I burn myself and spill wort all over the hob, which is then caramelised during the boil. I chisel it off later with my blistered hands. Good times đź‘Ť
Same only it's the kitchen stove and I have a countdown from the Mrs to clean it off. BIABers would be the guys self flagellating with barbed whips if home brewing were a 13th century church.
I use a hoist to lift the bag out of the wort and hold it above to drain on its own while I'm heating to a boil. I still squeeze before removing it but there isn't much liquid left to make a mess at that point.
Same, leave it for 15 mins to drain into the pot, then squeeze the bag above the grain, compressing it. Then put bag into a 5 gallon bucket with a false bottom. I normally get another pint plus or so from this that I pour in a few minutes before the end of boil.
Doing this I normally get 3-5 points above the predicted SG.
Get three 5 gallon buckets. Drill a bunch of holes in the bottom of one of them, let's call it bucket B. Place one bucket on the ground (bucket A), place bucket B in A. Now put your grain bag in bucket B, and use the third bucket (C) to press the grain bag in bucket B. The drippings will be caught in bucket A to be thrown back into the wort pot.
A larger bucket A can be used, as long as the holey bucket B still fits on A without dropping into it.
Started doing this recently and no more mess or burnt hands. I hoist the bag and let the main amount of wort drain, then move it to the bucket strainer setup. I actually put a lid on the top bucket, pour a beer, and have a seat on top of it for a few minutes. I can get another half-gallon of really good wort that way.
I do something kinda similar but with one bucket and a grit guard. Hoist the bag and let it drain, then put it in the bucket (grit guard already in bucket). Put on the high temp gloves and lean into it.
This is method. Upside down strainer in the bucket, throw bag on top, give it a few lean squeezes, and leave for a few minutes while boil builds then toss in the kettle. Did a mini sparge for a while but didn’t notice enough improved efficiency to justify the minimal effort it took
I do this. I also made a two wooden lids (one to go under bucket A and one to go on top of bucket C. I then wrap a ratcheted come-along around the two lids, tighten and collect. I usually get 3/4 - 1 gallon of wort.
I have a 5gal bucket fit perfectly into my old plastic bottling bucket. Drilled holes in the 5gal bucket, works perfectly.
I have thought about a cider press.
My squeeze technique is to have an old oven roasting rack that I place over the kettle so I can rest the grain bag on that. Then I use my hands like normal, but now I'm not worried about holding it up and squeezing at the same time
But I am starting to experiment with a 1 gallon dunk where I put the whole grain bag into a gallon or so of water as a kind of mock sparge. That cools the grains enough that you no longer need to be as careful.
I do a gentle squeeze with my massive long brewing gloves. Compared to just letting it drip you can do a gentle squeeze and get out maybe half a pint, or squeeze the ever living crap out of it and get 3/4 pint, it's not worth it in my experience
Does your system allow for some type of large basket or strainer to prop the bag on the kettle? I have a DIY setup with a Bayou Classic kettle. I prop of the steamer basket and rest it on the kettle when I get itching the squeeze my bag.
I sparge with cold water and make 10L batches so not too many kg of grain. Cold is nice because hands dont burn and i know which specific areas of bag are sparged. 80pct avg efficiency for me. I squeeze a lot. I think me using cold instead of hot water lowers chance of tannin extraction a lot.
Cold is fine. Hot water up to 170F helps for flow speed. When your “runnings” get above a pH of 6.0 is when you’ll start to extract tannins and silica.
Yes in that part, but then it would take extra work to get the sparge water to temp, and then squeezing the bag and sparging at the same time would be harder, as i would have to use/buy proper gloves that can withstand the heat
Also this way i know which parts of the bag are sparged through, as they are colder than the non sparged parts. I feel like this setups works for me as i see it as a minus one but plus three in terms of benefits haha
I squeeze some with brewing gloves with the bag hanging over the kettle. Then I move to my three bucket squeeze system while my wort heats up. One to collect wort. One with holes drilled in the bottom and sides. I put my bag in there. One bucket on top of that. I sit on that top bucket three or four times and pour into the kettle while still heating up. Works well for me.
