Why doesn't everyone just BIAB?

[jbaysurfer]

I've done BIAB and I currently use a 3 vessel system. Handling a back of 170f grains that's heavy as hell (I brew big beers, and a 5.5G batch has 15+lb of grain and 15+ lbs of water absorbed in it) and is a sticky mess is my primary reason for not doing it.

One more vessel to clean is preferable to me then handling that mess. The pulley system would probably help this, but getting the right bag, making sure you have the right crush, setting up a pulley, and still getting slightly less extraction from your grain makes me glad that I do it the traditional way.

I understand that for money or other reasons though, another vessel isn't always an option, but if it is, it's preferable to me..and as yooper mentioned, it adds the flexibility of herms for temperature control.

 

[jbaysurfer]

"

Still, I'm about 4.5 hours on a 5.5 gallon batch and 5 hours on an 11 gallon batch.

"

That's super fast. I need at least an hour to clean after I pitch, and that's usually about 45minutes from flameout. I also do 90minute mashes and 90 minute boils. I realize I could save an hour right there, but like you, I'm not in a race, so I prefer the results of the long mash and long boil.

 

[Frogmanx82]

" "

That's super fast. I need at least an hour to clean after I pitch, and that's usually about 45minutes from flameout. I also do 90minute mashes and 90 minute boils. I realize I could save an hour right there, but like you, I'm not in a race, so I prefer the results of the long mash and long boil.

Maybe its in the clean up where another set of hands is helping cut the time.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Maybe its in the clean up where another set of hands is helping cut the time.

Yeah, probably. I did do an entire brewday in just under 5 hours once. But I WAS trying to be as efficient and fast as possible, but in the end, my attitude is a bit like yours: It's a hobby, it's fun, it's not a race. So now I just block out 8 hours and if I'm done in 6 I'm pretty stoked.

Still kudo's on your process, sounds dialed and efficient.

 

[241]

Knocked out a BIAB in 5 hours last night after work.


That being said I'll never do it after work again. After a 10 hour day plus the brew I was exhausted. Still, 5 hours with cleaning and sanitizing ain't bad for a 700sq ft apartment home brew.

 

[tknice]

Here's my 4-4.5 hour BIAB brewday in a nutshell. This assumes a 60 minute mash and boil, I crush the night before, and (if I need to be fast) don't drink too much while brewing haha.

Sometimes I don't mashout if I'm short on time. I suggest writing down all of your steps and look for places to save time such as gathering equipment while strike water is heating etc. This goes for BIAB or Traditional 3 vessel.

 

[boscobeans]

I use a mash tun made from a 52 quart cooler that has a stainless grill fitted to the bottom. The grill rides about 1/4 of an inch from the bottom and fits against all four walls. The one end has been shaped so it rests on top of the inner spigot. The spigot has been replaced with a CPVC valve. Before mashing I fit a Voile curtain into the cooler so it fits against the walls and flat to the grill on the bottom.

Once the cooler is preheated I drain the water, dump in my water then dough in the grains. Never had the voile come off the walls or away from the bottom even with vigorous mixing. After a good batch sparge I tilt the cooler to get out the small amount of bottom runnings.

The curtain panel lifts out (still have enough muscle left for 12-13 pond grain bills.LOL) and is usually pretty well drained.

I quess this is a hybrid method, but it gives me great numbers on the hydrometer and am always in the 80% range.

bosco

 

[user 98891]

My brewday is really fast.

Yeast starter made at least 36 hours in advance.
About 10 minutes of setup (getting the propane burner out, carrying up the equipment from the basement.
Then 5-10 minutes measuring ingredients (typically done the night before)
15-20 minutes heating strike water. The last few minutes of this I preheat my mash tun with the hot water from my faucet.
Mash for 1 hour. During this time I heat sparge water and mixup starsan in my fermenter.
Batch sparge (less than 10 minutes with the drain, add water, stir like a mad man, drain again)
Boil for 1 hour. During this time I clean my mash tun and put away all equipment not needed (IE bowls for hops after the addition, etc).
Cool the wort for 15 minutes (During this time I take everything out of the fermenter and fill a spray bottle with starsan from the fermenter)
Whirlpool wort for 10-15 minutes
Transfer wort to fermenter 2-3 minutes tops
Decant and pitch yeast (1 minute tops?)
Move fermenter into basement and attach airlock.
Clean boil kettle (around 10 minutes)

Total time is a little over 4 hours, sometimes a little under 4 hours. The trick is to clean as you go, not to brew then clean.

