So I attempted my first BIAB last weekend, and so far it appears to have been a success! I had done a few partial mashes with good results, and tried the Northern Brewer Chocolate Milk Stout kit. I was hesitant to brew a beer with so many additions for my first AG batch, but so far so good. I realized a few batches back that my rarely used 30 qt. pressure cooker makes a great kettle, although I admit that I do use direct low heat to maintain temperature, with the jar riser on the bottom of the pot to keep the bag from melting. I also made my first yeast starter, which I should have done years ago! I have a background in micro-bio, and had stirplates, flasks, etc. all sitting around in a dusty box in the closet (too bad there is no "facepalm" smiley). I think I may soon start a yeast bank, as I have the experience and equipment to work with agar, but that's a topic for another thread. The fermentation was vigorous, I saw my first bubbles from the blowoff tube within about 6 hours, and the gravity had dropped to around 1.020 within 2 days (best part about using corny kegs for fermentors is that sampling is extremely simple!). I'm very excited, and really amazed at how easy it was... Next up is the Waldo Lake kit, it's a fairly big grain bill in comparison, here's hoping it goes as well! Thanks deathbrewer for the pictorials which got me started!
Another first BIAB
- Thread starter stunsm
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congrats!!! BIAB is a very easy way to brew. so far I've been happy with it and plan on continuing this method for a while.
Agreed, I don't see myself going back! I had put off AG brewing because I figured by the time I bought a new kettle, coolers, parts, etc, I'd end up spending ~$500. In the end, I bought a $5 grain bag. Certainly a little easier on the wallet!
gunner65
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That is unless you take the BIAB equipment to the next level like I did.
gunner65
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BIAB or brew in a bag. It is an Australian method that is catching on because of the simplicity and less equipment needed. Basically you put all of your grain mill into a large bag stick it into the kettle with full water volume, mash it, lift bag out to drain, start boil, add hops addition, chill or not the end.
What'd you do? I bought a 7 gallon cooler, a stainless steel racking cane, and some silicone tube. I mash with a bag in the cooler, then sparge in my brew pot, then rack the wort from the cooler to the brewpot and boil.
Any other suggestions?
gunner65
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Your method is perfectly fine I however got carried away with a PID controled electric keggle and recirculate from bottom to top to insure perfect temp control not to mention the al stainless valves and quick disconnects then there is the CFC chiller and pond pump for cooling. I was merely suggesting that it is not always the cheapest brewing method when one takes it up a notch (overdoes it).
ScubaSteve
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Anyone with a sculpture is taking brewing to the next level 
I started learning from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, and Papazian was talking about drilling holes in the bottom of a bucket! It worked fine, but I guess years of tweaking have brought us to rigs and equipment like Lehr, Kladue, Brouwerij Kabouter, LonnieMac, YuriRage, GreenMonti, SawDustGuy, Monstermash, and MANY MANY others have. Matter of fact, I think we should have the "Oscars" of homebrewing equipment (not just beer).
I started learning from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, and Papazian was talking about drilling holes in the bottom of a bucket! It worked fine, but I guess years of tweaking have brought us to rigs and equipment like Lehr, Kladue, Brouwerij Kabouter, LonnieMac, YuriRage, GreenMonti, SawDustGuy, Monstermash, and MANY MANY others have. Matter of fact, I think we should have the "Oscars" of homebrewing equipment (not just beer).
gunner65
Well-Known Member
Anyone with a sculpture is taking brewing to the next level
Scuba your single vessel BIAB was my inspiration to put the other two vessels away for a while. I did my first BIAB batch with my ekeggle and dont know if I will ever go back.
So I thought I'd post a follow up to this thread. My first BIAB was a great success, and I had high hopes that my brewing would never be the same. My second, the Waldo Lake Amber kit from northernbrewer, was a bit less smooth! The 14.25 lb. grain bill was clearly too much for my setup. The mash went well, although I had underestimated how much water I would need. No worries, I quickly brought another gallon or two to mash temp, added in and all seemed well with the world. After the mash, I "attempted" to lift the bag out with the help of my paddle, and noticed that the grain bag was quickly splitting along the side. I moved the bag into my sparge pot as quickly as possible, and found that I had grossly underestimated the displacement of that much grain, with a major overflow imminent. I was stuck holding the bag just high enough that the water wouldn't overflow, and had quite the dilemna: either lift the bag out and certainly split it along the side, spilling grain everywhere, or just let go and spill a few gallons of hot but fairly light wort, as it had been in there for maybe 30 seconds while I pondered my options. Sooo, after cleaning a few gallons of wort out of my stove, I combined the two kettles, and had a fairly uneventful remainder of the boil. Got out the immersion chiller, brought the temps down in record time (ground water in the high 30's helps), dumped in the fermenter, pitched, all was again well... Until the cleanup. I unhooked my chiller and noticed that my sink was dripping slightly. A little movement of the handle, a small pop, and next thing I know, water is spraying everywhere, both from the base of the sink, and below in the cabinet underneath! "No worries," I think, I'll shut down the valves and deal with it! I open the cabinets to find that both water valves are stuck open, and water continues to fill my kitchen until I could find a pipe wrench to get the leverage to shut them down. But, in the end, I hit my target OG at exactly 1.064 with a nice, full 5 gallons in the fermenter, so I guess it wasn't all bad!
gunner65
Well-Known Member
Dude, Sorry to hear about the plumbing issue. Glad everything went well. Cheers to you and another successful brew.
The keys to BIAB in my experience are...
1. A large kettle
2. A large strong bag
3. A sure way to lift the bag and let it hang and drain into the kettle
With a large grain bill and larger batches, it is not as easy as "pulling the bag", the bag is full or wort and must be allowed to drain as it is slowly lifted out of the kettle. A ratchet strap or ratchet pully is invaluable as a "third hand" when hoisting out of the kettle for larger batches.
Also, with a large kettle, the bag can hang and drain while partially inside the kettle for several minutes.
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