BIAB question

Seems to be a lot of topics about this! Kind of overwhelming... I was just curious about using the bag in my water cooler-style mashtun for my AG instead of right in my SS pot that I use for the boil, and then transferring the wort to the SS pot. Anybody done this?

i did it for a couple batches before i got a valve in my MLT, it works fine, not a lot of advantage over doing it all in the pot though

I also used to do this, and it worked fine. I only did it because there was not enough volume in my turkey fryer to fit all the water and the grain at the same time.

Living in the Northeast I figured I would keeping my temp better in the cooler during the winter months... Thanks, folks!

There was someone talking about this just the other day. In effect, the bag in the cooler is serving the same function as the bazooka screen or false bottom, so as long as you can make the bag sit still and use enough water to cover the grain bed, this method will work fine. After all the whole point behind the BIAB is replicating the normal mash tun cooler/pot without having to use that additional vessel.

The only reason I could see doing this is to aid in cleanup or to avoid modifying the cooler at all.

I was thinking about doing this for big beers that are nearly impossible to do in my pot. You wouldn't have to do anything to the cooler, as was stated so it could be a dual purpose cooler (one of the classic ways to introduce more brewing equipment! It's not just for brewing....).

I did a big stout with 18 pounds of grain in my 9 gallon pot and it was brimming over. So, I like the idea of using the bag in a cooler. I don't do full volume mashes b/c they don't fit so this would also facilitate sparging.

Did I mention the cooler is really for the family?

JimTheHick said:

You wouldn't have to do anything to the cooler, as was stated so it could be a dual purpose cooler (one of the classic ways to introduce more brewing equipment! It's not just for brewing....).

Did I mention the cooler is really for the family?

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Haha, excellent, this was my exact experience today. "Look, SWMBO, a 62-qt cooler! Now we can be prepared for PARTIES and HURRICANES and brewing.

My plan is definitely to use the grain bag approach for my 5-gal brews, though I'm not sure if that will work for 10-gal batches if I ever step up to those.

Bobby_M said:

The only reason I could see doing this is to aid in cleanup or to avoid modifying the cooler at all.

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I second that, I've used BIAB in the mash tun. It did make cleaning up a lot easier. just lift the bag and toss the remnants in the compost or throw it in a bucket and chuck it in the woods. A little off topic but a lot of people scoff at true BIAB brewing but essentially it's about getting sugars out of grain. If you're on a budget and/or are not inclined to build a mash tun, all you need is a paint strainer bag or some curtain and you can make excellent beers with less cleanup.

I just did it Thursday. Only I did a 1.5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon cooler. It didn't hold the heat as long as I hoped, but did much better than my kettle would.

I'd get a 3 gallon cooler if I could find one here in the islands. Found some online for about $30 but they wanted $70 to ship it here. CRAZY!

Think I have to much head space to keep the temp up. Maybe next time I'll warm the cooler higher/longer and heat the water higher. 160* water poured over the grain cooled to 148* in one hour.

I just bought a 10 gallon cooler to start mashing this way as well. Mostly to hold temp a little better than I can in the 15 gal kettle.

This also lets me do 10 gallon batches as opposed to mashing w/no sparge in the Boilermaker which can't match the volume of the cooler/kettle combo.

tknice said:

I just bought a 10 gallon cooler to start mashing this way as well. Mostly to hold temp a little better than I can in the 15 gal kettle.

This also lets me do 10 gallon batches as opposed to mashing w/no sparge in the Boilermaker which can't match the volume of the cooler/kettle combo.

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I ordered a 70quart cooler yesterday for the same reasons. It will hold temperature better, let me do 10 gallon batches and big beers. I ordered the Igloo MaxCold one so my bag should fit it no problem.

Are nearly all coolers made of the proper plastic? I was giving a serious stink-eye to an igloo Max cold 100 quart on sale for $48 but I couldn't find the darn recycle stamp telling me it was HDPE.

Also, can the threaded cap be used as-is on the outlet of the igloo?

What materials is my cooler made of?

Hard-side coolers: The exterior body of most Igloo hard-side coolers is made of high-density polyethylene, while the interior liner is made of FDA-grade polypropylene. The insulation is made of Ultratherm™ - a proprietary blend of polyurethane foam.


Soft-side coolers: Igloo soft-side cooler exteriors vary by style and model year and are made from a variety of durable materials and blends, including polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon, polyester, thermoplastic olefin (TPO) and PEVA (polyethylene + ethylene vinyl acetate). Older models may contain polyvinylchloride (PVC). The inside liners of Igloo soft coolers are made of FDA food contact safe PEVA, although older versions may have inner liners constructed from PVC. The insulation in Igloo soft coolers consists of polyurethane, polyethylene or a blend of the two.


