To squeeze or not to squeeze

[brewprint]

I'm brand new to the BIAB method and have so far done 3 batches.

A 5.5 gallon batch where I hit mash temp too high of about 160. Ended up with a gravity about 10 points low. I squeezed the bag but not that much. There was not much leftover in the kettle.

A 3.5 gallon batch where I hit gravity spot on with about a half gallon leftover in the kettle. Really squeezed the bag.

Another 3.5 gallon batch that I ended up with at least a half gallon but probably more like a full gallon left in the kettle. Gravity was about 3 points lower than what I wanted but I attribute that to the left over wort in the kettle. Really squeezed the bag.

I'm probably hitting efficiency above 75% since I have so much left over in the kettle.

Is it necessary too squeeze the bag? It's hot and really a PITA IMO.

 

[Psylocide]

I squeeze until it's as dry as it'll get and have been hitting or exceeding my targets by a few points.

Yeah... it's hot. But, it's beer we're after and I'd jump through a ring of fire for the last six pack at the store.

They make gloves for reasons such as this... might help you out, but I use a large veggie tray for the grill over a 5 gal bucket and push down on the bag with the lid from my BK.

 

[PGEduardo]

Yes - I used those silicone gloves and they help but still get hot as ****.

Either you just mash more grains and don't squeeze, or cheap out and squeeze it like it owes you money. You pick your method, but be consistent so that you'll hit your numbers every time. Take good notes!!!

 

[user 62649]

I made a batch this weekend and out of 8# grains after sparging, squeezing and letting the remaining sit for the full 60 min boil in a SS bowl I hit my numbers +5%. Its what I've always done.

I agree with PGEduardo and be consistent and take good notes. It helps later when trying to make the same beer at a later date.

Also I found that using a SS grill flipper, or any flat SS piece of metal, does help compress the grains and squeeze more out and does not burn your hand.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I have found that merely letting the bag drain for 20 - 30 minutes will produce nearly the same amount as squeezing....so squeeze all you want, gravity is much easier, just let the bag drain....It does take a little patience, but squeezing only produces wort faster, not more wort.

Try just letting the bag drain while you are getting your boil going and add in the runnings to your boil. Squeezing is for those that like instant gratification, less work w gravity....same results.

 

[PhinneyWoodBrews]

Maybe somebody's already done this experiment, but I have a hard time believing bag drippings are of significantly higher gravity then the main volume of wort left after removing the bag. So it seems to me that squeezing is just getting more wort(future beer!) out. I do squeeze a bit as the wort is heating to a boil, but mostly let gravity and a colander do the work. I'll have to get out the refractometer next brew session to see about the gravity of bag squeeze drippings vs the wort. Cheers, all.

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

I squeeze the hell out of the bag every time. So far, I've been very close to or spot on for the OG.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

hahaha! y'all squeezing your bags! you dirty prebeers!

 

[CanAusBrewer]

Is it strange that I do this with my cooled wort to remove spent hops, especially in big IPAs?

 

[TexasWine]

I'm with Wilser on this one. Squeeze if you want instant gratification. Let it drip if you're patient.

Just remember if you let it drip to have enough boil time after you add your "drippings" to take care of things like DMS, protein coagulation, etc.

 

[calgary222]

I had an idea I was going to try for squeezing, before I decided just to let it drip. Untried, but I was going to attach a 8" 2x4 to my crane and then attach two hinged "arms" with paddles using leverage to squeeze the crap out of it. Anyway, I just grabbed two cutting boards against my forearms and got little more than I did after dripping (even with a 27# bill) so decided to shelve the idea.

 

[brewprint]

I had an idea I was going to try for squeezing, before I decided just to let it drip. Untried, but I was going to attach a 8" 2x4 to my crane and then attach two hinged "arms" with paddles using leverage to squeeze the crap out of it. Anyway, I just grabbed two cutting boards against my forearms and got little more than I did after dripping (even with a 27# bill) so decided to shelve the idea.

I like the cutting board idea. I'm going to give that a whirl next time. I just don't believe that letting the bag drain with gravity gets all the liquid out. No matter if it's 30 minutes or 60 minutes.

 

[Foosier]

I twist my bag right after pulling to get the wort out faster but once it slows to a dribble, I just throw the bag in a clean bucket. (I like using my bottling bucket for this.) once the boil gets rolling, I just lift the bag out and dump the wort out of the bucket. much easier than squeezing like it owes me money.

Honestly if you are worried about efficiency, crush your grain more. You don't have to worry about stuck mashes since you already BIAB. Crush that grain like it owes you money. You will be surprised at your efficiency. I make sure I get a good double crush and then don't even bother adding extra grains. I usually overshoot my gravity as a result.

 

[TexasWine]

I just don't believe that letting the bag drain with gravity gets all the liquid out. No matter if it's 30 minutes or 60 minutes.

Remember, no matter how much you beleive in something, it might not be true.

I beleived in Santa Claus for a long time. I got wind he might not be real, so I tested it out myself. I pretended like I was asleep on Christmas Eve and heard my parents get up from their bed and put presents out. My own experience confirmed what others had told me.

I'd suggest taking a similar approach.

 

[brewprint]

Remember, no matter how much you beleive in something, it might not be true.

I beleived in Santa Claus for a long time. I got wind he might not be real, so I tested it out myself. I pretended like I was asleep on Christmas Eve and heard my parents get up from their bed and put presents out. My own experience confirmed what others had told me.

I'd suggest taking a similar approach.

Lol

How about you do an experiment and let your bag drain for 1 hour. Then with the same grain squeeze it. Measure how much liquid comes out.

