Sparging method for BIAB !

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Seb-Ass

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2011
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
I'm going to make my first all grain batche soon. I have seen a lot of tutorial for BIAB brewing technic but all of them didin't sparge their wort or they sparge it in another container for 10 to 20 mins. But if I want to use the BIAB technic, it's because I live in a small appartment and I want to use the less equipement and space that I can. The idea that I have is to only take the bag in replacement of a false bottom or a lautering tun. My kettle have a spigot so I was considering the option of fly sparging through my bag to another food-grade plastic bucket. So is it a viable option ? Do I will lost efficiency ? Sorry if it sound idiot but I never sparge before !

Thank to all of you for your precious time to help me !
 
The idea of brew in a bag is to make it simpler to make beer. Sparging is for rinsing the sugars out of the mash but with brew in a bag you can squeeze the bag and get most of the sugars out that way so you can mash right in the same pot that you boil in and never have to use any other container until you transfer the wort to the fermenter. I have tried brew in a bag without sparging and got about 80% efficiency and then with sparging to find that I got about 80% efficiency. Why go to the extra work and time with the same results?
 
thanks for the answer ! the reason why I wanted to do the ''extra work'' is because I was thinking that BIAB technic was way under sparging in term of efficiency ... but if the result is the same, thats a different game.
 
You will find that grain absorption when you mash in your brew pot will leave you with less volume for the boil when you pull the bag. I would do a batch sparge in the bucket with enough water to top off your boil kettle. Pull bag, squeeze, place in bucket, dump ~190F water on it, let sit 10-20 minutes and pour that back into your boil kettle. If you have some left over you can add that to the boil to reduce boil off volume.
 
I put my grain bag in a strainer over another pot and pour 170F water over it. Then I take the same water and reuse it several times after reheating it.
 
I put my grain bag in a strainer over another pot and pour 170F water over it. Then I take the same water and reuse it several times after reheating it.

Interesting and different approach, I like the method, except for the added labor:(

I BIAB for simplicity, but appreciate the approach:mug:
 
when I do really big beers ill dunk the whole bag in another pot of hot water, and then pour it in and just boil off. This past weekend I made a 27lb dark strong and got 78% efficiency, which it about normal for me on normal size beers.
 
The reason of my interest of the BIAB technic is not about simplicity but because I absolutely want to lautering (filter) in the kettle that I brew for less manipulation. The idea of a false bottom directly in my mash kettle is great but not for beggining because of his high cost compare to grain bag. I don't want to do less steps (Mashing, lautering, recirculation, boil, cooling, fermentation) only replace the lautering tun or the false bottom by the grain bag. Is putting my bag in another kettle with 172 degree water on it for 15 mins can be compare to batch sparging ? And is someone have a secret to fly sparge while using a bag ?

Thank you guys again !
 
Ya I started BIAB for the same reason, simplicity and an easy way to get into all grain and sticked with it. You can't really tell a difference in the final product and it's just plain easy.
 
The reason of my interest of the BIAB technic is not about simplicity but because I absolutely want to lautering (filter) in the kettle that I brew for less manipulation. The idea of a false bottom directly in my mash kettle is great but not for beggining because of his high cost compare to grain bag. I don't want to do less steps (Mashing, lautering, recirculation, boil, cooling, fermentation) only replace the lautering tun or the false bottom by the grain bag. Is putting my bag in another kettle with 172 degree water on it for 15 mins can be compare to batch sparging ? And is someone have a secret to fly sparge while using a bag ?

Thank you guys again !

Many different techniques to BIAB, and they all work. It can be done w/ the total water in the kettle, sprinkling sparge water over / through the grain bag similiar to a fly sparge, or by dunking the grain bag in a seperate pot or vessel of sparge water similiar to batch sparging. Some people include a sparge step because the kettle is not large enough for full volume. I would imagine slight efficiency increase by adding a sparge step, but I never bother.
 
I've done it with and without sparging and didn't find much difference in efficiency but I found that with the full volume of water plus the grain in my turkey fryer I was nearly to the top with a normal grain bill and there wasn't any way I could fit in a larger grain bill like I wanted so I mashed with as much water as I comfortably could and then used another pot for sparging to get the full volume of wort. It worked well for both batches I tried it with and I expect to use it again that way with a larger grain bill for a spiced winter warmer.
 
I don't want to do less steps (Mashing, lautering, recirculation, boil, cooling, fermentation) only replace the lautering tun or the false bottom by the grain bag. Is putting my bag in another kettle with 172 degree water on it for 15 mins can be compare to batch sparging ? And is someone have a secret to fly sparge while using a bag ?

