Brew in a Bag

[DtownRiot]

I've been interested in going all grain since my last two batches. I want to do this method but do not really have the space or money for the extra equipment mainly because I'm a college student and my apartment is soooo tiny. I found this article that seems to be a good solution. Is a no sparge process going to effect taste or will it be unoticeable? Let me know what you think of this method. It seems very similar to Death Brewers easy partial mash brewing thread.

Brew in a Bag (BIAB) All Grain Beer Brewing | Home Brewing Beer Blog by BeerSmith

 

[KayaBrew]

Have you checked out DeathBrewer's AG? Here's a link:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/

 

[DtownRiot]

yes i did see that, I edited my original thread. Is this any different than his method? Because this BIAB is used for all grain not partial mash.

 

[DtownRiot]

okay wow Im an idiot. It is the same thing as BIAB. Sorry for wasting anyone's time who read this. I should do my HBT research a little better next time!!!

 

[KayaBrew]

You didn't waste MY time. I guess I didn't realize DeathBrewer's method WAS BIAB!

 

[MMW]

I did my first BiaB last a week ago. A couple of observations:

1) How big is your pot? 7.5 gal (30 quart) is NOT big enough. When doing your mash volume calculations don't forget to take into account that water swells a bit at temperature.

2) Dough is at mash temp + a couple of degrees. Don't try to bring grain + water to mash temps like the pdf on aussiehomebrewer.com (it's wrong...they just haven't fixed it yet). I burned bag #1 and had to do emergency transfer to bag #2 (glad SWMBO made a pair ). That was quite the Oh CRAP! moment...seeing 152 degree grain pouring out of the bag.

3) Ed at Brewmaster's warehouse will double crush your grains for you My efficiency was 79% on a small recipe (Centennial Blonde)

That's it. My beer is fermenting happily right now...I'll have the first results in a few weeks

I don't think I'm going to stick with strict BiaB but I'll tweak it closer to the stovetop AG method with a 48 qt cooler and the bag. One additional bit of $18 equipment to buy.

EDIT: Good Lord, 4 responses while I was typing? Sheesh...my respond-fu is weak today.

 

[conpewter]

Deathbrewer's stovetop method is not exactly BIAB though it is similar to BIAB with sparge. Normal BIAB's goal is to only use one pot, so you have all your water in at the start, add the grain in the bag and after the mash you just let the grains drain completely.

 

[beerkrump]

Don't try to bring grain + water to mash temps like the pdf on aussiehomebrewer.com (it's wrong...they just haven't fixed it yet).

It may not have been the site you referenced, but I recall that a brewer using the heat everything BIAB method had a false bottom on his brew kettle to prevent what happened to you.

 

[MMW]

Either way...no bag on the bottom of the kettle

 

[JPicasso]

+1 on bringing your water to +8 degrees or so, and then dumping in room-temp grains to get to your mash temp. Use some software to figure this out.

You CAN brew in a 30 quart pot (I do), it's not ideal, but possible. However, you'll probably have to mash with 5 gallons, then top up pre or post boil. If it's post-boil, make sure you add distilled water or pre-boiled water.