Back to BIAB!

[pretzelb]

Um, wow. Where to start.

Sounds like a personal problem. I’ve been brewing 3V indoors for many years and have never used a “drip bucket”.

I'm not sure how you avoid a mash paddle or hop bag or hose from ever dripping on the floor but I congratulate you. I prefer a bucket for all those things that contact the wort.

I’d say about the same as an MLT. Rinse. A quick wipe with a rag. Rinse again. Done. So you clean your bag once while wet and then again after it dries?

So you don't take great care to make sure your boil or MT are spotless? I congratulate you again. Rinse and quick wipe would not get either clean enough for my standards. I consider a quick bag shake when dry much easier.

You’re confused. Ease is not determined by time. It’s determined by effort. And for either system, more equipment can, and should, make the process take less effort.

I think the confusion is your definition is not for everyone. Ease can be determined by just about anything for each person. Storing 1v instead of 3v isn't easier on the guy trying to keep some room in the garage? Cost isn't easier to justify to the wife who isn't overly happy with this hobby? And time isn't making all kinds of things easier?

So, you’re saying that 3V brewers who no sparge or batch sparge are doing it wrong? Not to mention that a lot of BIABers do a dunk or pour over sparge.

I'm not at all. I am saying the 3v user who isn't taking full advantage of the 3v system is making things harder than they need to. A 3v user could go no sparge from time to time, but if they did it all the time wouldn't say it's kind of a waste? I would suspect that most 3v users who don't sparge will eventually scratch their head and wonder why they have a 3v system.

If someone asked for suggestions on the simplest or easiest system for brewing beer, it's hard to imagine suggesting a multi vessel system when the option for a single vessel exists. If the person wants flexibility then of course that changes things but for pure ease of use I can't see how 3 is better than 1.

If you think that was my point, your reading comprehension needs a little work.

I'd say I got your point - see the last point.

Either system can take up as much space, time and money as you want to put into it. When you look at what brewers here on HBT are doing, there is no clear winner. They’re just different. That’s the point I was making. I was simply looking at the opposite side of the mindless back patting that has taken up too much of this thread.

And that needed to be done why? Clearly this "mindless back patting" rubs you the wrong way to the point where you felt the need to slap some sense to everyone. The bigger question is why you think that was needed at all? I'm not a huge Pollanna fan for any particular system or method but I don't feel the urge to rain on a parade if someone appears just a bit too pleased with themselves.

I thought maybe you just came across wrong and it was a misunderstanding but you've confirmed "your point" was to stop the "mindless back patting". Not only do I disagree with your points about it being "not easy", I mainly fail to see where that kind anti back patting of enforcement is needed here.

Cheers.

 

[iBrewR]

I thought maybe you just came across wrong and it was a misunderstanding but you've confirmed "your point" was to stop the "mindless back patting". Not only do I disagree with your points about it being "not easy", I mainly fail to see where that kind anti back patting of enforcement is needed here.

How does "I was simply looking at the opposite side of the mindless back patting that has taken up too much of this thread" become "your point was to stop the mindless back patting"?

That and the rest of your post has me standing by my poor reading comprehension statement.


I've already acknowledged that my statement was in poor taste and apologized, so what is the point of your post other than trolling?



edit
"Looking at the opposite side" and "trying to stop." Sure, that's the same thing.

 

[pretzelb]

How does "I was simply looking at the opposite side of the mindless back patting that has taken up too much of this thread" become "your point was to stop the mindless back patting"?

That and the rest of your post has me standing by my poor reading comprehension statement.

I've already acknowledged that my statement was in poor taste and apologized, so what is the point of your post other than trolling?

I missed the apology. Probably because it was directed to Gavin. My bad.

But again with "poor reading comprehension"? And because you don't see a connection between "I was simply looking at the opposite side of the mindless back patting that has taken up too much of this thread" and "your point was to stop the mindless back patting"? Is this a joke? But yet you still felt the need to apologize to Gavin who also found something wrong with the "mindless back patting" statement? Shrug. OK. Carry on.

I'm sorry my feathers got ruffled but I still say it's hard to falsely interpret a phrase like "mindless back patting" in any way but mean. I also thought I left the door open with my first response to you having a bad day and me not fully getting your point.

I will apologize if my first response came across as a slap in the face. My intent wasn't to ruffle your feathers back but instead counter your main points of 1) drips and 2) cleaning the bag. Plus I also wanted to suggest a how others might interpret "easy" in a different way. If instead you felt I trying to pick verbal fight then I'm sorry again. My intent was to debate the main points and offer alternative views.

