Why BIAB?

I am honestly wondering why BIAB? I have been a rubbermaid cooler all-grain brewer for a few years now. I never heard of BIAB before I bought the coolers. But reading the sticky (which looks new) I just can't help but think that for the cost of that fancy Blichmann kettle you coulda got a basic cooler setup.

So why BIAB?

What is BIAB?

Well, personally I don't have a fancy Blichmann kettle. I have the 4 gal pot I've always had as an extract brewer.

So 5 bucks for 2 paint strainer bags is much cheaper than 50 bucks for a cooler.

looking forward to an answer to this question

superbob404 said:

What is BIAB?

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Brew In A Bag

I was just reading somewhere that this person chooses to BIAB because he/she thought there would be less clean-up, which makes sense.

Biggest reason for me was i wanted to start brewing all grain without investing a lot of time and money for equipment. I've done 6-8 batches now and i think the process is fine. It would probably be a touch easier on brew day to go the traditional route with a MLT, but i just haven't felt like investing time and funds to build one. So I'll probably stick with BIAB for a while b/c it makes good beer. And no stuck sparges!

For me it was an easy and cheap way to go all grain without buying more equipment than I already had. Cleanup is a cinch since you are only dealing with one vessel.

I just did my first BIAB last weekend (Centennial Blond) and it was very easy to do. I use a cut down 15 gal beer keg for my brew pot.
The main reason I went Biab route was I had the brew pot and the only other thing I needed was the bag. Less than $10 for the voile fabric (made 2 bags) and I was ready to go.

Less equipment. Simple set-up. Less space. It works. Although, I think the number one reason people BIAB is simply because they want to. Isn't that the common thread with all of the madness on this site?

is there an efficacy difference with BIAB?

I do not believe people are doing BIAB because it is thought to be better than the traditional all-grain process, but more of a 'baby step' into all-grain. For some, this is all they will ever need and will not go any further. For others they will slowly start heading toward the traditional methods as they run into corner case limitations.

For me personally, I was doing all extract brews and decided I had started to understand all my variables, ferm temp control etc and was ready to branch out to all-grain but didn't want to add much more time.

With full volume, no sparge, BIAB I just had to spend $5 on the bag and add about 30 mins to my brew day for the full mash (was already steeping specialty grains for 30mins). The only extra clean up is rinsing a bag.

As far as efficiency, it is about the same. Some people who mill their own grain report efficiencies into the 90's because they can just make flour. No such thing as stuck sparges.

The only real limitation is having a big enough brew pot since you need to start with your full volume.

If I focus, using my wort chiller, I can pitch my yeast and be cleaned up in just about 3-3.5 hours.

kable said:

I do not believe people are doing BIAB because it is thought to be better than the traditional all-grain process, but more of a 'baby step' into all-grain. For some, this is all they will ever need and will not go any further. For others they will slowly start heading toward the traditional methods as they run into corner case limitations.

For me personally, I was doing all extract brews and decided I had started to understand all my variables, ferm temp control etc and was ready to branch out to all-grain but didn't want to add much more time.

With full volume, no sparge, BIAB I just had to spend $5 on the bag and add about 30 mins to my brew day for the full mash (was already steeping specialty grains for 30mins). The only extra clean up is rinsing a bag.

As far as efficiency, it is about the same. Some people who mill their own grain report efficiencies into the 90's because they can just make flour. No such thing as stuck sparges.

The only real limitation is having a big enough brew pot since you need to start with your full volume.

If I focus, using my wort chiller, I can pitch my yeast and be cleaned up in just about 3-3.5 hours.

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+1 You said almost exactly what I was going to say. It's quick, it's easy, it's cheap, it's effective. When it was below zero outside, I could do a small batch on the kitchen stove, chill it in the sink and still have the same qualities as doing it out on the deck in the cold wind.

Since it is so quick, I could do 2 batches in the time most of the traditional all grain people are reporting and still have the 5 gallons that most of them do.:rockin:

ksbrain said:

I am honestly wondering why BIAB? I have been a rubbermaid cooler all-grain brewer for a few years now. I never heard of BIAB before I bought the coolers. But reading the sticky (which looks new) I just can't help but think that for the cost of that fancy Blichmann kettle you coulda got a basic cooler setup.

So why BIAB?

Click to expand...

A "fancy" kettle isn't a requirement for BIAB. I didn't purchase a Blichmann kettle specifically for BIAB. I got that kettle because I liked it and was planning to move to traditional all-grain once I became comfortable with extract brewing. I discovered BIAB after purchasing my kettle.

