Anyone BIAB?

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Went from all grain with mash tun cooler to BIAB about 3 weeks ago. I bought the voile material from target(7.99$ curtain material) made it into a bag to line my keggle. So far up to 14 lb grain bill with full boil and plenty of room for a 5 gallon batch. Getting about 80% efficiency on the last three batches so far. I love the simplicity. Also it's much easier to figure out your water volumes needed to hit final batch size. Temp control of the mash is as easy as just firing the burner for a couple minutes if needed. I don't see myself going back to the ice chest any time soon!!
 
I BIAB. I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag from home depot. A 2 pack was 3 or 4 dollars. Since I keep it off the bottom of the pot with a vegetable steamer, it is plenty large for 3 gallon batches (4.3 gallon boils in a 5 gallon pot).

It's very cheap and easy and my efficiencies have been consistently high.
 
My lhbs had a bag that has a round bottom that fits into a 30 qt turkey fryer perfect! Just did my first AG batch. Just as easy as extract, just more time consuming with the mashing.
 
tehweej said:
My lhbs had a bag that has a round bottom that fits into a 30 qt turkey fryer perfect! Just did my first AG batch. Just as easy as extract, just more time consuming with the mashing.
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oh great... now you let everyone know that All Grain brewing is as easy as extract brewing (just more time to drink a few extra homebrews ). Next thing ya know everyone will be doing it..
:D
 
Anyone know how to enter a BIAB recipe into Beersmith? I am using version 1.4 (not the updated version 2.0) I thought I would just lower the efficiency to 60% and set the mash profile to single infusion, medium body but I am not sure if I need to do a mashout or not. Any ideas?
 
msa8967 said:
Anyone know how to enter a BIAB recipe into Beersmith? I am using version 1.4 (not the updated version 2.0) I thought I would just lower the efficiency to 60% and set the mash profile to single infusion, medium body but I am not sure if I need to do a mashout or not. Any ideas?
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yeah... enter it as a NORMAL all grain recipe... because that's what it is. the only difference is the equipment and it's really not needed to create a recipe. set it for single infusion and run with it. setting the efficiency to 60 is really low, 70 if you've never done a BIAB is fine. I routinely get 74-75% on a beer with 11-12lbs of grain and on smaller beers have gotten as high as 87%. I recently got 73% on a 4 gallon Russian Imperial Stout that came out to 1.111 OG on 16lbs of grain.

With BIAB the key is the crush. If you crush your own grain, crush it real fine. if you buy it pre-crushed, ask for it to be double crushed. Once you get your setup dialed in you'll be able to adjust your recipes for your efficiency.
 
Mysticmead said:
yeah... enter it as a NORMAL all grain recipe... because that's what it is. the only difference is the equipment and it's really not needed to create a recipe. set it for single infusion and run with it. setting the efficiency to 60 is really low, 70 if you've never done a BIAB is fine. I routinely get 74-75% on a beer with 11-12lbs of grain and on smaller beers have gotten as high as 87%. I recently got 73% on a 4 gallon Russian Imperial Stout that came out to 1.111 OG on 16lbs of grain.

With BIAB the key is the crush. If you crush your own grain, crush it real fine. if you buy it pre-crushed, ask for it to be double crushed. Once you get your setup dialed in you'll be able to adjust your recipes for your efficiency.
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Just so I am clear regarding your reply...you do not sparge in your BIAB recipes. I usually have 75-80% efficiency when I batch sparge with my mashtun so I am looking forward to seeing what happens with BIAB.
 
msa8967 said:
Just so I am clear regarding your reply...you do not sparge in your BIAB recipes. I usually have 75-80% efficiency when I batch sparge with my mashtun so I am looking forward to seeing what happens with BIAB.
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Correct. I do a full volume no sparge BIAB
 
msa8967, I do a dunk sparge in 170 degree water I've heated in a second pot. My mash and boil both occur in the same 5 gallon pot, so I can't mash full volume (4.3 gallon boils). I'm limited to 7lb grain bills (1.25 quarts per lb mash) and my dunk sparge volume is based on bringing my total preboil to 4.3 gallons.

I get very high efficiency, but I think that the sparge step wouldn't be necessary if I had a larger kettle to mash in.
 
