chefrand15

Recipes 

Which technique do you feel is better BIAB or MLT and why?

theveganbrewer

Recipes 

Mash Tun because it only costs 40 bucks and fuels the DIY in most homebrewers. And it looks cooler.

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daksin

Recipes 

I'm a professional brewer now, but at home I am a BIAB guy. This is strictly a matter of opinion (I predict the debate will be energetic), but I love that I never had to acquire any equipment at all to brew all grain. I can mash 23 pounds of grain in my 8 gallon pot, do a batch sparge in my 7.5 gallon kettle, combine the two, and make a kickass barleywine without doing the work to convert an MLT. Nevermind the money- I love spending my free cash on beer gear, but it's just a bonus that I never had to shell out for a craigslist gatorade cooler or stainless braid, nor invest the time to build my system. I get great efficiency with my hybrid-BIAB method and make award winning beers that I love to drink. Can't beat that in my opinion.

I totally have MAD respect for those who build their three-vessel systems though. That *redacted* is wicked! Some of yall have systems in your garages I would frickin' love to have at the brewery. All automated and junk. Crazy awesome!

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Bottled:Monticello Barleywine, Red Nosed Tripel
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mikeysab

Recipes 

I have both, and prefer biab. Cheaper, quicker, and easier. I get better efficiency on my biab system, too. For bigger beers i'll use the MLT, a 52 qt coleman extreme with copper manifold. Last weekend I did 10 gallons of mild on my biab, a 10 g round cooler and it was a breeze.

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makemyday21

Recipes 

BIAB baby! Love the simplicity, except when my "Tim-the-toolman Taylor" side comes out and I have that urge to add some "improvement" (i.e. unnecessary complication) to my set up!

My humble blog (see link in signature) tells my story....

Someday maybe I'll get to the Outback and shake that man's hand who got BIAB started!

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makemyday21

http://www.essentialbrewinginabag.com//

jetmac

Recipes 

Not to highjack a thread but, I am having a hard time wraping my brain around how to BIAB. Any good links for learning?

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Wayne Gretzky-"100% of the shots you don't take, don't go in

Revvy>>You shouldn't worry about ANYTHING, you didn't hurt the yeast, they know what they need to do, they want to eat all that sugar they are swimming around in. They want to pee alcohol and fart co2, it's their nature.

Bobby_M>>I flood the keg with CO2 for one minute with the lid off, rack the beer in to the bottom gently, seal it, flood it, vent it. If there's still O2 in there after that, F it.

Deuce

Recipes 

Northern brewers "brewing tv" did a whole episode on this.

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Pie_Man

Recipes 

Nice pun, looks cooler...

I use both methods and I don't have a favorite yet. I started doing BIAB, since I had a burner and pot, all I needed was a bag. Here are some of the pros and cons that I've experienced.

BIAB:
Pros - No extra equipment required except a bag. You can do step mashes using direct heat to raise the mash temp, just keep the bag off the bottom of the kettle so it doesn't scorch the grains.
Cons - Depending on your outside temperature and the insulation around the pot, it might lose more heat during the mash, but that's easy to correct. My BIAB brews have turned out a little bit cloudier, maybe because there's no vorlauf. This could just be me as I don't have a false bottom on my BK.

Mash Tun:
Pros: The cooler mash tuns maintains heat pretty well. It typically allows for a larger grain bill than BIAB. I've experience clearer wort, probably due to vorlaufing. It's a little easier to manage the mash tun than a hot bag of grain.
Cons: Costs more, although it's less than $100 for the cooler and all the parts to add on the valve and braided hose. It takes up more room when stored.

knuckleheadbrewing

Recipes 

I've done BIAB before and I made great small beers (less then 1.045 OG) any time I tried to approach 1.060+ it always turned into a mess....

I know brew on my RIMs system and frankly I will never go back to a cooler, BIAB, or any other method...My system is wonderful I love it and it has thrown gasoline on my already burning fire and love of homebrew!

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billf2112

Recipes 

I did biab and just did my first batch using a mash tun. The mash tun was easier and I got a much higher effiiciency. Clean up was easier too. I hated ckeanibg my grain bag. Having my mash tun set up on a table above my brew pot a burner made it so easy to transfer the liquid to my brew pot and just let the spent grains sit until clean up. I then simply dumped the grains and washed the tun out then ran star san through it.

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On Deck: Irish Stout,
Primary: Pumpkin Ale
Secondary: Empty
Completed: Red, Wit and Blue, Irish Stout, Red Ale, German Style Amber Lager, All Grain Brews: Irish Red Ale, American Stout, Honey Weizen