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My BIAB setup

Post #1 made 15 years ago
by EoinMag
I have done a few brews now that were partial mashes, using the BIAB technique and topped up with Muntons DME to make my OG.
I was using a muslin bag until I found this website and recently had the wife knock up a voile bag with a drawstring and that will shortly be used for my first complete all grain brew.

I have a 75l Brupaks boiler with 6KW of power comprising of 2 3KW elements which I lagged myself with radiator lagging bubblewrap. I find that when wrapped in a sleeping bag on top of this lot that it loses about 2c over an hour of a mash.
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The one issue I've had so far is hand pulling the bag, in my present house I can't set up a rope to pull it, but I'm moving soon and would intend to set it up in the new place.
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Here it is with the original bag in, I hope this voile is better than the muslin bag as I found that when hand pulling it, it was taking far too long to drain and it was high and heavy with me standing on the kitchen table pulling this thing, so not the safest, I expect the voile to drain considerably faster.
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Last edited by EoinMag on 08 Jul 2010, 18:52, edited 7 times in total.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.

Post #2 made 15 years ago
by Ralph
Tidy work! :cool:

I realise you're not in Aus, but I'd just be careful using two elements off one 10A household circuit, chances are you might blow a fuse? Or worse? :o

At your new pad, test it with plain water before brewday to be sure. Separate circuits would be fine though.
[center]Give me a beer and I will move the world. Archimedes[/center]

Post #3 made 15 years ago
by EoinMag
Ralph wrote:Tidy work! :cool:

I realise you're not in Aus, but I'd just be careful using two elements off one 10A household circuit, chances are you might blow a fuse? Or worse? :o

At your new pad, test it with plain water before brewday to be sure. Separate circuits would be fine though.

I run it off of two circuits already, I checked the breaker board, I run one from the kitchen where I brew and one from the front of the house per extension cord.
I had a discussion with an electrical engineer here at work before I wired it to ensure I would not blow anything up and that was his first recommendation, but thanks for the heads up.
Last edited by EoinMag on 08 Jul 2010, 19:19, edited 6 times in total.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.

Post #4 made 15 years ago
by Ralph
Excellent, full steam ahead then! :D

BTW, I just took delivery of a 20L urn so I'm rather envious right about now... :P

With the bigger set up a pulley or even a strategically- mounted eye and a cleat might sort those bag lifting worries?
Last edited by Ralph on 08 Jul 2010, 19:47, edited 6 times in total.
[center]Give me a beer and I will move the world. Archimedes[/center]

Post #5 made 15 years ago
by EoinMag
Ralph wrote:Excellent, full steam ahead then! :D

BTW, I just took delivery of a 20L urn so I'm rather envious right about now... :P

With the bigger set up a pulley or even a strategically- mounted eye and a cleat might sort those bag lifting worries?

Well it wasn't cheap, set me back just under 600 dollars with delivery and then lagging, but worth it, cos now I brew and fill 60l fermenters and brew a lot less.
Last edited by EoinMag on 08 Jul 2010, 19:49, edited 6 times in total.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.

Post #6 made 15 years ago
by Ralph
Ahh, there's the difference- I paid nothing but may only scrape 25L out of it at a time, and even that's likely to only be possible after a bit of fartin' about...
Can't complain, mind... :)

Hope yours goes well, keep us posted, eh?!
[center]Give me a beer and I will move the world. Archimedes[/center]

Post #7 made 15 years ago
by hashie
Well done EoinMag, I like the idea of lagging. If I could find something appropriate I would be lagging my keggle.
I have aluminium tape just need some foil backed batts or similar to lag with.

Does the bubble wrap not melt? I would never have considered using it.

Cheers
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #8 made 15 years ago
by EoinMag
hashie wrote:Well done EoinMag, I like the idea of lagging. If I could find something appropriate I would be lagging my keggle.
I have aluminium tape just need some foil backed batts or similar to lag with.

Does the bubble wrap not melt? I would never have considered using it.

Cheers

Hey Hashie,

It's a special bubble wrap that's made for backing walls behind radiator heaters for economy reasons.

http://www.buy4now.ie/woodiesdiy/produc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... atid=103.3

It's got foil on the side that's turned to the tank and I've also put two layers of it on there. I think it's possibly popped a few bubbles here and there already, but generally it appears to be doing a good job, it reduced my getting to boil time from an 1 hour 35, down to about an hour, over 75l with 6Kw, that's going to be significant power savings, not even mentioning the extra effect of using it as a mashtun.
The stuff is not that expensive anyway, so if it gets too bad and stops being effective then I'll either just throw some more layers on, or strip those ones off and put new ones on, it's only taped on at the end of the day, so no biggie.
Last edited by EoinMag on 09 Jul 2010, 17:45, edited 6 times in total.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.

