First AG BIAB batch

[AluminumGerbil]

So I've got a dozen or so extract brews under my belt and decided to sew up a voile bag to try my hand at BIAB. I want to go AG, but money has been a limiting factor. I picked an AG recipe kit from an online source I'd like to do, but I have a few hesitations. First I keep reading you need to mill the grain finer for BIAB or efficiency suffers. I don't have a mill yet so my only option is to order the grain already milled will this be a huge problem? Should I mash for 90 minutes to make up for that? Second can I mash then top off before boil? I know from doing extracts I need to start my boil with 6.5 gallons or wort to end up with a 5 gallon batch, but I'm having a heck of a time figuring out what I need to start with to account for loss with BIAB. I've done lots of reading, but with still being new and not being completely familiar with AG brewing in general it seems a little overwhelming. Also, does anyone have an suggestions for something I can put on the bottom of my keggle to keep the bag from touching the bottom? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Brew_4iT]

Well, most of the information your looking for can be found by searching this site.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/biab-brewing-pics-233289/

You never want your grain over milled. Few reasons for this but mainly you just want to crack the husks or your efficiency will actually suffer. At my LHBS I mill my own grain with a modified drill. I go really slow when I do this cause you don't want fine particles either.

I've only done 60 minute mashes myself. You might get a little better conversion going for 90 minutes, but I would focus more on the sparging for efficiency. I've noticed huge differences for batches where I'm more focused on the sparges compared to when I do it kind of laxed.

 

[Brew_4iT]

That is a pretty cool process! I read the thread cause I found myself a little curious.

 

[jcdouglas]

I'm a new BIABer. I've brewed five batches so far and my brewhouse efficiency's at 76%. What's really helped me with identifying the amount of water I need (among other things) is Beersmith (see: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/beersmith-2-0-21-95-blowout-258118/). Once I got my equipment profile nailed, it's been almost perfect. However, when I did a clone of Founder's Porter, I was off my preboil volume by about a quarter gallon, so I just added water to match my preboil volume. All my other recipes were right on re: water. I have not used this calculator, but I know others have with success: http://beerreviewdude.com/biab-calculator/

As for milling grains, I do not own a mill, but I mill the grains twice at my LHBS. If you place your order online and if there's a section for notes, ask them to mill the grains twice, which will help your efficiency. I also stay with 60 minute mashes. However, if my recipe calls for longer mash times then I will follow the recipe.

I know that some brewers don't put anything at the bottom and they have not had any problems. However, I'm a cautious person so I have a strainer that I use (see the link that Brew 4iT posted). Some people will use a false bottom, others have used modified wire pizza racks and wire cooling racks.

There are many ways to accomplish the BIAB process and it sounds like you did what I did, lots of research. I was nervous my first time and now I can't believe I waited so long to go AG. My advice, start with something simple, like a Cream Ale or Blonde Ale. Good luck and keep us posted on how your brew day went!

 

[AluminumGerbil]

Thanks for the replies. I'll give Beersmith a shot, I do like listening to his podcast. Haven't been able to get the online dealer to reply to my email so looks like I'll be trying to come up with a recipe and going to the LHBS to get the ingredients so crisis avoided, hopefully I'll have a corona mill of my own by the next time I brew. Now what to brew, I was thinking a Vanilla porter, but that may be too large of a grain bill for BIAB. Decisions decisions.

 

[jcdouglas]

My third BIAB was a Founder's Porter clone, which was something like a 13 pound grain bill. As long as it fits in your bag and pot, you should be fine.

You can download a trial of beersmith if you want to play around with the software first.

 

[TopherM]

On top of the 6.5 gallons you typically need for an extract batch, figure about 0.70 gallons per 10 lbs of grain for grain absorbtion. So, for a 10lb grain bill, you'd start with 7.2 gallons of water instead of 6.5.

Even if you get BeerSmith, remember to set up a custom equipment profile for your pot before you start. That process lets you save the boil off rate, grain absorbtion, etc. for your specific equipment instead of using one of BeerSmith's standard profiles.