Tried Brew-In-A-Bag tonight, got bad efficiency: 1.034 instead of 1.054

[adamjab19]

Hi Picobrew,
...and adamjab19's post https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/b-i-b-first-all-grain-79675/ (which includes an all-grain 2.5-gal. recipe of an American Wheat). I hit 75% as the final gravity, and that batch was delicious....

Cool!

 

[tabrewsco]

I tried my first BiAB tonight and although the wort looked nice, I guess it didn't work that well because my OG came out real low. I took the Clone brews Paulaner Hef recipe and cut it in half for a 2.5G batch.

I'm thinking that perhaps I messed up the grain weighing/purchasing and that I should just try this again, to see if I get the same efficiency. Maybe this doesn't work well with wheat??

I used 14qts of water that was about 13qt after a 90min mash (in a giant bag that lined my pot), then boiled down to 10qt (2.5G) after 90m. The OG at that point was 1.034, which is a total let down!

According to BeerSmith this is about 52% efficiency, which sucks.

I'm a bit discouraged, but I'll try it again sometime after I do a few more extract batches.

I've done three BIABs so far, an my effeciency stinks, too, but got a bit better each time as I started paying more attention to draining bag, as I really don't sparge. Hey ... it's a bag, not a tun. It can't possibly be as good, but it works well enough to make me want to do it. Like they say, just add a little more grain than the recipe calls for.
I don't see how you guys are doing it on large batches, though. For a 2.1 gallon mrbeer batch, I've been mashing 4lbs of two row ... it's just about manageable, and I just make it on the cool down. Anything bigger I don't think I could do in my kitchen. And the small batch BIAB is certainly not time efficient ... eesh ... but it's a labor of love. Four hours to make a just under a case of beer, four and a half counting bottling, five with all the cleanup .... yeah, five hours .... heh heh

What are you using to boil, a propane burner? I'm doing two gallon batches on my kitchen electric stove, but it just about keeps it boiling. Also, my first BIAB had a ridiculous low OG at the fermenter, but I was shocked that yeast was hungry, and brought the FG way down, I ended up with a 4% ABV, which was less that what it should have been (should have been over 5) but do NOT dump that beer.

 

[Saccharomyces]

I've done three BIABs so far, an my effeciency stinks, too, but got a bit better each time as I started paying more attention to draining bag, as I really don't sparge.

The two keys to efficiency with no-sparge are:

1) Crush... your grain MUST be crushed fine or your eff. will tank with no sparge. If you don't own a grain mill, have your LHBS mill your grain twice, or if they can, ask them to crush at 0.035. Since you are using a bag there isn't any chance of a stuck sparge so lots of flour is just fine!

2) You must mash with all of your water in the pot. If you have to top up before the boil your efficiency will drop, and you should probably consider doing a single sparge with a second pot.

See the no-sparge brewing thread linked in my sig for more discussion about the technique... as well as a spreadsheet that shows you your grain weights and water volumes for 5 or 10 gallon no-sparge batches.

 

[Pivovar_Koucky]

If you want a really fine crush you can always toss it in the blender. It'll stick if you try to run it through a mash tun, but it might be fine in a bag.

 

[JVD_X]

The real problem with BIAB is the weight of the grain after it has been soaking. I have a space issue but 10lbs of wet grain is heavy! Not too mention the bag that needs to hold it.

True... the few times I have tried BIAB I simply put it in my cooler and drain from the bottom of the cooler. I don't take the bag out.

 

[tabrewsco]

Thanks. I did buy a hand crank grain mill the other day, and my next BIAB, the efficiency was 60%. Next time, I'm going to really crush the grain, and then really drain the bag a bit when I'm done. I'll bet I can hit 70%, which is acceptable. Meantime, my last BIAB I added one cup (which isn't much) of sugar for a crisp, 5% brew.

 

[ryan0914]

I've done 70gal with BIAB this year and i regularly get 75-80% I've even gotten 85 once or twice. I dont rinse my grain either . It sounds like your doing what your supposed to. It was your first, everyone's first isnt always all that good. Heres what i do. First i crush pretty fine, i would say almost very. and then bring water up to about 125-130 and dump in the grain. i slowly ramp up the temp till i hit my target mash temp. I them mash for 90 min, checking the temp and stirring every 20 min and adjusting when needed. Then i preform a mash out and bring the temp up to 170 and then pull the bag out. I let the bag drain for a while and then squeeze the crap out of it. I think its a misnomer about tannin extraction from squeezing the grain. I do all this and get good efficiency. I did a 1.096 imperial stout last weekend with 18LBS of grain last weekend and got 85% eff. Dont ask me how i have no clue. that is my limit in my 15 gal pot. I was about an inch from the top. Well good luck with your next batch.