Post #9 made 15 years ago
by wizard78
That's a nice bit of gear you have there EoinMag, looks like you'll be getting quite a bit of yummy all grain beer out of that urn. Do you bottle or keg? I don't know if I would have the patience to bottle that much beer :D , far to much cleaning and sanitizing for mine.
Hope to hear more about you brewing adventures.
Cheers Wiz ;)
[center]"All right, brain. You don't like me and I don't like you, but let's just do this and I can get back to killing you with beer."
[/center]
[center]Homer Simpson[/center]
[center]K.I.S.S., B.I.A.B.[/center]

Post #10 made 15 years ago
by EoinMag
wizard78 wrote:That's a nice bit of gear you have there EoinMag, looks like you'll be getting quite a bit of yummy all grain beer out of that urn. Do you bottle or keg? I don't know if I would have the patience to bottle that much beer :D , far to much cleaning and sanitizing for mine.
Hope to hear more about you brewing adventures.
Cheers Wiz ;)

I bottle and keg, I have a good 60 1/2 litre swingtops and hundreds of weizen bottles all in original case directly from Germany and I have three pressure kegs.
Bottling is a pain, but the best thing I did there was to start buying star san and that's helped speed things up an awful lot, but it is still a pain.
Generally I try to have as many swingtops as possible ready, but normally I don't have them all empty at the same time, so I end up using swingtops, crown caps and one keg.
My last batch got me about 56 litres in the bottles and kegs, so I don't brew too often. In fact I have enough laid down at the moment, but will be brewing this weekend if my starter is ready by Sunday, it was showing some activity this morning. I like matured beer moreso than green stuff and have started to drink a lot less recently and find it's easy to let it mature when I don't drink much, funny that ;)
Last edited by EoinMag on 09 Jul 2010, 20:32, edited 6 times in total.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.

Post #12 made 15 years ago
by EoinMag
jmbingham wrote:nice setup Eoinmag but, on to better things your wife lets you stand on the kitchen table :shock: boy she's a keeper :D

Yeah I don't buy into this whole SWMBO stuff, it's a partnership, but I'm the boss ;)
Last edited by EoinMag on 09 Jul 2010, 23:45, edited 6 times in total.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.

Post #13 made 15 years ago
by hashie
Thanks for the link on lagging EoinMag, I'll have to see if I can find it here in Australia.

Failing that, I'll just keep an eye out for something that will work.

One of my considerations is that I'm using a 50 litre keggle over a 4 ring burner. When the burner is going I have flames coming 200mm up the outside of the keggle, so any lagging will have to be flame proof.

Cheers
Gavin
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #14 made 15 years ago
by EoinMag
hashie wrote:Thanks for the link on lagging EoinMag, I'll have to see if I can find it here in Australia.

Failing that, I'll just keep an eye out for something that will work.

One of my considerations is that I'm using a 50 litre keggle over a 4 ring burner. When the burner is going I have flames coming 200mm up the outside of the keggle, so any lagging will have to be flame proof.

Cheers
Gavin

Good point, I've seen the yanks use it, but always on three vessel RIMS and HERMS when they lag the mash tun with it. Possibly not suitable for your gas burner setup.
Last edited by EoinMag on 10 Jul 2010, 06:16, edited 6 times in total.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.

Post #15 made 15 years ago
by PistolPatch
Just scanned through the above. A very interesting read.

I thought with a new forum, I'd have time to read every thread in detail but I can't! Hope I haven't missed any other intersting stuff.

Because I'm in a warm climate, lagging is not suitable for me. I am interested though in finding out whether the "laggers" are still checking their mash temp regularly and giving it the occassional stir. If not, are there any problems?

I have always recommended regular temperature checks and stirring just to be on the safe side but I am wondering whether this is actually necessary? BIAB gets very good efficiency and I am wondering in which areas we can start being lazy before we see efficiency significantly reduced :). We'd need records of many brews before we get some real answers but maybe it is something we should explore more?

Thanks for the above posts,
PP
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Post #16 made 15 years ago
by EoinMag
PistolPatch wrote:Just scanned through the above. A very interesting read.

I thought with a new forum, I'd have time to read every thread in detail but I can't! Hope I haven't missed any other intersting stuff.

Because I'm in a warm climate, lagging is not suitable for me. I am interested though in finding out whether the "laggers" are still checking their mash temp regularly and giving it the occassional stir. If not, are there any problems?

I have always recommended regular temperature checks and stirring just to be on the safe side but I am wondering whether this is actually necessary? BIAB gets very good efficiency and I am wondering in which areas we can start being lazy before we see efficiency significantly reduced :). We'd need records of many brews before we get some real answers but maybe it is something we should explore more?

