Brew in a Bag Experiment

My local home brew shop started carrying large nylon mesh bags big enough for brew in a bag.  I tested it out  on my last brew with 13 lbs of malt and the seam on the bag ruptured in a few spots.  Besides the ruptures, which I've patched with some nylon thread, it was much easier than mashing in my water cooler mash tun.

If you've read my post on doing a full wort boil on a glass top range http://greatermonkey.blogspot.com/2012/04/full-wort-boil-on-glasstop-electric.html, you'll see I use a towel wrapped around my brew kettle to help me get 5.5 gallons of wort from mashing temperature to a boil in 20-25 minutes.  That towel worked great at retaining heat during the brew in a bag mash.  I only lost one degree F on a 1 hour mash.  The wort came out a lot cloudier than with my water cooler mash tun, but the beer still cleared out nicely after fermentation.  With the time I saved by not draining and then washing the mash tun, I think I may prefer mashing with brew in a bag to mashing in my water cooler mash tun.

I'll be testing out brew in a bag again tomorrow with my repaired and reinforced mesh bag.