Simple BIB small batch method

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ghack

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I've been employing a BIB method for three gallon pilot and experimental batches. After four successful trials (and four pretty tasty experiments :D) I thought I'd share it.

The set up accommodates 4-6 lbs of grain and has just enough room for four gallons of water, netting a three gallon yield. Overall I’ve been getting 75-76% efficiency consistently with no sparging of any kind.

Here is the set up. One 5 gallon canning pot, vegetable steamer, five gallon paint strainer bag (washed beforehand) stretched over the pot, all on the typical propane burner (which everyone assumes is for crawfish in my neck of the woods, and what's better with crawfish than beer?). But this could work on a decent stove top as well.

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With the brew-in-bag method, all the water: strike, sparge, top off, is placed in the pot and heated to the proper strike temp. I typically round it off to 16 quarts; that leaves just enough space for 4-6 lbs of grain without slopping it all over the place.

With the large volume to grist ration, this is only 3-4 degrees hotter than the target mash temp. I use BeerSmith, set for a 5 gallon brew pot and it pretty well nails it. Doughing in is a snap with all that liquid.

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Now we let it mash for a solid hour. I use this sophisticated insulation method. I stir and check the mash temp every fifteen minuets. I will usually add a few seconds of heat 2-3 times in the course of the mash. And I do take the towel off when the burner is on.

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The next step I think is critical; a mash out. I heat the grist up to 168 and hold it for five to ten minuets stirring a few times to make sure everything is heated up.

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Now comes the “sparge” part. Detach the neck of the bag and lift up the “tea bag”. I will let it drain a minuet or two and dunk it back in. I gently shake it to loosen the grains and get them saturated again, and then lift it out again. I dunk it two or three times, letting it drain to drips after the last dunk. No squeezing is employed.

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I set the bag in the lid of the pot, and fish out the vegetable strainer with my charismatic wooden brewing spoon seen earlier, and turn on the flame to start the boil. While it's heating, I’ll press on the bag with the back of the spoon for a second or two to collect another cup or two of liquor out of the bag. I’ll add this to the pot, but again, I do not do any real squeezing.

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So now I boil, add hops, cool and pour into the fermentor as normal. My spoon is notched so I know when I’ve gotten down to three gallons. I will adjust the heat and top off as necessary to hit the three gallon mark

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You will have a lot more trub than usual, but I have not experienced any problems with it, other than loosing a little more beer than usual when racking. The volume limits the types of beer to mid range gravity beers, employing a single infusion. And you may have to work backwards from the 16 quart or so limit of water and desired gravity to work out your grain bill.

This is pretty good way to get into all grain on a shoestring, and for small and pilot batches. It also shaves a good bit of time off the usual brewday.

Give it a try. :mug:
 
Looks like a snap. Anyone see any problems using that pot? I had also considered getting one for boiling sparge water. I am not sure what material it is, but they are definitely cheap.
 
Professional pics

Crappy cel phone cam, actually.

I picked up the enameled steel pot when I was still starting out in homebrewing and didn't have the cash for a large stainless. The only real issue is chipping the enamel off and getting rust on them. It is not hard to do, but I've been careful with it and after a decade or more, it's doing just fine. It was originally a mashing pot for the Charlie Papazian method. I use it for sparge water now. My wife used it for canning once.
 
Looks pretty sweet.

Are the paint strainer bag reusable?

I think that idea much better then trying to make a bag.

Any pointers on where your got the bags?

Thanks!
 
Pretty much like my setup cept I mash in a 5 gallon cooler, and I press the Hell out of the grain w/the bag sitting on a calendar. I haven't tried the dunk sparge but I'm brewing today, mashing right this instant.

Paint strainer bags can be used over and over till you notice a hole in it. You can buy them at your local hardware store. HD, Lowes, etc.
 
Also on the paint strainer bags, what's the best way to wash them?

I've been thinking of using this method and probably will do for my next batch.
 
Sweet walk though. You very through and for a noob like me it is very helpful. I'm hopefully going to be using a setup similar to this.
How do you know how much yeast to use? Do they yeast for 3 gallon batches?

Sent from my Droid using Home Brew Talk
 
Nice instructional.. I also do BIAB.. What type and size fermentors are you using for these 3 gal batches?
 
Also on the paint strainer bags, what's the best way to wash them?

I've been thinking of using this method and probably will do for my next batch.

When my paint strainer bags were new I washed them in the sink with a bit of soap to rid them of any residue from the manufacture and rinsed, rinsed, rinsed. After each use I simply rinse out whatever grain comes out easy, hang them to dry and then brush the dry grain off.

I get pretty vigorous with squeezing the bag since without sparging there is a lot of sugary wort left in there. The last of the wort looks pretty cloudy and at first I worried about cloudy beer but that hasn't been the case at all. I never transfer to secondary, just leave my beer in the primary for 3 to 4 weeks so everything settles out and then into the bottling bucket. I try to get all the beer I can out of the fermenter and in doing so I always end up sucking some trub into into the bottling bucket but in the few minutes it takes to get set up to bottle it seems to all settle back out. My last APA I bottled with some clear bottles so I could check on how long it might take to clear the last trub out and found the beer very clear on the second day.
 
