BIAB Brewing (with pics)

[doug293cz]

Did a brew for Big Brew Day, and tried a new way of squeezing the bag. This new method doesn't require me to touch the bag! I use a Wilser bag with a ratchet pulley suspended from a step ladder (8' ladder is best) to pull the bag at the end of the mash.

I let the bag drain naturally until it slowed to a slow drip. Then I put a colander on top of the kettle, under the bag, and dropped the bag into the colander. Now the new part -- I put a Homer bucket full of water (~5.5 gal, ~46 lbs) on top of the bag in the colander. Let that sit for a while, and occasionally leaned on the Homer bucket.

My grain absorption rate dropped from my typical 0.07 gal/lb to 0.05 gal/lb. A 0.02 gal/lb decrease in grain absorption rate is good for about a 2 - 3 percentage point gain in lauter efficiency.



The colander



The colander on my 15.5 gal Bayou Classic kettle:



The Homer bucket press in action:



Brew on

 

[eulipion2]

Did a brew for Big Brew Day, and tried a new way of squeezing the bag. This new method doesn't require me to touch the bag! I use a Wilser bag with a ratchet pulley suspended from a step ladder (8' ladder is best) to pull the bag at the end of the mash.

I let the bag drain naturally until it slowed to a slow drip. Then I put a colander on top of the kettle, under the bag, and dropped the bag into the colander. Now the new part -- I put a Homer bucket full of water (~5.5 gal, ~46 lbs) on top of the bag in the colander. Let that sit for a while, and occasionally leaned on the Homer bucket.

I use a pulley, then move the bag into a makeshift grain press. I took three food-grade plastic buckets, drilled a bunch of small drainage holes into one then nested them bottom to top, catch bucket --> drilled (sieve) bucket --> grain bag --> "plunger" bucket, then press down slowly (I usually end up sitting on it.) Works very well.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Did a brew for Big Brew Day, and tried a new way of squeezing the bag. This new method doesn't require me to touch the bag! I use a Wilser bag with a ratchet pulley suspended from a step ladder (8' ladder is best) to pull the bag at the end of the mash.



I let the bag drain naturally until it slowed to a slow drip. Then I put a colander on top of the kettle, under the bag, and dropped the bag into the colander. Now the new part -- I put a Homer bucket full of water (~5.5 gal, ~46 lbs) on top of the bag in the colander. Let that sit for a while, and occasionally leaned on the Homer bucket.



My grain absorption rate dropped from my typical 0.07 gal/lb to 0.05 gal/lb. A 0.02 gal/lb decrease in grain absorption rate is good for about a 2 - 3 percentage point gain in lauter efficiency.



View attachment 399954



The colander



View attachment 399955



The colander on my 15.5 gal Bayou Classic kettle:



View attachment 399956



The Homer bucket press in action:



View attachment 399957



Brew on

Ok your getting there....where would you be if you waited a bit longer from slow drip to almost no drip....perhaps another 10 minutes of patient waiting? Just like pennies make dollars, drips and drops make gallons.

I challenge you to wait longer, and not bother with the colander and homer bucket....

A mash in a bag is typically free draining in my experience, all this squeezing and pressing is really just a lack of patience?

 

[philly224]

Ok your getting there....where would you be if you waited a bit longer from slow drip to almost no drip....perhaps another 10 minutes of patient waiting? Just like pennies make dollars, drips and drops make gallons.

I challenge you to wait longer, and not bother with the colander and homer bucket....

A mash in a bag is typically free draining in my experience, all this squeezing and pressing is really just a lack of patience?

How long do you typically wait?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Long enough lol....

Not a real time keeper but perhaps 30 minutes, or say 15 - 20 minutes into the boil.

The proof to the pudding for me was when I used to squeeze the bag and toss it into a tote for disposal later, there was always a quart or so of free wort that had continued to drain from the bag.

Maybe it's just me, but assaulting the bag and squeezing with silicon gloves just seems like a false sense of achievement over patiently waiting ... let it drip

.05 vs ,07, sounds to me like we are involving a colander and homer bucket on a bag that was at a slow drip for um.... .02

What's that, a half pint? At some point you gotta let go

And save the effort, you can't get that back

 

[philly224]

Long enough lol....

Not a real time keeper but perhaps 30 minutes, or say 15 - 20 minutes into the boil.

The proof to the pudding for me was when I used to squeeze the bag and toss it into a tote for disposal later, there was always a quart or so of free wort that had continued to drain from the bag.

