Poll: BIAB sparging and squeezing

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When doing BIAB, I prefer to:

  • Just remove the bag.

  • Squeeze the bag like it owes me money.

  • Let it drip-dry over the kettle with a hoist or strainer.

  • Do a dunk sparge.

  • Do a pour-over sparge.

  • Wut? I'm supposed to remove that bag?


Results are only viewable after voting.
I'd love to be able to use a pulley but I don't have the ability to atm as I'm in an apartment.

Righnow I pull the bag, set it in two buckets (one is drilled holes in the bottom) and press down on it with a pot lid.
 
I do a pour over sparge, and a squeeze. I voted pour over sparge since thats more appropriate for my system since I do not do full-volume BIAB.
 
I pull the bag and let the majority drain out and cool a bit using a perforated pizza pan over the pot then I squeeze it
 
The poll is kind of mixing 2 questions here: 1) do you sparge - if so how, and 2) what do you do to drain the bag. I didn't vote but I dunk sparge as my pot won't fit a full volume mash, and I suspend the bag in a big colander and mash it down with a pot lid which I think qualifies as a squeeze.
 
I squeeze, dunk sparge, and squeeze again............ If I'm still short on volume, I will do a pour over sparge, or more accurately a "saturation sparge", by pressing the bottom of a round bottom mixing bowl into the bag to make a cup to hold my sparge water...... Fill it, let it soak in, fill it, etc, and squeeze the saturated bag........ I never add water that hasn't been sparged through the grain bed.

I should note that I don't do proper BIAB anymore............ I use the bag only as a filter.


H.W.
 
I continuously recirculate the mash over the grain bed. Gravity drain the bag after mash and then give her a gentle but firm squeeze for good measure.
 
Let the bag drip dry from a ratchet - much better than in a colander.
A few squeezes, then soak it in a second pot for a couple minutes, then raise and drip dry and squeeze a few more times.

The more grain you use, the more the dunk sparge helps.
 
No sparge all squeeze for me. With the wort at 168F for a short mash-out I'm seeing less than 0.05 gallons lost per pound to absorption. Keep squeezing till the planned preboil volume is reached.

9lbs of grain soaking up 0.4 gallons of sweet-wort. DSC03228.jpg

Measure pre-boil volume after the squeeze.
DSC03235.jpg
 
Heating wort to 168F will not make it any easier to get out of the bag than squeezing at 150F.

Sparging with 170F water or 65F water wont make any difference either.
The wort is no where near being saturated.
http://preparatorychemistry.com/Bishop_supersaturated.htm

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=388702



With smaller amounts of grain (9 pounds) you may have luck squeezing. With more grain you are going to end up with more trapped wort.
A dunk sparge will work well at that point.
(Try squeezing 15 - 25 pounds of grain in a bag)
 
I don't think the temperature raise is to make a difference in potential saturation/supersaturation. I think its more of a viscosity thing - like heating your engine before you change the oil.
 
I don't think the temperature raise is to make a difference in potential saturation/supersaturation. I think its more of a viscosity thing - like heating your engine before you change the oil.

That's exactly my thinking too. The sugars are nowhere near saturation point in the wort so temperature is not an issue in that regard. That is well established and not in doubt.

I have found less viscous wort nets me less loss to absorption. I do a five minute rest at 168F before I lauter. I am not convinced as to the benefit of a mash-out rest. But it's 5 minutes so not a major issue. With 5.5 gallon batches at 80% brewhouse efficiency I don't want to bother with a sparge.

I brew in the kitchen so avoiding spills and drips has been central to my methodology from the get go. A dunk sparge would be trickier than my current no-sparge method though I'm sure lots of folks can perform this task without spilling a drop.

For a bigger beer I can certainly see more of a rationale to a dunk sparge but have reliable consistency for the styles I favor. (OG less than 1.060). I don't drink big beers very often so I don't brew them. I guess I would just factor in a slightly lower lauter efficiency and adjust the grain bill accordingly.
 
