GF BIAB

[Silly Yak]

Any BIAB brewers out there using this method for GF brewing?

Seems like an intriguing option for myself since I have a lack of space. I have a Coleman Xtreme 6 120 quart cooler sitting in my garage. This seems like it might be a bit large for 5 gallon batches.

Looking at this bag: https://www.brewinabag.com/products/copy-of-the-brew-bag-a-mash-tun-filter-for-coolers-rectangular

Wondering if this type of cooler will hold up as a Mash Tun for GF grains. I recall hearing that mash temperature for these grains is higher(163.4F I believe) so I was wondering if that may lead to this type of cooler warping over time.

Will this type of bag work well to contain some for the smaller GF grains?

 

[skleice]

I can't weigh in on the specific cooler and bag, but it seems that GF is well suited for biab. I've been doing small 2.5 batches with BIAB on my stove, and it's been fine.

Here's some good info in this thread (especially with some of the links from GlutardedChris).

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/noob-questions-gf-specific.637415/

There's also info on the gluten free home brewing blog with their experiments.

 

[Silly Yak]

I pulled the trigger on the brew bag along with a Victoria grain mill. Converted the Coleman cooler to a mash tun with a new bulkhead. Milled up 16 lbs of millet and buckwheat tonight. That was a workout LOL. Might need to convert the mill to drill power on the next batch. Going to brew up another batch this Sunday with the new setup.

I wasn't too sure on the mill setting so I just made sure it was good and fine. I ended up getting a good mix of cracked grain and flour. I figure with this brew bag it allows me to go pretty fine on the milling.

For the mash I'm just going to follow the GFHB recommendation of a single infusion 120 min mash at 163.4F. At a later date I'll want to switch over to something more complicated using the new enzymes.

Can't wait to try a sorghum free homebrew.

ALL GRAIN TIME!!!

 

[skleice]

Good luck! Going all all grain is a huge improvement imo. No more sorghum twang. I've been following the single infusion recommendation, but have had low efficiency. Still a good starting point. My next brew will be a 2 step mash with the new enzymes on the Grainfather.

 

[Silly Yak]

Brew day is in the books and I must say it was another learning experience.

Batch #2 testing out my new mash tun - a converted Coleman Xtreme 6 cooler with added bulkhead along with my new mash tun brew bag to try our BIAB.

Recipe - GFHB Fantastic Floyd's IPA All Grain https://www.glutenfreehomebrewing.org/recipes/showrecipe.php?recipeid=172

Mashed in the kitchen for 120 minutes at 163.4 or thereabouts. I wish I had a better temperature view during the mash instead of my food service style thermometer. I currently only have the converted cooler mash tun and brew kettle and I realized that I needed another pot for the spare water which I ended up using two of the largest cooking pots I could find. While I'm on the subject, man I need to coordinate where my gear is and how to simply things. I was carrying large pots of scalding hot water between my bathroom, kitchen and the garage. Pretty sure I'll wrench my back if I continue to do that.

Once the mash was done I noticed that the wort was VERY cloudy. I drained everything into the boil kettle and proceeded to finish the brew just like my extract recipe. I'm a bit worried about the cloudiness of the wort as my first runnings gravity was 1.053 but my OG before if went into the fermenter was nearly identical. I think I may take another reading tomorrow when this cloud settles to the bottom of the fermenter. I crushed the millet and buckwheat pretty fine since I was using the brew bag but I think that may have caused the cloud wort. I'm just a noob so if anyone has feedback on grain crush and wort cloudiness it would be enlightening.

The brew bag worked great although I would've benefitted by getting a pulley system to lift the back out of the cooler. I ended up leaving a fair amount of wort in the mash tun because my kettle already had 7.5 gallons of wort. The mash tun also worked like a charm but I definitely think I need to invest in a bigger pot for the sparge water.

Cheers

 

[glutarded-chris]

It should clear up just fine after fermentation.

 

[JMath]

The sparge water is definitely a challenge. Even with my Grainfather I have to think about how to heat and keep that water at a certain temperature, then I have to carry and pour slowly 3-4 gallons over my mash. It's sorta the same problem you face with lifting the bag out of your mash tun, but in reverse.

 

[Silly Yak]

The sparge water is definitely a challenge. Even with my Grainfather I have to think about how to heat and keep that water at a certain temperature, then I have to carry and pour slowly 3-4 gallons over my mash. It's sorta the same problem you face with lifting the bag out of your mash tun, but in reverse.

I think I faced the same sparge water challenge but it wasn't too bad with the two pots I had on the stove. It was just a pain to carry a nearly full boil kettle through my house into the garage for the boil. When it warms up around here I will definitely mash in the garage closer to where my burner is set up. I'm going to have to make a decision at that point as to the best way to handle the sparge water.

It should clear up just fine after fermentation.

Thanks Chris its already settled out nicely. It just looked way different than my extract brew.