You may want to try a tube filter (~$15) in conjunction with the bag. If your bag is big enough to stretch around the lip of your pot than fly-sparging is no different than ever - you just need another container to catch the wort. I've done the same basic method with and without the bag, and I definitely got cleaner wort with the bag AND the tube filter, although either one works reasonably well alone. I suppose you should be careful not to scorch your grain if you use direct heat to hit your mash steps, but I haven't had a problem with it.
 
I"m doing small 1.75 gallon BIABs. Usually have about 4.5 lbs of grain in the bag. I mash in a 5 gallon cylindrical cooler. After the 1 hour slip a calendar under the bag and I open the drain and let it empty. When it's pretty much empty, I close the drain and put the cooler on the floor. Then w/a coffee cup in each hand I apply pressure to the grain bag. I push and throw my body weight into the push. I keep repositioning the cups and press and press until I can't get any more to drip out.

Yea, easier the smaller your amt of grain. I just got 82% on Thursday doing it like this.
 
Can it be done with total water? I understood that mashing with too much water can kill efficiency.

Having never tried that I would be curious to know.
 
I did a batch that had my turkey fryer pot within half an inch of the top when I got the last of the grain in and it didn't seem to affect the batch at all but after that I started mashing in a little less water so I wouldn't run out of room before I got the last of the grain in and then sparged to the right quantity for the boil.
 
Can it be done with total water? I understood that mashing with too much water can kill efficiency.

Having never tried that I would be curious to know.

I started BIAB by making half size batches so I didn't risk a full size batch if it didn't turn out and because I had a 5 gallon stainless pot that I could work with on my kitchen range and still have a full volume mash and boil. I tried it twice this way before getting a turkey fryer and checked my efficiency. It was terrible, I only got 80%. Why I've heard of others getting over 85%.:D
 
Raising this thread from the dead rather than starting my own, because it's essentially the same topic.

I've been doing BIAB partial mashes, I think I've done four of them now. For the first three, my process was:

Mash in my 5gal kettle, pull the bag and drain in a colander over the kettle for a while, then transfer the bag to a big bowl to sit. Pour the wort into a 2gal pot to store (with overflow in a second pot if needed). Heat sparge water in the 5 gal pot, then dunk sparge, and then pour everything back into the 5 gal pot and start the boil.

This had two huge problems. The first is that it's a lot of pouring hot wort back and forth, which is labor-intensive and dangerous. Second, it takes a long time to heat the water, and because of the wort-dance, I can't start heating the sparge water until the mash is over. This means the grain sits for a long time, cooling off, and makes it really hard to hit the sparge temp.

This time around, I decided to scratch the dunk sparge and just do a fake fly sparge / grain rinse. I heated my sparge water in a couple of smaller pots while the mash was wrapping up, and then moved the grain bag into my heavy colander and set it on top of the kettle. I used a pyrex measuring cup (because it was handy, anything would have worked) and sprinkled the sparge water over the grain. At the end, I had to have my wife to the last bit because the kettle filled up to the point that it was hitting the colander so I had to lift it out to keep things from overflowing.

It seems to have worked as a fine substitute for my previous process. My efficiency was at least as high as before (not great, 60% or so), and may have been 65 or 70% (depending on my as-yet-uncalculated trub losses). The big thing is it eliminates the above problems, and if I back off on the volumes a little bit, I wouldn't have to do the colander lift.

So I think I'll be doing it this way for a while.
 
Raising this thread from the dead rather than starting my own, because it's essentially the same topic.

I've been doing BIAB partial mashes, I think I've done four of them now. For the first three, my process was:

Mash in my 5gal kettle, pull the bag and drain in a colander over the kettle for a while, then transfer the bag to a big bowl to sit. Pour the wort into a 2gal pot to store (with overflow in a second pot if needed). Heat sparge water in the 5 gal pot, then dunk sparge, and then pour everything back into the 5 gal pot and start the boil.

This had two huge problems. The first is that it's a lot of pouring hot wort back and forth, which is labor-intensive and dangerous. Second, it takes a long time to heat the water, and because of the wort-dance, I can't start heating the sparge water until the mash is over. This means the grain sits for a long time, cooling off, and makes it really hard to hit the sparge temp.

This time around, I decided to scratch the dunk sparge and just do a fake fly sparge / grain rinse. I heated my sparge water in a couple of smaller pots while the mash was wrapping up, and then moved the grain bag into my heavy colander and set it on top of the kettle. I used a pyrex measuring cup (because it was handy, anything would have worked) and sprinkled the sparge water over the grain. At the end, I had to have my wife to the last bit because the kettle filled up to the point that it was hitting the colander so I had to lift it out to keep things from overflowing.

