Bag support frame

[Iantheyounger]

Hi All

I am planning my next (second) BIAB - a smoked porter. In my first brew, I found that holding the bag over the wort to let it drain properly was a bit of an endurance test! Has anyone come up with a solution for a support frame? Or any other ideas?

I use a Bufallo 40l boiler for my BIAB setup.

Thanks in advance.

Ian

[GAZ9053]

I used the large strainer sold in ikea. I'm sure someone posted that aldi also had them on sale

http://m.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/art/50103755/

[UpTheToon]

I brew in my outhouse and rigged up a block and tackle type arrangement to lift and hold the bag. I leave it there while the wort heats up for the boil. A possibility if you have somewhere solid to put a D loop thing on your ceiling?

[rpt]

I dump the bag in a colander in a big bucket (a 30L FV) and let it drain. Easy to squeeze in there too.

[alexlark]

Same Ikea strainer as Daz. Takes a 5kg wet bag of grain no problem.

[f00b4r]

Ratchet pulley in the garage, also reduces issues around any vacuum being created in pulling it out of a relatively tall narrow vessel.

[bigchris]

I too have a pulley system above my boiler but earlier I used the Strainer from Aldi as mentioned above.



For the pulley I have three knotted loops in the chord, to hold the bag at one of three useful heights.

[Fuggley Duckling]

I leave the bag to drain in a big colander on top of my pot.

[Meatymc]

As others have posted, bought the £7 colander from IKEA which sits on top of my 33L pan and works a treat. Only doing 3 gallon brews mind you but seemed sturdy enough to take more 'wet' weight than the 4kg at the weekend

[BluePanda]

I have a colander from £stretcher. Looks the same as the IKEA one and holds 5kg+ of grain (which obviously weighs more once wet). It's been incredibly useful, can't imagine not using it now.

[DarrenSL]

I used to use the colander method which was fine for normal beers but when I brewed high gravity beers with 7kg plus of grain the bag would be too big and wort would leak over the sides and make a mess. I prefer to just open the tap of the kettle and let the wort drain into a plastic fermenting bucket, then batch sparge with a few litres of hot water (<78C). I get efficiency of around 70% typically without squeezing the bag (although to be honest I don't worry about efficiency too much as I always chuck in an extra kg of grain anyway).

[DrD]

I put it in a fermenter bucket on a rack from my combi microwave. Give it a small sparge or two then squeeze it hard.

[Iantheyounger]

My eventual solution to this - £23 out of Nisbetts. Shown with normal domestic colander for reference.

[Colliefish]

I've just this minute bought a sink drainer from home bargains for £3.99
It's like a large rectangular sieve with extendable side handles to fit across the boiler/barrel.

[oliver tate]

I use one of these and lift the bag with a hook on a rafter above the kettle.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Am-Tech-Cargo-L ... nav=SEARCH

Works well. If I am doing a big beer I will lower the bag onto a colander resting on a bucket and rinse the grains