Maybe it's just me, but assaulting the bag and squeezing with silicon gloves just seems like a false sense of achievement over patiently waiting ... let it drip

.05 vs ,07, sounds to me like we are involving a colander and homer bucket on a bag that was at a slow drip for um.... .02

What's that, a half pint? At some point you gotta let go

And save the effort, you can't get that back

I never thought of starting the boil while the bags still draining...

I'll try that next time.

 

[Bosh]

One thing that helped me enormously in mashing was simply greater volume. A big-ass 55-liter pot full of grain and water is just so much easier to maintain mash temp with.

Well that and getting a Wilser bag...

 

[philly224]

One more question before my next brew. What's the best way to determine how much water to use? My first batch I only ended up with about 4 gallons after the boil. I did a no sparge BIAB with 16lbs of grain and 7.5 gallons of water.

This Saturday I will have 10lbs of grain so I was thinking about trying 8 gallons of water. Do you think that will be too much?

 

[Inkleg]

I never thought of starting the boil while the bags still draining...

I'll try that next time.

I go flame on as soon as the bag clears the wort and let it hang as it comes to a boil. By the time it's slowed to a drip I've reached my pre boil volume and it's just coming to a boil. Great time saver.

 

[doug293cz]

One more question before my next brew. What's the best way to determine how much water to use? My first batch I only ended up with about 4 gallons after the boil. I did a no sparge BIAB with 16lbs of grain and 7.5 gallons of water.

This Saturday I will have 10lbs of grain so I was thinking about trying 8 gallons of water. Do you think that will be too much?

Start with your target batch size (volume to fermenter), then add in all of your losses thru the process:

• Trub held in BK and any plumbing
• Boil off
• Unrecoverable MLT volume (should be 0 for BIAB)
• Gran absorption (= grain weight * grain absorption rate [gal/lb])

The total of all the losses plus your batch size is your starting water volume.

Brew on

 

[555trex]

I successfully brewed a 5-gallon Hopslam clone (OG 1.098) using a 10-gal kettle. It turned out to be one of my best beers to date.

If you want to brew batches larger than 5-gallons then you'll need a 15 to 20 gallon kettle.

I just bought a 10 gallon kettle and was told that 14lbs was the max I could do in it. You can do 21 lbs with no sparge?

Thanks in advance and sorry if this has been covered... very long and very informative thread.

 

[doug293cz]

I just bought a 10 gallon kettle and was told that 14lbs was the max I could do in it. You can do 21 lbs with no sparge?

Thanks in advance and sorry if this has been covered... very long and very informative thread.

Ok. Grain takes up about 0.08 gal/lb in the mash. You will also lose about 0.08 gal/lb to grain absorption if you do a moderate bag squeeze. Let's say you want 6.5 gal pre-boil volume. Then you have about a 3 gal budget for grain and grain absorption allowance. The amount of grain you can use is 3 / (0.08 + 0.08) = 18.75. If you squeeze harder, and get grain absorption down to 0.06 gal/lb, then you can mash 3 / (0.08 + 0.06) = 21.4 lb.

Brew on

 

[wilserbrewer]

And how much if you implement a batch spurge?
I'm curious Doug, likely a ridiculous amount lol

Just for posterity I wouldn't advise mashing in the max theoretical volume, as while you are stirring it in the volume will be greater, hence a mess over the kettle rim lol

 

[doug293cz]

And how much if you implement a batch spurge?
I'm curious Doug, likely a ridiculous amount lol

Surprisingly, not so much. The amount will be limited by what the brewer feels is the maximum acceptable mash thickness. If your maximum acceptable mash thickness is 1.25 qt/lb, then you can only get 24.2 lb of grain in a 9.5 gal kettle. If you like your oatmeal thick (1.0 qt/lb), then you could mash 28.8 lb (but I wouldn't want to have to mash that in.) With these large grain bills, most of your water is required for strike, leaving very little sparge water.

Just for posterity I wouldn't advise mashing in the max theoretical volume, as while you are stirring it in the volume will be greater, hence a mess over the kettle rim lol

I totally agree.

Brew on

 

[PrairieDawg]

I go flame on as soon as the bag clears the wort and let it hang as it comes to a boil. By the time it's slowed to a drip I've reached my pre boil volume and it's just coming to a boil. Great time saver.

I brewed a Porter on the weekend, had loaned my sillycone gloves to a coworker. Pulled the bag out and let it drip drain while bringing to a boil.
Dripped for about 20 minutes probably, has very little wort left in the bag after that.

Don't think I will be asking for my gloves back..

 

[gezzanet]

Yep i do the same. Leave it hanging above the pot while bringing to the boil.

 

[GolFisHunt]

My first BIAB batch is in the fermenter now. A very simple recipe to start. With information gleaned from this site and a "dry run" with the new gear yesterday, I hit all the numbers. The brew day was longer than I expected, but I was enjoying myself thoroughly.

