I use a ratchet pulley with a step ladder to lift. Then I squezze using insulated rubber gloves. I also use a large stainless colander with the rubber gloves when doing stovetop batches.
my bag hangs over the kettle while I'm heating to boil. After a while I will give it a few squeezes with my hands
I squeeze like that but I should incorporate the twist!Silicon pot holders and my man-hands
I kind of milk it like a giant beer-filled cow after twisting it a bit.
I would love to see a pic of that setup. I was thinking of trying to do something like that in my backyard.I string up my strainer basket with my brain bag in it over the brewpot using a carribeaner and rope, hung from a ladder. I press down on the bag to squeeze with a cake pan until it's dry. It works great, but pressing on the grain bag forces it through the dime sized holes in the strainer basket which is starting to damage my grain bag.
Next time I'll skip the strainer basket and jut hang the grain bag. Not worth buying another grain bag every couple of cooks.
I think it's a variation on the Alton Brown turkey derrick:I would love to see a pic of that setup. I was thinking of trying to do something like that in my backyard.
Isn't the title of this forum "What do you use when you squeeze BIAB" ? Did you mean to post here? Squeeze the bagI have an electric winch in my brew room and all I do is pull BIAB bag after the mash is complete and let it drip while the kettle comes up to the boil. I do not squeeze and have no noticable effect on efficiency, Same reason I do not do mash outs
The hanging bag alone provides some squeezing force to the grain mass. Just by hanging alone, and letting drain for a long time, you can get a grain absorption rate that is about 2/3 what is typical when draining a mash tun.Isn't the title of this forum "What do you use when you squeeze BIAB" ? Did you mean to post here? Squeeze the bag
I do the three buckets as well. My complete method is:A three bucket system: one bucket has holes drilled in the bottom, the other two are fully intact. The drilled bucket goes inside another bucket while the bag goes in the drilled bucket. The space in the lower bucket isn't enough to hold all of the runoff and pourover sparge water, so the drilled bucket gets switched back and forth as necessary. The actual squeezing part, I vary my technique - sometimes twist and squeeze by hand, sometimes with some kind of object, once or twice I've actually put the idle bucket on top of the bag and sat on it to press out the wort. The downside with the three bucket system is that a lot of the squeezed wort ends up coming out of the top of the bag and then draining right back into the grains, rather than going down through the holes drained in the draining bucket. The upside is that it's a functional system for a stovetop brewer like me who doesn't have enough headspace to hang the bag or even drain it in a colander on top of the kettle.
You could spank the monkey and squeeze your bag
I’m with you wilser. I pull it up and let it hang until I put my chiller in at 15 minutes. I bet ya I don’t even lose a cup of wort. Best $40 I spent on my set up. Thank you sir!!!Depends how strong you are
I recall reading of a basket failure where the wire handle spread while hoisting a large grain bill.
Am I one of lazy few that just prefers to let the bag drain for 20 -30 minutes and give it a light squeeze to get the last half pint?
Gravity works well and is free....try it, you may be pleasantly surprised.
I still have the idea of making a grape press style of bag squeezer since a LOT of wort gets stuck in there. Some kind of threaded rod that pushes a disc down into the mash tun. The challenge is how to mount the top of the press. My Sanke mash tun is upside down so that I drain out of the neck. That means the handles are on the bottom not the top. That would have provided a great place to slide a bar through and across the top. I do have a continuous lip around the opening, so maybe I can make something to hook under that and provide the bracing needed for a screw to be drilled downwards to compress the grains...... I need to think more.
I'm liking the idea. Ideally something with an easy hand pump or even a compressor line. Slipping it between the bag and the side wall of the keggle should work to squish it against the far wall if the expansion of the bag is big enough. The other issue is preventing the contents from coming out of the top of the bag, but that should be easy enough to prevent by wrapping its cord around it several times. I wouldn't have a qualm trying this with a good strong keg shell, but a thinner walled pot would probably deform. I too shall start looking for suitable air bags as well as continuing on my screw idea.I am wondering if a cheap inflatable bag or even a heavy duty small swimming pool float device etc. could be used to apply pressure. Sliding a cylinder over the bag with the deflated pillow on one side.. Then pumping the pillow to squeeze on the bag. Offhand I think it is intriguing. It would be a broad spread pressure. It certainly would be a simple rig, and it would be light enough to suspend easily with the bag. I guess more than one bag could be used as well.
If you use something as a vessel that doesn't have to be kept pristine, then the option of having something flimsy, that will deform under pressure comes into play. As long as it has sufficient tensile strength to keep from coming apart it could be used. I thought about testing with a 5 gal bucket and cutting the top and bottom off leaving a plastic cylinder. If you could get ahold of one of those PET plastic keg vessels I see in brewing videos, that would be ideal.. super light.. extremely strong.I wouldn't have a qualm trying this with a good strong keg shell, but a thinner walled pot would probably deform. I too shall start looking for suitable air bags as well as continuing on my screw idea.
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