No Squeeze No Sparge BIAB

[wobdee]

How many of you just let your bag or basket hang there and let gravity do its thing? Any volume or efficiency losses?

I usually squeeze but thinking of just letting it hang til the boil starts.

 

[Seven]

You might be able to get away with no squeezing with certain grain bills but if the grist contains flaked oats or other ingredients that hold a lot of wort then you may have to squeeze. I brewed a Yeti Imperial Stout clone the other day and I had to squeeze the bejeezus out of the bag just to get the correct pre-boil volume in the kettle. There were flaked oats and flaked rye in the recipe and I suspect these soaked up a lot of wort the same way dry oatmeal does.

 

[wobdee]

That's interesting and good to know, thanks Seven. I usually brew Lagers with pilsner and Munich malts. 3 gal batches with 4.5-6lbs of grain so I'm thinking squeeze verses hanging shouldn't be much of a difference.

 

[dstranger99]

How many of you just let your bag or basket hang there and let gravity do its thing? Any volume or efficiency losses?

I usually squeeze but thinking of just letting it hang til the boil starts.

I lay mine over a colander and press the BK top on it to get the juices flowing, I don't squeeze the hell out of it anymore like it owes me money. Made to much of a mess.......

 

[campbellmike]

Recent discussion.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f244/no-squeeze-sparging-496548/

 

[wobdee]

Recent discussion.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f244/no-squeeze-sparging-496548/

Yeah, saw that but it looked like the OP was looking at sparge verses squeeze and I didn't want to highjack his thread. Thought I'd start my own thread and see how many hangers are out there and how its working for them.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Typically I do a small pour over the bag with sparge water to reach pre boil volume, then just let the bag hang above and drip into the kettle for around thirty minutes.

I don't like squeezing, and I don't think it is much, if any more productive than just letting the bag drain.

For me, grain is cheap, and gravity works well for free.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[djt17]

I place a bucket with a dozen holes drilled in the bottom inside another bucket. (Google "Zap Pap Lauter Tun"). Toss the bag in the top bucket; then just before my wort gets to a boil I add all wort that has drained into the bottom bucket. No squeeze & less mess than any other method I have tried.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

I place a bucket with a dozen holes drilled in the bottom inside another bucket. (Google "Zap Pap Lauter Tun"). Toss the bag in the top bucket; then just before my wort gets to a boil I add all wort that has drained into the bottom bucket. No squeeze & less mess than any other method I have tried.

I've been doing this as well. I might switch to a ceiling pulley system above the stovetop, but have to get SWMBO permission before drilling a hook to the ceiling :rockin:

 

[Beer-lord]

I always squeeze and rarely need any sparging. I'm usually at about 78% efficiency. Never had a problem with tanins.
I bought me some 'heat' gloves from Amazon and can squeeze until I'm blue in the face or until I reach my volume.

 

[ol-hazza]

I hang (and sparge), and leave it dripping into my kettle while my wort is boiling. I find I get clearer wort this way, less trub and that makes up for collecting slightly less wort.

 

[Pkrd]

Check your volume and gravity after you remove the bag. Squeeze and/or sparge if you're low.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

I could easily let it hang, but I don't see any reason to. I just squeeze until I have my preboil volume. If my gravity is low, I'll squeeze a little harder and boil off the extra to raise my gravity, if it's high, I could dilute, but I usually let it ride.

Is there a benefit beyond inconvenience to not squeezing?

 

[wobdee]

I was thinking maybe letting it hang and not squeezing would make for cleaner wort, less trub and less protein gum or anything else that could leak through with a squeeze? Just not sure it makes a difference or not, going to have to find out for myself I guess.

 

[wobdee]

Typically I do a small pour over the bag with sparge water to reach pre boil volume, then just let the bag hang above and drip into the kettle for around thirty minutes.

I don't like squeezing, and I don't think it is much, if any more productive than just letting the bag drain.

For me, grain is cheap, and gravity works well for free.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

Do you find that your grains are pretty much dry after a 30 min hang? Any reduction in efficiency verses a squeeze?