Thanks for the above posts,
PP

I don't do much checking of temperature and only stir it once or twice during the mash. I reckon that taking the lid off to check temperature is losing more energy than it's worth so try to minimise that.
I do find that I am only losing 2-3c over the hour or hour and a half so am not overly concerned about the temperature drop. I haven't been measuring my efficiencies per se, but beersmith is hitting the numbers and is dialled in at 75% so I presume it's working right. I think I am getting better efficiencies in some cases. But I have been topping up with extract as I was making the transition to all grain.
My next brew is gonna be an all grain.

I find the calculator here is waaaaay off for my evaporation loss, so I'm going to have to dial that in too. I think in Oz you guys are losing a lot more to the atmosphere than we are with our wetter climes.
It's looking like I'll easily make a 60l boil with my 75l fermenter whereas if I went by the calculator I'd need another 30l of water to account for evaporation....nowhere near my figures so far.
I'll keep that point updated as time goes on too and I KNOW where my figures lie.

Cheers, Eoin.
Last edited by EoinMag on 14 Jul 2010, 23:06, edited 6 times in total.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.

Post #17 made 15 years ago
by hashie
PistolPatch wrote:Just scanned through the above. A very interesting read.

I thought with a new forum, I'd have time to read every thread in detail but I can't! Hope I haven't missed any other intersting stuff.

Because I'm in a warm climate, lagging is not suitable for me. I am interested though in finding out whether the "laggers" are still checking their mash temp regularly and giving it the occassional stir. If not, are there any problems?

I have always recommended regular temperature checks and stirring just to be on the safe side but I am wondering whether this is actually necessary? BIAB gets very good efficiency and I am wondering in which areas we can start being lazy before we see efficiency significantly reduced :). We'd need records of many brews before we get some real answers but maybe it is something we should explore more?

Thanks for the above posts,
PP

I'm with Eoin on this. Over the last 6 months or so, I have become a lazy masher. I used to stand by the mash for the whole 90 minutes stirring religiously every 5 minutes and got consistent 75% efficiencies. Now I add the grains to the water, stir, check the temp, cover and walk away. 90 minutes later I'll stir it and raise the temp for mash out. My efficiency has gone into the mid 80's and all because I can't be arsed standing around for 90 minutes.

Gavin
Last edited by hashie on 15 Jul 2010, 06:24, edited 6 times in total.
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #18 made 15 years ago
by EoinMag
It all worked fine this weekend and I suspect my efficiency was higher than 75% as I overshot my numbers by a few points, I decided not to dilute down more as my fermenter was already full to 60l and can only fit 67l when brimful.

I stirred the mash once at the 45 minute mark and that was it.
http://beernvictuals.blogspot.com/ My blog, If you like what you read post a comment on the blog comments section thanks, BIAB post coming soon.

Post #19 made 15 years ago
by PistolPatch
Scuse my belated reply here EM and hashie. I have been working long hours lately and as I work backwards on forums earlier posts seem to come last!

I am definitely going to try, "lazy mashing," as I know hashie has been brewing for ages and knows how to brew beer. I also now know that you Eoin are primarily concerned with flavour and not figures.

I think I will keep on advising new AG brewers to regularly stir and temperature check though. I wrote a few posts tonight on why paying close attention to a brew can do no harm to the new brewer - it more quickly will give them a feel for mashing and boiling.

Eoin, average efficiency on the BIAB figures I have collected is about 80% so don't be surprised at any figures that are plus or minus 5 of this.

I can't believe you brew 60 L!

Good on you ;)
PP
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Post #20 made 15 years ago
by hashie
Just to add to the argument.

The brew I did this week, I added the base malts at 64C, stirred, insulated and left for 90 minutes. When I came back to it, I raised the temperature to 77C, added the specialty grains and let stand for 15 minutes. Boiled for 90 minutes.

I ended up with 28 litres of wort at 1046 @ 83% efficiency.

If that isn't easy, I'll go he.
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #21 made 15 years ago
by ianh
hashie wrote: When I came back to it, I raised the temperature to 77C, added the specialty grains and let stand for 15 minutes.
I am new at BIAB, but what is the advantage of raising the temperature to 77C then adding the specialty grains rather than adding them with the base grains.

cheers

Ian
Last edited by ianh on 09 Feb 2011, 13:34, edited 6 times in total.

Post #22 made 15 years ago
by wizard78
Hi Ian,
Hashie started a thread on it here
An interesting thread and idea.
Cheers
Last edited by wizard78 on 09 Feb 2011, 15:05, edited 6 times in total.
[center]"All right, brain. You don't like me and I don't like you, but let's just do this and I can get back to killing you with beer."
[/center]
[center]Homer Simpson[/center]
[center]K.I.S.S., B.I.A.B.[/center]
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