By the way, if you change your mind and are looking for something to help with drips from paddles, hoses, and what not, here is something I found online. I don't think it was here but maybe a blog or something. I haven't got one myself but the author used it in his brew day and I thought it was a good idea. It might work for biab bags too, not sure though. I wish I could find the link to the article. Oh well.

Cheers.

bin / utility box

 

[iijakii]

I use a $5 bucket from the store to sit my paddle in, vorlauf on my old setup, fetch strike water, etc. Still make a mess in my garage. Props to anyone that can brew inside

 

[lowtones84]

What's all this cleaning the bag nonsense? Rinse well, let dry, shake the dried bits of grain off outside for like, five seconds. I'm not worried about a few dried up pieces of husk chillin' on the bag for the next brew.

Anyhow, I don't think any system is necessarily better, but for me BIAB is the way to go because of needing much less equipment, which also means less money invested on equipment. When you're a poor grad student living in a tiny basement apartment, these are good things. No reason to put down anybody else's method, I'd love to drink anybody's beer!

 

[HopheadNJ]

FWIW, I use a bag as a manifold. I find it to a have advantageous properties. I don't beleive the clean-up to be significantly different for either approach.

Hose out mash-tun versus chuck bag in laundry. Not something I factor in to be honest.

I also brew both BIAB and with a cooler mash tun. Do you think the residual laundry detergents etc have any effect on the bag? Initially I was washing my bag in the washing machine on gentle cycle with some oxyfree and an extra rinse, but recently I've been dunking ina bucket of Oxy/PBW instead. Maybe I'm paranoid?

 

[Gavin C]

I also brew both BIAB and with a cooler mash tun. Do you think the residual laundry detergents etc have any effect on the bag? Initially I was washing my bag in the washing machine on gentle cycle with some oxyfree and an extra rinse, but recently I've been dunking ina bucket of Oxy/PBW instead. Maybe I'm paranoid?

Maybe I'm not paranoid enough.

I've washed the bags I use for grain and hops after each brew in the laundry. No problems of which I'm aware. Beers have fared reasonably well thus far in comps. small data set. 37,38,43 and 44 points. I will continue to use the washing machine for the bags.

 

[iijakii]

Washing? It's all preboil!

 

[chisena]

Just face it, BIAB is way better than 3V. You people can't handle the truth!

 

[HopheadNJ]

Maybe I'm not paranoid enough.

I've washed the bags I use for grain and hops after each brew in the laundry. No problems of which I'm aware. Beers have fared reasonably well thus far in comps. small data set. 37,38,43 and 44 points. I will continue to use the washing machine for the bags.

I never really noticed any off flavors or anything detrimental to the beers either but I'm not crazy about the possibility of laundry detergent in my wort/beer

 

[chisena]

I never really noticed any off flavors or anything detrimental to the beers either but I'm not crazy about the possibility of laundry detergent in my wort/beer

I just rinse my bag with water... After massaging it gently of course. Am I crazy? Why use soap?

 

[Gavin C]

Washing? It's all preboil!

It makes things clean for storage. Not doing that for sanitation reasons.

 

[iBrewR]

Washing? It's all preboil!

Agree. Bag or MLT. Dump and a good rinse is all that's necessary. Both easily accomplished before the wort comes to a boil. I might wipe with a rag, but never really wash (as in use soap) with either process.

Anyhow, I don't think any system is necessarily better, but for me BIAB is the way to go because of needing much less equipment, which also means less money invested on equipment. When you're a poor grad student living in a tiny basement apartment, these are good things. No reason to put down anybody else's method, I'd love to drink anybody's beer!

Sums it up perfectly!

 

[schiersteinbrewing]

After using a 3v cooler mash tun system and 3v keggle system, both with and without pumps, both two tier and single tier, fly sparge, batch sparge, no sparge, I am sold on BIAB especially eBIAB. Took me a little bit of money (quite a bit actually it's bad idea to sit down and calculate it) and time to find the system that fits me. It's all just a matter of preferences and opinions.

