Basket or no basket

[carlk47]

Hey gang, I was wondering what the general consensus was on using strainer baskets for BIAB? I am looking to do 2.5 - 5 gal batches and plan to ask for a new kettle for Christmas. Was thinking either a bayou classic 10 gal w/basket or 10 gal megapot 1.2... I'll be heating with a 3500w induction burner. The BC seems like a great deal but wow that megapot is sexy

Thoughts?!

 

[WoolyBooger]

I don't use a basket. I just mash out at 168, lift the bag out by hand and let it drain, then set it in a strainer and squish the bejeezus out of it with my kettle lid. (I brewed an all grain brown ale today and actually way overshot my gravity with this method.)

If you are going to use a pulley or something I could see using the basket. Otherwise, it'll probly just sit in the closet.

 

[RM-MN]

I don't use a basket. I just mash out at 168, lift the bag out by hand and let it drain, then set it in a strainer and squish the bejeezus out of it with my kettle lid. (I brewed an all grain brown ale today and actually way overshot my gravity with this method.)

If you are going to use a pulley or something I could see using the basket. Otherwise, it'll probly just sit in the closet.

Have you thought through the mashout? Why spend the time heating the mash and waiting the 10 minutes for the enzymes to be denatured when you could just pull the bag out of the kettle and turn up the heat. Your wort will be at mashout temperature faster than if you left the bag of grains in and you can be squeezing out the rest of the wort while it come up to temp and add it back to the kettle. Your total amount of wort will be boiling before your mashout would have been done and all the enzymes will be denatured then.:rockin:

 

[tooblue02]

I have the BC kettle and have brewed 2 beers (about to be number 3 today!) and it has been great. I use the basket to allow the grains to drain for a little bit before I start squeezing them to get everything out. Going to try to do a little bit different today but I think the basket is definitely handy. Price was also a factor for me (150 was too much to spend on a pot).

 

[beaksnbeer]

I like the basket as well it's easy to run sparge water to rinse through the grain to get to the pre-boil water level.

 

[brewmcq]

The basket is up to you. I use mine... can't really come up with a list of reasons why, but there you have it.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I am looking to do 2.5 - 5 gal batches and plan to ask for a new kettle for Christmas. Was thinking either a bayou classic 10 gal w/basket or 10 gal megapot 1.2... I'll be heating with a 3500w induction burner. The B/C seems like a great deal but wow that megapot is sexy

Thoughts?!

My 44 qt B/C pot has almost 3" under the basket, which is just shy of 2 gallons, so I think you can forget about a 2.5 gallon batch with that much of the mash water away from the grains. The 60 qt B/C likely has more volume under the basket.

Just my opinion, I feel that baskets do not allow "full volume mashing", and can limit efficiency and a good rinse of the grain. Even for a 5 gallon batch, I feel having almost 2 gallons separate from the grain bag is not ideal.

As far as the basket helping to contain the bag, and making it easier to lift, I have found a well fitted poly voile bag can easily handle large 30-35 lb grain bills, and sparging works well to just gently pour the sparge water over and through the bag suspended on a ratchet pulley.

I know lots of folks love using a basket, just not for me I guess....
cheers!

 

[bigken462]

I'm to new into this game to suggest about the basket for brewing, but just think of the other uses you could use that basket for. Canning, boiling peanuts or cooking up 45 lbs of fat Cajun spiced crawfish to eat with that ice cold brew you made yourself. Even if the basket wound up in the closet, there or tons of other uses for it.


Ken

 

[wilserbrewer]

I'm to new into this game to suggest about the basket for brewing, but just think of the other uses you could use that basket for. Canning, boiling peanuts or cooking up 45 lbs of fat Cajun spiced crawfish to eat with that ice cold brew you made yourself. Even if the basket wound up in the closet, there or tons of other uses for it.

Ken

Agreed!
I use the basket for cooking and steaming! Love a "Low Country Boil", the basket works great!

Not so much love for brewing with the basket though, that's what the bag is for IMHO.

Cheers! Many, many ways and opinions to make great beer! Do what you like and what works for you

 

[anengineer]

...but I recirculate during the mash and discovered if I don't use
the basket the sides of my bag stick to the sides of the pot and
the pump soon runs out of sweet liquor to recirc.

I use a 62qt Bayou Classic electric.

 

[wilserbrewer]

...but I recirculate during the mash....

Yes, I agree with the value of using a basket if recirculating with a pump...leave it to anengineer to overbuild

I are one two, so I understand....cheers!

 

[Seven]

Vorlaufing works great for recirculating without a pump. I vorlauf once or twice during the mash and have had zero issues with dead space when using a basket.

 

[gtmaus]

I have the 10g MegaPot v1.2 and absolutely love it. I also picked up one of these bags instead of going with the basket. I've brewed two batches so far with this setup and couldn't be happier.
http://www.bagbrewer.com/index.html

 

[newnick]

I'm not a engineer, I work with too many of them though. I do have a problem understanding all the talk of dead space though. I can't see how it's possible to start with. There is water below the grain and water above the grain, or wort. When it's stirred or recirculated it gets mixed up, if it's left alone it gets mixed up. Isn't it heavier than water? I use a basket and it works for me.

 

[carlk47]

Just did two brew days without the basket and I gotta say.. It was easier not dealing with the basket. Granted I'm only brewing 3 gal batches at the moment, but I don't foresee a problem with 5gal batches at this point without it. One less item to clean!

 

[dietz31684]

Agreed!
I use the basket for cooking and steaming! Love a "Low Country Boil", the basket works great!

