Modifying my Homebrewing Kit

Modifying my Homebrewing Kit

One of things I enjoy about homebrewing (aside from drinking the beer) is the opportunity to tinker with recipes, method and kit. When I started using the BIAB method my system was pretty basic. I had a 40lt pan and a BIAB bag, I would fill the pan with about 30lt of water, insert the bag and add around 5kg of grain to get about 22lt of beer into the fermenter. It's a simple method and it works, there's no need for a separate water heater and mash tun, and there's no sparging involved either. However, there are drawbacks. Firstly my efficiencies were not great, usually below 70%, which means I was not utilising the fermentable potential of the grain. A more efficient system would get the same results from a smaller grain bill. The second problem is dealing with the grain bag at the end of the mash. A mesh bag containing 5kg of malt soaked in hot water is not the easiest thing to lift out of the pan. The bag is heavy, the wort is hot and sticky and tends to drip everywhere, and in my case I haven't got much space between the hob and the cooker hood. I know other homebrewers using BIAB have a pulley system enabling them to winch up the grain bag and suspend it above the pan allowing the wort to drain out. Unfortunately I haven't got the space or permission to do this so I had to think of something else. 

After a bit of googling I realised the best option for me would be to use a bucket with holes drilled in the base which could be lifted out and stood on an oven rack above the pan so the wort could drain out while the pan was heating up for the boil. I had a 15lt fermenting bucket which fits nicely inside my pan, so I just needed to drill holes in the base and I could then use my grain bag to line it. 

My original grain bag was really too big for this so I replaced it with a Youngs fine large nylon straining bag which has a cylindrical shape and fits neatly into the plastic bucket. This new setup has worked well so far. I've done two brews, achieving 73% and 76% efficiency scores and I've found it far easier and cleaner to handle the grain bag after mashing. The first beer I brewed in this way was this best bitter which tastes great and I've just brewed an American Amber Ale which I hope will turn out just as well.

This system also lets me sparge the grain bed so I've got greater control over the finished beer, I can work to a specific pre-boil gravity if necessary.

Other modifications I've made include adding a false bottom to the pan made from an old BBQ grill with 50mm steel bolts as legs. I've also made an insulated jacket from foil bubble wrap and a load of gaffer tape which the pan can sit in during the mash. 

As I still use the hob to heat the pan I have to be able to remove the pan from the insulating jacket. This is not a tight fit, the pot just slides in and out but since I've started mashing for over four hours this has enabled me to restrict the heat loss to 1-2°C.