 

[blacklabbrewer]

I'm about to push my BIAB to the limits this weekend. When I originally wrote this post I had brewed a modest dry Irish stout with around 9 pounds of grain. No problem lifting the bag out and letting it drain in my drip bucket. Well I plan on brewing an imperial stout Saturday and pitching it right on top of the Irish stouts yeast cake (plan on racking the Irish stout from fermentor to keg while the imperial is cooling). With an OG of 1.107, I need 17.5 lbs of grain, 3 lbs dme, and 1 lb corn sugar. Never dealt with such a large grain bill before. Beersmith says I need 10.16 gallon space for mashing full volume... Luckily my ten gallon mega pot really holds a little more than 11 gallons. Instead of trying to handle such a large bag I think I've decided that after mash out, I'll scoop a couple pounds of grain out with a large mesh strainer, let drain for a minute and discard. Then I can place the bag in a bucket as usual without the risk of it draining all around my kettle while moving it. I'm open to any other ideas if you have them shout em out! ... Unless you're just gonna tell me to batch sparge haha!

Cheers!

 

[dstockwell]

Do you sparge? If you don't, you are leaving a lot of residual sugars stuck to the grain bed. That's the cost of doing no-sparge.

Even a quick dunk in a second vessel will get a lot of the sugars into the wort and not still stuck to the grain.

Many BIAB brewers don't care about brewhouse efficiency, finding the ease and time savings of a no-sparge method to be worth the loss in efficiency.

I am trying to figure out my process without adding steps like sparging. I do drain the bag and squeeze as much as possible. Learned more about my process on the second brew.

For 3 gallons bottled, hopefully they stay relatively constant. Water loss to grains = 1/2 G, Trub = 1 QT. I did not measure boil off because I started the boil with more wort than I should have so I boiled for 75 minutes.

So based on priceless calculator I need to start with about 1 - 2 quarts less water, this is what I will work on next, and work on a finer grind on grains and see what happens.

 

[Homercidal]

I am trying to figure out my process without adding steps like sparging. I do drain the bag and squeeze as much as possible. Learned more about my process on the second brew.

For 3 gallons bottled, hopefully they stay relatively constant. Water loss to grains = 1/2 G, Trub = 1 QT. I did not measure boil off because I started the boil with more wort than I should have so I boiled for 75 minutes.

So based on priceless calculator I need to start with about 1 - 2 quarts less water, this is what I will work on next, and work on a finer grind on grains and see what happens.

Frankly, I don't think your efficiency, if calculated correctly, is bad at all. I probably wouldn't even bother with a sparge and just enjoy the time and effort savings.

That said, I started out batch sparging and it kills me to leave the little bit of sugar in the grain. So, because I have MANY vessels I can use, I dunk sparge. It's not really that much more time. I just save a portion of the mash water aside and dunk it, stir it up, then lift the bag as I did before and let it drip as the boil is heating up.

Heck, a BUCKET would work fine for that!

 

[naturebrew]

I'm about to push my BIAB to the limits this weekend. When I originally wrote this post I had brewed a modest dry Irish stout with around 9 pounds of grain. No problem lifting the bag out and letting it drain in my drip bucket. Well I plan on brewing an imperial stout Saturday and pitching it right on top of the Irish stouts yeast cake (plan on racking the Irish stout from fermentor to keg while the imperial is cooling). With an OG of 1.107, I need 17.5 lbs of grain, 3 lbs dme, and 1 lb corn sugar. Never dealt with such a large grain bill before. Beersmith says I need 10.16 gallon space for mashing full volume... Luckily my ten gallon mega pot really holds a little more than 11 gallons. Instead of trying to handle such a large bag I think I've decided that after mash out, I'll scoop a couple pounds of grain out with a large mesh strainer, let drain for a minute and discard. Then I can place the bag in a bucket as usual without the risk of it draining all around my kettle while moving it. I'm open to any other ideas if you have them shout em out! ... Unless you're just gonna tell me to batch sparge haha!
Cheers!

This is where BIAB using a cooler for the mash is king, you are limited only by the size of the cooler as far as grain bill goes, I do 10gal batches and have never come close to running out of room, even on higher gravity beers.

 

[johnsant]

I really like this thread. It gives so much to use new brewers. Before I start with my BIAB I would like to comment about my conditions. I live in the country, I have no outside area to brew on, no garage or shop to brew in. My house is small and all bedrooms are in use(Wife, granddaughter, and myself). I've started brewing using extract and went to 5 gal. kettle for BIAB on the stove. I acquired a small fridge with home made temp controller for my fermentation chamber in the bedroom. I store all my brewing items in my bedroom. I've done both 2.5 a 5 gal BIAB, I find that the 5 gal. brews take more time and planning to accomplish(hold back water to get the pre-boil). I much prefer to do 5 gal. to insure the pipe-line stays full. This brings me to what I now plan on doing. I'm upgrading to a eBIAB 110v system, I'll buy it at my LHBS which builds and sell these systems I've had discussions on the cost of this system compared to others, however I like the idea that the owner of LHBS and I go to the same brew club(will get a small discount).
I find BIAB is much easier than the 3v mash system(I've helped on club brew days). In my case I like to wash everything that comes into contact with my brew, it's just the way I am! To me washing 1 kettle and not 2 or 3 just seems like a no brainer to me. Like I said, I'm somewhat new to home brewing and what do I know?

