First BIAB (Pics & a question)

[Hello]

I will start with apologizing for the length of my post.

I bought a 3500 watt induction countertop cook top to bring some small batch and 5 gallon brew days inside. The pot I used was a polarware economy pot, non-magnetic but it still worked and I lived.

My recipe, which I will post once I can confirm whether it worked, was a Sam Adams Imperial White clone that I put together with the help of a former brewer for Sam Adams. I did a small one gallon test batch in hopes that I have the spices right. Nothing will match the original completely due to SA using proprietary base malts, yeast, and I believe they do some decoction deal. Moving along...

The question is that according to BeerSmith, I got 96% efficiency and I wonder if that is even possible? I am wondering if I didn't plug in a number right or if I somehow just nailed this. I feel it is more of an error because my all grain experience has been met with low efficiency. Details below...

Brewing with induction is a new setup as is BIAB. I overshot my volumes because I used basically what BeerSmith set up for me.

Here are some numbers:
BIAB Medium Body

Target fermenter volume: 1.25 gal
Fermenter volume measured: 1.5 gal
Pre-boil volume: 2.32 gal

I added 2.3 gallons of water to the pot. I heat to strike temp and added my grain. I was down to 2 gallons when I drained the grain bag so I lost .30 gallons of water to 4.45 pounds of grain.

I boiled off .5 gallons of wort over 60 minutes. I had very little trub as I had less than an ounce of hops and I left the spices in the fermenter (excluding the anise). I have about 1.5 gallons of wort in the fermenter now. I used a 24"x24" mesh bag from NorthernBrewer, which was said to be a "fine" BIAB bag and worked for my smaller batches.

My target pre-boil gravity was 1.069, I hit 1.055 and ended up adding a pound of DME to get to 1.069. It was a guess about the amount but it literally hit the target pre-boil OG. I boiled for 60 minutes, lost only 1/2 gallon during the boil. I was a rolling boil, initially vigorous and nearly boiling over but once I turned the wattage of the burner down from 3100 to 1500 and back to 1800, it was perfectly boiling.

Target OG was 1.106, I hit 1.105. Efficiency says 96%. I always thought BIAB had lower efficiency in general. I will say that if I can lift the 5 gallon batches of the bag, I am going to be pretty stoked with the setup. BIAB, at least the 1 gallon batch, is way easy. 3 hours from setup (lots of spices to measure) and cleanup.

Pics for posterity.
Setup, grain being added, mashing, boil, & cold break...I think that is good.

 

[boydster]

Nice! Your efficiency number is skewed because of the DME you added. You would need to use your preboil, pre-DME addition gravity to figure out your actual efficiency. Congrats on your first BIAB!

 

[JDGator]

did you calculate your numbers with the added DME? being off by 0.014 tells me there is no way you got great eff.

 

[JDGator]

Nice! Your efficiency number is skewed because of the DME you added. You would need to use your preboil, pre-DME addition gravity to figure out your actual efficiency. Congrats on your first BIAB!

beat me to it!!

 

[tyler2you]

Just a couple of questions:

- How did you measure your pre-boil gravity? Refractometer or Hydrometer? If hydrometer, did you cool the wort prior to taking a reading. As you probably know, hydrometers are usually calibrated around the 60 degree mark. If you take a reading with hot wort, it's going to be lower than the true SG.

- Are you looking at the "Mash" tab in Beersmith? That's where you need to plug in your measured pre-boil volume and pre-boil SG to have it calculate your mash efficiency.

I believe the measured efficiency on the "Design" tab might be off due to the addition of the DME (unless you added it into your recipe in Beersmith).

Edit: Slow typer I guess--everyone beat me to the DME issue.

 

[Aonghus]

That is a neat little setup.

 

[RM-MN]

Another factor in the efficiency equation is the small batch size. A slight error in measurement is much more noticeable with a 1 gallon batch as compared to a 10 gallon batch.

I read people with conventional mash tuns telling people that BIAB is less efficient. It isn't true and in fact BIAB can be more efficient because we can deal with a much finer milled grain which ups the efficiency.

I love your induction heater. It makes me think that I could convert another location for brewing if I had one.

 

[jnacey]

Two things here. 1) everybody is right about the DME throwing off you calculation. 2) you're really talking about two different efficiencies (mash vs. brewhouse).