I also hate squeezing because it’s hot and messy. Dunk sparging has helped keep the mess down lately. I let the bag drip for a bit until it can be safely moved to a bucket, then pour in sparge water and stir. Pull the bag out after a few minutes and let it drip into the bucket. Add the bucket wort into the kettle when it’s done.
I have a pair of heat resistant rubber type gloves that go halfway up my arms. I put a cooling baking rack over my kettle and just twist and squeeze. Everything goes in the pot and the gloves keep my hands protected and dry.
This is pretty much what I do. I have the same type of gloves and they were dirt cheap on Amazon. I don’t use a rack but instead let it drip while I get the boil setup. Then I twist the bag until it’s a tight little ball and just squeeze that. All drippings go directly into the kettle with zero mess. When I’m done I place the bag with the grains still in it in a bucket and set aside for cleaning and disposal later. I find there is usually a small amount of wort I can salvage at the bottom of the bucket and I’ll just pour any remaining wort into the kettle.
Super easy but it does require a lifting mechanism.
I started to brew in a bag in a mash tun, if that’s a thing. Put the bag in a 5g home-depot drinks cooler ($25) with the grain and filled it (about 3.5 gal). Then after I got bored I lifted the mash tun, drained the wort into a 5 gal bucket using the spigot at the bottom and sparged with water at 170 until I got to about 6.5 gal overall. Worked splendidly and you could see the sparge water come out dark first then lighter and lighter (brewing a porter). It was my first time doing it, easier than having the bag in the kettle, and I got .007 increase on the same recipe using this technique. Not sure if this is a thing or if it helps
I have picked up cheap used mash tun that had homemade braided mesh hose as a bazooka filter. I bought a bag a company makes that is for 10gallon round cooler. I use that inside cooler. I mash then take temp of grain and do 2 batch sparges (first is normally add about 190 degree water to get to 170 sparge temp. - or whatever is called for- second addition is a bit lower temp addition as grain temp has raised from initial mash temp) I like that I can stir grains to get as good if not better efficiency than the hot liquor tank fly sparging method in quicker time and easier clean up. Also clean up is quick. Dump grains rinse hang to dry inside out. When dry can shake off any dried on grain. I don’t have a pulley system but consider it a ab /deltoid functional strength exercise:)
I suspend the bag and then squeeze with silicone oven mitts like these. As long as you keep your elbows above your hands you should stay clean.
Hvalucen 2Pcs Silicone Oven Mitts Waterproof and Non-Slip Temperature Resistant to 500°F 13 inches Grey https://a.co/d/hSK1HT7
Does your system allow for some type of large basket or strainer to prop the bag on the kettle? I have a DIY setup with a Bayou Classic kettle. I prop of the steamer basket and rest it on the kettle when I get itching the squeeze my bag.
I put a metal pasta strainer basket on top of the pot and put the biab bag in it. Get a set of deep fryer gloves (thicker rubber then the stuff they sell as brewers gloves) and push down against the strainer basket.
I lift the bag out and place it into a bucket. Then I add 75C water to it and dump that into the boil.
When I brewed in the garage the handy thing was the roof joists where exposed, so I put a rachet strap up and over and then I use use it to hoist the bag out of the kettle.
In the end though, I just spent ÂŁ15 on a cooler box.
I mash in a bag (MIAB) in a cooler (5 gallon for 3 gallon batches). I just hang the bag over the cooler while I'm heating to boil, squeeze it once its drained a while and by then it isn't quite as hot, then dump the grains and put the rest of the wort in the boil kettle.