 

[blacklabbrewer]

I'm the same way. I have no problem turning my bag inside out and hosing it down but for some reason I feel the need to scrub my 10 gallon mash tun cooler with pbw, as well as the false bottom and hoses and the container I use to Vorlauf.... Oh how I miss vorlaufing too.....

 

[pretzelb]

Maybe I'm not paranoid enough.

I've washed the bags I use for grain and hops after each brew in the laundry. No problems of which I'm aware. Beers have fared reasonably well thus far in comps. small data set. 37,38,43 and 44 points. I will continue to use the washing machine for the bags.

Have you ever tried cleaning a hop bag with boiling water on the stove? It always amazes me how resins seems to stay in the bag after several boils.

 

[Gavin C]

Have you ever tried cleaning a hop bag with boiling water on the stove? It always amazes me how resins seems to stay in the bag after several boils.

No I just rinse everything before chucking them in with the rest of the kitchen laundry. They come out looking brand spanking new each time.

Paint strainer bag for hops, and NB BIAB bags for the grain (2 used each brew in a double layer)

 

[naturebrew]

Everything I use pre boil gets a rinse or wipe down only, I never use soap, just warm water, hop bag is green, BIAB bag is brown, mashtun cooler has brown stains. I've never had an issue with any off flavouirs or infections in 15+ batches. Boil kettle gets a scrub with a semi abrasive pad to get the deposits off the bottom, again no soap. I get serious about cleaning when I go post boil, everything in the fermentation line is kept as clean and sterile as possible using PBW and Starsan.

 

[Bellybuster]

Wow, this thread took a turn, inevitable I guess.

I know have a dozen batches on my BIAB system. After brewing many years on the 3vessel I can safely say I like it....allot. It has easily knocked an hour or more off my brew day.

That said, if I had a dedicated brew room I would have kept my 3 vessel. Brewing with it was cool. More to the process. However, without that brew room it just took up a ton of space.

 

[Homercidal]

Wow, this thread took a turn, inevitable I guess.

I know have a dozen batches on my BIAB system. After brewing many years on the 3vessel I can safely say I like it....allot. It has easily knocked an hour or more off my brew day.

That said, if I had a dedicated brew room I would have kept my 3 vessel. Brewing with it was cool. More to the process. However, without that brew room it just took up a ton of space.

How does it knock an hour off your brewday?

 

[jimmykx250]

No sparge for one. CLean up as well. Only one kettle to clean. I average an 8 gal batch into my fermenter in 3 hours. I do no chill so that saves time as well. I pitch the next day when it has cooled off.

 

[jekeane]

How does it knock an hour off your brewday?

I do both 3.5g biab and 6-15g 3 vessels 15/15/20g.

I have timed both, although I know the comparison is a little rough because of the difference in volumes and equipment size.

With 3.5g biab I do a 90m mash and 60m boil 30m to chill and transfer. I clean my pot then pitch my yeast in another 20m. My fastest brew day was just over 3 hours.

For my 3 vessel system the fastest I have been clean with yeast pitched in 6.5 hours. If I had a set space where I wasn't moving stuff in and out of the house I could see it being quicker, but that is not a reality right now. The sparge / Vorlauf process and cleaning the mash tun are the biggest time differences. I live in Fl and and my equipment is in the garage if the tun isn't quite clean I will have bugs in it.

 

[Homercidal]

No sparge for one. CLean up as well. Only one kettle to clean. I average an 8 gal batch into my fermenter in 3 hours. I do no chill so that saves time as well. I pitch the next day when it has cooled off.

I do both 3.5g biab and 6-15g 3 vessels 15/15/20g.

I have timed both, although I know the comparison is a little rough because of the difference in volumes and equipment size.

With 3.5g biab I do a 90m mash and 60m boil 30m to chill and transfer. I clean my pot then pitch my yeast in another 20m. My fastest brew day was just over 3 hours.

