Brewing bag

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Hi guys

I've had an idea that I want to try a BIAB with my Brewzilla for a change - however I'm worried that it might not recirculate fast enough and I might cream-cracker my element.

I've looked everywhere on the internet but I can't seem to find the bags I'm looking for that are big enough - the ones that have more coarse holes at the bottom only, to allow for faster draining.

Can anyone help with a supplier please?

 

[foxbat]

bj-filters on ebay are my goto supplier. Mesh bags in all sizes that are pretty much indestructible.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/bjfiltersfoodbrewingaquatic

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Thanks @foxbat

 

[stripeyjoe]

I’m thinking of getting an all-in-one system so I can get rid of my bag!

 

[Buffers brewery]

Hey @LisaMC I’d have thought you being a “lady” you would’ve got your Singer sowing machine out and converted your old net curtains to a fine brew bag!
Only kidding! But I made my own. I bought some nylon net curtain material from my local Dunelm and made a brew bag for a few quid on our sewing machine. Admittedly it was for my mash tun but it’s not that hard (if you have a sewing machine).

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Lisa what is your thinking behind it

 

[Covrich]

I’m thinking of getting an all-in-one system so I can get rid of my bag!

This is what I did, and I recirculate in the basket in the hopcat it works a treat.. I still do not sparge just full volume it.. It works really well

 

[Florin]

After 5 brews with brewzilla, with four of them with different issues and very low efficiency, i did a biab into the brewzilla. Im so damn pleased, good efficiency, less things to clean. I’m converted. I have a normal biab bag, the largest i think, no different holes etc. i even sparged into the bag :))

 

[Cheshire Cat]

If people are doing BIAB why have a brewzilla, surely a burco at a 1/3 of the price does the job. Even if you buy a grain basket at £56 and a burco then it's 1/2 the price of the brewzilla.

 

[Leon103]

If people are doing BIAB why have a brewzilla, surely a burco at a 1/3 of the price does the job. Even if you buy a grain basket at £56 and a burco then it's 1/2 the price of the brewzilla.

Exactly my thoughts. Lifting the bag and trying to suspend it for it to drain is not easy, unless you got a pulley system.

 

[Florin]

Indeed, good point. But i didnt know before buying it. I like the integrated pump and everything, but to be honest, if i were to start over, probably would choose a strong biab setup with external pump etc.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Hey @LisaMC I’d have thought you being a “lady” you would’ve got your Singer sowing machine out and converted your old net curtains to a fine brew bag!
Only kidding! But I made my own. I bought some nylon net curtain material from my local Dunelm and made a brew bag for a few quid on our sewing machine. Admittedly it was for my mash tun but it’s not that hard (if you have a sewing machine).

Unfortunately I'm not handy that way.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

If people are doing BIAB why have a brewzilla, surely a burco at a 1/3 of the price does the job. Even if you buy a grain basket at £56 and a burco then it's 1/2 the price of the brewzilla.

Just wanted to try a no-sparge brew and see what difference it made.

How do you recirculate and sparge etc in a burco? Not even sure what one is to be fair. Is it just a massive water boiler, like you get in offices to make the coffee?

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Exactly my thoughts. Lifting the bag and trying to suspend it for it to drain is not easy, unless you got a pulley system.

I intend on using the mash pipe, including the bottom, but without the stick in the middle, then I can just lift the mash pipe as normal with the bag in it to drain the wort, but not sparge. Bingo! However I'll need a well-draining bag so it can circulate properly and doesn't dry out at the bottom, which is why I was asking the original question.

I want to try a brew without the middle pipe as it's annoying as well - my thinking was if I don't use a bag then bits of grain will get down the hole where the middle stick was, if you know what I mean.

I accept I will probably have to do smaller volumes of brew if I do it this way but it's worth a try to see if it saves some time, and/or improves the efficiency. If you have the gear then why would you not try all options to see which suits you best? Experimentation is part of the fun! What I'm trying to do is get the advantages of both methods at once.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Hi Lisa what is your thinking behind it

Hopefully the above explains what the plan is Rod

 

[davidm]

I do BIAB in a grainfather, so the same principle. Just got a bag from my local homebrew store

One thing to be aware of is how quickly you run out of space in an all-in-one system eg...

5kg of grain, vol = 8l
Water at 2.7x grain weight = 13l
Dead space under the basket = 3.5l
You're looking at 24.5l in the BZ which is fair enough

Take out the bag and you'll lose roughly 1l/kg to absorption
so you'll have a pre-boil BZ volume of 11.5l

To get your post-boil volume back up to a full 23l (21l into the fermenter) you'll need to add 11.5l to your original water volume. Which takes you up to 36l in the BZ

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I do BIAB in a grainfather, so the same principle. Just got a bag from my local homebrew store

One thing to be aware of is how quickly you run out of space in an all-in-one system eg...

5kg of grain, vol = 8l
Water at 2.7x grain weight = 13l
Dead space under the basket = 3.5l
You're looking at 24.5l in the BZ which is fair enough

Take out the bag and you'll lose roughly 1l/kg to absorption
so you'll have a pre-boil BZ volume of 11.5l

To get your post-boil volume back up to a full 23l (21l into the fermenter) you'll need to add 11.5l to your original water volume. Which takes you up to 36l in the BZ

I have Brewfather so that helps with the water calculations and stuff. I was planning on doing a half size batch at first, to see actually how much space there is.

 

[davidm]

Oh and... another way is to blank of the hole in the grain pipe with SS washers, nuts and bolts.

You don't need a bag at all then

 

[davidm]

I have Brewfather so that helps with the water calculations and stuff. I was planning on doing a half size batch at first, to see actually how much space there is.

Yep it works well for smaller batches. I ended up making a spreadsheet to automate the figures

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Sounds good to me David!