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**Wingfan13** · 07-08-2011, 02:03 AM

Working on my first BIAB right now. Everything has gone pretty smoothly besides my thermometers being out of whack. The one with the probe kept jumping around so I grabbed my CDN to get a middle ground. I was paranoid checking my temps.

It looks like I only lost about 2 degrees in the 60 minute mash with my cheap equipment.

I have a couple of questions

1. How much are you supposed to squeeze the bag ? I really went to town on it. I squeezed until the last drop.

2. I am doing 2.5 gallons and the Nottingham yeast I am using says to rehydrate. Is this really necessary since it is only a 2.5 gallon batch ? I am thinking I will have plenty of yeast.

Mysticmead · 07-08-2011, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wingfan13

Working on my first BIAB right now. Everything has gone pretty smoothly besides my thermometers being out of whack. The one with the probe kept jumping around so I grabbed my CDN to get a middle ground. I was paranoid checking my temps.

It looks like I only lost about 2 degrees in the 60 minute mash with my cheap equipment.

I have a couple of questions

1. How much are you supposed to squeeze the bag ? I really went to town on it. I squeezed until the last drop.

2. I am doing 2.5 gallons and the Nottingham yeast I am using says to rehydrate. Is this really necessary since it is only a 2.5 gallon batch ? I am thinking I will have plenty of yeast.

congrats on your first BIAB!!

1. Squeeze the heck out of that bag. or not.. it's all up the each brewer to decide that. I squeeze for every drop I can get.

2. sprinkle it on and you'll be fine.

**Brewitt** · 07-08-2011, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wingfan13

2. I am doing 2.5 gallons and the Nottingham yeast I am using says to rehydrate. Is this really necessary since it is only a 2.5 gallon batch ? I am thinking I will have plenty of yeast.

FYI: I was reading Chris White's yeast book from White Labs last night. He said something interesting regarding rehydration of dry yeast. His claim, and I presume established by experiment in his case, is that dry yeast dropped on or into wort leads to death of about half of the cells whereas rehydrating in 10 ml of sterile filtered water/gm of yeast at ~100F is much better. IIRC (I don't have the book with me) about 10 min there and cool to within about 10 deg of the temp of your wort before adding. He suggests that the sugars and salts of the wort get through the membrane when it is not rehydrated and shock the yeast. The water apparently hydrates the membrane without allowing toxic materials in. I would have thought the osmotic shock of the water would have been worse but, to be honest I have never understood yeast dehydration well.

I should say, with even half of the yeast you are probably fine but I thought it was knowledge worth relaying.

**Wingfan13** · 07-08-2011, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brewitt

FYI: I was reading Chris White's yeast book from White Labs last night. He said something interesting regarding rehydration of dry yeast. His claim, and I presume established by experiment in his case, is that dry yeast dropped on or into wort leads to death of about half of the cells whereas rehydrating in 10 ml of sterile filtered water/gm of yeast at ~100F is much better. IIRC (I don't have the book with me) about 10 min there and cool to within about 10 deg of the temp of your wort before adding. He suggests that the sugars and salts of the wort get through the membrane when it is not rehydrated and shock the yeast. The water apparently hydrates the membrane without allowing toxic materials in. I would have thought the osmotic shock of the water would have been worse but, to be honest I have never understood yeast dehydration well.

I should say, with even half of the yeast you are probably fine but I thought it was knowledge worth relaying.

Thanks. I actually read the same thing online and figure that since it was just a 2.5 gallon batch it probably wouldnt matter. I am glad to report that it is bubbling away. Fermentation started really quick on this one.

Seven · 07-11-2011, 11:38 PM

I just stumbled upon this little beauty while reading another thread here at HBT: Rope Ratchet

I just ordered one to replace the pulley that I rigged up previously from spare parts. Thought I would post this here in case anyone else needed a simple and inexpensive pulley for their BIAB adventures.

Great_Neck_Brewer · 07-14-2011, 12:57 PM

Seven- This is what I was looking for,thanks

bovinejony · 07-19-2011, 07:28 PM

I've used this method 4x now, and have had very positive results. To ensure the efficiency stays at least 70% I usually Mash for 90mins (just cover pot with blankets, etc), and then do a mash-out, followed by a batch sparge for 15-20mins. I usually get between 70-80%. The clean-up is so nice for this method, and as long as you whirlpool you don't collect too much more trub for your fermenter.

Thanks for all the advice on this convenient method.

Seven · 07-19-2011, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bovinejony

I've used this method 4x now, and have had very positive results. To ensure the efficiency stays at least 70% I usually Mash for 90mins (just cover pot with blankets, etc), and then do a mash-out, followed by a batch sparge for 15-20mins. I usually get between 70-80%. The clean-up is so nice for this method, and as long as you whirlpool you don't collect too much more trub for your fermenter.

Thanks for all the advice on this convenient method.

I'm glad to hear that you and others are getting good results with BIAB. I also love the easier cleanup and I've been improving my technique and getting my equipment dialed in so well that I recently had to update all of my recipes to account for the increased brewhouse efficiency.

teamhzrdpball · 07-19-2011, 11:09 PM

Just finished my first AG brew day using the BIAB method and everything went surprisingly smooth! Big thanks to all who have contributed to this thread, as it convinced me to stop working on my MLT cooler and just give AG a try with the bag.

Anyone who is hesitant to get into AG (or even those like me who have limited space) should certainly read up on this method.

If I took my measurements properly, my efficiency was incredible. BIAB may have just turned my Mild into a full blown American Brown!

**wilserbrewer** · 07-20-2011, 12:00 AM

One BIAB complete, I might try an infusion of boiling water to reach mashout on my next brew. Not sure I will give up the cooler mash tun, but BIAB is a nice little method. I had extra Voile material and stitched up a few bags. If anyone is interested PM me for details...these are big bags like 28" x 32", would fit a 10 or 15 gal pot, keggle or even a 20 gallon pot.