 

[wobdee]

I place a bucket with a dozen holes drilled in the bottom inside another bucket. (Google "Zap Pap Lauter Tun"). Toss the bag in the top bucket; then just before my wort gets to a boil I add all wort that has drained into the bottom bucket. No squeeze & less mess than any other method I have tried.

How's your efficiencies?

 

[BigJack]

Yeah, I'm cheap. I'll keep squeezing that bag like Flaco Jimenez on his accordion on a Friday Night.

 

[ol-hazza]

I could easily let it hang, but I don't see any reason to. I just squeeze until I have my preboil volume. If my gravity is low, I'll squeeze a little harder and boil off the extra to raise my gravity, if it's high, I could dilute, but I usually let it ride.

Is there a benefit beyond inconvenience to not squeezing?

I think clearer wort and less trub which Is quite advantageous with my system, but I dont have hard evidence

 

[RM-MN]

I think clearer wort and less trub which Is quite advantageous with my system, but I dont have hard evidence

What's the point? Clear wort doesn't necessarily lead to clearer beer and the trub compacts down pretty well in the fermenter. Any sweet wort you leave behind by not squeezing is beer that you throw out. Instead of leaving that behind, just put it into the fermenter and turn it into beer, then dump out 3 or 4 bottles onto the ground. It will serve the same purpose.

 

[The Pol]

Ive been working on a design for a BIAB system for about a month, but will probably buy many of the components during Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

I have seen some very clear BIAB beers. Are you guys using any fining agents in the kettle? Whirlpooling? I'm planning both, just curious. The system will already be a RIMS system, CIP capable, so the whirlpooling setup will already be integrated. Kettle will be drained from the bottom.

 

[wobdee]

What's the point? Clear wort doesn't necessarily lead to clearer beer and the trub compacts down pretty well in the fermenter. Any sweet wort you leave behind by not squeezing is beer that you throw out. Instead of leaving that behind, just put it into the fermenter and turn it into beer, then dump out 3 or 4 bottles onto the ground. It will serve the same purpose.

The point for me is a better tasting lager. I think less trub possibly equals less off flavors? But I can't confirm that, I've read many differing views on this.

I also like to reuse my slurry and if I can cut down trub I think it leads to a cleaner yeast cake.

If you lose a few bottles of beer per batch you can adjust your recipe to account for that. A little more grain or increasing the wort volume to make up a little lower efficiency shouldn't break the bank for me brewing 2.5 gal batches.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Do you find that your grains are pretty much dry after a 30 min hang? Any reduction in efficiency verses a squeeze?

Of course they are not "dry", but they are well drained to the point that squeezing yields very little, if any additional wort.

The decision to squeeze vs not squeeze also depends on batch size. Small batch brewers can much more easily squeeze the bag and dispose of the grain promptly. My typical batch is about 15 lbs of grain.What I have found is that simply allowing the bag to drain over the kettle well into the boil for 30 -40 minutes provides as much, if not more wort than squeezing.

I feel squeezing just gets the wort out of the grain sooner, not in a greater quantity. The best thing about BIAB is the simplicity, building devices to squeeze the bag, or buying silicone gloves to squeeze the bag only accomplish as much as ignoring the bag and letting it drain.

If you like to squeeze, knock your sticky hands off, I just don't agree that squeezing the bag is productive...just my opinion. I like gravity

 

[djt17]

How's your efficiencies?

Between 70% - 75%

 

[DurtyChemist]

Of course they are not "dry", but they are well drained to the point that squeezing yields very little, if any additional wort.

The decision to squeeze vs not squeeze also depends on batch size. Small batch brewers can much more easily squeeze the bag and dispose of the grain promptly. My typical batch is about 15 lbs of grain.What I have found is that simply allowing the bag to drain over the kettle well into the boil for 30 -40 minutes provides as much, if not more wort than squeezing.

I feel squeezing just gets the wort out of the grain sooner, not in a greater quantity. The best thing about BIAB is the simplicity, building devices to squeeze the bag, or buying silicone gloves to squeeze the bag only accomplish as much as ignoring the bag and letting it drain.

