BIAB no mash out

Since I'm doing small batches 1.75 g and maxing out 4.5 lbs of grain I can drain and squeeze what seems to be every last drop out of the grain pretty easy and fast. I"m getting 75% Brew House Eff. I'm not doing a mash out as I mash in a colman cooler.

I guess I'm doing ok w/o the mash out. Should I be using one? Would I get maybe 80%?

If you are hitting your target gravity and have good efficiency without a mashout then you don't need to do it. Mashout is just another technique to help those who may not be getting great efficiency... but this doesn't sound like your situation so you are doing well!

Seven said:

If you are hitting your target gravity and have good efficiency without a mashout then you don't need to do it. Mashout is just another technique to help those who may not be getting great efficiency... but this doesn't sound like your situation so you are doing well!

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Thanks for your comments.

You are lucky! Making even a 5 gal bug beer with BIAB is terrible! Those grains get heavy quick.

I may do two separate BIAB mashes, and boil one down and combine them the next time.

Or just do a regular 11# grist and add LME at knockout to get the higher gravity.

tesilential said:

You are lucky! Making even a 5 gal bug beer with BIAB is terrible! Those grains get heavy quick.

I may do two separate BIAB mashes, and boil one down and combine them the next time.

Or just do a regular 11# grist and add LME at knockout to get the higher gravity.

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My biggest grain load coming up next week. Almost 5 lbs

Good thing I have the 5 gallon kooler as all that and the water will never fit in my 3 gallon kettle.

I find that when I use a grain bill over 9 or 10 pounds for a five gallon batch, my efficiency goes down and I need to mash out, but that may be just me.

jcdouglas said:

I find that when I use a grain bill over 9 or 10 pounds for a five gallon batch, my efficiency goes down and I need to mash out, but that may be just me.

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I've noticed the same thing. Anything below 1.060 OG is fine with no mashout, but if I'm going for something bigger I better do a mashout if I want to hit my projected numbers.

I use the BIAB method with a mash-out and squeeze my grains in a colander and plastic lid. My 5 gallon batches using an average grain bill of 11# yields me about 82-84%. You can see my pictures in my signature.

I bought a larger colander for 10 gallon batches; I hope to start soon.