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What effect does mash-out have for BIAB?

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No sparge here and get 75-85% depending on the size of the brew. Smaller beers get the higher efficiency. I guess I could try a sparge but figure a few extra points isn't really worth the extra step to me.

I also do a mash out since I have to bring it up to boil anyways so why not just leave the grains in there while bring up the heat.
 
No sparge here and get 75-85% depending on the size of the brew. Smaller beers get the higher efficiency. I guess I could try a sparge but figure a few extra points isn't really worth the extra step to me.

I also do a mash out since I have to bring it up to boil anyways so why not just leave the grains in there while bring up the heat.

Do you stop @ 170 and hold for 10 minutes?
 
You could rig a simple pulley and rope to hoist out the bag. Tie down the other end of the rope to suspend the bag just above the wort.

I will probably need to do that for bigger beers just to support their weight.

I don't have a basket though (wouldn't fit well with my brewmometer anyhow) and not sure how I could rinse the grains if they are suspended in a bag? Do you do that? Just pour water over the outside of the bag? Can't picture if it would work?

:confused:
 
Yes, I now use a basket, but you could just tie the end of the rope around the top of the bag and hoist. I would think you could pour the sparge water over the top of bag, being careful to not let it run down the outside of the bag. The basket does help keep the grain flatter than in a bag alone and makes my pour-over sparge easier. My pot has a brewmometer too (2" probe) so I had to find a basket that was small enough in diameter to not hit it.
 
Good deal, sounds like it might be a good way for me to go.

Do you press down pretty hard on your basket with it tied off? I suppose if everything I use is sturdy enough it should be fine, but I'm a bit leery about it.
 
I basically took the whole idea from Seven's BIAB sticky. Seven's process is no-sparge, but it is easy to do a pour-over with this system. After sparging, I push down on the grain with a smaller pot lid to squeeze out a little more wort. The rope I use is just some 5/16" nylon I got at Lowe's. I think it has a break strength of over 100 lbs, so I'm not worried about breakage. The pulley is mounted with an eye bolt into a rafter in my garage. I tie the other end of the rope to an eye bolt in a stud in the garage wall.
 
I was thinking about laying a new clean Weber Grill grate across the top of my kettle to set the grain bag on and sparge through

I did this and had mixed results. 1) I guess my patio isn't totally level and when the drip slowed down it would run down the length of the grill to the edge of the BK and drip over the side (the grill was larger diameter than my BK). 2) Most of them (even "stainless" ones) have some sort of packing grease or something else that typically burns off but I couldn't really get it all off with soap and water even though I put in a lot of elbow grease. 3) after one use my "stainless" grate had surface rust even though I dried it. YMMV but I probably won't use it again.
 
doomXsaloon said:
Do you stop @ 170 and hold for 10 minutes?

No, I just bring it up to 170, pull my basket, set a grill rack over the kettle to set the basket on then squeeze the grains.
 
Do any of you guys that sparge treat you sparge water? I thought pouring regular tap water with a PH over 6 can cause tannin extraction?
 
I don't. Others can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe as long as the runnings coming out of the sparge are >1.010, the grain should still be effective at keeping the pH down.
 
...and not sure how I could rinse the grains if they are suspended in a bag? Do you do that? Just pour water over the outside of the bag? Can't picture if it would work?

:confused:

Sparging a bag of grain suspended over a pot seems to work surprisingly well for me. I didn't think it would work either, but a few batches ago I was short on runnings so I tried it...with a 2 qt pitcher, I slowly pour water over and through the side of the grain bag above the grain, it actually pours fairly well through the top to the fabric and rinses the grain. Didn't think it would work nearly as well as it does, I imagined the sparge water would just run off the outside of the bag...nope it goes through the grain :)

I have found that the bag / grain is quite sticky before the ghetto sparge, and much less sticky afterwards FWIW. The sticky sugar must be in the kettle I guess!
 
You guys have me talked into trying a rinsing sparge. The fact that I will be getting the last of those sugars out of the grain and the bag will be less sticky is appealing.
I always use half tap and half RO water so I may hold a gallon or two back and pour it straight from the gallon jugs.
 
I always use half tap and half RO water so I may hold a gallon or two back and pour it straight from the gallon jugs.

IME a gallon is plenty! Basicly your pouring it on the bag a little at a time and waiting for it to trickle through...all good!
 
I do a partial mash BIAB. I mash in an igloo cooler, approx. 1.5 GAL. I dunk sparge in approx. 2 GAL in the BK for 5 min. at 170F then drain and squeeze the bag over the BK on a perforated, cookie sheet-type plate. Then add the cooler runnings and approx. .5 GAL of make up water for a 4 GAL boil.

Any recommendations or comments on this process? Thanks.
 
..... and approx. .5 GAL of make up water for a 4 GAL boil.

Any recommendations or comments on this process? Thanks.

Why add "make up water"? best practice efficiency wise is to use sparge water through the grain...but if you are only PM'ing, your rinse or sparge could be adequate...without details sort of a guess on my part...cheers!

With an additional 1/2 gallon sparge water, squeezing the bag could be pointless....I would suggest pouring the make up water through the grain bag and let it drain...this whole squeezing the bag for 10 cents of fermentables kinda bothers me...sure give it a little squeeze maybe....but when I hear of people wringing the bag like it owes you money...I just don't get it....
 
I do small BIAB batches using about 2.8 gallons to mash with. I use a paint strainer bag and a 5 gallon colman cooler as mashtun.
I tried sparging but decided it was to much work w/no great increase in efficiency.
Since I do small batches rarely going over 6 lbs of grain what I do is pull the bag up and set it in a colander over the cooler and w/a coffee cup in each hand put as much pressure on the bag over and over again until I get just about every last drop of liquid out of it. My BeerSmith is set for 75% and I usually get about 80%. I would imagine trying to get every last drop out of a 5 or 10 gallon batch would be much harder so maybe sparge is needed there.
 
I do small BIAB batches using about 2.8 gallons to mash with. I use a paint strainer bag and a 5 gallon colman cooler as mashtun.
I tried sparging but decided it was to much work w/no great increase in efficiency.
Since I do small batches rarely going over 6 lbs of grain what I do is pull the bag up and set it in a colander over the cooler and w/a coffee cup in each hand put as much pressure on the bag over and over again until I get just about every last drop of liquid out of it. My BeerSmith is set for 75% and I usually get about 80%. I would imagine trying to get every last drop out of a 5 or 10 gallon batch would be much harder so maybe sparge is needed there.

Start with the coffee cups full of cold water. When you feel you have squeezed out half the liquid, pour in one cup of the water and squeeze it again. Then dump in the other cup and squeeze it until no more liquid comes out easily. I'll bet you gain 5 to 10% efficiency! :rockin::ban:
 
Start with the coffee cups full of cold water. When you feel you have squeezed out half the liquid, pour in one cup of the water and squeeze it again. Then dump in the other cup and squeeze it until no more liquid comes out easily. I'll bet you gain 5 to 10% efficiency! :rockin::ban:

Hope I can remember to try it next time. :cross:
 
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