For my 3 vessel system the fastest I have been clean with yeast pitched in 6.5 hours. If I had a set space where I wasn't moving stuff in and out of the house I could see it being quicker, but that is not a reality right now. The sparge / Vorlauf process and cleaning the mash tun are the biggest time differences. I live in Fl and and my equipment is in the garage if the tun isn't quite clean I will have bugs in it.

But both of you are comparing no-sparge to sparging. I have no doubt that BIAB is likely to be faster in any case, but I don't think it will be a whole lot when compared to a no-sparge brew in a 2-3 vessel system.

I can't compare equipment clean-up. I generally clean up as I go and there is plenty of time to clean up all the gear during the boil, so I don't see it taking much more time total. Just a busier wait during the boil.

And don't underestimate the time it takes to bring up the difference in volumes between batch sizes. A lot of my time is "wasted" heating up strike and sparge water and heating the boil.

I should do a no-sparge batch next and see what my time is compared to a BIAB batch. I've got a few batches to brew up in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Homercidal]

Well, crap. I don't currently have a vessel big enough to brew this IPA no-sparge/full boil. This experiment might have to wait until I get my Ekeggle back online.

 

[iijakii]

But both of you are comparing no-sparge to sparging. I have no doubt that BIAB is likely to be faster in any case, but I don't think it will be a whole lot when compared to a no-sparge brew in a 2-3 vessel system.

I can't compare equipment clean-up. I generally clean up as I go and there is plenty of time to clean up all the gear during the boil, so I don't see it taking much more time total. Just a busier wait during the boil.

And don't underestimate the time it takes to bring up the difference in volumes between batch sizes. A lot of my time is "wasted" heating up strike and sparge water and heating the boil.

I should do a no-sparge batch next and see what my time is compared to a BIAB batch. I've got a few batches to brew up in the next couple of weeks.

Time adds up not pumping around water, draining your MT, refilling etc. With a pulley BIAB setup you can do a simple 'pour sparge' over the pot while it's heating up to a boil. Then cleaning.

 

[iBrewR]

Time adds up not pumping around water, draining your MT, refilling etc. With a pulley BIAB setup you can do a simple 'pour sparge' over the pot while it's heating up to a boil. Then cleaning.

Not so much. When doing 3V, I start heating my kettle as soon as there's a gallon or so drained from the first runnings. Recirculate during mash, so no vorlauf time. Continue to heat the kettle during a single batch sparge.

So, it takes maybe 5 minutes to get enough in the kettle to start heating. After that there's no time difference. I've done both pour over BIAB sparge and single 3V batch sparge. Only a small difference in the time from when the mash is over and a boil is reached. It's all about technique. Like's been said, cleaning takes place during the boil, so that doesn't factor in.

Like Homercidal said, if you measure apples to apples, there's very little overall time savings.

 

[Gavin C]

But a no-sparge with a bag and a no sparge in a 3V setups will have very different efficiencies owing to the greater lauter efficiency with the BIAB brew.

So if comparing apples with apples and the time is comparable for no sparge on both, the greater efficiency with the BIAB no-sparge should trump the 3v. That's if we want to be true in our apples to apples comparison.

Not that higher efficiency is nessecarily required or desired. Hitting the target OG and volume is the goal with both. To target the same OG, volume and efficiency a sparge will be needed in a 3v setup.

Not much sweet-wort left in the grains after lautering with BIAB.



I'm not concerned about the clock when I'm brewing unless it relates to mash, boil or cooling times. I've started doing 90 minute boils for a lot of beers for a variety of reasons. Also a fan of longer non-single-infusion-mashes.

With stove-top brewing in the kitchen as I do, the setup and break down is the only PITA which would be made a greater nuisance with more vessels to move downstairs and back upstairs.

I would one day love an all electric 3v setup that doesn't need to be broken down. Would like to try my hand at fly-sparging, using a HERMS/RIMS, building a single tier 3v would be fun, 10 gallon batches are perhaps (IMO) more doable with this type of setup where a fly-sparge makes more sense.
I could still do BIAB on it. (all pipe-dream at this stage, no intent to switch from BIAB just yet)

 

[iBrewR]

So if comparing apples with apples and the time is comparable for no sparge on both, the greater efficiency with the BIAB no-sparge should trump the 3v. That's if we want to be true in our apples to apples comparison.

I agree. My post was only in response to the few above that were claiming huge time savings with BIAB.

To target the same OG, volume and efficiency a sparge will be needed in a 3v setup.

Or accept a little drop in efficiency and up the grain bill to compensate.

I'm not concerned about the clock when I'm brewing unless it relates to mash, boil or cooling times.

