I suggest you brew with the basket and see before making any changes. There is a vast improvement over the bag because the basket is rigid, I.e. it doesn't flap around. Grain bed seems to set and can be raised without much disturbance.
Think of the raising of the basket as a batch sparge of a set grainbed. I don't get any flour.
Yes, I have exactly that solid wall design. I think a basket would work just fine as well. My hope is to limit the amount of sediment with a finer mesh, but I can see this is unchartered territory and will probably require some experimentation by me.
Maybe I can order some different sized meshes and just place them over my false bottom to see how a mash goes.
I will call the mesh people next week and see what they say. The 74 micron mesh in the video really peaked my interest. It may gum up but when I pick it apart, if it took a little longer to drain like a fly sparge I don't think it would be an issue for me. Testing is the only way to know.
I'm now using a 400 micron basket. Love it. I haven't had any problems with grain coming through.
Bassman2003,
Did you ever do any experiments with the 74 micron mesh? I'm in the process of building a single vessel system and would love to know your findings.
Music,
Yes, I did try some smaller meshes. The lowest I tried was 140micron and it was great initially but as the mash puffed up the flow stopped. (as everybody expected). I now have settled upon a 300 micron mesh that is working just fine. 400 would be fine as well.
I did make a mini strainer out of a $6 SS stock pot from Walmart. I cut the bottom out and put some 35 micron screen in its place. The role of this is to recirculate the wort through as the boil is coming up to temperature for post mash cleanup. So after the mash is finished you just run the wort through at full tilt and a lot of sediment is taken out of the wort. I have the pot clamped on the inside of my boil keg. The 35 micron is too small so I will try 70 - 150 and strike a balance between particle size and flow.
This step also works with a normal BIAB material like a Wilser bag. Just hang it on the inside of the boil kettle and recirc the wort through while it is coming up to temperature. Easy and a lot of stuff gets taken out of your wort.
I brew a lot of wheat beers and use a normal crush. Sediment is only an issue if you are using electric to brew. Even if you do not use electric, you can do the post mash straining I mentioned while the wort is coming up to temperature. I also use a paint strainer bag from Home Depot that is a great hop bag to recirc the wort through. It is amazing how much stacks up in the bag!
When I get some free time I want to document my system as I have put a lot of effort into some areas to improve the process for me. I plan on making some videos but am too busy now.
I will say that my hefeweizen's have been the best I have ever made since moving to this full volume approach. So there is a lot of goodness with BIAB.
My setup is a 400 micron basket. I have zero issues with it at all. Cleanup is pretty easy as long as you rinse it after dumping the grain out.
Let me rephrase that:
The cleanup of the basket is always pretty easy. It's just easier if you rinse it off before anything has dried to it.
Does you shower have a hand-held head? Makes things easier!
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