Igloo Earth Series™ coolers: The bodies of these coolers are made of reclaimed plastic retrieved from our industrial manufacturing processes. The interior liners are still made with FDA-quality polypropylene and they are insulated with proprietary Ultratherm™ polyurethane foam.

I do full volume BIAB batches in my kettle wrapped in Reflectix and lose 1F during 90 minute mash. Even a mash tun lined with a bag still needs to be hosed out a cleaned somewhat. I love the fact that I never have to clean a mash tun again.

John

Any brewer doing BIAB batches of less than 5 gallons could, depending on the dimensions of his or her mash/brew kettle, conduct the mash by keeping the kettle in the oven. Preheat the oven to 200 F, and once you reach mash temp and dough in, stick the mash kettle in there and turn the heat off after a minute. You'll lose one degree at most in an hour. It's great.

I mash in a 3 gallon kettle and then dunk sparge on the stovetop in a 5 gallon kettle. With that setup, I'm limited to 7.5 pounds of grain for a 3.5 gallon batch. However, a larger, no-sparge mash in the 5 gallon kettle would work too, because the kettle *just* fits in the oven.

johnodon said:

I do full volume BIAB batches in my kettle wrapped in Reflectix and lose 1F during 90 minute mash. Even a mash tun lined with a bag still needs to be hosed out a cleaned somewhat. I love the fact that I nevrhave to clean a mash tun again.

John

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I lose about 10F during a 90 minute mash. Last batch I lost 10F in 30 minutes. My pot doesn't have a lid though, so I use tin foil. Looking forward to "mash and forget" with the cooler.

tonyolympia said:

Any brewer doing BIAB batches of less than 5 gallons could, depending on the dimensions of his or her mash/brew kettle, conduct the mash by keeping the kettle in the oven. Preheat the oven to 200 F, and once you reach mash temp and dough in, stick the mash kettle in there and turn the heat off after a minute. You'll lose one degree at most in an hour. It's great.

I mash in a 3 gallon kettle and then dunk sparge on the stovetop in a 5 gallon kettle. With that setup, I'm limited to 7.5 pounds of grain for a 3.5 gallon batch. However, a larger, no-sparge mash in the 5 gallon kettle would work too, because the kettle *just* fits in the oven.

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Believe it or not, we don't have a stove/oven in the house. Only two of us, so a microwave, hotplate, slowcooker, toaster overn and a rice cooker is all we have. THe hot plate Is 1500w and I bought it online from a restaurant supply place.

C-Rider said:

Believe it or not, we don't have a stove/oven in the house. Only two of us, so a microwave, hotplate, slowcooker, toaster overn and a rice cooker is all we have. THe hot plate Is 1500w and I bought it online from a restaurant supply place.

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Wow, kudos to you for brewing with that setup! You've earned your beer.

dragonbreath11 said:

... a lot of people scoff at true BIAB brewing but essentially it's about getting sugars out of grain.

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Cheers to that! . It's all about the beer, no matter how you look at it.

I got started with BIAB after reading about it and wanting to go all grain and have never found a reason to switch. I could see going to a MLT if I was doing larger than 5 gallon batches, but BIAB gets me great beer with great efficiency at that size. Cleanup is easy, and I like brewing variety, so I'll stick with it!

I have been biab for over a year now using my 5 gallon gott cooler to mash the grains in. My bag fits perfectly into the cooler with enough material left over comming out the top i fold it over the threads and am able to screw my lid on over the bag to hold it in place. This allows me to shake the cooler also. i do five gallon batches so i put 3 gallons in the mash tun and 3 gallons back into the pot to sparge for 15 minutes after the mash so i BIAB and SIAB (Sparge In A Bag). I like the fact that i am able to stir the grains in the bag in the sparge water

I second johnodon, do every thing in the pot. Just insulate the pot well and only loose a degree or two. Besides only one vessel to clean.

What about getting all of the wort out the massive bloated bag of grains? Should I squeeze it? Hang it over the pot?

If you can get like a big strainer to rest it in, and rest that on top of the pot (without melting it), you could probably save yourself a lot of trouble.

(I don't know if this works for BIAB, but this is what I used to do for my partial-mash brews).

I raise the bag above the pot with a pulley setup and squeeze it periodically as it drains as i raise the wort to the boil. I leave it draining for about 20-30 mins into the boil.

I use Blichmann gloves to squeeze

The most important thing is that you hit your pre-boil volume. BIAB will lead to slightly less absorption loss than typical all grain. I think this has to do with the pressure on the grain during lifting. So, whether or not you squeeze, all depends on how much wort you need.