BIAB Mash Out and Sparge

[traviswalken]

I just finished my first BIAB. Due to size of pot (8 gal) and stove I chose to sparge. I changed my plan a little while mashing and I hope I didn't mess it up...I am not too worried, but want to do it right in the future.

Here is what I did:
1. 5 gallons water & grains at 152 for 60+ minutes.
2. Increase temp to 170 and hold for 10 minutes.
3. Move grain bag to 2.3 gal water (110 deg +/1). Soak/stir 10 minutes.
4. Transfer 2.3 gal water to kettle.
5. Squeeze the bag and tranfer wort to kettle.

I planned to heat my sparge water to 170 degrees and use that water to mash out. However, I got lazy during the process and just mashed in the kettle.

Is this process a good approach, or should I have mashed out last?

 

[DoubleAught]

Everyone is different....I just mash for an hour, drain bag, and boil. I used to try doing the mashout and what not, but tried it without and noticed no difference in the quality of the beer.

Edit: I also consistently have 75-80% efficiency so seems to work for me....

 

[traviswalken]

I just took a gravity reading before pitching yeast. 77% efficiency.

 

[TopherM]

Travis, your process is spot on! I started out doing BIAB the exact same way, then invested in an 11 gallon pot to do full volume in one pot. Good work!

 

[rhamilton]

Process is solid. If you can get step #3 up to 170°F, you'll likely get a few more points out of the grain.

 

[traviswalken]

Thanks for the feedback. I might tinker with the process, but it really was pretty easy and I am happy with efficiency in the high 70's. I love not having to deal with DME and brewing 5+ gallons for $20.

Now I just have to wait 6 weeks.

 

[Juxtabrewer]

Our setups are pretty similar. I got 87% this weekend by mashing in 5 gallons of water(8 gallon kettle) and sparging in 2(4 gallon sparge kettle). I mashed out to 170 in the main kettle and had preheated my sparge kettle to 170 as well. Best efficiency I've ever had... and at the end of the day I ended up with more volume than I wanted. Darn near 6 gallons instead of 5! I was very pressed for time and had to stop boiling after exactly one hour. Cheers!

 

[traviswalken]

Our setups are pretty similar. I got 87% this weekend by mashing in 5 gallons of water(8 gallon kettle) and sparging in 2(4 gallon sparge kettle). I mashed out to 170 in the main kettle and had preheated my sparge kettle to 170 as well. Best efficiency I've ever had... and at the end of the day I ended up with more volume than I wanted. Darn near 6 gallons instead of 5! I was very pressed for time and had to stop boiling after exactly one hour. Cheers!

On my next batch I will try it like you suggest. The only thing different is heating the sparge water to 170. As suggested by a previous post in this thread, it might get me a couple points of efficiency vs. hot tap water.