Ambrose_Balin said:
msa8967, I do a dunk sparge in 170 degree water I've heated in a second pot. My mash and boil both occur in the same 5 gallon pot, so I can't mash full volume (4.3 gallon boils). I'm limited to 7lb grain bills (1.25 quarts per lb mash) and my dunk sparge volume is based on bringing my total preboil to 4.3 gallons.

I get very high efficiency, but I think that the sparge step wouldn't be necessary if I had a larger kettle to mash in.
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I've been thinking of how to do this. Since it's BIAB, we can mash in a cooler that doesn't have fancy fittings or manifolds. I have a 5-gallon cooler, just a plain cooler. I could use my bag in it, throw strike water and grains in there, stir, cover, mash...then pull the bag out and dunk it in my boil kettle (that would have sparge water at 180). There's my sparge, add first wort from cooler into BK, voila.

Yeah?
 
aubiecat said:
Is my 8 gallon pot going to be large enough to do full 5 gallon BIAB batches?
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yes. You will only need 6 gallons max in it at one time, for preboil volume. Even big grain bills only need 4-5 gallons of mash water, then you will be left with 3-4 gallons of first wort, sparge 2-3 gallons.

Unless you're going no-sparge and you want to mash in 7 gallons of water...not gonna happen in an 8 gal pot. Mash in what volume you can, then add boiling water during your boil.
 
aubiecat said:
Ah I need a bigger pot. :mug:
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Really, you can mash in 5-6 gallons (plenty for most grain bills) and if you're no-sparge, just heat another 2 gallons up near the end of the mash, then add it to the wort after you've removed your grain bag. Doesn't really take any more time.
 
I'm not against doing a sparge, I'm just lazy. Ha, Ha. I think sparging is the most logical thing to do right now and see how that works out.
I am brewing a Kellerweis clone this weekend so that will tell me what I need to know.
Now I just have to kill a six pack of it to get the yeast. :tank:
 
Sure, dunk sparging is when you mash in one vessel (a smaller pot or cooler) and then pull the bag out and place it in another vessel that has sparge water in it.

For instance, what I do is line my 22qt. cooler with the bag, mash in there, then pull the bag and put it in my brew kettle which is filled with the sparge water. I stir, let sit for 10 minutes, then pull and squeeze...then add the first-runnings from the cooler into the brew kettle and commence my boil.
 
It's absolutely possible to 'normal' batch size ~9 gal (23 l) in 5 gal (19 l) pot/kettle (sort of/using sparging and post- boil dilution processes). Just search this topic: "Using Maxi-BIAB to Brew a 'Single Batch' Mini-BIAB by Ralph deVoil (Ralph)" at biabrewer.info. All with foolproof howto, pics etc.
 
Check eBay. There is a guy on there that sells great bags customized to your kettle. I bought one and couldn't be happier. Just type in BIAB.
 
Go to a fabric store and buy 1 yard of polyester viole fabric. It will be 108" wide. Cut it like you want it and take the pieces to an alteration shop. I paid $5 for the fabric and $12 for the sewing and wound up with 2 bags strong enough for 20-30 lbs of grain.

I used the paint strainer bags and large coarse wine making bags from the LHBS. The fabric is finer mesh and stronger.
 
For those who are interested in a strong, well built bag sewn to the dimensions of their own kettle, please have a look at my web site:

bagbrewer.com

I have made bags for kettles of all sizes, from small stove top pots to a bag I sewed yesterday to fit the 55 gallon boilermaker.

I know a lot of guys like to make their own equipment, myself included, but this is another option for those who can't/don't want to sew...
 
Mysticmead said:
10 gallon pots are perfect.. you can get them fairly cheap online (Aluminum is perfectly fine)
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I have a 10 gallon pot and a recipe that calls for a 10.5Lb grain bill. I can do the no sparge method with this pot? If I figure 1.25Qts. per pound that rounds to about 2 1/2 gallons. My boil off is 1.25 gallons per hour so I add that to the 2 1/2 and get 3.75gallons. Then I add in the absorbtion of .63 gallons (using .06 for grain absorbtion rate) which puts me at 4.25 gallons. If I want 5.5 gallons post boil I need to have about 7 gallons in the pot and the grain which fits in my pot?
To sparge you can either drain or dunk using the amount of water needed to get to your preboil volume as long as the water is 170 degrees. Are the initial water ratios used above ok for using the sparge method or do you use more that the 1.25qt ratio?
BIAB really interests me and I am trying to get a clear grasp on the concept.
 
