BIAB: Ill effects from thicker mash?

[joshwoodward]

I'm about to do my first BIAB brew after many no-sparge cooler mash tun brews. I've often seen people say that you should use the full volume of water in the mash, but (a) that seems counter-intuitive, and (b) I only have an 8 gallon pot.

First, my goals are (in order of importance): making great beer, saving time, and simplifying the process. Saving money on grain isn't important.

It seems to me that mashing on the thick side of BIAB (1.5-2 qt/lb) would:

• Save time, since it would be quicker to boil on my stove
• Cool down quicker, since I could top up after the boil with cold water.
• Give me flexibility if I undershoot my numbers, since you just add enough water at the end to reach your target OG, even if it's less than a 5-gallon batch size.

Are there any real disadvantages to going with a thick mash, no sparge, and partial boil (other than efficiency)?

 

[beersk]

Well, your hop utilization will be lower if you're topping up and boiling with a higher gravity wort. Other than that, I guess it seems like you're trying to make it more like extract brewing. Why not just brew a smaller batch? 8 gallon kettle would be perfect for most medium gravity 4 gallon batches and would accommodate almost any 3 gallon batch. Why does it have to be 5 gallons?

 

[joshwoodward]

Well, your hop utilization will be lower if you're topping up and boiling with a higher gravity wort. Other than that, I guess it seems like you're trying to make it more like extract brewing. Why not just brew a smaller batch? 8 gallon kettle would be perfect for most medium gravity 4 gallon batches and would accommodate almost any 3 gallon batch. Why does it have to be 5 gallons?

So I'd need to use a bit more hops, then? That makes sense.

Batch size isn't the primary concern. Even with a larger pot, it seems to me like a thicker mash and partial boil would have advantages (specifically, the quicker cool-down and the insurance against undershooting the OG).

 

[beersk]

Well, I suppose you're right on both points, but you really don't need to worry about either of those variables once you get your system down. Getting your wort cool in 15 minutes versus 20 or 25 minutes won't improve your beer enough over doing a full wort boil and not topping up to make it worth it, in my opinion.
But that's the beauty of homebrewing, there's more than one path that will lead you to the destination. Brew it up and let us all know what you think.

 

[RM-MN]

I only have a 7 1/2 gallon pot and do a 5 gallon batch full volume. You don't need to start with 10 gallons and boil it down to 5, you need to start with much less and control the boil off. I usually put about 6 1/2 gallons in the pot, bring it to strike temp, add the grains, put the lid on and walk away. Pull the bag of grains, drain and squeeze, then pour a little water over the grains to make up any amount that I feel I need. Start the boil, turn the burner down until it is just barely rolling and add the hops. At the end of an hour I'll still have 5 1/4 gallons in my pot. I usually make beers that have 5 1/2 to 6 percent alcohol. I might have trouble fitting a big beer into that 7 1/2 gallon pot though.

 

[ArcLight]

Josh,
I started out doing stove top BIAB.

1. There is no problem using a thicker mash.

2. If you want more hops utilization, don't add more hops, instead just boil an extra 10 minutes.

You might not get as much conversion or fermentability, but were talking a few percent, not a big deal.

3. If you use tap water to top off, you might want to use tap water that you pre-boiled and cooled, just to kill off what was in it.

Your method makes sense to start out with.
In time you can change your process if you get a bigger pot.

 

[Weezy]

Why not just sparge in the bag? I do it often, to be honest.

1. Mash with a nominal amount of water (say 1.25-1.5 qt/lb)
2. Heat sparge water in a second pot
3. Drain first runnings to a temp vessel (bucket, third pot, cooler, whatever)
4. Add sparge water to the mash in your main BIAB kettle. Stir into grain in bag & let sit for 10 min
5. Pull bag, squeeze if you like, add first runnings on top of sparge wort.

 

[ODI3]

I find if you add water anytime after the boil, it doesnt blend the water in and gives the beer a watery taste, like as if you added water to it.

 

[IL1kebeer]

I'm about to do my first BIAB brew after many no-sparge cooler mash tun brews. I've often seen people say that you should use the full volume of water in the mash, but (a) that seems counter-intuitive, and (b) I only have an 8 gallon pot. First, my goals are (in order of importance): making great beer, saving time, and simplifying the process. Saving money on grain isn't important. It seems to me that mashing on the thick side of BIAB (1.5-2 qt/lb) would: [*]Save time, since it would be quicker to boil on my stove [*]Cool down quicker, since I could top up after the boil with cold water. [*]Give me flexibility if I undershoot my numbers, since you just add enough water at the end to reach your target OG, even if it's less than a 5-gallon batch size. Are there any real disadvantages to going with a thick mash, no sparge, and partial boil (other than efficiency)?

I only have an 8 gallon pot as well. I BIAB in a 10 gallon cooler mash tun at 1.25 qt/lb with absolutely no problems. While I am mashing I heat up an appropriate amount of sparge water in my kettle. After the mash I squeeze the bag in the tun as much as I can for about 5 minutes. Then I transfer the bag to the kettle for a dunk sparge. I stir and let it sit for 10 minutes at 168F and then squeeze the bag again. At this point I will transfer the wort that I collected in my mash tun. There is a lot of transferring and squeezing with my method but it allows me to BIAB my mashes at a normal water to grist ratio and to avoid a traditional sparge since I don't want to spend money on that equipment at the moment. I get 80% efficiency doing this and I only crush my grain once.

 

[joshwoodward]

I find if you add water anytime after the boil, it doesnt blend the water in and gives the beer a watery taste, like as if you added water to it.

[citation needed]

There may be some differences in caramelization of the sugars from a smaller volume, but I can't imagine water would have trouble "blending" with wort, seeing as how the wort is almost entirely made of water anyway.