If you like to squeeze, knock your sticky hands off, I just don't agree that squeezing the bag is productive...just my opinion. I like gravity

I feel the same way. If BIAB is supposed to allow a finer crush and traditional mash tuns aren't squeezed what's the point? Squeezing 25 lbs of grain might be a little harder than 15 or 12.

 

[ol-hazza]

What's the point? Clear wort doesn't necessarily lead to clearer beer and the trub compacts down pretty well in the fermenter. Any sweet wort you leave behind by not squeezing is beer that you throw out. Instead of leaving that behind, just put it into the fermenter and turn it into beer, then dump out 3 or 4 bottles onto the ground. It will serve the same purpose.

I ferment in buckets with a spigot, and when squeezing have had trub settle above the spigot (4-5gal in a 6gal batch), which makes bottling/transferring a pain.
You assume that wort is left behind? But with a free drain lasting 40-50 minutes I don't believe that this is actually the case, and I'm not throwing any out. In fact with the reduced trub I'm actually gaining a gal or so in beer in the bottles.
And give me the choice between fermenting beer on a lot of trub or less, and i will take less every time.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I place a bucket with a dozen holes drilled in the bottom inside another bucket. (Google "Zap Pap Lauter Tun"). Toss the bag in the top bucket; then just before my wort gets to a boil I add all wort that has drained into the bottom bucket. No squeeze & less mess than any other method I have tried.

When I did that I found half of the wort ended up on top of the bag and I had to make a channel for it to work to the bottom. Added a bunch of holes on the sides and now gravity does all the work. First time I used the "more holy" bucket I squeezed the bag after 30 minutes just to see what was left and got an amount so negligable i didn't even bother pouring it into the kettle.

 

[wobdee]

I'm going to give the no squeeze hang method a try this weekend with a Pilsner recipe I'm very familiar with and have a pretty steady 82% mash efficiency with a squeeze. I'll post my results. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

 

[wobdee]

Just brewed my Pils with the hang method and hit all my numbers. 80% mash efficiency, right where I usually end up.

I let it hang for 20 min til the boil started then set the basket in a bucket for another 45 min or so. I only got 12 oz in the bucket and dumped it in the boil.

I couldn't really tell if the wort was clearer than my squeeze method but there was a lot more crap in my basket than before and with my modified decoction method I think its a good thing not to squeeze all that gunk into the boil.

I think I'll keep letting gravity do its thing and see if the beer turns out better.

 

[DurtyChemist]

Just brewed a recipe called winter wonderland. I will post it below. Hit 73% efficiency without squeezing the bag just putting it on a grate to drain. Mashed around 147 for the most part for 30 minutes then stirred and heated for about 20 minutes up to 167/8F for 10 minutes. Always have a lot of trub so that's no problem. Better than my 63% efficiency from last batch. Trying to figure out how I went from 80s to 70s efficiency.

 

[wobdee]

Just brewed a recipe called winter wonderland. I will post it below. Hit 73% efficiency without squeezing the bag just putting it on a grate to drain. Mashed around 147 for the most part for 30 minutes then stirred and heated for about 20 minutes up to 167/8F for 10 minutes. Always have a lot of trub so that's no problem. Better than my 63% efficiency from last batch. Trying to figure out how I went from 80s to 70s efficiency.

Next time try bumping up your mash temp to at least 149. Starch gelanitizes at temps above this which helps the enzymes convert. Lower temps can take much longer to convert.

 

[EthanH]

I generally pull my bag and drop it into a big SS colander that I put over my boil kettle. I let it drain while I bring the wort up to a boil. Sometimes I squeeze (using a lid from a smaller pot), but usually not.

I did a no squeeze/no sparge brew of BierMuncher's Loon Lake Smoked Porter last night and hit my OG and volumes pretty much exactly.

 

[DurtyChemist]

I generally pull my bag and drop it into a big SS colander that I put over my boil kettle. I let it drain while I bring the wort up to a boil. Sometimes I squeeze (using a lid from a smaller pot), but usually not.

I did a no squeeze/no sparge brew of BierMuncher's Loon Lake Smoked Porter last night and hit my OG and volumes pretty much exactly.

What was your mash efficiency? Preboil gravity and volume?