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bigjoe · 01-21-2011, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjones17

BIAB stands for Brew In A Bag from what I have read. No Sparge brewing would be just that... brewing without a sparge.

I have done BIAB without a sparge, and BIAB with a sparge.

I get the preface "I am not trying to be a Jerk here... BUT....", so what are you trying to be? The guy who suddenly proves his worth by stating the obviously inconsequential? No offense dude, but lots of other "Meaning of BIAB as God Intended It" people have said exactly what you are saying now. The fact of the matter is, that people who like to BIAB often sparge - and nobody seems to care about that fact but you. While you are not "Trying" to be a jerk, what else are you?

Brew on mang

I am not trying to be a jerk... again.

The reason I pointed out the obviously inconsquential is because the method is a minimalist approach, and I'm one of the people on here who has pointed it out before.

I might be splitting hairs, but you could say that about fly vs. batch sparging also. Your putting water over the grains and draining into a kettle. All three are a separate technique though. To me their is a distinction between dunking grains/pooring water over the grain bed, and not rinsing the grain at all. Basically the bag is taking the place of a manifold or a braid if you sparge. Everyone seems to think you have to sparge for some reason or another. But as a general practice you don't need to. The sparge question is always the first one people ask when I talk about BIAB. Older brewers are the ones who have the biggest problem with this.

I see this as a different way of mashing that is equal to batch or fly sparging. Its not a stop off before someone starts to mash with one of the other ways and buys a bunch of equipment. It's on the same plane as the others. I have had plenty of conversations with people who have talked me down because it wasn't the "Meaning of MASHING as God Intended It". It would be interesting to know how many dunk/sparge that do BIAB as their main mashing method.

I do think the name "Brew in a Bag" is a bad name. I like to call it Full Volume No sparge mashing myself. Its a bit wordy, but right to the point. I've also had people confuse it with something you can brew with hopped extract and a plastic bag you can hang off a door knob. I used to have a link and a quick google isn't turning anything up for it.

As I said in my post I don't care if you rinse the grains or not. I was only trying to make a distinction. I wasn't trying to insult anyone's intelligence. If I did please accept my apology.

I'm not a purist in any way. If I were I'd have a 3 vessel system and wouldn't writing about how much I like BIAB.

This is a good thread.
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=38674&hl=

This is a good site for BIAB.
http://www.biabrewer.info/

I use Voille also.

Hermit · 01-21-2011, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigjoe

I see this as a different way of mashing that is equal to batch or fly sparging. Its not a stop off before someone starts to mash with one of the other ways and buys a bunch of equipment. It's on the same plane as the others.

Well, not quite. Unless you have an exceptionally large brew pot then you have a gravity limit that this is good for. That is why I use a second pot to sparge. It ups my efficiency and lets me brew larger beers that I'd have to use extract or sugar in otherwise. So, I would no longer be 'all grain'. I have a pot twice my batch size but still choose to do a sparge step because all of the water in that pot comes pretty close to the top with a moderate grain bill. Again, as long as my grain remains in the bag, I consider it BIAB. It is also easier for me to refer people to the technique (extract brewers hesitant to make the jump to all grain mainly) if I tell them to look up BIAB. They can the read and decide on variations themselves. Wort clarity also suffers, at least in the short run. This CAN matter under certain circumstances but is still there.

ShakerD · 01-21-2011, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djt17

I found the paint strainer bags to be too small. I purchased this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002EWZWAU/ref=oss_product it was enough for my daughter to sew 2 bags. The extra room makes it much easier to stir the grains & the wort is much clearer.

That's the stuff but it looks like there is only one left. If they run out.

Here is where I got mine off eBay.

I made one bag but I brew 10 gallon batches. I had 22 lbs of Dry grain in it yesterday. It was heavy by the time I pulled it out of the kettle.

Cheers

gingerdawg · 01-21-2011, 02:50 AM

I use a pasta mill for crushing grain, and I find that I can control crush much better (it will feed through on a smaller setting) if I condition the malt. I throw all of the grains in a homer bucket, spritz the top with a spray bottle, shake the dry grains to the top and repeat about 5-6 times. Leave the grain sit 10 minutes or so before crushing. The total water used is only about 1/2 cup.

I started BIAB with sparge after reading Deathbrewers "easy stovetop allgrain"
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/
Again, the advantage of the sparged BIAB is that you don't need a special, extralarge pot to do it. I think it is the lowest cost way to get into AG. To do no sparge BIAB, I would have to invest in a 10+ gallon pot or a keggle.

bigjoe · 01-21-2011, 04:13 PM

gingerdawg, I have used a pasta mill for crushing also for quite some time. It finally wore out. I can't get a fine enough crush and I've ran it through as many as 3 times. It did get a lot of brews out of it. Probably almost 50. At least half of them had grain bills of 15 lbs or more.

For $12 it worked great for me.

gingerdawg · 01-21-2011, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigjoe

gingerdawg, I have used a pasta mill for crushing also for quite some time. It finally wore out. I can't get a fine enough crush and I've ran it through as many as 3 times. It did get a lot of brews out of it. Probably almost 50. At least half of them had grain bills of 15 lbs or more.

For $12 it worked great for me.

Yeah, I wore mine out too. I'm such a cheap #%#&# that I fixed it though. There is a lame flange bushing under the drive roller cover that split. the rollers squirmed around as that bushing wore out. I made a new bushing from an oilite bushing and it is good as new.

The malt conditioning allows the rollers to grab the grain better and crush it fine on one pass, set tight. The moist husks tear instead of crumble, giving a great texture to the grain with a good crush. Someone made a great thread about malt conditioning on HBT.
Here itr is:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/malt-conditioning-wow-rocks-144752/

bigjoe · 01-21-2011, 05:49 PM

I had mine apart quite a few times, the vibration would loosen things up a bit. I put petroleum jelly on the gears. How many beers have you put through it so far? It really is a cheap way to crush grain. Its goes well with BIAB as far the minimal investment you have to make.

I've read about the malt conditioning, but have been to lazy to try it. Just one more thing to do.