My slightly unique BIAB method

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angryyoungman

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I just finished brewing up a porter for my dad for father's day. It's my second beer brew ever and I wanted to share my small batch methods because... Well I just wanted to. Since I'm relatively new and short on funds I tend to favor small batches of anything. Before brewing I made a couple meads, and I have one cider in primary now, all of which are only gallon batches. So I decided after A LOT of lurking to try my hand at beer brewing since I've had some free time. For my gallon batches I scale back the grain bill to fit and I mash in an old water jug I used for lacrosse. I came up with this idea when I saw some pictures of people using coolers for homemade mash tuns. Instead of using a false bottom with a spigot I decided I would just use a bag (I thought I was quite clever, but came to find BIAB was already a thing haha). So I scaled back my grain bill, and mashed inside a water jug. To heat the strike water I don't even use a stove. I set an electric kettle to 160 and just use that. Every now and then I flip up the top on the jug that you are supposed drink out of and insert an electric meat thermometer to monitor temperature. My first batch was only a partial mash, but this recent porter was my second brew and I decided to go all grain. I know I should probably get some more experience before I start all grain, but... I didn't.:rockin:
I was amazed by the remarkable efficiency from my ghetto rigged setup! My efficiency using this method was right at 70% which I'm quite proud of given the small scale, ghetto rigged, BIAB. Anyway, I just wanted to share my very cheap, decently efficient, small scale setup with you all. Maybe there's a lurker who is in the same position I was and will find this helpful. Anyone else have unique or weird methods, or brew on a really small scale?
 
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