It seems to have worked as a fine substitute for my previous process. My efficiency was at least as high as before (not great, 60% or so), and may have been 65 or 70% (depending on my as-yet-uncalculated trub losses). The big thing is it eliminates the above problems, and if I back off on the volumes a little bit, I wouldn't have to do the colander lift.

So I think I'll be doing it this way for a while.

Your efficiency in BIAB is usually related to the fineness of the crush. If you can get it crushed finer or crushed twice your efficiency will go up. Most LHBS don't crush really fine because those who use a conventional mash tun will have trouble with the lauter and sparge getting stuck. It might be worthwhile to get a cheap Corona mill and buy uncrushed grain and just grind the grain for yourself.

When you sparge in a conventional mash tun you want the hot water to extract as much of the sugar as possible but since you have already removed most of it by squeezing the bag you can do pretty well with cold water. One advantage of the cold water sparge with BIAB is the bag of grain isn't so blistering hot so you can squeeze it harder and get more sugar out.
 
I have done 4 BIAB brews. The first two I got about 70% efficiency with a standard crush from my LHBS. The last two I got about 83% with a finer crush at a friend's house. I also like to sparge and here is my process.

I mash for 75 minutes. I wedged a collander into a fermenting bucket and place the grain bag in the bucket with the collander. The collander is wedged about a 1/4 of the way in the bucket. I then take a pot of 170 degree sparge water and pour it over the grain bag and letting it drain into the bucket. I then take a lid to a pot and press down on the grain bag as much as possible. I then pour that back into my kettle to boil.
 
I do full volume BIAB (no sparge) and get 80% consistently. I've never understood why people want to sparge when doing BIAB.
Have you even tried full volume?
 
I do full volume BIAB (no sparge) and get 80% consistently. I've never understood why people want to sparge when doing BIAB.
Have you even tried full volume?

When doing a BIAB batch in my turkey fryer, sometimes the water plus grains puts the level too near the top for comfort. I can reduce the amount of water for the mash by a small amount so I don't spill over when stirring in the grains and then bring the wort to the proper amount by "sparging" the bag of grains and pick up a little more efficiency at the same time. I use cold water for the sparge and then the bag of grain is cooler and I squeeze out even more wort.:rockin::ban:
 
Yeah, it's mostly to make the quantities involved more manageable during the mash. I don't really care what the efficiency is, it's consistent enough that I am happy.
 
I generally only do it when I am a little too close for comfort on volume. I have been doing it with hot water, now that I read about doing it with cold water I think I will try that. Beats having to buy another pot and make another bag.
 
I do full volume BIAB (no sparge) and get 80% consistently. I've never understood why people want to sparge when doing BIAB.
Have you even tried full volume?

Not all of us have 10-15 gal kettles to do full volume BIAB. I don't see what the big deal is about sparging? To each their own if you ask me. I, personally think sparging helps me in reaching a higher efficiency... :mug:

I have two kettles that I use in my brew process (a 7.5 gal and a 5 gal). I mash in my larger kettle for usually 60 minutes and, while the mash is going on, I heat about 3 gallons of water to 170. After the mash, I transfer the grain bag to my sparge kettle for about 20 minutes. I then pull the bag and let the bag drain and then combine the two liquids into my large kettle for my pre-boil volume. I've done this 3 times now and have hit around 80% efficiency every time. This system works for me so I think I'll stick with it...

Ultimately it's a matter of preference. Some people can avoid sparging because they have the capability of doing full volume. Others would rather do sparging because they are working with smaller volume kettles and it's a way to help increase your efficiency.
 
I do full volume BIAB (no sparge) and get 80% consistently. I've never understood why people want to sparge when doing BIAB.
Have you even tried full volume?

Full volume BIAB is one of those home brewing myths. I don't know a single person who does it regularly. I do full volume if I'm doing something really small (<1.040) but if you want to brew a normal strength beer and still get a decent volume of wort you need to sparge. I have 2 7gallon turkey burners - I'll mash in one at a standard mash thickness and heat sparge water to mashout temp in the second kettle. To sparge I move the bag to the second kettle, stir up the grain and let it sit for 5mins while i start boiling the first kettle. I will no sparge if I'm doing a monster 1.100+ beer but will split the grain and mash in each kettle and then combine both the first runnings.

...If I had a 10gal pot, I still would use these methods, I would just do bigger batches.
 
