Brewed my first true BIAB Sunday....

[Hwk-I-St8]

And it went extremely well.

I've been brewing for years using a kettle and two coolers. One cooler for a MLT and the other as a HLT to hold sparge water. I eventually switched to using a bag in the MLT instead of a bazooka filter, but I was still following a 3 vessel process.

I've been working towards moving to an electric rig and Sunday I did a full volume mash in the kettle with a bag. I already had a hoist, so I pulled the bag, did not do a squeeze and went straight to the boil.

Brewers friend calculated a 73% brewhouse efficiency, but it was better than that as I left about a half to 3/4's gallon in the kettle because my fermenter was plenty full.

Since my efficiency was higher than my recipe was spec'd for that manifested itself in higher volume but I hit the target gravity spot on.

I'm really going to like this process...

 

[wsmith1625]

I started doing extracts and really wanted to do all grain, but I was discouraged by the cost of equipment and the process itself. After reading up on BIAB, I made the switch this year and couldn't be happier. The process is simple and the results are delicious. I've brewed with a dunk sparge and without, but realized that with a fine grain crush, I don't need the sparge. I actually overshot my gravity on the batch that I used a dunk sparge. Good luck and have fun.

 

[doug293cz]

And it went extremely well.

I've been brewing for years using a kettle and two coolers. One cooler for a MLT and the other as a HLT to hold sparge water. I eventually switched to using a bag in the MLT instead of a bazooka filter, but I was still following a 3 vessel process.

I've been working towards moving to an electric rig and Sunday I did a full volume mash in the kettle with a bag. I already had a hoist, so I pulled the bag, did not do a squeeze and went straight to the boil.

Brewers friend calculated a 73% brewhouse efficiency, but it was better than that as I left about a half to 3/4's gallon in the kettle because my fermenter was plenty full.

Since my efficiency was higher than my recipe was spec'd for that manifested itself in higher volume but I hit the target gravity spot on.

I'm really going to like this process...

Congrats on your first successful BIAB. How do you like the process compared to 3 vessel?

Your mash efficiency was higher than your brewhouse efficiency, but brewhouse eff by definition is reduced by the amount of wort left in the BK. That's why brewhouse efficiency isn't the best metric for evaluating your process.

Brewhouse Efficiency = Mash Efficiency * Fermenter Volume / Post-Boil Volume (if no fermentables were added post mash)
​

The better metrics are mash efficiency and packaged (or overall, or end-to-end) efficiency. Mash efficiency tells you what percentage of the potential sugar in your grain bill you got in your BK, and packaged efficiency tells you what percentage of the potential sugar you got into your bottles or kegs. Brewhouse efficiency can vary depending on whether you prefer to take your trub loss going from BK to fermenter, or going from fermenter to package. But you gotta take the trub loss somewhere.

Brew on

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

BF says mash efficiency was 78%

 

[doug293cz]

BF says mash efficiency was 78%

Do you have a reasonably accurate measurement of either your post-boil volume or fermenter volume? I want to play some math games.

Brew on

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Do you have a reasonably accurate measurement of either your post-boil volume or fermenter volume? I want to play some math games.

Brew on

Not super accurate. The ferm has volume markings for each gallon...same with the kettle. The kettle is pretty accurate but of course I'm interpolating values in between gallons.

I'd be happy to share the recipe and notes if you want.

 

[doug293cz]

Not super accurate. The ferm has volume markings for each gallon...same with the kettle. The kettle is pretty accurate but of course I'm interpolating values in between gallons.

I'd be happy to share the recipe and notes if you want.

Thanks. Let's see whatcha got.

Brew on

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Thanks. Let's see whatcha got.

Brew on

Simple recipe:
9.5 lbs Pilsner
4.5 oz acidulated malt

Strike volume = 7.5g (room temp)
Pre boil 7 gallons @ 1.041 (170 degrees)
Post boil I put 5.75 in the ferm @ 1.047 (65 degrees)
I left an estimated 1/2 g in the kettle.

All volumes were as close as I could measure with what I left in the kettle a swag.

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks. I wanted to do some cross checking of the numbers, but it looks like the accuracy of the measurements is inadequate to do so. This also makes the efficiency numbers from BF suspect. The beer will be fine, as it cares nothing about measurements.

If you care about getting accurate efficiency numbers, you must make accurate volume, SG, and grain weight measurements. But, you can make excellent beer without getting wound up in the numbers.

