Simple BIAB technique Q?

[ThePonchoKid]

Does anyone tie up the bag and stir it around instead of this clipping it to the rim of the kettle method? I'll probably be doing my first all grain biab this weekend, using a 10gal boiler maker, and I was hoping that knotting up a grain bag and tossing it in would suffice, and perhaps be a little less tedious than the clip on method.

 

[GTaylor]

Only problem I can see with tying it up and throwing in would be not getting all the grain wet since there is no way to stir the grains. If you put the grains in and stir them then it should not be a problem tying the bag afterward.

 

[ThePonchoKid]

Having not done this before it's hard to envisage all the grains in the kettle. I imagined that the bag would be loose enough to poke it around, stir, and get it all wet. This isn't quite the case?

 

[GTaylor]

BIAB is a total volume method, that is you put all the water that you need for mashing and boiling in the pot then add the grains. So if you are doing a 5g batch then you would have 7-8 gallons of water depending on boil off rate heated to mash temp then add the grains and stir. With all the grains balled up in a sack you may not be able to stir enough to soak all the grains.

 

[lowtones84]

That's exactly what I do. Just tie the knot as high as you can to give the grain as much room as possible, then stir/dunk up and down a lot. Never seemed to have a problem personally.

Happy brewing!

 

[ThePonchoKid]

That's exactly what I do. Just tie the knot as high as you can to give the grain as much room as possible, then stir/dunk up and down a lot. Never seemed to have a problem personally.

Happy brewing!

Are you using a 10gal kettle? Have you tried both techniques and then moved on to tying it up? Your calculations come pretty accurate?

I'll go clip on biab likely for my first attempts, however it just seemed more intuitive and less cumbersome to knot it up if it were possible

 

[GTaylor]

That's exactly what I do. Just tie the knot as high as you can to give the grain as much room as possible, then stir/dunk up and down a lot. Never seemed to have a problem personally.

Happy brewing!

I was thinking that the OP was going to tie it tight in the bag, then you would not be able to move the grains around. Your way would definitely make it easier and would give you something to hold onto when removing the bag.

 

[Stauffbier]

If the bag is large enough for you to tie it up and still allow the grain to move around loosely, then I'm sure it would work. I personally like to be able to stir it from time to time myself, and I feel like I get better efficiency if the enzymes have plenty of room to swim around.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I like clipping the bag to the kettle so it lines the entire pot. While stirring you can visually see the grain getting mixed and rinsed by the entire water volume. Perhaps tieing the bag and having it act like a tea bag would work as well, but that is not typically how it's done AFAIK.

 

[samuryan]

i clip mine and stir, i also sparge with maybe a 1/3 of my total volume, either dunking or pouring over with bag in perforated basket. Works very well for me (maybe im just used to it) at any rate my beer comes out pretty good.

 

[borden]

My gut reaction to the OP's question was skepticism, but apparently some folks are having success with this method.

If you do go ahead with tying the bag and agitating it, please do take a picture or two and share what efficiency you get! It's not perfectly scientific by any means, but this would be interesting information.

I do stovetop BIAB and have a custom-made bag that fits over my pots comfortably, so I don't even clip it. Stirring only takes a few minutes. But if you're really opposed, let's at least learn from the alternative method, right?

 

[mikeysab]

Just out of curiosity, what are you saving by not stirring? It only takes a minute to get everything all stirred up and wet. I'd think dunking it around, aside from not being very good at wetting the grain, would take longer to get all the grain wet. If doing full volume, you'd have plenty of water to get all the grain incorporated eventually, but whats the advantage of saving one minute at the risk of having a huge pocket of dry malt?

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Everybody has their particular method, I am no exception. I have done 2 AG batches, both 10 gallons in a 15 gallon pot. Grain bill was too large to do a total volume mash so I did my mash at 1.5 Qt/LB and then sparged to get the rest of the pre boil volume. Clipped the voile bag to the pot and stirred initially, then covered and let it sit. When I do a 5 gallon AG BIAB I wil most likely mash with the full volume and forget the sparge. I'm a squeezer.

 

[lowtones84]

Are you using a 10gal kettle? Have you tried both techniques and then moved on to tying it up? Your calculations come pretty accurate?

