[dmtaylor]

That was very detailed! Thanks a bunch! This has given me some ideas for my own process!

Sometimes I know I'm just talking to myself, so I'm happy to hear you say that -- thank you.   

[deadpoetic0077]

Thanks to everyone who put in their $0.02! We had a successful brew day and the (m)Oktoberfest is churning away nicely! This was my first time really focusing on temp control too, so I used a swamp cooler + ice method to keep the wort at 63F! After 3 days the gravit way getting pretty close to the expected FG, and it was bubbling much slower so I let it free rise to 73F.  I am super excited to give this one a taste!

Thanks again!

[deadpoetic0077]

I mash in a bag in a cooler and batch sparge. This technique has had some welcome advantages: no Vorlauf, very high efficiency, I get very nearly every drop by lifting the bag and letting it drain, no stuck sparges, and super easy collection and clean up.









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So this looks exactly like what I want for my setup eventually. I would love to use a cooler to help keep the mash insulated. Where did you find that bag that would fit the cooler? Did you make that yourself?

[Philbrew]

I mash in a bag in a cooler and batch sparge. This technique has had some welcome advantages: no Vorlauf, very high efficiency, I get very nearly every drop by lifting the bag and letting it drain, no stuck sparges, and super easy collection and clean up.









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So this looks exactly like what I want for my setup eventually. I would love to use a cooler to help keep the mash insulated. Where did you find that bag that would fit the cooler? Did you make that yourself?

It looks like Brewbama got that bag from the same place I got mine.
http://www.brewinabag.com/#a_aid=brulosophy
Really well made bag.  Good service, reasonable prices.

[BrewBama]

Yes, I got it from brew in a bag. It works great


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[deadpoetic0077]

I mash in a bag in a cooler and batch sparge. This technique has had some welcome advantages: no Vorlauf, very high efficiency, I get very nearly every drop by lifting the bag and letting it drain, no stuck sparges, and super easy collection and clean up.









Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

So this looks exactly like what I want for my setup eventually. I would love to use a cooler to help keep the mash insulated. Where did you find that bag that would fit the cooler? Did you make that yourself?

It looks like Brewbama got that bag from the same place I got mine.
http://www.brewinabag.com/#a_aid=brulosophy
Really well made bag.  Good service, reasonable prices.

Seems like they are really well made. I may have to get one!

How hard is it to adjust mash temps in a cooler though? Just adding hot/ cold water?

[BrewBama]

I mash in a bag in a cooler and batch sparge. This technique has had some welcome advantages: no Vorlauf, very high efficiency, I get very nearly every drop by lifting the bag and letting it drain, no stuck sparges, and super easy collection and clean up.









Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

So this looks exactly like what I want for my setup eventually. I would love to use a cooler to help keep the mash insulated. Where did you find that bag that would fit the cooler? Did you make that yourself?

It looks like Brewbama got that bag from the same place I got mine.
http://www.brewinabag.com/#a_aid=brulosophy
Really well made bag.  Good service, reasonable prices.

Seems like they are really well made. I may have to get one!

How hard is it to adjust mash temps in a cooler though? Just adding hot/ cold water?

To step mash add hot water but I have not had great experiences using the method myself. Kai describes it in an article on his site: http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Infusion_Mashing   I just stick to single infusion and get good results. YMMV


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[erockrph]

I mash in a bag in a cooler and batch sparge. This technique has had some welcome advantages: no Vorlauf, very high efficiency, I get very nearly every drop by lifting the bag and letting it drain, no stuck sparges, and super easy collection and clean up.

So this looks exactly like what I want for my setup eventually. I would love to use a cooler to help keep the mash insulated. Where did you find that bag that would fit the cooler? Did you make that yourself?

It looks like Brewbama got that bag from the same place I got mine.
http://www.brewinabag.com/#a_aid=brulosophy
Really well made bag.  Good service, reasonable prices.

Seems like they are really well made. I may have to get one!

How hard is it to adjust mash temps in a cooler though? Just adding hot/ cold water?

I split the difference and no-sparge in a bag, in a cooler. It has most of the simplicity of BIAB, but the cooler helps me hold temps better than a kettle on a stove (I'm a 3-gallon kitchen brewer). I don't have to babysit my mash, adjust temps, worry about scorching/hot-spots, etc. It is nice for me because it is a 2-vessel system (no separate HLT required - my boil kettle is used for everything).

When I want to step mash, I simply reserve a portion of my mash liquor and heat that to boiling. It's pretty simple using a calculator (I use Brewer's Friend), and since I'm no-sparge mash thickness isn't really a factor. I always boil more water than I think I need and check temps as I'm adding. This way I always ease right into whatever temp I want. Any leftover water stays in the boil kettle and my mash gets run off into that to give my full boil volume.