How long is BIAB taking you?

[snowtires]

I just did my first ebiab doughing in at 40c, ramping to a protein rest, then ramping up to the main event. This was also the very first time with the new system so the clean up wasn't efficient. Total time was just under 4 hours from crushing grain to final cleanup. I would imagine i could do this in 3 once i get it down. The electric 5500w heat is like a dream, beating me to dough in temperature and a boil before I'm ready.

 

[Morrey]

I brewed this weekend and shaved 15 min off my brew time since my source cooling water was cool enough that I didn't have to shift to a closed loop ice bath. This was the first time since I got my JaDed IC that I didn't have to shift during the cool down, and it really makes a difference.

 

[rhys333]

I brewed this weekend and shaved 15 min off my brew time since my source cooling water was cool enough that I didn't have to shift to a closed loop ice bath. This was the first time since I got my JaDed IC that I didn't have to shift during the cool down, and it really makes a difference.

It's been unseasonably cold the last few weeks in my area and groud water is very cool. I brewed a 6 gallon Saison yesterday and was surprised to see it had cooled to 160F in about a minute. Overshot my hopstand temp!

 

[Sparge]

On Friday, before brew day, 1/2 hour to crush the grains, set up the water in a big pot and put in the bucket heater on a timer. On Saturday, wort day, a few minutes to raise the temp to mash temp, few minutes to mash in grains and one hour to mash. 15 minutes to pull the bag out after stirring, then one hour boil. Few minutes to sanitize top and pull some wort for a starter. So, Saturday maybe 2.5 - 3 hours. On Sunday, during half time of a football game, move wort to a fermenter and pitch yeast, then clean kettle. Maybe another 30 minutes. So:

Friday: 45 minutes
Saturday: 2.5 - 3 hours
Sunday: 30 Minutes

Total: between 3 hrs 45 minutes to 4 hours 15 minutes, but I rarely time it. By breaking up the work over several days, no one day is completely taken over by brewing. Happy family, happy brewer.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I'm usually around 5 hours but I tend to tinker a little and am rarely in a hurry. I make sure to sit aside brew day as a "me day" and that is how I spend the day - brewing and drinking (I have learned not to do it the other way around!).

 

[Morrey]

I'm usually around 5 hours but I tend to tinker a little and am rarely in a hurry. I make sure to sit aside brew day as a "me day" and that is how I spend the day - brewing and drinking (I have learned not to do it the other way around!).

That's totally cool! It is a day to enjoy for sure, and I know I look forward to my brew days.

 

[Brew_G]

I usually measure and mill my grains in the day or two before brewday, so that shaves off a good 30 minutes or so. I'll also heat my strike water on the kitchen burner so that I can hang with the family/have breakfast while that's happening. But from the time I mash in to have everything cleaned up, it's about 3-4 hours. If I'm adding a hopstand, then it's on the higher side. Anything I can chill quickly is on the lower side. Also, it's much quicker in the cooler months due to speed of chilling with cold ground water.

My most recent beer, a NE IPA, took about 6.5 hours total since I had a big hopstand and I had to get the wort from about 105F (after using my IC) to 65F in an ice bath. I had some errands to run, so I just left it, rather than standing over it and stirring to bring it more quickly. I'll be brewing a brown ale this weekend, and am expecting it'll take about 3.5 hours.

The more quickly I can brew, the less pissed the little lady gets, meaning I get to brew more often without going into the dog house!

 

[Brew_G]

On Friday, before brew day, 1/2 hour to crush the grains, set up the water in a big pot and put in the bucket heater on a timer. On Saturday, wort day, a few minutes to raise the temp to mash temp, few minutes to mash in grains and one hour to mash. 15 minutes to pull the bag out after stirring, then one hour boil. Few minutes to sanitize top and pull some wort for a starter. So, Saturday maybe 2.5 - 3 hours. On Sunday, during half time of a football game, move wort to a fermenter and pitch yeast, then clean kettle. Maybe another 30 minutes. So:

Friday: 45 minutes
Saturday: 2.5 - 3 hours
Sunday: 30 Minutes

Total: between 3 hrs 45 minutes to 4 hours 15 minutes, but I rarely time it. By breaking up the work over several days, no one day is completely taken over by brewing. Happy family, happy brewer.

Bingo!

 

[wilserbrewer]

By breaking up the work over several days, no one day is completely taken over by brewing. Happy family, happy brewer.

