Need help- first BIAB Allgrain

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mychalg9

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Here is the recipe I plan on using(from Brewmasters Warehouse, Mild Ale):
Crisp Maris Otter 6 lbs, 10 oz
Briess 2 Row Caramel 60 1 lbs, 9 oz
Crisp Pale Chocolate Malt 0 lbs, 5 oz
Fuggles Pellets, UK 1 oz @ 45 mins
Fuggles Pellets, UK 1 oz @ 15 mins
Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast 1 ea
Recipe Notes
- Mash at 158° F
- ferment for 10 days @ 68*° F
- Drink this beer young. The recipe author has found that this particular recipe hits perfection at 21 days from brewing.


I like to have all the specifics in my head before I begin a project, so bear with me if you can. I still need to buy a large grain bag and a ten gallon pot (already have a 7.5 gal). 1) First of all, for the mash do I just use the Maris Otter? If so, I assume I'm going to need to heat ~8.5 gallons of water (for 1.25gal/lb), 2) but I'm not sure what temp to heat to before I drop the grains in? 3) To sparge I just drop the bag in the sparge water in my smaller pot? 4) What temp and how much water should I use for the sparge? 5) Once the sparge is complete, what do I do, combine the water and heat to a boil? 6) Am I steeping anything before the boil?

If anyone has the time and/or patience to answer these questions I would greatly appreciate it. I know it's not very difficult, I just like to be organized and get my mind set on the correct procedures before I start. Thanks!
 
You shouldn't need a sparge with BIAB. I've let my grain bag drain into a bucket while sitting in a strainer to get all the wort. I've never sparged in another pot. you don't need to.

I usually set my strike temp 4-5 F above mash temp. BIAB is a little different than a regular mash in a cooler. More water and the kettle is hot.
 
I did my first partial grain biab last weekend.
I actually thought i missed my strike temp, but it kept rising as I stirred, probably over a a good 4-5 minutes. So give it a few minutes to equalize before trying to adjust further.
Office store binder clips worked great for holding the sides of the bag.
Better have a powerful burner boiling that much is going to be a challenge, many average ranges wont do it.
I believe with biab you want a wetter mash than with traditional mashing, particularly if you don't sparge. (I "sparged" by putting the bag in a large colander and slowly ladling the sparge water through not sure it made a difference).
Do an iodine test. I ended up mashing for 75 minutes instead of 60. At 60 it was turning color very strongly, so I assumed that meant a lot of unconverted startch. The extra 15 minutes seemed to make a big difference.
 
It's not 1.25 gallons per lb; under normal circumstances it is 1.25 QUARTS per lb of grain for a mash ratio. But, this is BIAB so that doesn't apply anyway. I assume this is a 5 gallon recipe so you need to mash in with a little over 7 gallons, assuming a 1 gallon boil off over 60 minutes, .9 gallons lost to absorption at .12 g/lb and a little loss to trub and transfer. Don't use 8 gallons, you will have a seriously diluted wort. If you know your boiloff rate, you can then calculate your water amounts exactly.

Ok, here are the calcs for you assuming a 1 gallon boiloff over 60 minutes

Strike water = 7.02 gallons
Pre-boil volume will equal 6 gallons at 79% efficiency yielding a 1.041 pre-boil gravity
Post-boil volume will equal 5 gallons
Mash ratio will be 3.30 because of BIAB full volume mash
Strike temp will be 163.33 yielding a 158 mash temp
You will need a pot that can hold 7.69 gallons of space
 
why wouldnt you sparge just because its BIAB? Its the same concept, you use a smaller volume of water to convert the starch to sugar, then a larger volume to wash it out.
 
If you are doing a true aussie style BIAB, there is no sparge. You just mash in with the entire amount of water needed. As you can see in this example, you will get 79% efficiency, not bad, you save time and the effort of a sparge and only need one pot. Of course you can sparge if you want, but I'd rather save the time and effort. I also think this is the easiest way to get into all-grain brewing for a beginner. It is a very easy step up from steeping grains for the extract brewer.
 
why wouldnt you sparge just because its BIAB? Its the same concept, you use a smaller volume of water to convert the starch to sugar, then a larger volume to wash it out.

Sparge if you want, but what I said is there's no need. My guess would be if your that far off on your Pre-Boil Gravity rinsing isn't going to help much.

The original conception of the idea as I understand it is that its no sparge. It saves time and still produces beer as good as a traditional mash/lauter in my experience.

Follow HarkinBanks instructions. They're spot on. He even listed pre-boil gravity. Thats is a good habit to get into. I do however mash in 8 gallons, but I do 5.5 gallons and boil off 1.5 gallons in 75 minutes. My pH is always between 5.1 and 5.5 everytime.

I think thin wort is why BIAB works so well myself. Enzymes aren't in competition for water as much in a thin wort. At least this is what I read in brewing science and practice.
 
If you plan on holding back water to tea bag (hehe) I'm sure it will be OK. With BIAB method the idea was to do a full volume - no sparge mash in one vessel.

When I did brew in a bag in an 8 gallon kettle I would hold back a gallon of water because the kettle was too small to hold all the water. I never did a sparge and would routinely get 75% efficiency as calculated by StrangeBrew.Once the grain was removed and the boil started I'd add it to the kettle.
 
"You shouldn't need a sparge with BIAB. I've let my grain bag drain into a bucket while sitting in a strainer to get all the wort. I've never sparged in another pot. you don't need to"

The way I understand it is I will get a little more efficiency if I sparge, and since I will have a second pot once I buy a 10 gal I figured I would go ahead and try it. I do understand that it isn't necessary though, perhaps I will try both methods eventually. For the sake of gaining as much info as possible, though, I figured I would include it in my original post.

"It's not 1.25 gallons per lb; under normal circumstances it is 1.25 QUARTS per lb of grain for a mash ratio."

Oops, thanks for clarifying that, I know I must have just spaced out when I typed that because I do realize it quarts and not gallons.

Also, what size of grain bag do most people use for BIAB and where do you get them? Im pretty sure my LHBS doesnt carry anything over the "regular" grain bag size.
 
mychalg9 try this. Check your gravity before you do the "sparge" in the other pot. My guess is it will be relatively high as your holding back some water for the sparge. You can go to this website recipator.com and figure your pre-boil for the amounts you'll be using. This way you'll know how well you did without the sparge and how well after the sparge.

+1 5 gallon paint strainer bag.
 

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