Adventures in switching to AG

[Kob]

Hi guys,

I switched to AG about a year ago and have been incorporating the BIAB method. I am growing my setup to include a better keggle, mill, and a few other things and am looking into changing up my process a little bit. After about ten BIAB brews my efficiency was anywhere from 60-85. Yesterday I brewed but instead of using the bag I dumped all the grain in my pot and strained after. I ended my brew day with an OG of 1.078 giving me 95% efficiency.

Could this be due to the extra circulation from not using the bag?

Do I necessarily need to rid the pot of the grains after the mash? Can I leave the grain in during the boil as well and take a step out?

Mike

 

[McKnuckle]

If you boil the grain you'll extract lots of mouth puckering tannins and probably ruin the end product. So that's not advisable. I've thought about straining post-mash as well. Seems like a fine idea for a small batch and if you're willing to use two vessels. The typical single vessel BIAB process is one of its selling points, though.

Not using a bag isn't magic... That's just like a normal non-BIAB mash in a tun or cooler. So maybe you've just got your process really tweaked (cool!).

 

[Chadwick]

I'll drain as much of the mash as I can, usually about 90% of it, into another vessel. Then I'll pour my hot 168F water back onto the grains and let that set a few minutes. Then I pull the bag out and let it drip drain until I have most of the wort naturaly drain out of the bag. Then I pour the wort I pulled off the first time back in with the rest of the wort and begin my boil.

 

[Kob]

Usually I brew in the bag, then pull the bag and hang it above the pot to drain. Give it a rinse with some hot water and begin the boil.