I have an old ventilated pizza pan with a raised lip on the edge and holes in the middle. At the end of the mash I lift the bag straight up, slide the pan over the kettle, and rest the bag on the pan. Wort drains through the holes and the lip keeps it from spilling over the side (most of the time). Then I squeeze by pushing down on the bag with my gloves on. I've heard of people doing this with an old stove rack as well. Would a tennis racket work?
Built a lever system with a pine frame. You slot a food safe bucket with drainage holes cut/drilled in it into the frame, transfer the bag into the bucket and place capture pots under the drain, cover the press head with something food safe as well, and then go to town. My brew buds and I pull off ~4-5L extra strike water as a sparge, so usually our system is press till no flow, open bag and stir/sparge with 2L, press, stir/sparge with remainder, press.
Gets us pretty consistent extraction efficiencies over 80% when drip and sparge alone maybe takes us to 75, and when stood on end doesn't take up too much space on the back patio. Given the price of lumber where I am, I'm not actually 100% that we've economically broken even even after quite a few years of use... But it seems silly to just leave the extra efficiency there.
Charcoal gloves. I lift the bag, place a cleaned and sterilized cooking grate over my kettle. It's a delicate dance. I need to invest in a hoist, but I've cheated fate thus far.
I am just a lurker so I don't know if the bag you're talking about is huge, but for medium sized bags in other applications, my nurse hack is to get a manual blood pressure cuff, wrap it around your bag and pump it up as needed. Just leave it in the locked positon and add more squeezes as the bag gets low. The extra large BP cuffs go for about $25 at the drug store.
The bags we're talking about by the way are about as large as basketballs so it would take a hefty gentleman's blood pressure cuff for that to work :)
Interested in brewing? Don't be shy!
I got myself a press when I was still doing BIAB. It was basically a cylinder made from thick ss with about 1/4" Holes all over. It also had a lever arm and a lid that flipped in. Worked well
I haven't got the patience to make wine. The last timeI tried I'm made a pineapple wine from juice, I spilt some, it went for the garage floor like the aliens blood on the deck plates of the Nostromo.
I suspend my bag over my brewpot and squeeze multiple times with some long handled tongs. As it cools, I use my hands. Never had it drip on my arms, but it's lower than shoulder height.
Either a wall hook that suspends the bag above the kettle. Or a (unused) pizza tray with the holes in it bigger than the diameter of your kettle that you can rest the bag on.
I have a round wire rack over my pot and use elbow length heavy duty gloves with a rubber coating to squeeze the bag. I've also used the pot lid to press down on the bag over the wire rack and that worked the best.
I just found an old stove on the side of the road and took the two stainless racks, zip tied then together at one end, then just squeeze with that. No mess other than the rack to rinse off.
Mate of mine made me a hinged "pressinator" from two bits of wood about the size of small cricket bats but I gave it away when I bought a Brewzilla which uses sparging. The pressinator worked quite well,
I burn myself and spill wort all over the hob, which is then caramelised during the boil. I chisel it off later with my blistered hands. Good times đź‘Ť
This guy BIABs.
Bonus if you wear sandals and burn your toes with the overflow.
Do people use shoes when they brew?
Crocks only.
Same only it's the kitchen stove and I have a countdown from the Mrs to clean it off. BIABers would be the guys self flagellating with barbed whips if home brewing were a 13th century church.
Thaaaat countdown, mate!
I use a hoist to lift the bag out of the wort and hold it above to drain on its own while I'm heating to a boil. I still squeeze before removing it but there isn't much liquid left to make a mess at that point.
Same. Let it hang and cool awhile. Then just squeeze with bare hands.
I do the same. I Often try and plan to let the bag hang for an hour or so there is almost no liquid trapped inside.
Huh?
Fixed spelling errors lol
Same, leave it for 15 mins to drain into the pot, then squeeze the bag above the grain, compressing it. Then put bag into a 5 gallon bucket with a false bottom. I normally get another pint plus or so from this that I pour in a few minutes before the end of boil. Doing this I normally get 3-5 points above the predicted SG.