As for the benefits of BIAB: There's only one kettle to clean at the end, no HLT or MLT to purchase/clean/store, much smaller footprint requirement overall for equipment, no sparging, less complicated, saves time...

After trying BIAB for myself and finding that it works great - there may not be a need for me to move to traditional all-grain brewing in the future. But who knows? I could change my mind later and move to some other brewing method. As a BIAB brewer I could easily switch methods without incurring any significant financial loss since most of the equipment needed for BIAB can be used with the other brewing methods.

I'm not planning on switching methods anytime soon though. BIAB works very well for me and so far I cannot see any compelling reason to switch to something else.

I do BIAB with really good results. I'd rather do traditional all-grain but I live in a small apartment. I already take up enough space with my current equiptment so I didn't want to take up even more room... and I only use store-bought 5 gallon pots.

Tried my first BIAB a few weeks back on a low gravity mild. hit 81% efficiency, and starting to force carb it this weekend. should be ready for a tasting in a week of so.

Doing a hefe this weekend BIAB with 11lbs of grain, probably as big of a beer as I'd go using this method, since I do have a 10 gal rubbermaid cooler, and a fly-sparge for larger grain bills.

I've been doing 3 gallon BIAB brews on my stove. Works awesome. The only purchase I needed to make to go from extract to all-grain was some paints trainer bags.

I've been doing single tier - 3 keggle AG for a few years now and am going to be doing single vessel BIAB shortly. Why? Tired of killing my back/body cleaning up after an AG session and I really don't need to be doing 10 gallon batches anymore. So for me it's not about the money or fear of going all out AG.

Also will be switching to electric only and indoor brewing. No more rain, snow & cold during the winter and bugs in the summer.

Yeah, I wouldn't really call it a baby step into all grain brewing. I've done 3 batches now using 2 pots and deathbrewers method and this weekend I'm going to brew a no sparge batch in a single pot. Using disposable paint strainer bags for both the mash and hops will leave me with one pot to clean and it's super simple.

Considering a 10 gal pot can handle an 18+ lb grain bill, I just don't see the drawback. It's so easy.

Lets see my three methods on my system are as follows:

1. I can do a simple e-HERMS got 68% on the one batch I made
2. I can use my igloo to do a batch sparge still got less than 70% on two batches
3. All electric BIAB setup hit 75% on first batch and have average 78%

This method can be as simple as a turkey fryer and bag or as complex as my all electric single vessel multifunction system. The beer I have made using all three systems have been fantastic if I go back to HERMS or even batch sparging I will probably have better results as I have dialed my system in more and never gave the other two methods a fair shake. Then I ask myself why go back if I can hit 80+% with one vessel?

Baby-steps? Fear of all out all-grain?

Hmmm I'm not sure you guys understand really that BIAB is a fully fledged all-grain production method in it's own right. It doesn't aspire to be a 3v system, it doesn't need to be and there's no reason to have to "upgrade" to a traditional system, it's an alternative system, not some poor cousin.

Tried out my poor cousin this past weekend making starter wort for yeast starter. Worked nicely and was much easier than pulling out all of my AG stuff just for a few jars of wort. I can see this as being very popular for people with small apartments or who just want to brew small batches with little muss and fuss.

Not sure it's better than a cooler MLT and turkey fryer when doing 5 G batches, but it's not really that much different in any way.

I have a rubbermaid mash-tun and still prefer BIAB to using it. I get efficiency pretty-close to what I did with the cooler and a double-batch sparge, but I save a solid hour+ from my brewday.

With that said, I'm still going to build an electric Brutus20 system very soon since I want to brew inside and have some automation.

I had a 40qt turkey fryer that I used for extract brewing.. it was a simple $6 purchase of voile material and having SWMBO sew it into a bag for me instead of buying a cooler and converting it and buying another pot for a HLT. My first AG was 77% and I average 75% efficiency. The beer that BIAB produces is every bit as good as a traditional 3v setup. It's clear, it taste great and yes it can produce award winning brews (got the medals to prove it). As mentioned before, no stuck sparges....ever! Cleanup is a snap as there is one pot to clean. A typical brew day for me is 3-3.5 hours long including cleanup.

does BIAB have it's limitations? Of course it does, but those limits are mostly the limits of how much weight the person is willing to lift out of a kettle. for a 5 gallon batch I normally have a grain bill of 11.5lb -13lbs. could I lift more? of course I can. I recently converted a keg into a keggle in order to do bigger beers or join the 10 gallon club.

