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During another BIAB batch my grain bag ripped. It was just a small hole that allowed some grain to end up in the boil pot. I did my best to fish out all the husks but some remained during the boil. The finished beer smelled like freshly stirred mash, grainy/husky. It mellowed with lagering...

I had been using a 5 gallon Mash Tun with a bazooka screen. While Fly sparging I was careful to vorlauf until clear and drain slowly. The wort was very clear and I was very pleased with the resulting beer. Later I was trying to shorten my brew day. Many brewers were having good results with...

Recently during one batch, after draining the first runnings my false bottom came up when stirring in the first batch sparge and clogged my valve. I had to dump the mash into a bucket, rinse the valve, reset the false bottom, replace the mash, let the filter bed reform, vorlouf and drain. The...

@sslater Many brewers report better efficiency using a finer crush when doing BIAB and because a stuck mash isn't an issue many prefer it.

@sslater Overall I agree with your experience and so do many other brewers. Although the wort from BIAB can be quite cloudy it doesn't seem to effect the clarity of the final beer. I do BIAB to simplify my winter brewing in the kitchen and I have been satisfied with the resulting flavor. A...

@JINKS Thank you. I really enjoyed writing the article and appreciate the feedback. I enjoy interacting with other homebrewers even when we don't agree. That's what makes Homebrew Talk great!

I have found my beers on the trub start more quickly, ferment more vigorously and finish a day or two quicker. I also noticed I get more hop aroma when adding all the trub (I don't use a hop spider or hop bag). Lately I have been leaving all the trub in the brew pot at a loss of efficiency. I...

Try it...IPCA India Pale Cream Ale? Pre-prohibition Cream Ales have more bittering. A beer this light can get overwhelmed by the perceived bitterness pretty quickly. This beer is considered "slighty hoppy" (slightly bitter) at 1.045 and an IBU of 24. I'm not sure it could stand up to typical IPA...

I have dry hopped with an additional ounce of Citra with good results. Some of my IPA addicted friends have lost their sensitivity to bitterness and subtle hop aroma so they usually complain this beer lacks body, bitterness and hop aroma. But my BMC friends sometimes complain it's too...

@arclight "You so-called "hybrid BIAB" is simple BIAB with a dunk sparge. There is no mashout in BIAB because the moment you pull the bag, you flame on and head towards boiling." If your pot is large enough you certainly can do a mash out with BIAB. You add additional hot water to raise the temp...

@ArcLight "It's bad science and misleading to repeat this. It's not true. Tannins come from too high a pH and temperature, not from squeezing the bad. You could just as easily write "Some think the earth is flat" " You squeeze and have good results. This is no reason to call other brewers with a...

A single addition of Cluster for IBU less than 20 would be even closer but I love the hoppy citrus aroma. My most recent batch the LHBS was out of flaked barley so I used 8 oz of Carapils with good results. If you can't cold crash for clarity Carapils will have a similar head retention with...

@jcschultz01 I do not have a pump to recirculate my wort but I have assisted another brewer who does. Being careful not to splash wort as it recirculates would be important to reduce hot side aeration (if you care). Being able to reduce the flow of the pump seems essential so it pulls gently...

What increases the risk of tannin extraction? A rising mash PH as you sparge? Too much husky particles in your brew pot? Rinsing the grain bed too much resulting in a abnormally high efficiency? Sparging or Mashing Out above 170f? So which sparging method is best in regard to tannin extraction...

Sparging methods and efficiency... Homebrewers note excellent efficiency using all of the standard methods. If all other things in your process remain constant then generally the more you rinse the grain bed the better the efficiency. I tried to reflect this in the article. There are many other...

Does cloudy wort matter? It is generally accepted that if you let a lot of grain particles and husks make into the boil pot that this can cause tannic grainy flavors. Which batch of wort has more husky grain particles in it? A clear wort or a cloudy wort? Does it matter? Write an article and...

In general does one method produce a clearer wort? When fly sparging a grain bed developes and remains undisturbed throughout the sparge. Stirring in a Batch sparge disturbes the grain bed. If you let it set up properly between batches it will clear. I have found if you get impatient it may be...

I tried to use terms like "may" "might" and "could" to allow for widely varying opinions. Hot Side Aeration (HSA) occurs whenever hot wort/grain bed is exposed to air. I tried to describe in general terms why one method may cause more air exposure than another. Does HSA matter? Commercial...

@BroStefan "On correction to the article - tannin extraction can be an issue as Ph rises, not falls. This is why a brewer might want to acidify (lower the Ph) of the sparge water when fly sparging. It is the combination of Ph above 6 and temperature above 170 F that leads to significant tannin...

@Lyger10 When batch sparging, after stirring in the additional water, I wait 10 minutes or so, vorlouf until clear and then drain.