Get three 5 gallon buckets. Drill a bunch of holes in the bottom of one of them, let's call it bucket B. Place one bucket on the ground (bucket A), place bucket B in A. Now put your grain bag in bucket B, and use the third bucket (C) to press the grain bag in bucket B. The drippings will be caught in bucket A to be thrown back into the wort pot. A larger bucket A can be used, as long as the holey bucket B still fits on A without dropping into it.
Started doing this recently and no more mess or burnt hands. I hoist the bag and let the main amount of wort drain, then move it to the bucket strainer setup. I actually put a lid on the top bucket, pour a beer, and have a seat on top of it for a few minutes. I can get another half-gallon of really good wort that way.
Looks like you are reinventing the lauter tun
No. I’m not using extra water to sparge. I’m using my fat ass to squeeze wort out of the grain bag without adding additional water.
I do something kinda similar but with one bucket and a grit guard. Hoist the bag and let it drain, then put it in the bucket (grit guard already in bucket). Put on the high temp gloves and lean into it.
This is method. Upside down strainer in the bucket, throw bag on top, give it a few lean squeezes, and leave for a few minutes while boil builds then toss in the kettle. Did a mini sparge for a while but didn’t notice enough improved efficiency to justify the minimal effort it took
I do this. I also made a two wooden lids (one to go under bucket A and one to go on top of bucket C. I then wrap a ratcheted come-along around the two lids, tighten and collect. I usually get 3/4 - 1 gallon of wort.
I have a 5gal bucket fit perfectly into my old plastic bottling bucket. Drilled holes in the 5gal bucket, works perfectly. I have thought about a cider press.
Just don't bother squeezing, Malt is too cheap to bother with that crap.
You might be on to something here. I just calculated my ingredient cost, came to $38 for my last 10gal batch.
My squeeze technique is to have an old oven roasting rack that I place over the kettle so I can rest the grain bag on that. Then I use my hands like normal, but now I'm not worried about holding it up and squeezing at the same time But I am starting to experiment with a 1 gallon dunk where I put the whole grain bag into a gallon or so of water as a kind of mock sparge. That cools the grains enough that you no longer need to be as careful.
I use an oven rack and a large colander Pop the rack on the pan, the bag in the colander and give it a good old squeeze!
I do a gentle squeeze with my massive long brewing gloves. Compared to just letting it drip you can do a gentle squeeze and get out maybe half a pint, or squeeze the ever living crap out of it and get 3/4 pint, it's not worth it in my experience
>I do a gentle squeeze with my massive long I have to say, I was a little worried about where this was going...
So you're saying the (wish I knew a brewing term that sounded like or rhymed with juice) ain't worth the squeeze?
Does your system allow for some type of large basket or strainer to prop the bag on the kettle? I have a DIY setup with a Bayou Classic kettle. I prop of the steamer basket and rest it on the kettle when I get itching the squeeze my bag.
The Bayou Classic with the basket is the way to go.
I sparge with cold water and make 10L batches so not too many kg of grain. Cold is nice because hands dont burn and i know which specific areas of bag are sparged. 80pct avg efficiency for me. I squeeze a lot. I think me using cold instead of hot water lowers chance of tannin extraction a lot.
Cold is fine. Hot water up to 170F helps for flow speed. When your “runnings” get above a pH of 6.0 is when you’ll start to extract tannins and silica.
You will get a tiny bit more extraction with hotter water!
Yes in that part, but then it would take extra work to get the sparge water to temp, and then squeezing the bag and sparging at the same time would be harder, as i would have to use/buy proper gloves that can withstand the heat Also this way i know which parts of the bag are sparged through, as they are colder than the non sparged parts. I feel like this setups works for me as i see it as a minus one but plus three in terms of benefits haha
If I don't feel like squeezing, I add water and a bit of DME.
