No Sparge / BIAB crush question

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tonyolympia

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There's been a lot of talk on here about no-sparge brewing, following a recent Basic Brewing show and BYO article on the topic. (I heard the show but haven't read the article yet, since my gift subscription to BYO hasn't started.)

To take advantage of the enhanced malty flavor that no-sparge brewing is supposed to produce (particularly in session beers), this weekend I'm going to brew a 1.040 Blonde in a voile BIAB my wife just sewed for me. It won't be a pure no-sparge; due to mash tun limitations, I can't mash in my full pre-boil volume. So, I'm planning to dunk my grains in a little bit of water on the side and combine the runnings to hit volume. Even with this modification, my liquor to grist ratio will be much higher than normal, so I'm hopeful that I'll get improved flavor.

Here's my specific question: shooting for lower-than-normal efficiency, 65%-70%, I plan to up my grains a bit and only SINGLE crush (I normally double-crush for BIAB). Am I right about the single crush? Good idea? Bad idea?
 
As you said, it sounds like your technique isn't really no-sparge as you be doing a modified sparge.

But as far as single or double crush, I think the main issue will be trying to predict your efficiency for this technique. If you have had your process nailed down with a double crush and you know your efficiencies after mash/sparge, it would be easier to predict your efficiency with your "no-sparge" technique. Otherwise, there is more guesswork involved. But, if you are able to adjust volumes on the fly and don't mind more or less volume to meet your OG goal, then I suppose it doesn't matter. It's my understanding that the main reason for not always using a finer crush is draff which is less of an issue with BIAB.
 
My efficiency with double-crushed grains and BIAB is always high-70's or low-80's. My main issue here is that I'd prefer not to dilute to hit OG. So I hope single-crushing and no-sparge will keep me in my low target efficiency, and I won't end up at 80% like I normally do. It's a funny thing, planning for lower efficiency, and I don't have the knack for it.

On the other hand, If I UNDERshoot my OG significantly for some reason, I'm happy to boil down a bit further or even use DME.
 
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