Brew in bag?

[Bubba_Mustafa]

Not sure if this belongs here or the AG forum, but being a newbie....

Was watching the BasicBrewing video and saw the brew in bag deal. Looked pretty slick. No mash tun or sparging, just lift the bag out (and optional squeeze) when its time to boil.

There has GOT to be a down side: what is it?
(a little efficiency?)

 

[haplo]

Like DeathBrewer's method? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/?

I did it once and it worked great. Disposing of the spent grains was super quick. Maybe the only hard part was getting all the liquid out of the grain bag. You can't do really big beers with this method though.

 

[munche]

I think the primary downside is the limitation of how much grain you can realistically fit into the bag, otherwise it's not all that different from a regular batch sparge fundamentally

 

[Bubba_Mustafa]

awesome! I've been doing 1 gal batches for learning and tweaking. And 'big beers' are down the line a bit. I still like my session beer.

 

[Kahuna]

The only downsides that I've heard about was a lower mash efficiency and a tendency for the beer to be hazier.

 

[jjones17]

Not sure if this belongs here or the AG forum, but being a newbie....

Was watching the BasicBrewing video and saw the brew in bag deal. Looked pretty slick. No mash tun or sparging, just lift the bag out (and optional squeeze) when its time to boil.

There has GOT to be a down side: what is it?
(a little efficiency?)

Downsides:

1)You will need two mash tuns for big gravity beers if you are doing 5 gallon batches.
2)You will regret not doing it before.

Extra Upsides:
1) No waiting for latering
2) Sparging is so easy it is ridiculous, no more stuck/long sparges

I do this with low/medium/high gravity beers, sometimes I mash in one pot, sometimes two(note I mash in POTS not coolers). While it may seem like a pain if you cannot fit all your grains into one bag, its actually easy (and even better sometimes) to split your mash into two bags. My efficiency went way up (15%) after I started using 2 mash tuns because I had an easier time stirring properly.

Also, to clarify as someone mentioned "its hard getting all the stuff out of the grains", its actually faster and easier than using a cooler MLT with a braid - I just lift the bag, drain it for about 45-90 seconds, and thats it. Sometimes I suspend the bag over a drip pan set up to get a few more cups worth of wort, but I get 80-85% efficiency every time now that I know what I am doing.

 

[Zamial]

10 chars/ did not read correctly

 

[haplo]

I do this with low/medium/high gravity beers, sometimes I mash in one pot, sometimes two(note I mash in POTS not coolers). While it may seem like a pain if you cannot fit all your grains into one bag, its actually easy (and even better sometimes) to split your mash into two bags.

That's a good idea. If I didn't have a mash tun, I would definitely do that for Belgians.

Also, to clarify as someone mentioned "its hard getting all the stuff out of the grains", its actually faster and easier than using a cooler MLT with a braid - I just lift the bag, drain it for about 45-90 seconds, and thats it. Sometimes I suspend the bag over a drip pan set up to get a few more cups worth of wort, but I get 80-85% efficiency every time now that I know what I am doing.

Probably didn't state that very clearly. It's not hard, I just don't love holding the bag above the pot while it drains. The hands free mash tun gives me another opportunity to drink some Railbender while I wait. And my stainless steel braid drains in a couple of minutes when I slip some carboy wedges under the back edge, so there isn't really much time waiting for it.

But yeah, everything about it seems to be quicker & easier.

 

[jjones17]

Probably didn't state that very clearly. It's not hard, I just don't love holding the bag above the pot while it drains. The hands free mash tun gives me another opportunity to drink some Railbender while I wait. And my stainless steel braid drains in a couple of minutes when I slip some carboy wedges under the back edge, so there isn't really much time waiting for it.

But yeah, everything about it seems to be quicker & easier.

Wow, well sounds like your process is down pretty good as well - hopefully I did not sound like I was knockin it! A lot of folks do like 20-30 min sparges and lauters... BORRRING imo, so BIAB has really helped me out.

BIAB just takes getting the right tools for the job to make it easier and quicker, without them and it is frustrating actually (like not splitting your batch, and maxing out your mash tun volume and being 10 degrees too cool on bigger OG batches).

 

[haplo]

No worries. I'm totally with you. When I first heard about BIAB and tried it I was blown away with how much an improvement it was over extract and partial mash.

 

[Bubba_Mustafa]

So its a go then. Got my grain crusher (and other stuff) arriving today, and off for a bunch-o-ingredients today.

Thanks guys. Does sound very encouraging. Just want to make a hanger for the bag to drain.

 

[djt17]

So its a go then. Got my grain crusher (and other stuff) arriving today, and off for a bunch-o-ingredients today.

Thanks guys. Does sound very encouraging. Just want to make a hanger for the bag to drain.

I have a big colander that fits over a bucket; I just place it over the top & let the bag drain for about 10 min while my wort is coming up to a boil, then pour what has drained in the bucket into my boil kettle.

 

[Teufelhunden]

Does anyone have a link to the video?

 

[fatmoose]

Do the paint strainer bags you get at the hardware store have enough to them to stand up as the grain bag or do you need to buy one of the specific BIAB bags? I'm really interested in going down this route as my entry into all grain brewing.

