I have just made my brew day a lot easier so I'm sharing this with you.
The last 6 months I've been messing around manhandling the bag, creating ungainly frameworks for hanging a pulley, etc. I had also read (on the US site hbt) that some people were putting BBQ grill surfaces over their electric urns for BIAB draining. This sounds good, but I. Didn't want another bit of kit knocking around, not to mention burnt steak in my mash!
So I drilled a couple of holes in the lid of my kettle, and when mash out is done I pull the bag, put the lid on the kettle UPSIDE DOWN, and hey presto it catches all the drippings and drops them in the kettle very neatly. I can press down on the bag as it sits in the lid quite effectively and its a great improvement on squeezing.
I'm not worried about hot side aeration, but if I were I'd drop a string through the hole to channel the wort.
I use a buffalo 40 litter electric urn, but I suspect this will work with other urns, just flip your lid (!) to check.
BIAB rocks!
Post #2 made 13 years ago
Holy crap rens that sounds like a great idea! You are the king of KISS.
AWOL
Post #3 made 13 years ago
Pics please rens 
.
This also comes down to the thread count (porosity) of the bag and the crush. Draining the bag should not be a big deal but it seems to be for many brewers - including me now (a tiny bit anyway).
My current bags (I have 2) are 40 threads/cm but I think this is probably too fine. My old bag, which I gave away drained much faster. It's not a big deal for me but I think I prefer my old bag.
A fine, floury crush, often encouraged on other forums when talking BIAB, is also a major error. Non-floury matter (partly broken husks etc) act as an important pre-filter in the lauter process. A floury crush means you are limited to one very fine filter which will take ages to drain or can well become completely clogged.
Flour is for bread not beer!
Please post the pics of the drain (lauter) in action if you can rens as I can't picture it fully in my head. (I'm thinking the bag full of grain would fall down over the sides of the kettle
).
PP
.This also comes down to the thread count (porosity) of the bag and the crush. Draining the bag should not be a big deal but it seems to be for many brewers - including me now (a tiny bit anyway
).My current bags (I have 2) are 40 threads/cm but I think this is probably too fine. My old bag, which I gave away drained much faster. It's not a big deal for me but I think I prefer my old bag.
A fine, floury crush, often encouraged on other forums when talking BIAB, is also a major error. Non-floury matter (partly broken husks etc) act as an important pre-filter in the lauter process. A floury crush means you are limited to one very fine filter which will take ages to drain or can well become completely clogged.
Flour is for bread not beer!
Please post the pics of the drain (lauter) in action if you can rens as I can't picture it fully in my head. (I'm thinking the bag full of grain would fall down over the sides of the kettle
). PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 25 Jun 2012, 21:10, edited 4 times in total.
If you have found the above or anything else of value on BIABrewer.info, consider supporting us by getting some BIPs!
-
- SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From Australia
-
Post #4 made 13 years ago
Will do when I get home; I'm afraid it will be a simulated photo (will stuff some fabric in the bag),
as I have got all my cornies full for the summer already!
On the draining topic.....I dont know my thread count but I think it is very high; its a synthetic voile curtain that I sewed up on SWMBO's machine. I recently did a very wheat-intensive witbier (which came out amazingly well!!!! the recipe is in the conversion thread) and although I was prepared for pain and suffering, it drained just fine. I dont ask for any special kind of crush from my supplier (rob a the malt miller usually) but id be worried that if it were more coarse, I'd get husks into the boil. I guess thats the balance with BIAB versus a grain bed....the bag is the bed!
as I have got all my cornies full for the summer already!
On the draining topic.....I dont know my thread count but I think it is very high; its a synthetic voile curtain that I sewed up on SWMBO's machine. I recently did a very wheat-intensive witbier (which came out amazingly well!!!! the recipe is in the conversion thread) and although I was prepared for pain and suffering, it drained just fine. I dont ask for any special kind of crush from my supplier (rob a the malt miller usually) but id be worried that if it were more coarse, I'd get husks into the boil. I guess thats the balance with BIAB versus a grain bed....the bag is the bed!
