BIAB as easy as I can make it.

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Parkinson1963

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Brew in a Bag, also known as BIAB

As simple as I can make it


Equipment List

1 Pot , with lid, at least 10 gallons, 40 litres in volume (I use a keggle)
2 Bag, swiss voile (mine is 1.5' wide by 2.5' high)
3 Mash Paddle
4 Heat source
5 Thermometer
6 Insulation (old comforter, blankets, sleeping bag, etc)

The Bag
A lot of talk is generated on this simple thing.
What you are making is a pillow case out of mesh.
In fact a new washed pillow case (poly cotton/polyester) will work quite well, just not as efficient.

Best material so far, Swiss voile (fabric stores carry it).
The material comes in 5' widths so 1/2 yard will make a bag.
Use of sewing machine and ten minutes will make a bag, ask your mommy, girl friend, sister, etc
If no sewing machine a needle and thread will do (about ½ to 1 hour)
A draw string closure will be nice, but not necessary.
Also I believe a 1m by 1m square of the material will make a bag, with no sewing. Just push the material into the pot with 4 spring clamps holding up the edges (I have not tried this yet).

The Grains
A fine crush is best for BIAB, I use a 0.5mm (0.02”) gap on my barley crusher mill.
Some flour is fine and expected.


Procedure

for a five gallon batch

1. Add 28 litres (7.5 gallons) of water to the pot.
2. Begin heating
3. When to about 10c less than the mash temp add the bag and the grains
4. Stir the grain with your mash paddle well, no lumps.
5. Keep heating and stirring until your mash temp is reached (65 to 68c)
6. Turn off heat
7. Put lid on pot and insulate
8. Leave alone for 60 to 90 minutes
9. Remove insulation
10. Apply heat and stir until mash out temp reached (~76c)
11. Shut off heat
12. Lift up bag, drain, squeeze, drain, squeeze,drain, repeat as necessary I try to get every drop.
13. Apply heat bring to boil, add hops, cool, pitch yeast, etc

With the above equipment and method I get ~75% efficiency, same as my three vessel system.

There are lots of room for modifications to above method, knock your self out.

However in my opinion keeping it simple is what BIAB is about

“It's dead easy” Uncle Dennis, 40+ year beer maker

Colin
 
I find long mashes key to the BiaB technique. Also, dont squeeze your grains bag! Also I do a separate batch sparge by dunking the grain in to 170*f water and allowing it to rest there for 10 minutes or so, longer the better. then combine the liquids and bring to a boil. I get efficiency in the high 80s when I do this. Oh, I also double mill my grains.
 
I find long mashes key to the BiaB technique. Also, dont squeeze your grains bag! Also I do a separate batch sparge by dunking the grain in to 170*f water and allowing it to rest there for 10 minutes or so, longer the better. then combine the liquids and bring to a boil. I get efficiency in the high 80s when I do this. Oh, I also double mill my grains.

why not squeeze the grain bag? please don't say its to prevent tannins from being extracted because that's a myth.

the biggest thing about BIAB is the crush. crush it until you're scared and then go one step farther. dunk sparging ...some do it..some don't. I'm one of those that doesn't. I do a mash out by heating to 165-168F, stirring the entire time I heat. pull the bag and once it has slowed to almost a drip I place it in a colander over either the brew kettle or my old 5 gallon pot. after 20 minutes I squeeze the bag for all its worth.
 
I find long mashes key to the BiaB technique. Also, dont squeeze your grains bag! Also I do a separate batch sparge by dunking the grain in to 170*f water and allowing it to rest there for 10 minutes or so, longer the better. then combine the liquids and bring to a boil. I get efficiency in the high 80s when I do this. Oh, I also double mill my grains.

'The Squeeze' is fairly common among no-spargers, myself included, as a way to help keep efficiency up. I've never had any problems with over-extraction, nor have I read of anyone else having this problem. The most important part of doing no-sparge, IMHO, is to bring the temp up to mash-out temperatures to allow for more dissolved sugars in solution and make the mash liquid less viscous and more likely to separate from the grains.
 
I take it one step further.

Mash at 154*f for 75 minutes. Remove bag and let it drip. Then I place the grain bag on a colander and pour COLD water over the grains. This is less to sparge and more to lower the grain temp so I can squeeze the bag without burning myself. I am a newb but I achieved 85% efficiency everytime with this method. My grain never gets above mash temp and I've got great efficiency. I do double crush at the LHBS as well.
 
sounds easy enough

That's because it is. I've done quite a few now and the biggest factor is getting and keeping the mash temperature in range. I use an online calculator to determine my strike temp, stir in the grains that have been crushed or ground quite fine, put the lid on and wrap the whole pot with something that will insulate it. In 15 to 20 minutes I can see the effects of conversion as the wort goes from cloudy with starches to clear but I still give my mash a full hour. Pull the bag out and squeeze out all the wort I can, perhaps rinse (sparge) it with more water and then start the boil. :ban:
 
Everybody has their opinion, here's mine.