I'll go clip on biab likely for my first attempts, however it just seemed more intuitive and less cumbersome to knot it up if it were possible

Nope, my mashing kettle is only 5 gallons. I can fit over 10 lbs. of grain and mash with 1.5 qts./gallon, but that's certainly cutting it close. I haven't tried the clip on method. I used the knot method because the opening of my bag will barely fit around half of the lid of my kettle. As far as my calculations, my OGs are always spot on or very close to recipes calculated @ 75% efficiency.

Tying a knot as long as you have a big enough bag with some room in it facilitates stirring, I don't see why some people seem to have such a problem with it. The grains have plenty of room to move around and come in contact with water. I'm not saying my method is better by any means, just that it does work.

 

[ASassyBeerChick83]

That's exactly what I do. Just tie the knot as high as you can to give the grain as much room as possible, then stir/dunk up and down a lot. Never seemed to have a problem personally.

Happy brewing!

The hubby & I brewed our first extract/partial mash brewing a BIAB... Our bag was too small to fit around our 5-gallon so we tied a loose knot at the top of the bag.. The water was boiling, therefore, I know the water was moving around... Every once in a while I would raise the bag up & dunk it over and over a couple of times so that way I knew all of my water was going through the grains. I was not intending on brewing this way, however, the bag that the guy at my LHBS sold me was a bit small to go around the top of the brew pot.. I guess with our first Belgian Triple we will see & compare it to our future brew - our hefe!
Thanks for reassuring me what I did the last brew!!

 

[ASassyBeerChick83]

Everybody has their particular method, I am no exception. I have done 2 AG batches, both 10 gallons in a 15 gallon pot. Grain bill was too large to do a total volume mash so I did my mash at 1.5 Qt/LB and then sparged to get the rest of the pre boil volume. Clipped the voile bag to the pot and stirred initially, then covered and let it sit. When I do a 5 gallon AG BIAB I wil most likely mash with the full volume and forget the sparge. I'm a squeezer.

.... I guess I need some bigger brew pots...
.... I gotta get my Christmas list started now!

 

[Oddball]

Clipping the bag to the side really isn't that tedious imo. Also, I like being able to see the grain when I stir it just to be sure that it is all getting wet. I would just suggest to try both methods and see what works best as far as efficiency and preference...

 

[Stauffbier]

The water was boiling, therefore, I know the water was moving around... Every once in a while I would raise the bag up & dunk it over and over a couple of times so that way I knew all of my water was going through the grains.

For future reference, I wouldn't recommend boiling your grains when steeping or mashing..

 

[borden]

For future reference, I wouldn't recommend boiling your grains when steeping or mashing..

Yeah, this is a pretty important point, even if veering . Unless you're doing a decoction mash, never boil those grains!

 

[TBaGZ]

watch the Brewing TV episode on biab.. He mixes for a bit with the bag open then ties it off and lets it sit.

 

[BPal75]

I heard on a podcast, think it was basic brewing, that if your water to grist ratio is too high, the enzymes collide less in solution and reduce your conversion. To compensate, you should increase your mash times to improve your efficiency. I think that was the gist of it. Just curious what those of you that do full volume BIAB think about that. Seems like the water to grist ratio would be way high unless you had a really big grain bill. I've always used less mash water because of this, then sparged in enough water to get my full pre-boil volume. The no sparge method would be way easier though so if no conversion issues if consider switching.

 

[Stauffbier]

I heard on a podcast, think it was basic brewing, that if your water to grist ratio is too high, the enzymes collide less in solution and reduce your conversion. To compensate, you should increase your mash times to improve your efficiency. I think that was the gist of it. Just curious what those of you that do full volume BIAB think about that. Seems like the water to grist ratio would be way high unless you had a really big grain bill. I've always used less mash water because of this, then sparged in enough water to get my full pre-boil volume. The no sparge method would be way easier though so if no conversion issues if consider switching.

This is why a lot of people that do BIAB mash for 90 minutes. Including myself. I did a no sparge, full volume BIAB for 90 minutes a couple weeks ago, and I got 80% efficiency. I also stirred about 4 times in the 90 minutes. Yeah, I lost 2 or 3 degrees, but I mashed in at 154F. I don't sweat that kind of temp drop...