Brew on

 

[KookyBrewsky]

Nice... I'm doing my first BIAB on the 17th... 5 gallon batch, so ~10 gallons of water... I have my new Spike+ 20 gallon for doing 10 gallon batches down the road. I also have a Wilser bag to fit the kettle and built a pulley structure.

I cannot believe how tasty my third extract batch is, Great Lakes pale ale. My first two were mediocre, they have that twang I read a lot about regarding extract batches. This pale ale though, very crisp and clear, no high pitched twang at all, almost perfect for what it is.

I'll be doing the Centennial Blonde recipe that is popular here in the forums, have everything set up, all I need is my Star San to arrive on the 17th! I cannot wait to see how this all-grain switch tastes!

 

[wsmith1625]

10 gallons of water for a 5 gallon batch sounds a bit high. Probably more like 7 or 8. Find a BIAB calculator online to get your water volume, strike temperate, etc. I like Priceless BIAB Calculator.

https://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/#Advanced

 

[wsmith1625]

BTW.... Love your enthusiasm. Good luck!

 

[RM-MN]

Nice... I'm doing my first BIAB on the 17th... 5 gallon batch, so ~10 gallons of water... I have my new Spike+ 20 gallon for doing 10 gallon batches down the road. I also have a Wilser bag to fit the kettle and built a pulley structure.

I cannot believe how tasty my third extract batch is, Great Lakes pale ale. My first two were mediocre, they have that twang I read a lot about regarding extract batches. This pale ale though, very crisp and clear, no high pitched twang at all, almost perfect for what it is.

I'll be doing the Centennial Blonde recipe that is popular here in the forums, have everything set up, all I need is my Star San to arrive on the 17th! I cannot wait to see how this all-grain switch tastes!

That amount of water seems awfully high to me too. Even with a full volume, no-sparge your grain won't hold that amount of extra water so you will end up with a lot to have to boil off. 7 gallons sounds like a better starting volume. If you want to start with a smaller volume and add a sparge step you can measure how much ends up in the kettle when you pull the bag and drain it, then sparge to get the amount you want to start the boil with. I tend to only boil off half a gallon so I work out the math as 5 1/2 gallons into the fermenter plus the half gallon I would boil off plus whatever amount the grain absorbed that I can't get out. That would put me in the 6 1/4 to 6 1/2 gallon range. You don't have to boil hard and doing so may be slightly detrimental to your beer. I bring my wort to a boil, then drop the heat until it is just a slow roll.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

That amount of water seems awfully high to me too. Even with a full volume, no-sparge your grain won't hold that amount of extra water so you will end up with a lot to have to boil off. 7 gallons sounds like a better starting volume. If you want to start with a smaller volume and add a sparge step you can measure how much ends up in the kettle when you pull the bag and drain it, then sparge to get the amount you want to start the boil with. I tend to only boil off half a gallon so I work out the math as 5 1/2 gallons into the fermenter plus the half gallon I would boil off plus whatever amount the grain absorbed that I can't get out. That would put me in the 6 1/4 to 6 1/2 gallon range. You don't have to boil hard and doing so may be slightly detrimental to your beer. I bring my wort to a boil, then drop the heat until it is just a slow roll.

I haven't done the calculations yet, I had just read I needed at least twice the water for doing a 5 gallon all grain batch. Thanks for the info. I am a procrastinator, I will be doing all the prep work late night the day before I brew.

 

[RM-MN]

I haven't done the calculations yet, I had just read I needed at least twice the water for doing a 5 gallon all grain batch. Thanks for the info. I am a procrastinator, I will be doing all the prep work late night the day before I brew.

I think the actual quote was that you need a pot twice the size of the batch. I have done a 5 gallon batch in a 7 1/2 gallon pot but I think I needed a sparge for that as I didn't have enough room for a no-sparge batch.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

I think the actual quote was that you need a pot twice the size of the batch. I have done a 5 gallon batch in a 7 1/2 gallon pot but I think I needed a sparge for that as I didn't have enough room for a no-sparge batch.

Yes that's what I meant, my mistake. I planned to max out at 10 gallon batches if I liked it a lot, hence the 20 gallon kettle! Didn't mean water, sorry.

 

[KookyBrewsky]

Only downside to brewing outside in Florida, it really isn’t the sunshine state! Rains nearly everyday during summer. Luckily I’m collecting rainwater to brew with but I’m not sure I can brew today. I had everything prepped. It’s 9:30AM and it’s likely to rain at or before 3PM... I don’t think it’s worth chancing it.

The rain perfectly sparging my bag would be a tale for the ages but my Hellfire burner would rust in no time.