Suggestions and opinions first all grain attempt

[frozengator]

Ok I have my 10 gallon water cooler for my mash tun. I made a CPVC filter that forms the bottom of cooler.
I have a cube cooler for my liquor tank
My questions are:

If I use a large brew bag in the tun, could I take my grains and pulse them a pound or two at a time through my ninja blender?
The blender has levels of knife blades, so I figured a couple of pulses will help a bit
The bag will help keep fines from plugging the holes I drilled in the bottom of the filter???

This batch will also be for my daughter's graduation from grad College, so I don't want to flub it up.

I'm planning ahead and writing each step to get it right.

LOL. This is my job at work too. I write job procedures.

By the way. It will be a Gumball head clone.

 

[jmitchell3]

Guess its possible. Do you have a local hombrew shop (lhbs) and will they crush the grains for you? I would tend to do that. Check out brulosophy.com theres a guy there that uses a bag in his mash tun.

 

[frozengator]

Yes they crush it, I guess I could ask them to run it through 2 times

 

[bajaedition]

Why do you want them to run it through 2 times. One will be sufficient.

about the ninja, I would not try it. grain mills work because they are set to s certain distance between the milling surfaces. to get a consistent result and the malt is only exposed to the mills once. not the case in the ninja.

If this brew is as important as you say, do not experiment during it, do that on a brew you are not expected to get correct.

 

[PADave]

Why do you want them to run it through 2 times. One will be sufficient.

about the ninja, I would not try it. grain mills work because they are set to s certain distance between the milling surfaces. to get a consistent result and the malt is only exposed to the mills once. not the case in the ninja.

If this brew is as important as you say, do not experiment during it, do that on a brew you are not expected to get correct.

When doing BIAB, finer crush = higher efficiency. Lots of LHBS mills are set pretty wide, so that you don't get a stuck sparge. Which also results in lower efficiency so you'll have to use more grain, which means they can sell you more.

 

[bajaedition]

When doing BIAB, finer crush = higher efficiency. Lots of LHBS mills are set pretty wide, so that you don't get a stuck sparge. Which also results in lower efficiency so you'll have to use more grain, which means they can sell you more.

My concerns on crush are from traditional mash techniques, I am new to BIAB

Did My first BIAB a few months back, long time traditional mash brewer.
Did not know about the crushing, did a 3 step infusion mash after doughing in at 90 degrees, I got a great conversion .005 higher than we had calculated. I used a regular milling

Good information to know though, thanks. Guess the difference I did was I have the HLT so I sparged my bag of grain after I raised it and set it in a large colander over the brew pot.

thanks

 

[RM-MN]

My concerns on crush are from traditional mash techniques, I am new to BIAB

Did My first BIAB a few months back, long time traditional mash brewer.
Did not know about the crushing, did a 3 step infusion mash after doughing in at 90 degrees, I got a great conversion .005 higher than we had calculated. I used a regular milling

Good information to know though, thanks. Guess the difference I did was I have the HLT so I sparged my bag of grain after I raised it and set it in a large colander over the brew pot.

thanks

You could have sparged with cool water instead of hot and gotten nearly the same efficiency. With that in mind, you could get another bag and do a second batch in your HLT BIAB.

 

[Soulshine2]

Yes they crush it, I guess I could ask them to run it through 2 times

Once is enough , a ninja will chop it to bits, you only need it crushed to crack the hulls.
Don't sweat it. Its water ,temperatures and grains and pre-selected times for adding hops. other than that its moving liquid from one vessel to another. Its not rocket science. Relax ,don't worry and have a home brew.
Also a pre-congrats to your daughter on her graduation from college.

 

[bajaedition]

You could have sparged with cool water instead of hot and gotten nearly the same efficiency. With that in mind, you could get another bag and do a second batch in your HLT BIAB.

so I sparged at 170 and got a higher efficiency

and you suggest I sparge with cold water to get less?

slain lucy

 

[mongoose33]

When you put a BIAB bag inside a mash tun, all you're doing is substituting the mesh of the bag for the filtering effect of setting the grain bed prior to vorlauf.

I have a torpedo screen in my mash tun; I pull a hop sock over it and tie that off w/ a twist-tie prior to starting. That hop sock is, effectively, the same as using a BIAB bag in the mash tun. Not a bad idea to do that, btw--that bag will speed up drawing off the runnings because you don't have to wait for the grain bed to settle and become its own filter.

There's really no evidence that cool water will be less efficient in sparging than hot water. The sugar is already dissolved into the water sticking to the grain; all sparging does is rinse that off and into the wort. I use hot (170-degree) water because you have to heat that water sooner or later; what comes out typically is 150 degrees or more, which gives me a head start on getting to the boil. But cool water isn't qualitatively different. It's just a time issue.

 

[frozengator]

Thanks for all the input. I guess my biggest concern would be a stuck sparge. And trying to hit my numbers. I talked with a guy at work that just brewed the same one that I am going to try and his info was very helpful too. I will download brewsmith tonight and give it a whirl

 

[RM-MN]

so I sparged at 170 and got a higher efficiency

and you suggest I sparge with cold water to get less?

slain lucy

I'm suggesting that you use your HLT as a second mash tun via BIAB and get twice as much beer for the time spent.

 

[bajaedition]

ok

 

[Morrey]

By the way. It will be a Gumball head clone.

I promise I am not attempting to change the course of your thread. BUT 3 Floyds Gumball Head clone is my all time favorite beer. I have a 5 faucet T Tower and tap number 3 is ALWAYS Gumball Head.