Now, I won't say that a 3v system has no uses. There are beers that I would only do in a 3v setup. like a parti-gyle. I do have a cooler now that I can convert and I do have my 40qt brew pot that can become a HLT.. and when the day comes that I really want to do a beer that would be better suited to a 3v setup then I'll convert the cooler. Until then I'll follow the motto of K.I.S.S. and continue to BIAB

Mysticmead said:

I had a 40qt turkey fryer that I used for extract brewing.. it was a simple $6 purchase of voile material and having SWMBO sew it into a bag for me instead of buying a cooler and converting it and buying another pot for a HLT. My first AG was 77% and I average 75% efficiency. The beer that BIAB produces is every bit as good as a traditional 3v setup. It's clear, it taste great and yes it can produce award winning brews (got the medals to prove it). As mentioned before, no stuck sparges....ever! Cleanup is a snap as there is one pot to clean. A typical brew day for me is 3-3.5 hours long including cleanup.

does BIAB have it's limitations? Of course it does, but those limits are mostly the limits of how much weight the person is willing to lift out of a kettle. for a 5 gallon batch I normally have a grain bill of 11.5lb -13lbs. could I lift more? of course I can. I recently converted a keg into a keggle in order to do bigger beers or join the 10 gallon club.

Now, I won't say that a 3v system has no uses. There are beers that I would only do in a 3v setup. like a parti-gyle. I do have a cooler now that I can convert and I do have my 40qt brew pot that can become a HLT.. and when the day comes that I really want to do a beer that would be better suited to a 3v setup then I'll convert the cooler. Until then I'll follow the motto of K.I.S.S. and continue to BIAB

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I do 60l batches with a grain bill touching on thirty pounds. It is easier to do with help, but no biggie really.

exactly.. it all comes down to how big you want to go.. and how much you're willing to lift.

as far as teh original question of Why BIAB?? I ask Why not?

One should ask yourself a question "Why not BIAB?" No really, you have to be crazy at least not to try it. How about simplicity, much shorter brew days, less equipment to purchase, clean and store, no stuck sparges, no rice hulls to deal with even with 50% wheat in a grist, no worries about how fine your grain crush, no mash outs, no sparges, same efficency, same results at the end. I don't see any disadvantages to this method may be other than be able to do decoctions. I have only 40 qt brewing pot for equipment and a nice voile bag, don't see myself moving to MLT design any time soon if ever

even with BIAB you can still mash out.. and as stated above..NO stuck sparges.. I did a 100% wheat decoction mash for a Hefe.. no rice hulls needed. for 10 gallon and less brewing I say to all the 3v guys.. give it a shot.. what do you have to lose beside $6 bucks..and a little less time brewing.. for those brewing half barrel batches and bigger.. BIAB might not be for you

The only reason not to go BIAB is if you're:
doing huge batches,
want automation,
have a need for bling.

I started going down the all grain path with BIAB... I did 5 batches (one PM, the rest all grain) with it, and used it for half the grain bill in a 10 gallon batch. While I enjoyed how it wasn't expensive to get started with, you do need some good sized pots in order to use it. The amount of grain in my typical 5 gallon batch means I couldn't do a full volume mash (I would have needed a LARGE pot if I was to try it)... It wasn't always so easy to shift the grain bag from one pot to the other either. Usually making a mess on the stove in the process.

I've since finished my 70qt Coleman Xtreme cooler mash tun, and used it... HUGE difference in how much easier it is. It's just one extra piece of gear over BIAB (if you don't count the bag)... But, you have so much more flexibility and getting the dough-balls/clumps out of the grain is so much easier it's not even funny. I have a 1/2" ball valve on the cooler, and my 32qt kettle, so moving the wort to the kettle, from the mash tun is easy. I use a spare 5 gallon pot (used to be my sparge pot) to heat the sparge water as the mash is finishing. Using a propane burner also make a large difference in making things easier. Where my stove would struggle to get 6.7-7 gallons of wort up to a boil, the propane burner almost laughs at it. Easily 1/4 of the amount of time to get up to a boil, and that's with the burner on less than 1/2... The stove used to be set as high as it could go...

BIAB is a good way to get comfortable with going all grain. And a good method to know for when you want to use it, or need to use it (tiny batches, or to make starter wort). But nothing is as easy as using a cooler mash tun... Just think about what you need to do to maintain your mash temp with BIAB... You either need to wrap the pot up in insulating items, or keep a low heat applied. If you apply heat to it, you could easily burn through the bag and have grain in your wort. With the cooler, heat loss is minimal (a degree, maybe two over a 90 minute mash).

Cleanup can be very easy with the cooler mash tun too... Got a compost heat? Simply carry the cooler over and dump. Use the waste water from the IC to clean out the rest. Done.

Personally, I'm keeping the nylon bags I used for BIAB... Mostly because it's nice to have spare things around. Chances of me going that route for a batch is minimal though.

