BIAB AG using the equipment I currently have

[Llamaman]

I'd like to have a go at BIAB AG using the equipment I currently have to see if this eliminates the 'homebrew tang' I seem to get with kits/extract brews. If it does, I'll invest in more kit (basically a bigger stockpot).

My biggest pot at the moment is a mere 8L. What's the maximum amount of grist I could handle in a pot this size whilst keeping the mash consistency correct. I've read 3L per kg - is that still considered right?
I could probably use another c. 5L pot and put both in the oven on a low temp (I'm aware small volume mashes will lose temperature quicker). I'd like to try and use about 3.5-4kg grain for a 12L brew length (Brulosphy's 'short and shoddy' oatmeal porter if anyone is interested).

 

[MyQul]

I'd like to have a go at BIAB AG using the equipment I currently have to see if this eliminates the 'homebrew tang' I seem to get with kits/extract brews. If it does, I'll invest in more kit (basically a bigger stockpot).

My biggest pot at the moment is a mere 8L. What's the maximum amount of grist I could handle in a pot this size whilst keeping the mash consistency correct. I've read 3L per kg - is that still considered right?
I could probably use another c. 5L pot and put both in the oven on a low temp (I'm aware small volume mashes will lose temperature quicker). I'd like to try and use about 3.5-4kg grain for a 12L brew length (Brulosphy's 'short and shoddy' oatmeal porter if anyone is interested).

There are calculators for this kind of thing

https://haandbryg.dk/mashcalc.html

So the most you can mash in an 8L pot @ 3L/kg is 2kg. You could mash a bit thicker (but probably not enough to get you to 4kg as the mash would be too thick). You could also mash in something else which is bigger (such as one of those plastic storage boxes you get from places like Wilko), then seperate the grain from the wort and boil in you pot.

 

[Llamaman]

You could also mash in something else which is bigger (such as one of those plastic storage boxes you get from places like Wilko), then seperate the grain from the wort and boil in you pot.

Great idea. I've got a few of those Really Useful Boxes (other storage box brands are available...) in various sizes. They're Polypropylene so should be food safe. I'm going for a quick mash so hopefully it would keep warm enough. I guess I could wrap it in a sleeping bag, or see if one of the smaller ones (19L I think) would fit in the oven.

I think my issue will be boil volume, as I'll be generating more than 8L of sweet wort, so will need to do two boils in seperate pans. Bit of a faff but as this is a trial run I'll live with it.
Or I could just go for a lower volume brew I suppose. 2kg of grist would (keeping the recipe the same) give me FV volume 6.5L which I could then do as a full-length boil (I have some antifoam from my extract exploits).

If I like the results I'll buy a cheapo 15L-20L stockpot.

 

[MyQul]

Great idea. I've got a few of those Really Useful Boxes (other storage box brands are available...) in various sizes. They're Polypropylene so should be food safe. I'm going for a quick mash so hopefully it would keep warm enough. I guess I could wrap it in a sleeping bag, or see if one of the smaller ones (19L I think) would fit in the oven.

I think my issue will be boil volume, as I'll be generating more than 8L of sweet wort, so will need to do two boils in seperate pans. Bit of a faff but as this is a trial run I'll live with it.
Or I could just go for a lower volume brew I suppose. 2kg of grist would (keeping the recipe the same) give me FV volume 6.5L which I could then do as a full-length boil (I have some antifoam from my extract exploits).

If I like the results I'll buy a cheapo 15L-20L stockpot.

I wrap my pot in towels. I find folding a hand towel and putting it in the top particularly important in keeping the heat in.

I have a wilko 12L pot. It's actually 15L to the brim

 

[Sandimas]

You could also do what I do - supplement your AG brew with a kg of DME to make up the ABV, thereby you can do a smaller mash. I keep an eye out for sales and buy a joblot of DME, last time I got it for £4.60 per kg bag. I get great results with this method, just put your recipe into some brewing software, add in 1kg DME then reduce the amount of base malt until you get back to the original recipe OG.

You could also just buy a larger stock pot, the 15L catering ones on eBay are fine and have done me good for 150+ brews.

 

[MyQul]

You could also do what I do - supplement your AG brew with a kg of DME to make up the ABV, thereby you can do a smaller mash. I keep an eye out for sales and buy a joblot of DME, last time I got it for £4.60 per kg bag. I get great results with this method, just put your recipe into some brewing software, add in 1kg DME then reduce the amount of base malt until you get back to the original recipe OG.

You could also just buy a larger stock pot, the 15L catering ones on eBay are fine and have done me good for 150+ brews.

I did my first ever mini mash with a (wherry) kit last month. I tried a bottle last night and was very impressed (definately needs more conditioning than two weeks though)

 

[Drunkula]

I did a full mash in a plastic fermenter a few brews ago. I wrapped it in some stuff with a bungee to insulate it and then put the fermenter on top of a big pan of heated water to help with the heat losses. It worked a treat. I do mashes in a pot in the oven, too. I've got to turn it down as far as it'll go before the flame starts spluttering.