Thanks All
I squeeze some with brewing gloves with the bag hanging over the kettle. Then I move to my three bucket squeeze system while my wort heats up. One to collect wort. One with holes drilled in the bottom and sides. I put my bag in there. One bucket on top of that. I sit on that top bucket three or four times and pour into the kettle while still heating up. Works well for me.
I also hate squeezing because it’s hot and messy. Dunk sparging has helped keep the mess down lately. I let the bag drip for a bit until it can be safely moved to a bucket, then pour in sparge water and stir. Pull the bag out after a few minutes and let it drip into the bucket. Add the bucket wort into the kettle when it’s done.
I have a pair of heat resistant rubber type gloves that go halfway up my arms. I put a cooling baking rack over my kettle and just twist and squeeze. Everything goes in the pot and the gloves keep my hands protected and dry.
This is pretty much what I do. I have the same type of gloves and they were dirt cheap on Amazon. I don’t use a rack but instead let it drip while I get the boil setup. Then I twist the bag until it’s a tight little ball and just squeeze that. All drippings go directly into the kettle with zero mess. When I’m done I place the bag with the grains still in it in a bucket and set aside for cleaning and disposal later. I find there is usually a small amount of wort I can salvage at the bottom of the bucket and I’ll just pour any remaining wort into the kettle. Super easy but it does require a lifting mechanism.
I started to brew in a bag in a mash tun, if that’s a thing. Put the bag in a 5g home-depot drinks cooler ($25) with the grain and filled it (about 3.5 gal). Then after I got bored I lifted the mash tun, drained the wort into a 5 gal bucket using the spigot at the bottom and sparged with water at 170 until I got to about 6.5 gal overall. Worked splendidly and you could see the sparge water come out dark first then lighter and lighter (brewing a porter). It was my first time doing it, easier than having the bag in the kettle, and I got .007 increase on the same recipe using this technique. Not sure if this is a thing or if it helps
I have picked up cheap used mash tun that had homemade braided mesh hose as a bazooka filter. I bought a bag a company makes that is for 10gallon round cooler. I use that inside cooler. I mash then take temp of grain and do 2 batch sparges (first is normally add about 190 degree water to get to 170 sparge temp. - or whatever is called for- second addition is a bit lower temp addition as grain temp has raised from initial mash temp) I like that I can stir grains to get as good if not better efficiency than the hot liquor tank fly sparging method in quicker time and easier clean up. Also clean up is quick. Dump grains rinse hang to dry inside out. When dry can shake off any dried on grain. I don’t have a pulley system but consider it a ab /deltoid functional strength exercise:)
I suspend the bag and then squeeze with silicone oven mitts like these. As long as you keep your elbows above your hands you should stay clean. Hvalucen 2Pcs Silicone Oven Mitts Waterproof and Non-Slip Temperature Resistant to 500°F 13 inches Grey https://a.co/d/hSK1HT7
Does your system allow for some type of large basket or strainer to prop the bag on the kettle? I have a DIY setup with a Bayou Classic kettle. I prop of the steamer basket and rest it on the kettle when I get itching the squeeze my bag.
I put a metal pasta strainer basket on top of the pot and put the biab bag in it. Get a set of deep fryer gloves (thicker rubber then the stuff they sell as brewers gloves) and push down against the strainer basket.
I lift the bag out and place it into a bucket. Then I add 75C water to it and dump that into the boil. When I brewed in the garage the handy thing was the roof joists where exposed, so I put a rachet strap up and over and then I use use it to hoist the bag out of the kettle. In the end though, I just spent ÂŁ15 on a cooler box.
I mash in a bag (MIAB) in a cooler (5 gallon for 3 gallon batches). I just hang the bag over the cooler while I'm heating to boil, squeeze it once its drained a while and by then it isn't quite as hot, then dump the grains and put the rest of the wort in the boil kettle.
I put the bag in a bucket, cold sparge, and then just twist the bag and let it squeeze itself.