 

[dstauth]

Posting a pic of my recent DIY mod to the BIAB system I have. Added an infusion tube that allows me to recirculate the water throughout the mash and not have any dead spots. Made it out of food grade CPVC and stainless steel screws. Also built a single vessel brew stand as well. My temps were more stable than ever before. I typically had a dead spot at the center and the recirc water would go around the outside.

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[Gluten Free Tony]

I just started BIAB. I happened to have an old Bike Pulley Lift (less than $20) so I tried that and it worked fantastic. By holding the bag open, I was able to thoroughly flush the grains.

 

[Lmiller1708]

I just started BIAB. I happened to have an old Bike Pulley Lift (less than $20) so I tried that and it worked fantastic. By holding the bag open, I was able to thoroughly flush the grains.

View attachment 549753

That's a great idea! We'll be doing the same thing... Thanks!

 

[philly224]

Brewing this Saturday in like 20 degree weather. Any tips on how to maintain mash temp? I usually wrap in blanket but last time I brewed in like 35 degree weather it was pretty hard to hold the temp. A little tempted to just move my kettle inside after I get the water up to 160 and bring it back out for the boil.

 

[bolus14]

I brewed last weekend, it was about 25 out when I started. My garage is insulated so it's not ask cold as some might be. Using a heavy old comforter I only lose 2-3 degrees over an hour mash. I fold it so it's double thick around my kettle and get it to hang as close to the floor as possible so cold air doesn't get underneath.

 

[BandonBrewingCo]

I agree with larger batches holding temperatures extremely well with the kettle properly wrapped. One trick I've learned from here regardless of batch size is to lay some aluminum foil on top of the mash before putting the lid on. This helps with the dead space in the kettle.

How does this help with deadspace?

 

[LittleRiver]

How does this help with deadspace?

It slows down the transfer of heat from the mash into the deadspace.

Aluminum foil is not necessarily the best material, but it is handy and can be easily cut & shaped for whatever vessel you are using.

 

[BandonBrewingCo]

It slows down the transfer of heat from the mash into the deadspace.

Aluminum foil is not necessarily the best material, but it is handy and can be easily cut & shaped for whatever vessel you are using.

ahhhhhhhhhhh. I read it like it helps reduce the deadspace/wastage!

 

[Bobby_M]

The area above the mash would be "head" space.

 

[BandonBrewingCo]

The area above the mash would be "head" space.

Now things make much more sense. I was trying to picture how the foil would prevent heat from sinking into the dead space below the false bottom for example!

Does a lot of heat get lost in the head space? I do full volume 25L batches in a 55L kettle/tun which leaves me with about 20 liters of head space

 

[Davy Crockett]

Conclusion

So this is how I do BIAB and I've had excellent results with this process. I’ve brewed everything from simple pale ales to big IPAs (Hopslam, Pliny the Elder) to English milds and Irish stouts using the BIAB technique described here.

I'm not saying BIAB is better or quicker or cheaper than traditional all-grain brewing techniques. I can say that I’ve had success with this technique and I am very pleased with the overall process and the beers that are created using this method.

It takes me approximately 4 to 6 hours to complete a typical all-grain batch with this brewing method. BIAB is said to be less equipment intensive than traditional all-grain brewing but I can say from my experience that BIAB can still be fairly equipment intensive - depending on how you choose to do it. Since I haven’t brewed a traditional 3-vessel all-grain batch (yet) I can’t compare and contrast the two methods or give any personal opinion on which is best. I suspect, as with anything else, there is no "best" brewing method and it really just boils down to finding what works best for YOU.

I'd love to hear any feedback you may have about the information provided here. I'm still learning and evolving and I know I've only barely scraped the surface of the mountain of brewing information out there.

Happy brewing!

(A big thanks goes out to all of the BIAB brewers out there who took the time to document and share their ideas, experiences, and results. Credit to the Australians who pioneered this BIAB method of brewing. Forums like HomeBrewTalk and TheBrewingNetwork were instrumental in providing a resource where people like me could learn and share information. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.)

I have not tried a mash out for fear of burning my bag. I use a portable skinning rack to drain

 

[Possum55]

So I finally graduated to all-grain and went straight to 10 gallon batches using the BIAB method. Seven who started this post had to be my biggest inspiration. Being I'm an old fart, I had to rig up someway to do this without wrecking my already suspect back. I found a used patient lift off Craigslist and it has worked out better than I thought possible. Here are a few pics of my latest brew day.

Cheers everybody

 

[doug293cz]

Love the use of the patient lift for multiple purposes. Gotta find myself one of those.

Brew on