biab conversion

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oasisbliss said:
Has anyone converted a full 5 gallon after recipe to a biab on beersmith if so can u go over how to do it?

Thanks

If you already have an AG recipe then there isnt a conversion just a process change. Remember all of the water that beersmith says you need will be in the pot for a BIAB.

Edit: is beersmith set up correctly? You may have to visit the beersmith website to tweak a few settings.
 
so is it as simple as taking the total water you would use with strike and sparge in AG add them together and that would be your total water to use in a biab process?

Also, what if I want to take a 5 gallon AG and convert it down to 2.75 gallon BIAB ?
 
so is it as simple as taking the total water you would use with strike and sparge in AG add them together and that would be your total water to use in a biab process?

yes but keep in mind you'll lose .1 gallon per pound to absorption so you have to brew one and check your efficiency. biab effiency can be as low as 50% which isn't so bad. You just might have to use more grain.

Also, what if I want to take a 5 gallon AG and convert it down to 2.75 gallon BIAB ?

2.75/5 = .55

Multiply all measurements by .55. Hopefully you're using grams. :)
 
Zactly! Read through the BIAB sticky starting at post 122. It covers this topic.
You also have to calculate what your boil off and grain absorption in your water estimate. Mind you, the grain absorption won't be as large since you'll be able to squeeze the grain bag to get the absorption rate down. I figured the absorption rate to be @ .075 gal/lb after a good squeezing.

I'm doing a BIAB tomorrow. My water estimate is: 5 gallon (final volume) + .075qt/lb of grain (for absorption) + amount boiled off during the duration of the boil (usually @ 1 gallon/hr) + 1 gallon for sparge.

All your questions should be answered in the BIAB sticky. I knows its a pain to go through a thousand posts but it is worth it!
 
yes but keep in mind you'll lose .1 gallon per pound to absorption so you have to brew one and check your efficiency. biab effiency can be as low as 50% which isn't so bad. You just might have to use more grain.



2.75/5 = .55

Multiply all measurements by .55. Hopefully you're using grams. :)

I find your efficiency number to be drastically low. Most BIAB's are over 70% with some even getting over 85%
Read through the sticky and you'll find many folks getting into the high 70's and low 80's for efficiency.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/biab-brewing-pics-233289/
 
Yea, forget the old wife's tales about not squeezing the grain bag to much. You should try to get every drop out of the grain.

And if you convert to 2.5 gallons just let BeerSmith do the work and you do the brewing.
 
OldDirty said:
I find your efficiency number to be drastically low. Most BIAB's are over 70% with some even getting over 85%
Read through the sticky and you'll find many folks getting into the high 70's and low 80's for efficiency.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/biab-brewing-pics-233289/

Yeah you should get efficiencies in the mid 70's easily and when fine tuned in the 80's.
 
I have beersmith and would like to use that. Would the best way be to load the 5 gallon AG recipe, hit the scale recipe button and choose mini BIAB to do a 2.5 gallon batch?

Also, should I always choose to match orig gravity, color and bitterness? Then at the bottom where it lists single infusion and such there is a drop down of biab (use that?) What what determines light med and full body ? also I would do a 2 week single primary so obviously choose ale single stage?

Thanks for the help I just want to make sure I understand this and do it properly. very excited to get this rolling..
 
I have beersmith and would like to use that. Would the best way be to load the 5 gallon AG recipe, hit the scale recipe button and choose mini BIAB? Should I always choose to match orig gravity, color and bitterness? Then at the bottom where it lists single infusion and such there is a drop down of biab (use that?) What what determines light med and full body ? also I would do a 2 week single primary so obviously choose ale single stage?

Thanks for the help I just want to make sure I understand this and do it properly. very excited to get this rolling..

Yup to the first question. Just let it scale for you

The rest is more complicated. You should set up your equipment try using the help option. Maybe someone here can help some more.
 
oasisbliss said:
I have beersmith and would like to use that. Would the best way be to load the 5 gallon AG recipe, hit the scale recipe button and choose mini BIAB to do a 2.5 gallon batch?

Also, should I always choose to match orig gravity, color and bitterness? Then at the bottom where it lists single infusion and such there is a drop down of biab (use that?) What what determines light med and full body ? also I would do a 2 week single primary so obviously choose ale single stage?

Thanks for the help I just want to make sure I understand this and do it properly. very excited to get this rolling..

C-Rider said:
Yup to the first question. Just let it scale for you

The rest is more complicated. You should set up your equipment try using the help option. Maybe someone here can help some more.

Multiple questions here. First thing with Beersmith is to set your own profiles. You can use the default ones first but it may not correctly match your setup. In other words, say you have a five gallon pot and Beersmith says it boils off at a certain rate. You're pot may be slightly wider so yours may boil off more water in an hour. So, you can start with defaults, then change them for your pot or make a copy of the default pot and edit it for you boil off rate. So, when you pick that and use it, Beersmith will set you up with the right amount of water.

When scaling, pick match gravity, color and bitterness! Correct! Also, pick your new pot if you are say going from a 8 gallon to a 5 gallon pot.

The light body, med body and full body will change how you mash your beer. If you want, put in a simple recipe and change that setting. Then preview it and you will see that the mash temp will rise or fall along with the time depending on what you pick.

Single stage question- probably most of your ales will be a single stage fermentation but in some recipes you will need to do a two stage so that will explain itself in time. For now, unless a recipe calls for it...single stage.

Hope that helps.
 
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