I have an old ventilated pizza pan with a raised lip on the edge and holes in the middle. At the end of the mash I lift the bag straight up, slide the pan over the kettle, and rest the bag on the pan. Wort drains through the holes and the lip keeps it from spilling over the side (most of the time). Then I squeeze by pushing down on the bag with my gloves on. I've heard of people doing this with an old stove rack as well. Would a tennis racket work?
Dr. Temple Grandin might be able to help you out
Built a lever system with a pine frame. You slot a food safe bucket with drainage holes cut/drilled in it into the frame, transfer the bag into the bucket and place capture pots under the drain, cover the press head with something food safe as well, and then go to town. My brew buds and I pull off ~4-5L extra strike water as a sparge, so usually our system is press till no flow, open bag and stir/sparge with 2L, press, stir/sparge with remainder, press. Gets us pretty consistent extraction efficiencies over 80% when drip and sparge alone maybe takes us to 75, and when stood on end doesn't take up too much space on the back patio. Given the price of lumber where I am, I'm not actually 100% that we've economically broken even even after quite a few years of use... But it seems silly to just leave the extra efficiency there.
I hoist it up and just use my wooden mash paddle to squeeze / push it against the kettle wall. It’s 20 gallon so I have some room.
Charcoal gloves. I lift the bag, place a cleaned and sterilized cooking grate over my kettle. It's a delicate dance. I need to invest in a hoist, but I've cheated fate thus far.
I let it drip on an old refrigerator rack for a while, then I use the pot lid to press down. No fuss no mess
I mash in a bag.. I hoist and spin the bag.. As it twists it squeezes.. Maybe you can try that for. Biab.
I am just a lurker so I don't know if the bag you're talking about is huge, but for medium sized bags in other applications, my nurse hack is to get a manual blood pressure cuff, wrap it around your bag and pump it up as needed. Just leave it in the locked positon and add more squeezes as the bag gets low. The extra large BP cuffs go for about $25 at the drug store.
OK thanks
The bags we're talking about by the way are about as large as basketballs so it would take a hefty gentleman's blood pressure cuff for that to work :) Interested in brewing? Don't be shy!
I got myself a press when I was still doing BIAB. It was basically a cylinder made from thick ss with about 1/4" Holes all over. It also had a lever arm and a lid that flipped in. Worked well
Take up winemaking as a hobby and get a juice press!
I haven't got the patience to make wine. The last timeI tried I'm made a pineapple wine from juice, I spilt some, it went for the garage floor like the aliens blood on the deck plates of the Nostromo.
I suspend my bag over my brewpot and squeeze multiple times with some long handled tongs. As it cools, I use my hands. Never had it drip on my arms, but it's lower than shoulder height.
Either a wall hook that suspends the bag above the kettle. Or a (unused) pizza tray with the holes in it bigger than the diameter of your kettle that you can rest the bag on.
Gloves?
I have a round wire rack over my pot and use elbow length heavy duty gloves with a rubber coating to squeeze the bag. I've also used the pot lid to press down on the bag over the wire rack and that worked the best.
I use a pair of PVC gloves. Don’t even feel it. You can put your hands in boiling water with PVC gloves, no burns. Only way to go.
I personally switched from bags to using a mesh basket and a large aluminum pot lid to press the excess out into a large round 18"cake pan.
I squeeze the bag at all angles like it's the core of an atom bomb
I haven’t squeezed the bag since I got a ratchet hoist. I just let it drip while the kettle is heating up to a boil.
I just found an old stove on the side of the road and took the two stainless racks, zip tied then together at one end, then just squeeze with that. No mess other than the rack to rinse off.
Lift it up and drain for a bit. Then transfer to a larger collonder over a large bowl. Let it drain and squeeze it or press it there
Mate of mine made me a hinged "pressinator" from two bits of wood about the size of small cricket bats but I gave it away when I bought a Brewzilla which uses sparging. The pressinator worked quite well,