These other guys are way more experienced than me so take their process advice by all means. If you hit a snag or have any questions regarding your recipe, I am always willing to share what I do and lend a helping hand. I know this beer is important to you...

 

[frozengator]

I promise I am not attempting to change the course of your thread. BUT 3 Floyds Gumball Head clone is my all time favorite beer. I have a 5 faucet T Tower and tap number 3 is ALWAYS Gumball Head.



These other guys are way more experienced than me so take their process advice by all means. If you hit a snag or have any questions regarding your recipe, I am always willing to share what I do and lend a helping hand. I know this beer is important to you...

Good to know. I may message you before I start.

 

[frozengator]

Thanks Morrey, I may hit you up on that. Gumball head was the reason I started home brew. I was tired of the limited supply and the outrageous price

 

[mongoose33]

Thanks for all the input. I guess my biggest concern would be a stuck sparge. And trying to hit my numbers. I talked with a guy at work that just brewed the same one that I am going to try and his info was very helpful too. I will download brewsmith tonight and give it a whirl

If you're worried about a stuck sparge, get some rice hulls. Put in about 8 ounces when you crush, or just mix in if already crushed. I do that when I brew a Rye with a bit of wheat. Works great, costs little.

 

[Morrey]

Thanks Morrey, I may hit you up on that. Gumball head was the reason I started home brew. I was tired of the limited supply and the outrageous price

Man yeah! Impossible to find in SC, so always good to have a buddy who travels and can pick me up a 6pk occasionally. Commercial substitutes I find regularly are Boulevard 80 Acre and Highland Hoppy Wheat.

I find the key is hops, the additions and timing of those hop additions. Whirlpool is very critical in my opinion. Recipes vary but I only use Amarillo for the entire hop bill. Several clones exist and I took bits and pieces of some of the better ones. Great Fermentations has a kit called Amarillo Face where they list the ingredients and timelines on their website. Worth a look.

 

[frozengator]

Just bought a pound of Amarillo from label peelers for 15 bucks. I jumped on that

 

[z-bob]

I use a 40-ish year old Corona mill that looks something like this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q7JMLSW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 It works well for BIAB (I use the steel burrs rather than the stones)

I bought a little roller mill that looks like a pasta maker (long before I tried BIAB) and it takes hours to grind a couple of pounds of grain. I should either modify it to feed faster, or throw it away...

 

[wilserbrewer]

If you're worried about a stuck sparge, get some rice hulls. Put in about 8 ounces when you crush, or just mix in if already crushed. I do that when I brew a Rye with a bit of wheat. Works great, costs little.

He's putting a bag in his mash tun, a stuck sparge is nearly impossible. If the runoff sticks, just lift the bag a bit and it will run....

 

[Soulshine2]

I use a 40-ish year old Corona mill that looks something like this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q7JMLSW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 It works well for BIAB (I use the steel burrs rather than the stones)

I bought a little roller mill that looks like a pasta maker (long before I tried BIAB) and it takes hours to grind a couple of pounds of grain. I should either modify it to feed faster, or throw it away...

I could see swapping out the hand crank for a shaft coupler and a washing machine motor and make that a powered mill in an afternoon.

 

[RM-MN]

I could see swapping out the hand crank for a shaft coupler and a washing machine motor and make that a powered mill in an afternoon.

A decent electric drill and a slightly modifed bolt and you have a powered mill in half an hour.

 

[z-bob]

It doesn't take very long to hand-crank 10 pounds of grain thru the Corona mill. I don't mind the exercise.

 

[kh54s10]

I found a bolt the same size as the one used to hold on the handle. Cut off the head and attached my drill. 10 minute fix. I can do 20 pounds of grain in about 10 minutes.

Over heated my small drill motors - some smoke but they still work. Bought a HF 1/2" drive hammer drill (hammer off) for $29. It chews through the grain!

 

[frozengator]

Well I used a bag in the cooler. Never had a problem with stuck sparge. Pre boil Gravity was 1038. Post was 1040. Not sure how that works. I did end up with a little more wort than I figured I would. I also squeezed the bag at the end too.

 

[Soulshine2]

I found a bolt the same size as the one used to hold on the handle. Cut off the head and attached my drill. 10 minute fix. I can do 20 pounds of grain in about 10 minutes.

Over heated my small drill motors - some smoke but they still work. Bought a HF 1/2" drive hammer drill (hammer off) for $29. It chews through the grain!

Got a pic of that set up?

 

[z-bob]

If you can find a hanger bolt with the right threads, you won't even have to cut it.

 

[mongoose33]

He's putting a bag in his mash tun, a stuck sparge is nearly impossible. If the runoff sticks, just lift the bag a bit and it will run....

Even with a high percentage of hull-less grain like Rye and Wheat? I do a Rye beer that has 3# of Rye and 6 oz of Wheat. Always included the rice hulls, never had an issue.

I've only done the one BIAB so far (lots of trad. all-grain), and it was the Rye beer. I tossed in the 8 oz of rice hulls on a hunch, thinking that I didn't want any issues with the first one that could possibly be related to difficulties draining the bag.

It all came out fine, the beer is great. I'm planning on brewing a California Common today, no rye or wheat, so I'll naturally forego the rice hulls. But the next time I do the Rye I'll not include the rice hulls and I'll report back with what differences occurred, if any.

 

[frozengator]

I did have a pound of rice hulls in mine too

 

[frozengator]

Something I learned on my second batch using rice hulls. Pre soak hulls in warm water. They will soak up a good amount of wort if you do not.