When my paint strainer bags were new I washed them in the sink with a bit of soap to rid them of any residue from the manufacture and rinsed, rinsed, rinsed. After each use I simply rinse out whatever grain comes out easy, hang them to dry and then brush the dry grain off.

That's what I do. I replace them every few brews.

I don't squeeze the bag too much (old habits die hard). Just a few good pressings and then I usually set it in a smaller pot and let it drain for a while.
 
I am planning on doing a 2.5 gal batch using this method and was thinking of using my 6 gal glass carboy as my primary so I am able to use my plastic fermenter for a 5 gal extract batch shortly thereafter. I seem to be running into an available resource issue... :mug:

I assume there is plenty of head space in my carboy for the 2.5 gal batch and would be able to get away with simply using an airlock. Does that sound reasonable?

Also is there a need to reduce the amount of yeast for a smaller batch? Or should I use the same amount as I would with a 5 gal batch?
 
For yeast I usually pitch one package or tube of yeast without a starter. Seems to be a reasonable amount for 2.5-3 gallons. And I want to keep this easy.

I've done a few of these as a semi-starter for a much larger beer, old ale pitched on a yeast cake from an ordinary bitter, etc. so I use either a 7 gallon bucket or carboy as the primary fermenter. I have done one in a 5 gallon carboy without any problems.
 
You can machine wash the paint strainers on gentle cycle no need for soap. Mine that I use for my hop spider have lasted for many brews.
 
I know I'm jumping in late on this, but I have two 4 gallon pots, any reason to think I couldn't do two 2.5 gallon BIAB's and then combine?
 
BPhad said:
I know I'm jumping in late on this, but I have two 4 gallon pots, any reason to think I couldn't do two 2.5 gallon BIAB's and then combine?

Absolutely can be done that way.
 
Nice write up!

I do this in a 3 gal pot...mash up to 5.5lbs grain in 2 gals water. Then after the mash I sparge in my larger kettle for 10 mins at 168, then remove the grain bag, pour in the wort from the 3 gal mash pot and boil.

My starting boil volume varies from 3.5-ish gal. for a 2 1/2 gal all grain batch to 4.5 gals (the most my stove will boil) for a 5 gal partial mash batch with some top up water in the fermenter.
 
I'm not concerned about the bag being food safe. Seems like lots of folks use them, plus you'll be doing the boil afterward, so that should kill anything.
 
I'm not concerned about the bag being food safe. Seems like lots of folks use them, plus you'll be doing the boil afterward, so that should kill anything.

Not trying to de-rail, but BPA and plastic leached chemicalse do not "die" or boil off.

Lots of people used asbestos too.


I am much more concerned about hop bags that are boiled, but I don't think I will ever use them period.
 
Not trying to de-rail, but BPA and plastic leached chemicalse do not "die" or boil off.

Lots of people used asbestos too.


I am much more concerned about hop bags that are boiled, but I don't think I will ever use them period.

I'm more afraid of the air I breathe (literally) than I am about my paint strainer/hop bags..
 
Resurrecting this post, so it's in my subscribed history. Once I have space in a fermentation chamber, this will be my next batch. Great tutorial for those of us who don't quite have the space or money for a full boil. I'll be doing it on the stovetop in a 5g stock pot
 
You won't regret it. I've done this for 3 consecutive 3-gallon batches on the stovetop after doing 30+ 5 gallon batches using a cooler MT and 8 gal kettle/burner system. Just about the same efficiency and much less cleanup. The wife doesn't know too much about the process but it's only now that she says "You're getting better at this." I managed to fit 8 lbs for a 1.072 IPA (targeted low to mid 60s, sparged once).
 
i only do small batches, because mostly i am the only one drinking and it makes me brew and experiment more often. i use a 25L pot and fit about 5kilos of grain for an imperial stout i did recently. the only downside is that with any high gravity beer its not possible to get more than 10L in the ferm.
 
SORRY....but...any concerns that the grain bag may not be food safe and you are mashing it too?

The temps for mashing are still too low to release anything nasty from the bag. If you note the pics, you can see that the bag making direct contact with the bottom of the kettle (where it could scorch) is prevented. This is important when doing BIAB. You can use a number of objects for this. I am using a 20 qt canning pot like this which came with a drop-in bottom to keep everything off the floor of the kettle. It only contacts the very outside of the kettle floor and thus does not carry the heat the way the floor of the kettle might. You also aren't adding constant heat with this method, as the goal is to hold temperature, so really there are no worries regarding food safety et al.
 
Wow! Seven years! I'm still out here. And still use this method and set up from time to time. :mug:
 
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