Cheers
Y

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its still cheaper then the one i saw... £90!!! (without the other stuff needed!)

Makeshift lid?

First post by tjthebest, 14 years ago

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I got a 20 gal brewpot for christmas but it didnt come with a lid :scratch: . This seems like it might be a big deal during the mass concerning temp loss. Has anyone made any makeshift lids that work good to maintain the mash temp. I was thinking alluminum foil but im not sure how temp resistant that will be.

Thanks

TJ

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A pizza serving platter might fit. You could ask your local place, they cost very little new. I'd stick with foodsafe items unless I knew what the garbage lid was made of and that it wouldn't leach anything at mash temperatures.

Bag request

First post by iijakii, 14 years ago

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So my cheap nylon bag started ripping last brew, I'm ready for a quality voile bag. Does anyone here know their way around a sewing machine? I've exhausted all of my resources -- no one knows how to sew! If so, let me know how much it'd run me.

/desperation.

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That looks quality.

I do not have an electric setup (unfortunately) so it won't have any special stuff like that. I just need a big bag that can take the weight required for an 8 gallon batch! I'll try to get the pot dimensions to you later tonight -- it's a fairly large 62 quart kettle.

My own kettle is 75l and I've done numerous batches with 11-12kg dry grain bills, about US 15 gallon batches, so no issue on the strength at all.

SS mesh bag

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First post by matr, 15 years ago

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Hi guys, What I'm thinking of is using a SS mesh to make a bag. Does anyone know the aperture micron of voile so I can match it with the stainless?

I was thinking of going with 415 micron but I can get smaller if needed.

Cheers,

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Efficiency into boiler: 80%
Brewhouse efficiency: 75%
Efficiency into fermenter: 70%

So pretty good I thought?? By the way, what is the efficiency most people quote when they talk efficiency?

That's great Mat and thanks for the update.

When you ask what figure most brewers refer to, there is way too much ambiguity in this area. For example, I can see by the way you have posted, that by Brewhouse Efficiency, you mean, Post-boil efficiency. But, many other brewers will use the same term to...

Mesh Basket versus Bag

First post by nik, 14 years ago

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Mates...
These days I work with a friend of mine my BIAB vessel (more info when it will finish) and his also.
He is engineer so he has tools and materials handy and he is considering not to use the grain bag instead he is willing to manufacture a perforated grain bucket with perforated stainless sheet consisting a zillion holes of 0.5mm diameter .
We discussed a lot his thoughts and I believe he will get more cloudy wort than I have with the usual Biab bag .
What are your thoughts on that?
Also...

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You are the man Nick :thumbs:

If your friend goes ahead with his perforated basket please let us know how the brews go.

We'll look forward to the pics of your full BIAB vessell :peace:

I think I managed to convince him .I asked allready my wife's mother to make us two bags .
My vessel is'n something special except shinny the only advantage is the built in thermal insulation .I believe Santa will bring me some parts in time to finish it and make my first 20 liter brew this period of time....

BIAB bag material source

First post by nik, 14 years ago

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I have found , I believe appropriate material at IKEA stores (I believe they cary all their products worldwide so the description might be the same).
The material called SARITA in the curtains / material department and comes in two forms as already sawn curtain (2 pieces 9 euros) but only two colours and as plain material with more colour options including white for 4 euros per meter (the other side is 3 meters so I believe 1 meter is enough).Is is made from 100% polyester.

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I have bought mine material some time ago from a flea market and fellow brewers here wanted the same material as mine but it was difficult for them to find it in reasonable prices in curtain shops .I 've visited IKEA with my wife two days ago and bumped on to this material if somebody as PP suggested can verify the material it would be very nice source and cheap I believe .

Marking Kettle

First post by iijakii, 15 years ago

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Curious if anyone has marked some volume lines on their kettle and how they went about it.

Think an industrial sharpie would do the trick? Resistant up to 500C it says.

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Yeah I realize that marking a dipstick or mash paddle would be easier, but I'd really prefer marking the outside of my kettle. Thinking about buying one of those industrial sharpies and testing it out.

Kettle costs?

First post by Ralph, 15 years ago

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Folks,
I'm wondering how much you've paid for your kettle? In the FAQ , there's Small (30 L ), Medium (50 L) and Large (80 L ), but I actually use a 19 L pot from big double ewe (for all you foreigners, that's a large chain store!) which cost me just AU$20, but it is great for MiniBIAB (/shameless plug! ;) ).

So here's a start:
Size Volume Cost
Mini 19 L AU$20 (Ralph)
Small 30 L
Medium 50 L
Large 80 L

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50 lt keg about 60 euros in Greek market.