 

[jbaysurfer]

My brewday is really fast.

Yeast starter made at least 36 hours in advance.
About 10 minutes of setup (getting the propane burner out, carrying up the equipment from the basement.
Then 5-10 minutes measuring ingredients (typically done the night before)
15-20 minutes heating strike water. The last few minutes of this I preheat my mash tun with the hot water from my faucet.
Mash for 1 hour. During this time I heat sparge water and mixup starsan in my fermenter.
Batch sparge (less than 10 minutes with the drain, add water, stir like a mad man, drain again)
Boil for 1 hour. During this time I clean my mash tun and put away all equipment not needed (IE bowls for hops after the addition, etc).
Cool the wort for 15 minutes (During this time I take everything out of the fermenter and fill a spray bottle with starsan from the fermenter)
Whirlpool wort for 10-15 minutes
Transfer wort to fermenter 2-3 minutes tops
Decant and pitch yeast (1 minute tops?)
Move fermenter into basement and attach airlock.
Clean boil kettle (around 10 minutes)

Total time is a little over 4 hours, sometimes a little under 4 hours. The trick is to clean as you go, not to brew then clean.

Thread drift.....but I'm glad you're so fast. Some things can't be cleaned as you go...like a kettle (which I soak for 30minutes in PBW with my IC), a pump an IC, tubing, fittings, burners, starter container, the floor, the towels etc...and also, while it's ideal to multi task, there's a modicum of attention that has to be paid to whats going on during the brew itself..but that's just my experience.

I have no problem with my brewday process or timetable. I know I have room to improve, but again, it's not a race. It's a craft afterall. Stoked you guys have it so well dialed....and btw, I DO BIAB sometimes, and have done that hybrid bag/false bottom thing before too, but I found the bag to be an unneccesary step.

BTW, whether you do stuff the day before or not (starter, crush grain etc) I still count it as part of my brewday, because it's required work. But that's just me.

 

[Milan37]

My BIAB IPA scored a 36 in the MALT Turkeyshoot contest this year. Didn't win, place, or show, but it apparently "advanced to a mini-BOS round," whatever that is. My highest score was a 38, and no flaws were documented other than a lack of balance noted by one judge (which I thought was a good thing for an American IPA, but OK).

Takes me 4-5 hours start-finish and I don't stress about it along the way.

 

[slakwhere]

i built a 3 vessel single tier system from a partial boil extract system after about 2 brews. EBIAB is intriguing to me but i think the weight keeps me from trying it. but i love seeing the process evolve.

 

[scoundrel]

If/when I move to a 10+ gallon brew, then I'd definitely have to move to a three vessel system. I agree with you there!

or get a bayou classic 20.5 gallon kettle. Works great every time

 

[Mofoa]

I use a mash tun made from a 52 quart cooler that has a stainless grill fitted to the bottom. The grill rides about 1/4 of an inch from the bottom and fits against all four walls. The one end has been shaped so it rests on top of the inner spigot. The spigot has been replaced with a CPVC valve. Before mashing I fit a Voile curtain into the cooler so it fits against the walls and flat to the grill on the bottom.

Once the cooler is preheated I drain the water, dump in my water then dough in the grains. Never had the voile come off the walls or away from the bottom even with vigorous mixing. After a good batch sparge I tilt the cooler to get out the small amount of bottom runnings.

The curtain panel lifts out (still have enough muscle left for 12-13 pond grain bills.LOL) and is usually pretty well drained.

I quess this is a hybrid method, but it gives me great numbers on the hydrometer and am always in the 80% range.

bosco

I just ordered my cooler today, and this is exactly what I plan on doing; mash in cooler with voile curtain. Two reasons for me are: 1) being able to maintain temp--which was a problem in my last brew day since it was low 30's outside, and 2) not having to mess around with lifting the grain by myself. I suppose a third reason for this is not having to mill the grain at home with my cheap mill--it does work, but it takes time and muscle...again, this is saving me some me time by not having to continue to reheat pot, and having to mill grains for 45 minutes.

 

[msa8967]

So are you going to put a ball valve on the cooler to drain it? I still use a cooler for my mashtun on bigger brews and just wrap the stainless steel braid with voile cloth from a curtain. This gives me very clear runnings from the start and I have never had a stuck sparge.