1. Voile bag. Go to wal mart and buy a slider sized rod pocket curtain. Cut it in half and sew the 2 open sides. Yougbet 2 bags, and as a bonus the top and bottom hems act as a pocket for the drawstring. Sew the middle of the draw string to the bag. I wish I had. I used 1/2" cotton webbing.

2. After the mash I pull the bag and let it hang to drip. Then I place a new BBQ grille over my fermenter, place a small rubbermaid tote bin ( 9" x 18") with the bottom cut out on top of it on the grille, and set the bag in the bottomless tote while i fire the kettle. Then put on a pair of rubber gloves and squeeze the grain bag like it owes me beer.
 
I like the curtain idea. I just used a nylon mesh from walmart sewn with nylon tread. The thing I would like to add is I did not stitch the bottom closed. I use a zip tie every brew and close the bottom up tight. This allows me to dump the grain cut the tie and rinse the husks down and fabric and out. I do this with the fabric lining the inside of a bucket so I can spray it out and pull the bag up as I go. Note: I tested my zip ties first in boiling water and also this method cuts your stitching in half and that was a benefit for me.
 
I do the no sparge as well because it is the easiest and least messy way to go. I also squeeze the bag to get all the lovely wort out that I can.

That said, question for all you bag squeezers: how do you squeeze your bag? The wort is pretty hot making it difficult to straight up squeeze it. I usually hang it in a colander and try to press it down with a spatula. I've heard some people use thicker rubber gloves.
 
That said, question for all you bag squeezers: how do you squeeze your bag? The wort is pretty hot making it difficult to straight up squeeze it. I usually hang it in a colander and try to press it down with a spatula. I've heard some people use thicker rubber gloves.

I use a spare bucket and turn a colander upside down at the bottom of the bucket. I then set the bag on the colander and use a lid from a saucepan to squeeze down on the bag. Usually get about a little less than a gallon doing this...
 
I do the no sparge as well because it is the easiest and least messy way to go. I also squeeze the bag to get all the lovely wort out that I can.

That said, question for all you bag squeezers: how do you squeeze your bag? The wort is pretty hot making it difficult to straight up squeeze it. I usually hang it in a colander and try to press it down with a spatula. I've heard some people use thicker rubber gloves.

I squeeze gently, and I wear cheap vinyl gloves so I can stand the heat a bit longer, but honestly, if it sits above the pot long enough it pretty much squeezes itself.
 
I do the no sparge as well because it is the easiest and least messy way to go. I also squeeze the bag to get all the lovely wort out that I can.

That said, question for all you bag squeezers: how do you squeeze your bag? The wort is pretty hot making it difficult to straight up squeeze it. I usually hang it in a colander and try to press it down with a spatula. I've heard some people use thicker rubber gloves.

If you don't mind the extra cleanup, dunk that bag in cold water. It won't dissolve as much sugar as hot but it is a bunch easier to squeeze the water back out and along with that water comes most of the sugar. Dunk and drain it a couple times even.
 
That's because it is. I've done quite a few now and the biggest factor is getting and keeping the mash temperature in range. I use an online calculator to determine my strike temp, stir in the grains that have been crushed or ground quite fine, put the lid on and wrap the whole pot with something that will insulate it. In 15 to 20 minutes I can see the effects of conversion as the wort goes from cloudy with starches to clear but I still give my mash a full hour. Pull the bag out and squeeze out all the wort I can, perhaps rinse (sparge) it with more water and then start the boil. :ban:

what calculator????
 
I like the curtain idea. I just used a nylon mesh from walmart sewn with nylon tread. The thing I would like to add is I did not stitch the bottom closed. I use a zip tie every brew and close the bottom up tight. This allows me to dump the grain cut the tie and rinse the husks down and fabric and out. I do this with the fabric lining the inside of a bucket so I can spray it out and pull the bag up as I go. Note: I tested my zip ties first in boiling water and also this method cuts your stitching in half and that was a benefit for me.

Interesting idea on the zip tie. I have been turning the bag in side out, spraying it down with a garden hose and then running it through the laundry. How do you keep the ztie from sliding down the outside of the bag?
 
I do the no sparge as well because it is the easiest and least messy way to go. I also squeeze the bag to get all the lovely wort out that I can.

That said, question for all you bag squeezers: how do you squeeze your bag? The wort is pretty hot making it difficult to straight up squeeze it. I usually hang it in a colander and try to press it down with a spatula. I've heard some people use thicker rubber gloves.

Here is my solution to squeezing
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/indoor-biab-draining-303736/.
 
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