It's logic not Santa Claus.

 

[jahdub]

I used to use the double bucket method. Now I just drain over the kettle until it comes to a boil (usually 10 minutes or so) then give a light squeeze with the lid to my kettle + another stainless lid I have.

I'd like to try draining only, but I'm usually drunk and impatient when I brew.

 

[balrog]

+1 with Foosier. I've only done 4 BIAB but with a smaller BK I do partial boil so I'm actually mashing 1.25qt/# and dunk sparking in a gallon or 2 for 10m, then boiling just under 3.5 gallons, adding the last couple of cups of drips 10m into the boil. It's consistent, but my batches have all been 9.5-11.5# grain, double milled, about 72-75% eff, and as long as it is repeatable, I'm happy.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

I do a dunk sparge in my brew bucket. I take the bag out and soak it in another container for 20 minutes. It's gotten me a 3-5% better efficiency over draining / squeezing alone. I know it's not officially BIAB after you another vessel, but I'll take the extra points over being a 100% BIABer

 

[brewprint]

Duplicate post due to mobile app failure.

 

[firerat]

I'll squeeze my bag (giggity) until it's just dribbling out (giggity giggity) then put the bag in a strainer and let the rest drip out into a bucket until there is like 40 minutes or so left in the boil. Then I add the drippings

There's usually not much dripping left, but every bit helps right?

 

[Oginme]

Maybe somebody's already done this experiment, but I have a hard time believing bag drippings are of significantly higher gravity then the main volume of wort left after removing the bag. So it seems to me that squeezing is just getting more wort(future beer!) out. I do squeeze a bit as the wort is heating to a boil, but mostly let gravity and a colander do the work. I'll have to get out the refractometer next brew session to see about the gravity of bag squeeze drippings vs the wort. Cheers, all.

I've done this several times. The squeezings give you just about the same gravity as what is in the kettle.

When you sit and think about it, it makes sense. You really cannot squeeze the bag enough to compress the grains themselves. All you are really doing is forcing the grain particles closer together and liberating the free water volume that exists between the particles.

Now if I were to put the bag into my wife's cheese press... aside from not being alive to report on the results, I would suspect that I could put enough even pressure to liberate more water from within the grains...

 

[rhys333]

I squeeze and rinse my bag. Oh yes.

I just lift from the pot, drain a few moments then rest in in a colander on top of a 5 gal pale. I then squeeze a moment and transfer the wort. Bag gets dropped into the now empty bucket, dump in a gallon of water, swish around, and runnings are transferred again. Bag goes back into the colander for a final rinse over the top of the grains, then one final squeeze. Takes mere moments while the wort raises to a boil, almost no extra effort and I get decent batch sparge efficiency.

 

[SquidPope]

I use a large veggie tray for the grill over a 5 gal bucket and push down on the bag with the lid from my BK.

Why have I never thought of doing that?! I even have a round perforated baking sheet that would fit perfectly over my brew kettle. Cheers for the idea

 

[DeMerchant]

I actually use a colander, but I put mine upside down at the bottom of a 5gal bucket and set the grain down on top to drain. Then I'll use a tea kettle to dump about 4L of sparge temperature water into the grain to increase the 'runnings'. I let that drain away happily while the rest of my wart comes up to temperature, then pull the grain bag (I have been known to squeeze a little at this stage) and add what's in my bucket to my boil kettle.

And I would note that generally I've found this sparge/drain wort to come out at about the same OG as the rest of my wart (~20L) but since you're increasing the water you're efficiency should go up. Now I haven't compared to just putting the full ~24L (plus absorption) in my mash tun as it really fills that thing up, but none the less, that's what I do.

I generally get about 75% efficiency.

 

[brewprint]

I've done this several times. The squeezings give you just about the same gravity as what is in the kettle.

When you sit and think about it, it makes sense. You really cannot squeeze the bag enough to compress the grains themselves. All you are really doing is forcing the grain particles closer together and liberating the free water volume that exists between the particles.

Now if I were to put the bag into my wife's cheese press... aside from not being alive to report on the results, I would suspect that I could put enough even pressure to liberate more water from within the grains...

This is what I thought. Squeezing gives more water with the same gravity. Therefore there is no need to squeeze.

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

Whatever

 

[BillySpivitz]

Mr. Whipple says no.

 

[TexasWine]

Lol

How about you do an experiment and let your bag drain for 1 hour. Then with the same grain squeeze it. Measure how much liquid comes out.

It's logic not Santa Claus.

Before you declare logic trumps experience, keep in mind that lot's of other folks on here have done this, and they're telling you and me that that get very little to no benefit from squeezing if they let the bag drain for 20 or so minutes.

Since Santa isn't very convincing, let's use a brewing example. For years people have repeated the mantra of a minimum 60 minute mash. I followed this without question until some time last year someone on this forum suggested they got good results with a shorter 30 minute mash. Well, I tried it. And it worked. And now that's what I do as standard practice.

The world was flat at one point, and the earth was the center of the universe. That was logical. So my challenge to you would be to try it before drawing any logical conclusions.

 

[MaxStout]

I got into the habit of hoisting up the bag and letting it drip into the kettle while I fired up the boil. After about 20 minutes and the boil starts rocking I set the bag in a bucket. Later, when I'm cleaning up after brewing, I check that bucket. Maybe a couple ounces of wort. I didn't miss much by not squeezing.

 

[vNmd]

I press a little after letting it drain. I also leave the bag in a collendar to let it drip some more through the boil. It leaves the grain nice and dry so I can bag it.