Drip dry, then dunk sparge, then dunk spare again. This is my understanding of the Maxi-BIAB technique. I only have a 5 gallon kettle, so I do a full 5 gallons into the fermentor after post-boil dilution. I hit my OG fine each time. Anyone else do this?
 
Mash with 1.25-1.5 qts/lb of grain, stirring well 2-3 times throughout, then squeeze the bag. For this, I place 2 or 3 large cans (vegetable or beans, or whatever, etc)...inside my 10.5 gal kettle, and place the strainer bucket that came with it (bayou classic) on top of the cans to give good clearance, place the bag inside the strainer bucket, and push down with a lid with full force). Dunk sparge with remaining volume needed for about 10 mins, stirring well, and repeat the squeeze. Combine volumes and boil away. Get great efficiency.
 
I voted for squeezing. Although I usually don't go all out squeezing, I do squeeze it and then let it drain until I achieve boil.
 
lol

don't squeeze, instead, pour a gallon of distilled water to help leach important material from you bag.......
 
The more I read about BIAB, the more it makes me want to try it when I make the venture into all grain brewing. :mug:

Speaking as a man on a budget and limited space in the kitchen, BIAB is the way to go! All you need is a bag, a boil kettle and some pots you have in your kitchen. Hardly any money spent on additional equipment!
 
Speaking as a man on a budget and limited space in the kitchen, BIAB is the way to go! All you need is a bag, a boil kettle and some pots you have in your kitchen. Hardly any money spent on additional equipment!

Space in my kitchen is at a premium too, so I've been eyeballing a good 10 gallon boil kettle with ball valve, a grain bag, immersion wort chiller and a 220,000 BTU propane burner stand over at my LHBS. Thinking of putting together some sort of a BIAB stand based off the designs I've seen posted here on the forums.
 
Space in my kitchen is at a premium too, so I've been eyeballing a good 10 gallon boil kettle with ball valve, a grain bag, immersion wort chiller and a 220,000 BTU propane burner stand over at my LHBS. Thinking of putting together some sort of a BIAB stand based off the designs I've seen posted here on the forums.

Adventures in Homebrewing? That's where I bought my 220,000 btu burner and it works great.

I had a ladder and I just lift the bag using a pulley. I bought the wilser bag system.

I just use my autosiphon and put the wort into the fermentor outside and have a 'simple' kettle. I bought a 12.5 gallon concord off of ebay for $80.
 
Space in my kitchen is at a premium too, so I've been eyeballing a good 10 gallon boil kettle with ball valve, a grain bag, immersion wort chiller and a 220,000 BTU propane burner stand over at my LHBS. Thinking of putting together some sort of a BIAB stand based off the designs I've seen posted here on the forums.

Sounds like a good plan! Nothing wrong with doing it outside at all. I would definitely go for it, all-grain brewing is a blast. Good luck! :mug:
 
Adventures in Homebrewing? That's where I bought my 220,000 btu burner and it works great.

I had a ladder and I just lift the bag using a pulley. I bought the wilser bag system.

I just use my autosiphon and put the wort into the fermentor outside and have a 'simple' kettle. I bought a 12.5 gallon concord off of ebay for $80.

Yep! Adventures In Homebrewing over in Ann Arbor. :D Those people are the Jedi Masters of homebrew supplies.
 
Space in my kitchen is at a premium too, so I've been eyeballing a good 10 gallon boil kettle with ball valve, a grain bag, immersion wort chiller and a 220,000 BTU propane burner stand over at my LHBS. Thinking of putting together some sort of a BIAB stand based off the designs I've seen posted here on the forums.

Another thought if you want to try BIAB before you buy all that equipment. Try doing smaller batches on the stove. With BIAB, it's a snap, even if space is at a premium there. In winter, when I don't want to sit in an unheated garage, I do 2.5 gallon batches in a 5 gallon BK on the stovetop. For the mash rest, I put the kettle in a warm oven, and I rarely lose more than a degree. I use a large strainer to set the bag on to drain, then boil like any other brew. All you need is a bag.
 

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