Sorry, didn't consider the small kettles for the reason.

I say it is because when first starting, and sparging seemed the logical thing to do, my efficiency was low. First time I did a full volume BIAB, efficiency was up. Full volume BIAB is definitely NOT a myth. It's one kettle, one bag, and 80% efficiency... every time. To me, this is the definition of BIAB.
 
Sorry, didn't consider the small kettles for the reason.

I say it is because when first starting, and sparging seemed the logical thing to do, my efficiency was low. First time I did a full volume BIAB, efficiency was up. Full volume BIAB is definitely NOT a myth. It's one kettle, one bag, and 80% efficiency... every time. To me, this is the definition of BIAB.

I agree with you in that full volume BIAB is not a myth. With true BIAB the sparge occurs when you drain or squeeze your grain bag after your mash out. Don't believe me or acidrain? There is a whole thread devoted to BIAB that proves it is indeed not a myth. You just have to have a big enough kettle to pull it off. If I did, I wouldn't do a sparge either. But there is also nothing wrong with doing a sparge if you don't have a big enough kettle, which I don't and for now, I'm pretty content with doing it the way I'm doing it. :mug:
 
I agree with you in that full volume BIAB is not a myth. With true BIAB the sparge occurs when you drain or squeeze your grain bag after your mash out. Don't believe me or acidrain? There is a whole thread devoted to BIAB that proves it is indeed not a myth. You just have to have a big enough kettle to pull it off. If I did, I wouldn't do a sparge either. But there is also nothing wrong with doing a sparge if you don't have a big enough kettle, which I don't and for now, I'm pretty content with doing it the way I'm doing it. :mug:

Well...myth is probably the wrong word. ...its not a myth in the sense that hot side aeration is a myth but I do know a lot of BIABers and all of them sparge regularly. And as I said, I have done full volume on a few session beers. When ever I see BIAB defined its always "you must full volume mash and do not sparge" but I'd guess most people sparge. I don't think "no sparge" is the defining characteristic of BIAB. I think not using a convention MLT and brewing in a bag defines BIAB. Even with a sparge, it is still the quickest simplest method of all grain due to the instant lauter, it just requires an extra pot.
 
RM-MN said:
The idea of brew in a bag is to make it simpler to make beer. Sparging is for rinsing the sugars out of the mash but with brew in a bag you can squeeze the bag and get most of the sugars out that way so you can mash right in the same pot that you boil in and never have to use any other container until you transfer the wort to the fermenter. I have tried brew in a bag without sparging and got about 80% efficiency and then with sparging to find that I got about 80% efficiency. Why go to the extra work and time with the same results?

Can't believe as a senior member, you would recommend squeezing the bag, worst idea ever. You should never squeeze the bag, sparge if you really need too, squeezing the bag will release tannins and cause terrible off flavours. You may have lucked out when you did it.
 
Can't believe as a senior member, you would recommend squeezing the bag, worst idea ever. You should never squeeze the bag, sparge if you really need too, squeezing the bag will release tannins and cause terrible off flavours. You may have lucked out when you did it.

:rolleyes: Your joking right? It's been proven that you can only squeeze tannins out of the bag if you used ground up unicorn horns in the mash because they lower the PH.
 
smalltownbrewer - what makes you think squeezing a bag of grains extracts tannins? It is a by product of heat.
 
I do full volume BIAB (I have a 15.5 gallon pot) every time and I squeeze the crap out of the bag to extract as much wort as possible. My beer tastes perfectly fine.

What difference does it make if you sparge or do full volume? Just do what works best for you.

BTW, that tannin/squeezing bag thing is a myth. :)
 
I do full volume BIAB (I have a 15.5 gallon pot) every time and I squeeze the crap out of the bag to extract as much wort as possible. My beer tastes perfectly fine.

What difference does it make if you sparge or do full volume? Just do what works best for you.

BTW, that tannin/squeezing bag thing is a myth. :)

...and you aerated your hot wort in the process!!! another brewing myth that every BIABer knows is BS
 
Can't believe as a senior member, you would recommend squeezing the bag, worst idea ever. You should never squeeze the bag, sparge if you really need too, squeezing the bag will release tannins and cause terrible off flavours. You may have lucked out when you did it.

Speaking of myths... :rolleyes:
 
15 gal kettle, still sparge and squeeze the crap out of it with a stock pot lid pressing down on the grains. I got the basket for my kettle so i could sparge easily.

Do what works for you and make some beer. That being said don't be afraid to try new things.

image-449811075.jpg


image-1593467279.jpg
 
Back
Top