BIAB Guys/Gals - mash temp question

I have a new kettle - 40 quart stainless. I am going to do a BIAB this weekend and am really trying to get the details right on this one.

I have 13 lbs. of grains and will be mashing in 5 gallons of water (I heat water for a sparge when I do BIAB).

The question is this - how much temperature will I lose from adding the grains? If I want a mash temp of around 154 degrees, what temp should I heat the water to, pre-mash. I am thinking I want the water temp around 160-162 when I add the grains?

I know I will likely lose more temperature during my 60 minute mash than I used to with my 7.5 gallon aluminum pot but I cover the kettle with a sleeping bag during the mash and it seems to do a pretty good job of holding the heat with my aluminium 7.5 gallon pot. Think I'll have the same kind of luck with the larger SS?

Use a calculator. Just input all your variables, including starting grain temperature (basically room temp), and it spits out the strike temp (the temp you heat the water to before adding the grain).

http://www.simplebiabcalculator.com/

evrose said:

Use a calculator. Just input all your variables, including starting grain temperature (basically room temp), and it spits out the strike temp (the temp you heat the water to before adding the grain).

http://www.simplebiabcalculator.com/

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Thanks. That is pretty cool.

EDIT: but it does not quite work for the way I have historically done BIAB. It assumes I am doing a full water volume mash, which I do not do.

DOUBLE EDIT: Never mind, I now see the "mash out" box and have checked it. Cool.

That sounds wrong. Unless your grain is coming directly from the fridge, I wouldn't expect your strike temp to be much over 165, tops. Double check your calculations. Using that calcualtor, I'm getting 160.64, brew365.com is showing 164.26. That's a wide range, but I really trust brew365.

TheZymurgist said:

That sounds wrong. Unless your grain is coming directly from the fridge, I wouldn't expect your strike temp to be much over 165, tops. Double check your calculations. Using that calcualtor, I'm getting 160.64, brew365.com is showing 164.26. That's a wide range, but I really trust brew365.

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I fixed it. You are right (and my initial guess was right). The strike temp is about 163. I am a ******* and put 164 in as my mash temp, which was really my anticipated strike temp.

Thanks for the warning, though, before I ended up with a sugar bomb for a beer.

I usually lose about 8-9 degrees when I dough in on full volume BIAB mashes.

I highly recommend using some brewing software if you aren't already - I use ibrewmaster 1 and it calculates your strike temp based on your inputs (grain temp, equipment profiles, sparge water additions etc.)

Let us know how it goes!

241 said:

I usually lose about 8-9 degrees when I dough in on full volume BIAB mashes.

I highly recommend using some brewing software if you aren't already - I use ibrewmaster 1 and it calculates your strike temp based on your inputs (grain temp, equipment profiles, sparge water additions etc.)

Let us know how it goes!

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I use BeerSmith to create/check my recipes. It probably does all of this but I haven't played around with it enough to know its full capabilities.

What I love about BeerSmith is that my LHBS posts a list of its available hops online, with the AA%. I can go on and check to see if they have the same hops a recipe is calling for and I can use BeerSmith to adjust things to keep in style when the hops are not the same AA as the recipe.

+1 for iBrewmaster. It's the best software I've found. If you don't have an iPad, BeerSmith is the best for PCs. They both calculate strike water very accurately, but you do have to take a little time to set up the equipment parameters.

I usually go 7 degrees higher. I make it a pt. to misjudge on the low side because you can always turn the heat back on to raise temp. Just remember to stir. That's the beauty of BIAB.

flipfloptan said:

I usually go 7 degrees higher. I make it a pt. to misjudge on the low side because you can always turn the heat back on to raise temp. Just remember to stir. That's the beauty of BIAB.

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^ great advice.

I always keep a nice, cool pitcher of water in the fridge (for drinking, mostly) but if you overshoot your temps you can always add cool water. Or if it's only a degree or two, I never really sweat it because it will decrease as the mash goes on.