In complete agreement with you here also. I burn so much more time playing with step mashing, extended boil, hop stands . . . . or whatever else looks interesting that day, that any time difference between BIAB or 3V is lost in the fun.

 

[pretzelb]

But both of you are comparing no-sparge to sparging. I have no doubt that BIAB is likely to be faster in any case, but I don't think it will be a whole lot when compared to a no-sparge brew in a 2-3 vessel system.

I can't compare equipment clean-up. I generally clean up as I go and there is plenty of time to clean up all the gear during the boil, so I don't see it taking much more time total. Just a busier wait during the boil.

You could say a 3v no sparge is similar but if you are going to stick with no sparge why keep 3v? The only benefit I can see is ability to handle high gravity beers. It might be apples to apples but I find it hard to believe someone will invest in a 3v system and stick with no sparge.

The flip side is the biab brewer can also do a sparge. So then why don't they go to 3v?

I think the answer is all the other variables that go into it like space and money. I think that drives most to biab and after that they embrace the no sparge to gain time advantages. Each system favors a certain method for sparging, I don't think that's very controversial. Saying one is faster is just playing the odds.

I'm not sure why this seems to be a hot topic. It's just a chat about general characteristics. For example, your point on cleaning during a 3v brew can be debated depending on the recipe requirements. But in general you are correct so it's not really worth the debate to try and disprove your point, similar to the 3v no sparge brewer.

Cheers.

 

[Gavin C]

I agree. My post was only in response to the few above that were claiming huge time savings with BIAB.

No worries. i'm a slow typist so hadn't read your post when writing mine.

I was just being a bit pedantic I suppose in the no-sparge comparrison and you're dead right adding a little grain to compensate for the lower efficiency will of course do the same thing as a sparge.

I'm always reminded of the scene in The Big Bang Theory when discussing time savings and simplicty in brewing.

The scene.

Sheldon Cooper is installing his altes O.S and lamenting the loss of his older less user friendly O.S.

I find brewing to be so relaxing. From the planning to the enjoyment of the final product and all the bits in between. If I need to increase the time spent I wake up earlier.

The key in deciding what tools to use in brewing for me at least in part is going to be determined by the enjoyment I can extract from using them.

Mirth extraction efficiency needs to be high for any setup

 

[slym2none]

Mirth extraction efficiency needs to be high for any setup

That's a gorgeous line!

 

[Bellybuster]

it easily saves an hour. as mentioned, just moving water and wort around takes a considerable amount of time. Sparging if desired can be done concurrent with the boil heat up. The list goes on. I said an hour up above, I realistically could put that closer to 2 because I am now all electric as well.

having had both systems I wouldn't say either is better unless you count your time as a gauge of "betterness". Both have their merits. Both can make excellent beer, both can make the same beers.
BIAB has its negatives too, a larger kettle is required for any given batch size (unless sparging). It lacks the "brewery" look and feel of the 3 vessel single tier. That can be important to some. Perfectly clear wort going into the fermenter is a thing of the past... once again, important to some.

 

[iBrewR]

I suppose in the no-sparge comparrison and you're dead right adding a little grain to compensate for the lower efficiency will of course do the same thing as a sparge.

After bumping up the grain bill to compensate for efficiency, I've heard it said (Gordon Strong and others) that no-sparge leads to better malt flavor. It's attributed to the richness of the first runnings from a 3V system. I would guess that the greater efficiency in BIAB's lautering would give you a wort equivalent to sparging on a 3V system and not produce the same quality beer. I believe this is the main reason for 3V no-sparge.

 

[jason.mundy]

So I should be brewing to maximize Mirth and Flavor extraction? Sounds like good advice to me!

 

[iBrewR]

it easily saves an hour. as mentioned, just moving water and wort around takes a considerable amount of time. Sparging if desired can be done concurrent with the boil heat up. The list goes on. I said an hour up above, I realistically could put that closer to 2 because I am now all electric as well.

One hour, two hours? Maybe if before you were doing a drawn out fly-sparge. A single batch sparge shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes more than an equivalent size BIAB. With either method, sparging can be done concurrent with the boil heat up.

I’ll give you 5 minutes to transfer water from HLT to MLT. Another 5 minutes to get enough wort into the kettle to fire it up and continue heating during the lauter and batch sparge.

There will be some loss in heating efficiency, but the first half of the wort in the kettle will heat up really fast compared to the full boil volume from BIAB. When you start adding the runnings from the sparge you end up at close the same place in the heating process.