 

[Llamaman]

You could also do what I do - supplement your AG brew with a kg of DME to make up the ABV, thereby you can do a smaller mash.

For my first effort I want to use only grain in order to determine if the persistent off flavours I’m getting are a result of using extract or something else I’m getting wrong.

 

[MyQul]

I did a full mash in a plastic fermenter a few brews ago. I wrapped it in some stuff with a bungee to insulate it and then put the fermenter on top of a big pan of heated water to help with the heat losses. It worked a treat. I do mashes in a pot in the oven, too. I've got to turn it down as far as it'll go before the flame starts spluttering.

I've done that before. I just wrapped the FV in towels like I do my pot and put it on a wooden chopping board to stop the kitchen floor acting as a heat sink

 

[terrym]

You could also do what I do - supplement your AG brew with a kg of DME to make up the ABV, thereby you can do a smaller mash. I keep an eye out for sales and buy a joblot of DME, last time I got it for £4.60 per kg bag. I get great results with this method, just put your recipe into some brewing software, add in 1kg DME then reduce the amount of base malt until you get back to the original recipe OG.

You could also just buy a larger stock pot, the 15L catering ones on eBay are fine and have done me good for 150+ brews.

I second all of that. No home brew twang this way if you use DME not LME.
I base my brews on 1 kg pale malt plus up to about 300g grain extras and 1.5kg light DME, and then adjust the volume to give me the OG I want. I don't use LME any more and I use light DME because the darker DMEs have their own flavour.
I use an 11 litre stock pot off ebay
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gastro-L...el-Stock-Pot-Casserole-Stockpot-/332569272148
That way I can mash in that pot using the oven, there is enough space to accommodate the sparge liquor, and enough headroom for the boil. Why 11litres ?Because its the biggest pot that will properly fit on the biggest of my electric hob rings.

 

[Llamaman]

Interesting that you favour DME over LME. I'll have to check my notes and see if the beers that had less LME in were better.
I think I've only done one DME-only beer, which was a saison... and come to think of it, I don't recall any twang in that one.
* slow realisation dawns *

If this is true, I imagine it 's because DME degrades more slowly due to the lack of moisture.

 

[terrym]

Interesting that you favour DME over LME. I'll have to check my notes and see if the beers that had less LME in were better.

Without wanting to re-open the whole homebrew twang discussion again, it is my contention based on experience, that twang comes from some LME, especially cheap or old LME, and the darker it is the more likely it is to occur. And although others have disagreed I find Muntons kits to be bad for it, whereas Coopers kits aren't.

 

[Llamaman]

Without wanting to re-open the whole homebrew twang discussion again, it is my contention based on experience, that twang comes from some LME, especially cheap or old LME, and the darker it is the more likely it is to occur. And although others have disagreed I find Muntons kits to be bad for it, whereas Coopers kits aren't.

Thanks - I've just done a bit of further reading on various forums, and this does appear to be a contentious topic.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

You could do what I did. And make your own brewimgmachine. I used 2 heat elements from eBay, 1500w each. Used to Fv buckets and made a metal stand for the BIAB bag so it doesn't sit on the elements. And a place to put it when mash is over. I've recently installed a small pump, a ballvalve and a bazookafilter. Efficiency is around 74%. I make it all nice and coozy with a sleeping bag while mashing. Only loose around 1/2 celsius in an hour. Heats up 30 liters of water in 30-40min to a full boil. Makes wonderful beer.
Cost? The buckets I already had so it was maybe 50-60pounds with the pump and everything.

Ive shortened the hose a little since this picture.

 

[MyQul]

You could do what I did. And make your own brewimgmachine. I used 2 heat elements from eBay, 1500w each. Used to Fv buckets and made a metal stand for the BIAB bag so it doesn't sit on the elements. And a place to put it when mash is over. I've recently installed a small pump, a ballvalve and a bazookafilter. Efficiency is around 74%. I make it all nice and coozy with a sleeping bag while mashing. Only loose around 1/2 celsius in an hour. Heats up 30 liters of water in 30-40min to a full boil. Makes wonderful beer.
Cost? The buckets I already had so it was maybe 50-60pounds with the pump and everything. View attachment 19284 View attachment 19285 View attachment 19285 View attachment 19286 View attachment 19287View attachment 19288 View attachment 19289
Ive shortened the hose a little since this picture.

Excellent. I really like that

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Excellent. I really like that

I do to! I plan to use an incbird 308 to maintain the heat next time I get to brewing. But if it's necessary I don't know. Beer has turned out great so far.

 

[RichK]

I started with a Wilko "12L" pot that I picked up for £12 (they're usually £20) which was used for a couple of partial extracts & one (smaller) all grain (which was a total failure). I felt it was an inexpensive experiment & a good investment before spending more on fuller size equipment.