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Bag is slow to drain - how come?

Post #1 made 15 years ago
by big dave
Howdy crew

Today I put down my second BIAB, an APA, which went pretty well. The only real issue was the slowness of my bag to drain, even with squeezing. And a bit messy.... :blush: I can think of two possible reasons.

1. Voile is a fine weave, restricting flow.
2. Grist was crushed very fine. The chap I ordered the grain-bill from said that it should be put through the crusher twice for BIAB. This was also the case for BIAB #1, which was slow to drain also. I did also have a few small dough balls to break up today.

Any ideas? I am a proper newbie at this, so I would love some input. :think: :? :dunno:

Cheers

BD
Drinking: last K&B & extract brews, BIAB #1- Golden Ale, #2- Pale Ale, #3- Galaxy Single-hop Ale
In the Pipeline: ESB, Landlord

Post #2 made 15 years ago
by Yeasty
Hi Dave

I think you've answered your own question with the 2 reasons you've given.

You could try a "mashout" which is what I've been doing on my last couple of brews.

Raise your bag off the bottom of your vessel, turn on heat and bring wort to 78c. Lower bag and stir grain and leave for 10 minutes. Then proceed as normal. The idea behind this is that the higher temps will stop the enzymes and thins out the sugars making the wort less viscous which in turn will allow it to flow with ease :shoot:

Only thing is that you need some way os suspending your bag whilst heating the wort.

Hope this helps :luck:

Yeasty
Why is everyone talking about "Cheese"
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Post #3 made 15 years ago
by PistolPatch
It's funny how these rumours get around :roll:.

A normal crush is the best place to start. Too fine coupled with too fine a bag can lead to all sorts of problems. Too fine and a more open weave bag is going to give you a nice lot of trub!

No one knows what the perfect combination of bag weave and crush is because no one has brewed enough brews of different combinations*. I have had two bags of slightly differnet porosities and a normal good crush works well without problems.

As Yeasty said, a mashout should also help things a little. Good luck on the next brew Dave.

:peace:
PP

* Have a read of this article and remember it when people try a different process on one brew and then say, "This works for me." :)
Last edited by PistolPatch on 15 Mar 2011, 21:50, edited 5 times in total.
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Post #4 made 15 years ago
by BobtheBrewer
I have found that the best way to squeeze your bag is to pretend that you are milking a cow. For the non rural members, grab the bag as close to the top of the grain as you can and squeeze, and work down from there. Seems to me that most of the liquid is in the top of the bag waiting to drain down, so if you start at the top and work down, then attack the sides, you will get most of it out. Make sure that you are wearing rubber gloves because after a mashout that grain is #%%%#@ hot.
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