I would suggest trying an overnight mash. Perhaps mash a couple / few degrees above target as the longer mash may lead to a bit more atttenuation??? This is a good timesaver as well.

 

[Sparge]

I would suggest trying an overnight mash. Perhaps mash a couple / few degrees above target as the longer mash may lead to a bit more atttenuation??? This is a good timesaver as well.

Haven't tried that yet, though that would shift my schedule somewhat. I just might give that a try to see how it differs from what I'm doing now.

No-chill combined with BIAB is a real work saver. I don't think I'll ever go back to three vessel brewing.

 

[DoctorMemory]

No-chill combined with BIAB is a real work saver. I don't think I'll ever go back to three vessel brewing.

Same here, although I went from extract brewing to BIAB. I had planned to build a nice brew rig, but now I don't really see the point (for me). I spend maybe 4 hours on one day, then no-chill overnight and pitch the next day. If I'm rushed, I'll sometimes do a 30-minute mash and a 45-minute boil to get done even quicker, but I don't enjoy that as much.

 

[puttster]

Started milling at noon, done around 4. Somewhere in there I picked up a 2nd carboy (one of those 5 gallon bottles that go into a water cooler) and milled another 10 lbs and as soon as the brew pot was free I started batch #2, just rinsing out the equipment. I was done about 6:30, got two 5 gallon batches. Cleaned up the next day.


I'm not worried about bottling and capping because I've been reusing 1L flavored carbonated water bottles. The process goes much faster with those things because no cleaning necessary.

 

[TNugent]

Haven't tried that yet, though that would shift my schedule somewhat. I just might give that a try to see how it differs from what I'm doing now.

No-chill combined with BIAB is a real work saver. I don't think I'll ever go back to three vessel brewing.

I really wish I had the nerve to try no-chill, I'm just so afraid something will go wrong. I live in the country and have an older well and I would really like not having to use all that well water to chill.

What precautions do you take? Like you said, this seems like the perfect match for BIAB and simplicity.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I really wish I had the nerve to try no-chill, I'm just so afraid something will go wrong. I live in the country and have an older well and I would really like not having to use all that well water to chill.

What precautions do you take? Like you said, this seems like the perfect match for BIAB and simplicity.

Precautions? True no-chill, you just make sure the lid for the brew kettle is sanitized or the jerrycan/fermenter is clean and capable of withstanding the 200+ degree wort.

The real considerations are mostly around flavor and aroma hop additions.

Minimal chill...similar considerations but once you drop to about 175f you add hops so whatever you stir it in with needs attention regarding sanitation. this adjustment can basically be used to take care of the flavor/aroma hop issue, especially in conjunction with dry hopping.

I have only done one no chill and about 3 partial chill batches but plan to do more n the future. For no chill, I do stouts and porters. I brew in the early morning and pitch the following morning. For partial chill, I finish up about 5 PM and toss it in the fermentation chamber to pitch the following morning.

 

[bonsai4tim]

I measure my brew day by time spent actively brewing.

This.

If the only thing I'm doing is brewing BIAB, it is about 3.5 hours, sometimes 3 if I decide to clean in place and let things soak overnight.

If I'm doing other stuff, its often 4-5 hours from start to done, but the lawn gets mowed, garage cleaned up, car washed, or off to the grocery store during the mash.

t

 

[nobadays]

I use an eBIAB rig and I'm in the 5-6 hour camp from start to finish. Although I clean well after each brew session, I always boil a few gallons of water - run it through the pump/CF chiller and all of the lines, then dump that and add my RO water and start the brewing process. Like others I also do a 90 minute mash so that adds 30 minutes. Yep 5-6 hours.

Don

 

[bigplunkett]

For me about an hour less then the mash tun but i loss 15% eff and tgats at 1.050 1.060

 

[Sparge]

I really wish I had the nerve to try no-chill, I'm just so afraid something will go wrong. I live in the country and have an older well and I would really like not having to use all that well water to chill.

What precautions do you take? Like you said, this seems like the perfect match for BIAB and simplicity.

I brew inside my garage and right before flame out, I sanitize the lid of the kettle. After flame out, the lid goes on and the kettle (which is on castors) is rolled into the back climate controlled part of the garage. Then I spray Starsan on the outside around the top of the kettle. If I don't pitch yeast within a day (which is rare), I wrap the top with Saran wrap.

BTW, i live in the country and use a well too.