brewinabag

[toylander]

I was treated to a day at a beer kitchen 'Stewarts Brewing' in Edinburgh which I really enjoyed. I really enjoyed the 72 bottles of beer I took home with me 3 weeks later.

This has got me completely hooked on wanting to brew my own beer at home. I started with a Woodfords Wherry kit which is bottled and should be ready for me to test when I return from offshore in 1 weeks time.

I have been doing lots of reading books, reading forums and watching Youtube videos.
I have came to the conclusion that BIAB is the route for me, I will be picking up a good quality 36l stock pot from Makro when I get home and have just purchased a brew bag from the States which I believe to be really good quality. The bag has cost me £30 via Paypal including shipping. The information on the site is very interesting regarding BIAB.

I will hopefully be testing it out in a week or two and will let you all know about the quality of the bag and how my first FG brew goes.

Here is a link to the site

http://www.brewinabag.com/

[alexlark]

Welcome to the dark side

Trust me, you made the right choice. All grain brewing takes a lot longer than kit brewing but the results are a lot more rewarding. I've done 3 BIAB brews with my 19L stockpot and have just upgraded to a 33L pot (same as Jims!) and just made myself an immersion chiller. I aim for 20L in the fermenter.

Get some pics up of your equipment when you get it and good luck!

Edit: That pot in Makro is £59.99 and excludes a lid. You can get a 33L pot with lid from Powell Brewing for £55 and that includes free delivery.

[Fuggley Duckling]

Go for a bigger pot (50L plus) if you can afford it. Doing a full volume mash is one of the perks of biab.

[daf]

Definitely a 50l pot, with a tap. Malt Miller do a cracking, sturdy shiny stainless steel one, I got it a year ago, about £60 or £70 with the tap fitted.

You can make a bag for a fiver - polyester voile net curtain from Wilkos, cut a big round circle (leaves lots leftover for hop bags, filters etc) and sew in a drawstring round the edges. I'm not a great sewer (word?) but it took me a few hours while watching the TV. I've done about 15 brews with it now and it's fine.

[toylander]

Thanks for the advise

I have just emailed the manufacturer of the brew bag I have purchased with the dimensions of the 50l pot to ask if it will be suitable.

[Fil]

or buy direct from the german ebay seller at about £50 for a 50l lidded Stainless steel stockpot, delivered email for a delivery/price quote
Catering-Portal.Bergland@msg.afterbuy.de (quick courier delivery too..)
they sell on ebay.fr (search 'inox marmite 50l') ... and buying direct is a bit cheaper than ebay total cost..

Nothing kills the joy of a brewday like a pot that could do with a bit more volume, a 33l pot with grain and liquor in will be quite full, and sweet wort is a sticky mess to mop up...

and a rolling boil can be quite violent, not forgetting the initial foam up as the boil starts either.. a bigger pot with enough volume to contain any possible spills or splashes is well worth a few more £s initial investment..

have a cracking first brewday, dont let any lil errs deter you, beer wants to get brewed and the beergods smile on all brewers.

[toylander]

I got a reply from the brew bag seller, he assures me the eb bag will fit the 50l pot.

50l pot it is then!!!!

[toylander]

I have just emailed the company in Germany for a price including delivery.

Thanks for the information.

[Fil]

Just one thing, if your putting in your own drain valve in a pot one of these will cut the hole for 1/2" bsp/15mm copression sized fittings ....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Q-Max-Sheet-M ... 4184f30f3f

if close to a friendly pot builder a loaner is a possibility..

[toylander]

Has anyone considered insulating their pot with a ceramic fibre blanket that can stay on the pot when heating up?

This would surely save on gas/electricity and time.

http://shop.vitcas.com/ceramic-fibre-bl ... -197-p.asp

[Fil]

I dunno about the ceramic fibre might be a bit too similar to rockwool and be irritating if not enclosed??

tho insulation will both save energy durring the heat up and boil but should also minimise any heat input neccessary during the mash, apply ing heat from the bottom in a biab mash will generally denature the enzymes at the bottom as the heat rises above 85C before the change registers deep in the bulk of the grain.

[toylander]

I have got a price from 'Catering Portal' for a 50l pot and a 50l thermo pot.

Has anyone got one of these Thermo pots? Can it be used on a gas stove?

[Fil]

I have got a price from 'Catering Portal' for a 50l pot and a 50l thermo pot.

Has anyone got one of these Thermo pots? Can it be used on a gas stove?

NO!!! the thermopots are Stainless steel skinned outer vessels with an inner skin vessel with insulating foam between the two so heating the base will cook the insulation before heating the pot contents.
Used as insulated mashtuns to retain the heat rather than add it durring the mash

fitting a bottom drain to one.. you could do it neater, but its underneath

and it passed the leak test

and inside

[toylander]

Thanks for the info fill.

[rpt]

You can make a bag for a fiver - polyester voile net curtain from Wilkos,

That's all you need do. I bought a piece of voile from Boyes and I have never bothered making a bag. It works fine. A bag with drawstring would make it slightly easier but it's cheap and easy.