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ThePonchoKid · 07-23-2012, 08:17 PM

Does anyone tie up the bag and stir it around instead of this clipping it to the rim of the kettle method? I'll probably be doing my first all grain biab this weekend, using a 10gal boiler maker, and I was hoping that knotting up a grain bag and tossing it in would suffice, and perhaps be a little less tedious than the clip on method.

**GTaylor** · 07-23-2012, 08:21 PM

Only problem I can see with tying it up and throwing in would be not getting all the grain wet since there is no way to stir the grains. If you put the grains in and stir them then it should not be a problem tying the bag afterward.

ThePonchoKid · 07-23-2012, 08:24 PM

Having not done this before it's hard to envisage all the grains in the kettle. I imagined that the bag would be loose enough to poke it around, stir, and get it all wet. This isn't quite the case?

**GTaylor** · 07-23-2012, 08:35 PM

BIAB is a total volume method, that is you put all the water that you need for mashing and boiling in the pot then add the grains. So if you are doing a 5g batch then you would have 7-8 gallons of water depending on boil off rate heated to mash temp then add the grains and stir. With all the grains balled up in a sack you may not be able to stir enough to soak all the grains.

**lowtones84** · 07-23-2012, 09:17 PM

That's exactly what I do. Just tie the knot as high as you can to give the grain as much room as possible, then stir/dunk up and down a lot. Never seemed to have a problem personally.

Happy brewing!

ThePonchoKid · 07-23-2012, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowtones84

That's exactly what I do. Just tie the knot as high as you can to give the grain as much room as possible, then stir/dunk up and down a lot. Never seemed to have a problem personally.

Happy brewing!

Are you using a 10gal kettle? Have you tried both techniques and then moved on to tying it up? Your calculations come pretty accurate?

I'll go clip on biab likely for my first attempts, however it just seemed more intuitive and less cumbersome to knot it up if it were possible

**GTaylor** · 07-24-2012, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowtones84

That's exactly what I do. Just tie the knot as high as you can to give the grain as much room as possible, then stir/dunk up and down a lot. Never seemed to have a problem personally.

Happy brewing!

I was thinking that the OP was going to tie it tight in the bag, then you would not be able to move the grains around. Your way would definitely make it easier and would give you something to hold onto when removing the bag.

**Stauffbier** · 07-24-2012, 02:59 AM

If the bag is large enough for you to tie it up and still allow the grain to move around loosely, then I'm sure it would work. I personally like to be able to stir it from time to time myself, and I feel like I get better efficiency if the enzymes have plenty of room to swim around.

**wilserbrewer** · 07-24-2012, 03:20 AM

I like clipping the bag to the kettle so it lines the entire pot. While stirring you can visually see the grain getting mixed and rinsed by the entire water volume. Perhaps tieing the bag and having it act like a tea bag would work as well, but that is not typically how it's done AFAIK.

samuryan · 07-24-2012, 03:33 AM

i clip mine and stir, i also sparge with maybe a 1/3 of my total volume, either dunking or pouring over with bag in perforated basket. Works very well for me (maybe im just used to it) at any rate my beer comes out pretty good.