Is nylon okay to use for a bag?

First post by jrodie, 15 years ago

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Is there any problem with the bag being made of nylon?

Thanks

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thanks for the info

Beer Keg - How easy is it to measure volumes?

First post by nik, 15 years ago

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Dear Friends

So far I use a 30lt enamel pot straight sided I have buy also a stainles steel ruler so with the use of calculator and the ruler I can determine easily my volumes at a brewday .
I usually brew 10lt batches but sometimes I think maybe there is a need for a bit more beer .
There is a possibility to get for little money compared the money needed for a 50lt stainless steel kettle a 50 lt beer keg .Is it possible to get accurate measurements regarding volume because of its odd inner...

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in order to make sure you have an accurate measure you must weigh it. 1 liter=1000 grams.

Advantage of doing this it this way is that the water volume/mass will be in proportion to the mass of malt and hops you will preumably be weighing with the same scales :cool: Don't think we are that exact in homebrew though ;)

What Burner?

First post by wizard78, 15 years ago

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G'day guys,
I managed to get my hands on a keggle recently and was able to borrow a 4 ring burner from work. so today I gave it a test run and put 35 liters of water at 20 degC it took 40 mins to get to 68 degC and a further hourto get to the boil. Ambient temp outside was 10 degC.
I wasn't all that impressed with the times and not to mention the boil was barely a boil.
So I thought I'd put it out ther and ask the question, What is the best burner, price and power?
I have priced a mongolian 23...

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I've seen the NASA (turkey) burners just by themselves from the US for pretty low prices shipping is $42 USD which is a bit steep but the ebay seller aparently can ship 4 at the same price. So $120USD for 4x NASA burners seems alright.

Only problem is building a stand :(

BIAB Brew Rig

First post by Timos, 15 years ago

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Hey everyone, how are you these days?

As I mentioned on my last post (the 'how to...' one.. yeah, the one which PP got depressed ;) ) I'm planning a brew-rig for BIAB.

So here's the details:

The brew rig is planned to be as simple as possible, just like BIAB, a pot, a bag and a burner (and a brew-rig at some point :roll: ).

I'm not getting into details regarding the burner and other stuff, as I want to complete the foundation first 100%.

I'll glad to hear any opinions and ideas.

These are...

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hashie - Yep, you are right :). I never thought of it before but as I am in a ground floor apartment maybe I can start digging for more room? If I turn the music up full blast maybe no one will hear the jack-hammer? I'll have to give this some thought. Mmmmm.

Timos - Will look forward to seeing your new plans. I was also really pleased to hear you have a girlfriend. If finances ever become tight and you have to choose between brewing and your girlfriend, it is far easier to get rid of a...

How to: Install a valve/thermometer?

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First post by Timos, 15 years ago

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Good afternoon.
Been looking for quite some time after a detaild guide or anything like it, regarding to 'how to install a vavle/thermometer on a vessel', without any success.

Can anyone please help? Guides, links, pictures, anything.
I plan to install a vavle and a thermometer on a non-steel 50L pot, and would like to do it well (:

Thanks for the responds.

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I also like the sound of SS's method. It would be well worth doing this after you have finished your brew and cleaned your kettle as well. In other words put some water in it, bring it to the boil and run it through opening and closing the tap a lot.

One thing I never realised with ball-valves until a mate (Doogiechap) pointed it out to me, is that ball-valves actually retain a lot of liquid. The ball is surrounded by some square bits that retain a lot of liquid that is very hard to move and...

Can hemp be used for a BIAB bag?

First post by themiller, 15 years ago

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Has anyone used/considered using hemp for BIAB? I was at a friends place on the weekend and they used a coffee filter made out of hemp, so it got me thinking....

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Hi there TM,

I'd be a bit worried about using hemp only because I have seen several guys try natural fibres (cotton, calico) and had some disappointing results with flavour. I like natural products but I think with a BIAB bag, synthetic is the way to go.

Polyester is inert to very high temperatures whereas with natural fibres, you will probably find things leaching from them at far lower temps. This is probably the cause of the funny flavours that one or two brewers found.

The other thing is...

How do you cleaning and maintain your BIAB bag?

First post by iijakii, 15 years ago

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How do you guys care for your bags? I sprayed it out real good, now wondering if I should just boil it a little or use a mild soap and let it soak.

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I give it a good spray with the garden hose while it's still hot and wet from the brew. The grain comes off easiest this way. I hang it up to dry, and usually by the end of the brew its dry enough to put away. I don't have a proper bag but rather 2 meters of voille. I just drop it in the kettle.