I use a unique technique and I think it works, but...

[Beeru]

So, I've been brewing in a somewhat unique way, and so far it seems to work. But I am wondering if others have brewed in similar ways, and if there are concerns to look out for, or ways to improve my brews.

Here's what I do:

I do not have a cool mashtun anymore, and I have been doing my mash in an 8 gallon pot with a false bottom and spigot. I cover the false bottom with a biab mesh bag, just for an extra layer of filtration.

To have what I think would be the right mash thickness, I add an extra 6 litres of water to the mash (reduced from my sparge water) to bring it up to where the false bottom starts. I just bring the water up to strike temp, add my gains, stir, then put the lid on and cover with some insulation.

After 60 min I open the spigot and let it pour into a bucket. I don't vorlauf, as it never seems necessary (both due to the mesh bag, and because the spigot rests just about the bottom of the pot, and anything that does fall to the bottom doesn't seem to come out). I then do a sparge (with 6l less water).

Next, I clean my pot and put the wort back in to bring it to boil (I'll typically keep the false bottom in. If using pellet hops I'll also put the mesh bag back over it, but not if using whole hops, as they won't go though the false bottom). I then boil as normal, chill with a wort chiller, and the rest is the same.

So far I've had good success this way. In one batch I got some grains and sediment in my wort, but it didn't seem to negatively impact the beer. My efficiency is good and I typically hit my target gravities.

My concern is that I've overlooked potential problems in this system, but I don't know enough to know what I don't know. (I may have unknown unknowns that I haven't been able to factor in). Any thoughts on this?

 

[FloppyKnockers]

At the end of the day if you wind up making beer, I would call it a success.

 

[Beeru]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure what I've been making is beer. It looks, smells, and tastes like it. Really what I want to know is if there's way to preempt any errors so I don't end up wasting a whole batch. Or so I could improve my brews.

 

[madscientist451]

Looks good from here. You don't need a complicated, expensive rig to make wort.
If you want to improve your brews:
-Do you have fermentation temperature control?
-Do you save and re-pitch your yeast? (repitching is an easy way to get a nice healthy amount of yeast for a good solid start to your fermentation.
-Have a kegging set up?
-Do you have your own mill? Buy bulk grain?

 

[Beeru]

Yeah, I guess I should just keep doing what I've been doing. I just built a keezer and started kegging rather than bottling my beers, and all the research I put into learning to build it and hook up c02 tanks and everything got me thinking more about the brewing process as well, how I could potentially make it better, and ensure that the beers I put on tap are as good as they can be. But I'm probably overthinking it.

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

I've made a 5 gal batch of punkin patch pale ale similar to that ....
heat strike water in kettle1, dough in and mash in Kettle1,
line Kettle2 with mesh bag and pour mash into kettle2,
Rinse kettle 1 & drain first runnings back into Kettle1, and then sparge the mash in kettle2 (twice)
Boil in kettle 1, whirlpool, and drain/chill.

Honestly, if I had a big enough kettle at the time, I would've just done a full vol BIAB

 

[wilserbrewer]

You’re process seems fine to me and should get you nice wort. Perhaps a good stir at the end of the mash might help

My obviously bias comment would be that there are easier ways to do the same thing. By putting a BIAB bag in your kettle when you mash, you can remove the grain bag from the kettle, dunk sparge the bag in your bucket (room temp water is fine for sparge) combine both in your kettle and bobs your uncle lol.

 

[Beeru]

You’re process seems fine to me and should get you nice wort. Perhaps a good stir at the end of the mash might help

My obviously bias comment would be that there are easier ways to do the same thing. By putting a BIAB bag in your kettle when you mash, you can remove the grain bag from the kettle, dunk sparge the bag in your bucket (room temp water is fine for sparge) combine both in your kettle and bobs your uncle lol.

What will a stir at the end of the mash do?

I don't do a full one BIAB just because my kettle is just a little too small, but I didn't think about doing a dunk sparge, as you describe. I do have a bag, but my other concern was that when all the grains were in the bag, it seemed to make the mash really thick and all bunched together, so I was worried about doughballs and hotspots. It also made it more difficult to stir it to break up those doughballs. Maybe my bag is just a little small. I might try it again on my next brew day and see how it goes, though.

Can you really sparge at room temp? I thought the point was to have hot water (175 f or so) to properly rinse the grains of all the sugars?