Not so much love for brewing with the basket though, that's what the bag is for IMHO.

Cheers! Many, many ways and opinions to make great beer! Do what you like and what works for you

I use one of wilserbrewer's bags and it's freakin awesome! It's so much more durable that what I though it would be when I purchased it over a year ago. The bag is still like new after 20+ batches, literally not a single small tear. I've only done up to 17#'s of grain but that's pretty heavy when it's saturated with wort. I don't use a basket either. When I'm done mashing I cinch the draw string, loop a piece of 550 cord around the bag and hook it up to a 'biner on a pulley and lift it out. I just let the grain bag drip until it cools off (while bringing to boil) and squeeze the hell out of it when it's cool enough. I hit around 72-78% efficiency according to beersmith using a carona mill and produce some crystal clear IPA's. :rockin:

 

[Brewzologist]

I have the 15.5 gallon pot/basket. I line the basket with my bag and consistently nail my numbers. For me, the basket provides an insurance policy against the bag breaking, not that I've had that happen (yet). Edit: Found another reason why I like my basket today; I bought 4 stainless S-hooks from THD ($2.25 ea) and used them to support the basket while it drains. I just lift the basket up a bit, slap the S hooks in the strainer holes, then rest the other end of the hooks on the edge of the kettle. No more need to rig a hoist! Another advantage of the basket for me is that I use an 8" pot lid to compress the mash in the basket after it drains to get more wort out of the mash; less messy than when I used to squeeze the bag.

Hope this helps!

 

[wilserbrewer]

. I just let the grain bag drip until it cools off (while bringing to boil) and squeeze the hell out of it when it's cool enough. :

Yea man, I know squeezing the bag is a vice, but next time try being patient and let it drain, after twenty minutes or so when it stops dripping, there's almost nothing left to bother squeezing. Plus your hands stay clean and not all sticky, much more gentlemanly...cheers and glad your happy w/ the bag.
wilser

 

[dietz31684]

Yea man, I know squeezing the bag is a vice, but next time try being patient and let it drain, after twenty minutes or so when it stops dripping, there's almost nothing left to bother squeezing. Plus your hands stay clean and not all sticky, much more gentlemanly...cheers and glad your happy w/ the bag.
wilser

Thanks for the tip, I will do this tomorrow. I would be happy to be rid of the squeezing step. My wife will appreciate it too if the door knob into the house isn't sticky after brewing.

 

[jleiii]

I've been using my strainer basked for my BIAB draining/sparging and it beats the heck out of squeezing. The one I have that came with my pot is too small to work well as I've had to squeeze the bag into it after the mash, and that's almost as bad as squeezing it. There is way too much dead space around it to use it in the pot to start with.

The equally messy problem is that when I pour the sparge water in it runs out all the holes on the sides instead of through the gain bed. I solved that by lining the basket with the thin plastic cutting boards which cover all the side holes. I can then dump in 2 gallons of water, give it a good stir/dig and let it hang to drain while I fire up the burner for the boil.

The loose strainer and hanging/dripping bag really needs 2 extra hands, but SWMBO wants nothing to do with making or drinking beer. Having the strainer in the pot to start would solve this easily. I suppose I could drop the basket in the pot, then lower the bag into it and lift both up.....hmm might try that on the next brew day.

Once it's well drained, I set it aside and later dump another 2 gallons of boiling water through it to make starter wort. SG was around 1.025 the one time I did this, so I will probably use less in the future. Too many starters from 1 batch! Might also consider this for a late addition to the boil to maintain better post boil volume. My pot is only 30 qts, so it's a tight fit for a 5 gallon batch into bottle.

I've been searching for the ideal inexpensive pot which I will punch holes into the bottom of so it's a bottom strainer only. This will allow me to put the strainer and bag in the kettle to start, then I just have to cinch the whole thing up (ratchet rope on basement ceiling), and it's ready to sparge. This will simplify the process quite a bit. And reduce the mess on the floor! My under pot tray was a bit too small before, but have a bigger one now to contain any drips.

Ideally I'm trying to have less than 1/8" of deadspace around the strainer basket, and may have found the ideal aluminum pot for $35. But, with my luck it will be .001" too big. I was debating using thin stainless sheet (bottomless cylinder), but that's more $ than the pot, and then there's nothing to support the bottom of the bag or keep the sleeve and bag from sliding apart when I lift it. With the strainer pot I'll attach loops for hoisting, and the bag will never be stressed.

John

 

[WoolyBooger]

Have you thought through the mashout? Why spend the time heating the mash and waiting the 10 minutes for the enzymes to be denatured when you could just pull the bag out of the kettle and turn up the heat. Your wort will be at mashout temperature faster than if you left the bag of grains in and you can be squeezing out the rest of the wort while it come up to temp and add it back to the kettle. Your total amount of wort will be boiling before your mashout would have been done and all the enzymes will be denatured then.:rockin:

The higher temp also dissolves the sugars better. Since I started mashing out my efficiency has gone up substantially. I used to always be a point or two shy on my OG, now I consistently hit a point or two above.

 

[RM-MN]

The higher temp also dissolves the sugars better. Since I started mashing out my efficiency has gone up substantially. I used to always be a point or two shy on my OG, now I consistently hit a point or two above.

You could get that same dissolving of the sugars with a hot water sparge step but I suspect that your efficiency going up substantially has more to do with the quality of the crush than the mashout you are doing.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Yep, let it drain and sparge while heating up