Pre-rinse grains for Brew in Bag?

[JGrana]

After years of brewing all-grain - then ~ 4 years off, I have started brewing again with my son. Frankly, the sparge and time spent and stresses of stuck sparge kept me doing a few partial mashes. But, I tried a brew in bag a few weeks ago and it went well!

One fear that was proven though - the amount of grain dust/flour that collects on the wort. I know that without the filtering the sparge provides this is going to happen, but... a thought...

Since I am already adding ~15% grain to offset the lower extraction rate, why not rinse the crushed grains in cold water before adding to the mash pot?

It should rinse much of the dust/flour off, but leave the craked grains alone. I would rinse them in the mesh brew bag.

Anyone ever done this? Is it worth the further extraction loss - which can be offset by adding an extra 1/2 of grain???

Thanks!

 

[JPicasso]

I wouldn't worry about the cloudy wort.
I did a BIAB blonde ale, actually a Cream of 3 crops, with rice, corn and barley,
put in the primary for 4 weeks and bottled. Clear as can be.

 

[ifishsum]

+1 I use a grain bag for my PMs, never pre-rinsed the grains and I end up with very clear beer. It settles out somewhere along the line (I do 2 week primary and 2 week secondary).

 

[ThePearsonFam]

ditto... no need to worry. I've done a ton of bagged partials and have never rinsed the dust off. It always settles out. Good luck!

 

[gabeweisz]

It does settle out, but you end up with muck more gunk at the bottom of the fermenter, and less beer into keg and bottles. Rinsing might be worth a try.

 

[JPicasso]

Some of that dust is the "good stuff" right?

Seems like this could mess with your efficiency. We need an experiment!

 

[Nugu]

Not to mention it'd be a real pita to rinse it worth a crap seeing as most dust-like substances clump and stick upon getting damp.

I recently made a ~5.5 gallon .072 OG brew using a bag method, I used a hop bag but didn't touch hot/cold break or clean the grain (~14-15 lbs). On dumping in carboy(6.5g) and settling I had ~4 inches of break and crap on the bottom but after primary fermentation, ~14 days, it's down to a pretty solid 2 inch layer and I think it'll compact more in a couple weeks before I keg it.

Let it sit, the yeast pretty much traps the dust underneath/in the mix.