All Grain Vs BIAB - Pro's & Con's (5 Gal Batches)

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I think I'm limited by my pot size which is 32q/8G/30L. In my experience so far, I've had much lower efficiency around 1.055 (70% vs 80+ around 1.040). With a bigger pot (10G+) I believe I could easily do 1.060+. Or I could just plan on lower efficiency and cram some more grains in there.

But it all works out fine in my case as I hardly ever brew anything over 1.055. :)

One day I'll get the Big Pot, I know my bag will hold the grains.
 
I do traditional AG and I'm thinking of building a brew stand. However, I'm hesitant because I'm hearing good things about BIAB. The LHBS guy says he's getting 85% on 5 gallon batches. What about 10s? I brew with a friend to do 10 gallons. I'm not worried about the weight of the bag, I'm a big boy.

If you mill the grain fine, mash out, AND sparge in another pot, would you be able to hit 75-80 consistently?

On a side note, until I commit to this, I'm putting a grain bag in my mash tun to make ease of cleaning and suck more wort out of the cooler.
 
mendozer said:
I do traditional AG and I'm thinking of building a brew stand. However, I'm hesitant because I'm hearing good things about BIAB. The LHBS guy says he's getting 85% on 5 gallon batches. What about 10s? I brew with a friend to do 10 gallons. I'm not worried about the weight of the bag, I'm a big boy.

If you mill the grain fine, mash out, AND sparge in another pot, would you be able to hit 75-80 consistently?

On a side note, until I commit to this, I'm putting a grain bag in my mash tun to make ease of cleaning and suck more wort out of the cooler.
Click to expand...

I've brewed 10 gallon BIAB batches for 2 years now and get between 75-80% efficiency every time. I use the 20.5 gallon bayou classic kettle and it is perfect for 10 gallon batches up to 10% abv and you might even be able to squeeze out a 15 gallon batch with it.
 
RM-MN said:
I don't. I never do a mash out and my sparge is minimal but I've not gotten that low since I did my BIAB with no sparge. It seems to tend towards 85 to 88% for me.
Click to expand...

I can't do full volume BIAB so my efficiencies were in the 60's before I started doing a mashout and then sparging in a second kettle. Now I'm consistently around 85% doing a mashout and a sparge...
 
mendozer said:
If you mill the grain fine, mash out, AND sparge in another pot, would you be able to hit 75-80 consistently?
Click to expand...

I only have the 1 BIAB batch that I did yesterday under my belt, but I can tell you that I hit 75% efficiency with single crushed grain (LHBS mill settings) and a mash out and sparge in a separate pot. Mashed in a cooler and heated up the kettle for a mash out and sparge. Simple, easy, and effective. I'd imagine with a double crush you could hit 80%+ with this method.
 

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