Mash efficiency uses your pre-boil volume and gravity to measure how well your system captures the available sugars for brewing. Most BIAB brewers get around the 70-80% range. You would use your pre-boil volume and the 1.055 gravity reading to calculate this. Judging that you came in low compared to the recipe, you would have likely had poor mash efficiency. Things like better grain crush, correct mash temp and correct pH levels can effect this.

The other type of efficiency, brewhouse efficiency, is more of a total measure of efficiency "going into the fermentor". You would utilize your fermenter volume and OG for this calculation. This is an important metric for Beersmith, because it uses your given brewhouse efficiency metric and equipment profile to calculate mash efficiency.

Welcome to the BIAB world!

 

[Hello]

Nice! Your efficiency number is skewed because of the DME you added. You would need to use your preboil, pre-DME addition gravity to figure out your actual efficiency. Congrats on your first BIAB!

did you calculate your numbers with the added DME? being off by 0.014 tells me there is no way you got great eff.

Just a couple of questions:

- How did you measure your pre-boil gravity? Refractometer or Hydrometer? If hydrometer, did you cool the wort prior to taking a reading. As you probably know, hydrometers are usually calibrated around the 60 degree mark. If you take a reading with hot wort, it's going to be lower than the true SG.

- Are you looking at the "Mash" tab in Beersmith? That's where you need to plug in your measured pre-boil volume and pre-boil SG to have it calculate your mash efficiency.

I believe the measured efficiency on the "Design" tab might be off due to the addition of the DME (unless you added it into your recipe in Beersmith).

Edit: Slow typer I guess--everyone beat me to the DME issue.

Another factor in the efficiency equation is the small batch size. A slight error in measurement is much more noticeable with a 1 gallon batch as compared to a 10 gallon batch.

I read people with conventional mash tuns telling people that BIAB is less efficient. It isn't true and in fact BIAB can be more efficient because we can deal with a much finer milled grain which ups the efficiency.

I love your induction heater. It makes me think that I could convert another location for brewing if I had one.

Thanks. Honestly I didn't need it but being able to brew inside during the hot hot NC summers may be pretty nice. The problem with inside BIAB 5 gallon batches is it is hard to get a pulley system installed. I could do it but then I am adding a pulley system to my kitchen ceiling. I think I have to draw the line there. If I find my first BIAB 5 gallon batch is too tough to pull up on my own (my table sits slightly higher than some and I am short) then I will just continue with my mash tun setup.


To all, you are right in the DME addition and confusing mash efficiency with brewhouse efficiency. Mash efficiency changes when I use the 1.055 compared to the 1.069 pre boil. It drops to something more believable, 78%. Even that isn't horrible and it is better than my first 45% for all grain.

Brewhouse efficiency isn't going to change but I definitely confused the two. It is great to be able to ask questions because I would have wandered around the house like a champion with 96% efficiency! Thank you all for the quick answers.

The DME to me is a way to correct errors. Maybe it is a poor way of dealing with things, but I do believe it is a good way for me to get the OG I was aiming for. If the OG is low I typically let it ride but in this clone recipe attempt, I was aiming for the right OG to hopefully ensure I get the recipe right.

 

[boydster]

You just practiced effective error-correction. I see no problem.

 

[kharper6]

In regards to a pulley system, here was my solution :


5 gallon home depot bucket. Drilled a crap load of holes in the bottom. Place it inside a 6.5 gallon fermenting bucket. Leaves about 2 gallons worth of space underneath the HD bucket. Put bag in it, wort drains through holes, grain stays in bag, apply pressure using a pan lid.

Easy, clean, effective.

 

[Hello]

You just practiced effective error-correction. I see no problem.

If only we can add DME to life's errors!

 

[boydster]

HA! I wish...

 

[1MadScientist]

Your evaporation is very low. Did you boil with the lid on?

 

[Hello]

Your evaporation is very low. Did you boil with the lid on?

No never. 1 gallon per hour is low?

Also another question, how does my pre-boil gravity come in so low (1.055 instead of 1.069) using BIAB? Is it the crush perhaps?

 

[boydster]

Could be. I crush my own, and I crush it really fine. It's been getting me into the 80% ballpark. I have heard about other people doing a mashout and raising the temp to 170 to help with efficiency, but I haven't tried it to comment on how effective it is.

 

[1MadScientist]

Hello, you said .5 gallons in 60 mins.

 

[Hello]

Hello, you said .5 gallons in 60 mins.

I did. I lost nearly a gallon overall. Sorry.
I started with 2.32 gallons, racked just under 1.5 gallons into my primary (2 gallon bucket).