BIAB In BeerSmith 3 mobile??

[Singleinfusion208]

Hello I am trying to set up a BIAB equipment profile.. See I use the Brewer’s Edge Mash&Boil I brew 3.5gal BIAB batch’s well I see in the Advanced options in BeerSmith 3 it has a Place for BIAB grain absorption so my question is what would I set the absorption to because the Mash&Boil has a stainless steel grain basket an I know I can’t squeeze the Metal basket.

 

[Oginme]

Are you doing a no sparge mash or are you planning on running a sparge step? BeerSmith treats a BIAB set up strictly to mean no sparge.

If you are planning a sparge step then I would start with the default grain absorption figures until you have the numbers to fine tune the figures to match your actual values.

If you are doing a no sparge mash and using a BIAB mash profile, then set your grain absorption to the default for the standard mash (0.96 fl oz/oz) until you get the actual results. Worst case scenario in both cases is that you will end up with a bit more wort in the kettle and you can make adjustments from there if needed.

 

[FunkedOut]

^ Oginme nailed it. ^
I’ll say the same thing in a different way.

That basket looks like it would function just like a mash tun with a false bottom. I would use the default value for non-BIAB profiles of 0.96 fl oz/oz. You can walk it in after some brews if you feel it’s necessary.

The only special features of a BIAB profile in BS is that it calculates volumes assuming no sparge and has a separate field for grain absorption. If you plan to sparge, do not use a BIAB profile.

 

[brewbama]

I don’t see how grain absorption would change simply because of the meathod used to mash. The grain and water do not know what container they’re in.

The only difference in mashing a BIAB and using a MLT without a bag is that instead of draining the wort from the grain you’re lifting the grain from the wort. If you lift slowly (just like lautering slowly) you’ll probably do better efficiency-wise that if you just pull it out.

In a MLT we don’t squeeze (or push down upon) the grain bed once we drain it to wring wort from the kernels. We no sparge, batch sparge, or fly sparge.

If you no sparge you’re going to get lower efficiency regardless of mash method. Sparging increases efficiency because it removes additional sugars from the grain bed.

To batch sparge with your bag or basket simply reserve some sparge water from your total volume (which anyone who sparges does), and after you slowly lift the basket or bag from your main wort, allow it to drip dry, dunk it into the reserved sparge water, let it rest, slowly remove the basket or bag, allow it to drip dry, and add the sparge wort to your main wort.

Your efficiency will increase just like it does for a traditional MLT. To verify measure the sparge wort to see how much more sugar you get.

 

[FunkedOut]

I don’t see how grain absorption would change simply because of the method used to mash. The grain and water do not know what container they’re in.

The bag, when lifted up and out of the MT, creates more surface area for the wort to be squeezed out of the grain.
The weight of the grain/wort itself drives out more wort from this increased surface area than it would drive down through just the false bottom of a traditional mash tun.
Especially if you keep the sparge water flowing enough to submerge the entire grain bed through out the entire sparging process.
Allowing the grain bed to dry out lets the weight of the grain bed itself apply a bit of pressure to squeeze itself.
I experienced this difference first hand when switching from BIAB to a traditional mash tun with false bottom.

When I did BIAB, I would have to squeeze the bag a bit to get down to the "absorption rates" that are the default for BS's BIAB profiles.
I am sure that the default is targeting a squeezer's process.
I bet you could stand on the grain bed of a traditional mash tun to get the "absorption rates" down.
I have been putting quotes around "absorption rates" because what we are talking about here is not really about absorption, but about how much of the absorbed water/wort we allow to remain in the grain by squeezing it out or not.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Hello I am trying to set up a BIAB equipment profile.. See I use the Brewer’s Edge Mash&Boil I brew 3.5gal BIAB batch’s well I see in the Advanced options in BeerSmith 3 it has a Place for BIAB grain absorption so my question is what would I set the absorption to because the Mash&Boil has a stainless steel grain basket an I know I can’t squeeze the Metal basket.

Since I am always doing BIAB and I sometimes use a sparge, I have both the "Grain Absorption" and "BIAB Grain Absorb" values set to the same amount. With BS3, the BIAB option on the Mash profile only supports full volume mash. Unchecking this and tweaking the numbers for a BIAB w/ sparge will use the the "Grain Absorption" value (not "BIAB Grain Absorb" value). For me the value is 0.55 fl oz/oz which I find I can hit with just gravity and a light squeeze. I got to this number with a little trial and tweaks. I agree that something in the 1.0 to 0.9 range is a good place to start.