Toivo said:
I have a 10 gallon pot and a recipe that calls for a 10.5Lb grain bill. I can do the no sparge method with this pot? If I figure 1.25Qts. per pound that rounds to about 2 1/2 gallons. My boil off is 1.25 gallons per hour so I add that to the 2 1/2 and get 3.75gallons. Then I add in the absorbtion of .63 gallons (using .06 for grain absorbtion rate) which puts me at 4.25 gallons. If I want 5.5 gallons post boil I need to have about 7 gallons in the pot and the grain which fits in my pot?
To sparge you can either drain or dunk using the amount of water needed to get to your preboil volume as long as the water is 170 degrees. Are the initial water ratios used above ok for using the sparge method or do you use more that the 1.25qt ratio?
BIAB really interests me and I am trying to get a clear grasp on the concept.
Click to expand...

OK... first of all... forget 1.25qt per pound. With BIAB you'll be MUCH higher.

use this to determine the water needed. absorption+batch size+boil off+trub loss = water needed. to determine the absorption use grain in lbs x .065 = absorption.
so, based on what you listed above, you have a boil off of 1.5 gallon per hour. You want 5.5 gallons. if you assumed a trub loss of .5 gallons you'd need
.68 +5.5 + 1.5 + .5 = 8.18 gallons. Which you can reduce to 8 gallons and still easily hit the numbers you're looking for. That was all based off of 10.5 lbs of grain as you listed above. it will EASILY fit in the 10 gallon kettle. I have done over 15lbs with no problem. it just comes right to the top of the kettle :) for me since I squeeze the heck out of the bag and my trub loss is only .25 gallons in the kettle my volume needed is a bit less.
 
Mysticmead said:
OK... first of all... forget 1.25qt per pound. With BIAB you'll be MUCH higher.

use this to determine the water needed. absorption+batch size+boil off+trub loss = water needed. to determine the absorption use grain in lbs x .065 = absorption.
so, based on what you listed above, you have a boil off of 1.5 gallon per hour. You want 5.5 gallons. if you assumed a trub loss of .5 gallons you'd need
.68 +5.5 + 1.5 + .5 = 8.18 gallons. Which you can reduce to 8 gallons and still easily hit the numbers you're looking for. That was all based off of 10.5 lbs of grain as you listed above. it will EASILY fit in the 10 gallon kettle. I have done over 15lbs with no problem. it just comes right to the top of the kettle :) for me since I squeeze the heck out of the bag and my trub loss is only .25 gallons in the kettle my volume needed is a bit less.
Click to expand...

Thanks this is the info I was looking for. I kept getting confused the more I read on it. I like BIAB is less time consuming and plan to try it in a couple weeks for my next batch.
 
Ive been using this http://beerreviewdude.com/biab-calculator/comment-page-1/#comment-51282 to figure out how much water I need.

Ive done 6 batches of BAIB, they all taste great I just wish I could get a little better efficiency... I like bang for my buck, but my last batch had 70% but thats because I ran 1.5 gal sparge water through my bottling bucket with the bag sitting in a turkey fryer strainer bucket thing.
 
Mandrew said:
Ive been using this http://beerreviewdude.com/biab-calculator/comment-page-1/#comment-51282 to figure out how much water I need.

Ive done 6 batches of BAIB, they all taste great I just wish I could get a little better efficiency... I like bang for my buck, but my last batch had 70% but thats because I ran 1.5 gal sparge water through my bottling bucket with the bag sitting in a turkey fryer strainer bucket thing.
Click to expand...

I do the same thing with the turkey fryer strainer. As soon as I am done with the mash I just put the bag of grains on the strainer over a bucket until my wort comes to a boil and dump whatever I collected back into the boil kettle. I've been getting 70-75% efficiency using this BIAB method. As long as it is 70% or above I am happy. I'd rather pay a little bit extra and hit my numbers consistently than be 85% one batch and only 70% the next.
 
crush the hell out of those grains.. I mean really crush them. then run them through one more time just for good measure. you'll get better efficiency. I get 75% or better each time. Oh yeah... squeeeeeeeeeeze that bag.
 
I do it after a fashion in the BrauMeister. It has a grain pipe and water is circulated through the grain during the mash. One thing I noticed no one mentioning was to take a large spoon during the draining and stab the grain several times to break it up a bit. This helps it drain better and if you decide to sparge to make up for lost volume, the water drains through more easily.

Rick Near Atlanta
 

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