Also, If you design your manifold/screen right, for the mash tun, you won't get stuck sparges. It does help to have your own grain mill, so you KNOW the crush size of the grain.

BTW, I don't agree, at all with iijakii's assessment... My pots are UGLY... 32qt aluminum stock pot converted into a kettle, dented 20qt HLT pot, and 5+ year old Coleman Xtreme cooler converted into a mash tun (if you saw it, you wouldn't call it pretty)... Zero automation, zero 'bling'... I do like the FLEXIBILITY having the 70qt mash tun gives me... Means I can mash almost 45# of grain at a time, with 1.25qt/#... So, my big barleywine won't be an issue, even when I decide to brew a 10 gallon batch of it.

I wouldn't says that BIAB is only goof for tiny batches or making starter wort... you were doing BIAB on the stove top with small pots.. yes I know that a lot of people do it that way and deathbrewer has done an outstanding job documenting the process.. but when you say getting rid of dough balls is easier with a cooler..keep in mind that MOST people doing BIAB are doing it full volume BIAB. at 3qt/lb there are no dough balls. now if you were using a 5 gallon cooler and only had a 5 gallon brew pot and were still doing stove top brewing, would it be easier than BIAB? doubtful. People with converted coolers or a 3 keggle setup still get dough balls.

Both systems BIAB and 3v are EXCELLENT ways to convert grain to wort. Each method has it's place and each brewer's needs or preferences will be different. One is not better than the other. For now I prefer BIAB doing full volume mashing with no sparge. It doesn't mean I think that BIAB is the only way to go. I'm happy that your 3v setup works better for you. It really doesn't matter if the brew hardware is butt ugly or complete bling... 3v or 2v or BIAB. Stove top, propane, NG or electric. it doesn't even really matter if its all manual or fully automated or something in between.. In the end we all have the same goal. that's simply to make beer.

REALLY hard to mash over 12# of grain in a 32qt pot, without it overflowing, with enough water to NOT need a sparge pot... I was using as much water as I could fit in the mash pot so that it would (most likely) it into the other pot... Still, my back did NOT like me doing it. The last batch I did using BIAB (at home) I ended up needing to use a step stool to get enough height over the post to better lift, and hold, the bag for it to drain. I don't have a pot rack over the stove to help out, just the stove...

With the mash tun/cooler method, I get zero back strain. I've brewed at someone else's place last time, and IF I needed to, we could both have lifted the cooler to the table, for draining it (using gravity as a tool)...

Not saying BIAB isn't a viable method, just saying it's not the end-all be-all for all grain brewing. I used it to get my feet wet with all grain, before investing in converting my cooler as well as making my kettle. I just see the cooler/mash tun method as having far more flexibility and a longer life-span than BIAB did... At least for me... YMMV

BTW, my stove SUCKS for getting anything over about 4 gallons up to a boil. Even there, it struggles. IF you have a stove that gets full volume batches up to a boil in a decent amount of time, then that could change things. I got sick of it taking over an hour to get the mash/sparge wort up to a boil. I also got sick of struggling to maintain a boil with over 6.5/7 gallons in the pot. I also got sick of trying to maintain mash temps for the entire time without adding more heat, or trying to add boiling water to the mash. I can only imagine how my stove would have reacted if I tried to get 8+ gallons of water even to 165F to do a full volume mash... It I had touched it, the grate probably would have shifted, and I would have had a nasty mess all over the place, not to mention me.

I'm looking forward to the next place I live... I intend to get one with an area where I'll be able to brew easily. I'm also looking forward to when I can build a brew stand to use. Not sure when the stand will happen, but I'll be moving this year...

Golddiggie said:

You either need to wrap the pot up in insulating items, or keep a low heat applied. If you apply heat to it, you could easily burn through the bag and have grain in your wort. With the cooler, heat loss is minimal (a degree, maybe two over a 90 minute mash).

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Brew pot with wraped around old Columbia skiing jacket - no loss of heat during 90 min mash, may be 1-2 degree max if I open it 4-5 times to swirl mashed grains around. Not sure why people have problems with it

Golddiggie said:

REALLY hard to mash over 12# of grain in a 32qt pot, without it overflowing, with enough water to NOT need a sparge pot... I was using as much water as I could fit in the mash pot so that it would (most likely) it into the other pot... Still, my back did NOT like me doing it. The last batch I did using BIAB (at home) I ended up needing to use a step stool to get enough height over the post to better lift, and hold, the bag for it to drain. I don't have a pot rack over the stove to help out, just the stove...

With the mash tun/cooler method, I get zero back strain. I've brewed at someone else's place last time, and IF I needed to, we could both have lifted the cooler to the table, for draining it (using gravity as a tool)...