 

[wvlheel]

I've been using the paint strainer bags for 5 batches so far, and they work great.

BIAB has been a lot of fun for me - I feel like I'm really contributing something to the process as opposed to just boiling up a kit, but I didn't need a bunch of new equipment to buy/make/maintain.

 

[fatmoose]

5 batches, nice. What's the biggest quantity you've done in one of the paint strainer bags so far? I'm looking at fairly modest grain bills for what I'm planning as my first BIAB batches, probably 8 - 10 pounds of grain.

 

[torbanac]

Those 5 gal paint strainers seemed small to me. Info from the the Aussie sites say the bag should be big enough to fit your pot inside it and still close it. I went to Target and bought a pair of sheer panel curtains (nylon) for $9.00. I was able to sew 4 bags out of the two panels. A little finer mesh than the paint bags so they filter more.

 

[djt17]

Those 5 gal paint strainers seemed small to me. Info from the the Aussie sites say the bag should be big enough to fit your pot inside it and still close it. I went to Target and bought a pair of sheer panel curtains (nylon) for $9.00. I was able to sew 4 bags out of the two panels. A little finer mesh than the paint bags so they filter more.

I have used these bags for 4 gal batches; they are small. My next batch, I will be using a much larger bag from Midwest, hopefully it will be much easier to stir the grains well.

 

[Bubba_Mustafa]

Does anyone have a link to the video?

Here's one (just not the one I first saw, can't find that one. They hung the bag from a ladder over the brew pot)

http://c3.libsyn.com/media/18257/bb...42afa9b03fbfba4e08942&t=098bf151f97ba7d494046

 

[bierhunter]

I think there is a bit of confusion on this site about BIAB. It originates in Australia and is not Deathbrewer's stovetop method. The australian BIAB method is hands down the easiest way to brew AG beer. I have done many batches this way using curtain material, it is slick. I have never used the paint straining bags so can't comment on those, but as long as they are filtering the grain and letting the water through it should be ok. Deathbrewer's method is a little more complicated in that you are using proper liquor/grist ratios and sparging, and if you want to go that route the tutorial is on this site, but the australian way makes good beer. In practice liquor/grist ratios are not as important for most beers and Aussie BIAB efficiencies are still good even without sparging(you can mill your grain finer because you never have to worry about stuck sparges). Both methods are perfectly acceptable ways to make beer.

 

[McGarnigle]

Death Brewer is dealing with a specific issue related to space when brewing in the kitchen. The original Aussie method isn't about that. So it depends on what 'problem' you're trying to solve.

 

[tieflyer]

Does anyone have a link to the video?

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=video has all of their video podcasts listed.

January 16, 2010 - Homegrown Organic Corn Pilsner
Steve and James combine a cereal mash and the brew-in-a-bag method to brew up an American Pilsner with homegrown corn meal.

 

[munche]

I plan on trying this this weekend, just for fun and because I have a small grain bill for this beer

I only have one pot of any significant size (8 gal) but I have a propane burner so bringing water up to heat is fairly quick

Plan is:
Bring water to mash temp, toss grain in bag and wrap in a towel to hold heat for ~1hr
Pull out grain bag, put into 6gal bucket with big wrapped around the top
Pour wort from pot through grains into the bucket
Heat sparge water in pot
Move grain bag back from bucket to pot, leave for a few minutes
Pour bucket into pot
Profit

I'll let you guys know how it works out

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

^That is almost exactly what I do with my partial mashes and it works really well. Only difference is I actually mash in the bucket and wrap it with a blanket so I can heat up my sparge water while I'm mashing. But I'm also on an electric stove, so it takes a while to get my water up to temp.

I'm hoping to start doing 5 gal all grain batches using this same technique soon. I just need a bigger kettle first.

 

[breez7]

The only way I brew is BIAB, and I love it. I mash in a 7 gal pot at the standard 1.25 qt/lb then I pull the bag out and drop it in my sparge water in my 15 gal pot. let it sit there for 10 min, combine the two pots and boil away. I'm usually around 75% eff. Today I did a black ipa that was a pretty big beer 1.075 and used 13 -14 lbs of grain no prob.

 

[JNye]

I plan on trying this this weekend, just for fun and because I have a small grain bill for this beer

I only have one pot of any significant size (8 gal) but I have a propane burner so bringing water up to heat is fairly quick

Plan is:
Bring water to mash temp, toss grain in bag and wrap in a towel to hold heat for ~1hr
Pull out grain bag, put into 6gal bucket with big wrapped around the top
Pour wort from pot through grains into the bucket
Heat sparge water in pot
Move grain bag back from bucket to pot, leave for a few minutes
Pour bucket into pot
Profit

I'll let you guys know how it works out

what about phase 2?

 

[Bubba_Mustafa]

pH?

I grabbed a container of the the pH stabilizer. Is this stuff worthwhile in the BIaB method? I also have a couple pH meters.

Is the pH target just for the mashing or also for the pre-boil?

Secondly if its a full boil vs partial boil, should the pH be the same either way?