Not saying BIAB isn't a viable method, just saying it's not the end-all be-all for all grain brewing. I used it to get my feet wet with all grain, before investing in converting my cooler as well as making my kettle. I just see the cooler/mash tun method as having far more flexibility and a longer life-span than BIAB did... At least for me... YMMV

BTW, my stove SUCKS for getting anything over about 4 gallons up to a boil. Even there, it struggles. IF you have a stove that gets full volume batches up to a boil in a decent amount of time, then that could change things. I got sick of it taking over an hour to get the mash/sparge wort up to a boil. I also got sick of struggling to maintain a boil with over 6.5/7 gallons in the pot. I also got sick of trying to maintain mash temps for the entire time without adding more heat, or trying to add boiling water to the mash. I can only imagine how my stove would have reacted if I tried to get 8+ gallons of water even to 165F to do a full volume mash... It I had touched it, the grate probably would have shifted, and I would have had a nasty mess all over the place, not to mention me.

I'm looking forward to the next place I live... I intend to get one with an area where I'll be able to brew easily. I'm also looking forward to when I can build a brew stand to use. Not sure when the stand will happen, but I'll be moving this year...

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you need atleast 40 qt pot to do 5 gal BIAB batches, 32 qt just not going to cut it since you need to start with 33 qt of water to begin with

ahhh... physical limitations are a disadvantage of BIAB.. I would never think of doing a full boil on a stove top... at least not without the help of a heat stick. as far as holding the bag until it gets done draining... a grill rack placed across the top of the pot works great for that.. or a colander over a smaller pot (a stock pot borrowed from swmbo)

I will admit.. I see these brew stands, both gas and electric with the near full automation and computer controls and want one in a bad way...those pics are pure beer porn. but for a person just starting out with AG or a person on a budget wanting to do AG.. BIAB is the cheapest way to get into it. Like I said before.. I have a cooler (70qt xtreme) sitting there waiting..and I just made a keggle... but right now BIAB is working for me.. things will change later on... maybe.. if they don't then I'll have a cooler for camping.

Mysticmead said:

I wouldn't says that BIAB is only goof for tiny batches or making starter wort... you were doing BIAB on the stove top with small pots.. yes I know that a lot of people do it that way and deathbrewer has done an outstanding job documenting the process.. but when you say getting rid of dough balls is easier with a cooler..keep in mind that MOST people doing BIAB are doing it full volume BIAB. at 3qt/lb there are no dough balls. now if you were using a 5 gallon cooler and only had a 5 gallon brew pot and were still doing stove top brewing, would it be easier than BIAB? doubtful. People with converted coolers or a 3 keggle setup still get dough balls.

Both systems BIAB and 3v are EXCELLENT ways to convert grain to wort. Each method has it's place and each brewer's needs or preferences will be different. One is not better than the other. For now I prefer BIAB doing full volume mashing with no sparge. It doesn't mean I think that BIAB is the only way to go. I'm happy that your 3v setup works better for you. It really doesn't matter if the brew hardware is butt ugly or complete bling... 3v or 2v or BIAB. Stove top, propane, NG or electric. it doesn't even really matter if its all manual or fully automated or something in between.. In the end we all have the same goal. that's simply to make beer.

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I just did a 18# grain bill barleywine hit 79% on a 5 gallon batch. The only limitation is personal equipment not the method.

yep... each person will have their own limitations..hardware of physical. the method is a proven one that I feel a lot of people shy away from because it's not the norm... or it's not how big breweries do it..

Mysticmead said:

yep... each person will have their own limitations..hardware of physical. the method is a proven one that I feel a lot of people shy away from because it's not the norm... or it's not how big breweries do it..

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There is a post on the Aussie site where one of the members took several 1st, 2nd, third place trophies in a NZ national competition with BIAB beer. It just hasnt caought on here in the states as the norm but everyone who tries it doesnt seem to find anyhting negative about it. It is starting to gain popularity though as there have been several podcasts and articles lately.

I just got stuff for BIAB, haven't tried it yet.

But my personal reasons are that I want to do some adjunct recipes that require a mash, but I don't want to buy or store any additional equipment. So I'm guessing it will suit me just fine.

It's not a baby step... I don't plan on getting any other equipment if this technique works well for me. And if it doesn't work well, I'll probably just stick with extract brewing.

After about 20 or so extract brews, I started trying All grain brewing last month. Though I only have 2 AG batches under my belt so far, both were BIAB's and I do not see myself changing this method. This method seems to be working well for me and my efficiency can only continue to improve with each batch I make. Clean up is a snap too!