 

[Mofoa]

So are you going to put a ball valve on the cooler to drain it? I still use a cooler for my mashtun on bigger brews and just wrap the stainless steel braid with voile cloth from a curtain. This gives me very clear runnings from the start and I have never had a stuck sparge.

Yes, already have the SS ball valve as I was going to add it to my 10.5G pot, but since there is really no need to add it to the pot at this very moment, I might just add it to the cooler to drain back into the pot.

I was going back and forth regarding the SS braid. If I just use the viola curtain, I don't see a huge need to do so. But, I just might add one and experiment with and w/out it.

 

[msa8967]

I initially tried things with the curtain and found it was much harder to stir the mash evenly with the curtain. Just my experiences with it.

 

[Mofoa]

I initially tried things with the curtain and found it was much harder to stir the mash evenly with the curtain. Just my experiences with it.

Hmmm...well, you've just given me a reason to go ahead and make the braid. If I'm going this far, why not?

By the way, if it weren't BIAB, I would not have gotten this far. I've only done one BIAB, and before that, AG just seemed too complicated with all the equipment and water/grain ratios. But once you do just one BIAB, you can see how easy it is to make the transition to AG. Now, I'm taking one more small step and will begin batch sparging in a mash tun. There's still a lot more to learn I know, but I now have the confidence to know that I CAN do it w/batch sparging method. Did not think I would get to AG just a month ago.

Kudos to BIAB.

 

[DrPhunk]

subbed for later research

 

[Clef051]

I don't because I don't feel like lifting all that grain my last batch was 20 gallons and around 50lbs of grain before adding water. Plus because of the fine weather in upstate new york at the moment I mash inside and then have to boil outside. I moved the water out to the BK 5 gallons at a time, their is no way I could move it all at once. The total brew day took about 5 hrs.

 

[1MadScientist]

When I went AG, I built the 10 gallon round cooler mush tun and enjoyed the process, but from there I went to BIAB for my 5 gallon batches. I can also make 10 gallons. I can lift the grain out with my pulley system, as I brew in my garage.

 

[gizmodog51]

When I went AG, I built the 10 gallon round cooler mush tun and enjoyed the process, but from there I went to BIAB for my 5 gallon batches. I can also make 10 gallons. I can lift the grain out with my pulley system, as I brew in my garage.

harbor freight has their electric over head pulley on sale too!
44425475 $109.99

GD

 

[lespaul23]

For me, I do 5gal full boils in my kitchen. I use a 8gal kettle and I like big beers so a $40 cooler and $20 of parts to build a mash tun was cheeper then buying a bigger kettle. Theres no way I can get 15+ lbs of grain in my kettle to BIAB, and thats why i use a 3 vessle system. I have a small kitchen in my apt, but using a cooler as a mash tun works great for me. Mash, open valve, fly sparge and collect my wort and im done.

Plus, I like the fact that when my grain is in my mash tun I can walk away for an hour and not stand over the stove for longer then I have to. Then sparge and again walk away for an hour. There is very little work in a mash/fly sparge sutup. I mean like none! The coolers do all the work.

 

[RichBenn]

I brewed my first beer in 1981. The MOST important thing I've learned over the years is there are almost unlimited ways to make great beer, from extract boils on the stove to slick 3 vessel electronic HERMS systems. Too often people get religion for the system they select; reality is there are positives and negatives in all choices, it's more a matter of what you value most (for the moment).

In recent times, I moved from batch sparging using multiple gas burners to an electric HERMS system. Selecting a new, bigger boil pot, PID controlled elements and flexible connections allows me now to do extract, BIAB, batch sparge or full HERMS.

*** Oops! Sorry for reviving an old thread - I must have been doing a search.

In terms of efficiency/cost of ingredients(for big beers), it's HERMS>batch>BIAB>extract.
Equipment cost follows the same pattern.
In terms of time (and also space) it's extract<BIAB<batch<HERMS

Of course there are exceptions, but all things equal(when does that happen), these rankings are generally true.

There are limits to what you can brew with extract and very few limits even with pure BIAB and no limits that I've found with Batch or HERMS. BIAB by default has a thin mash, and efficiency goes down on a big grain bill. I brew a bunch of high alcohol, complex beers and buy grain in bulk so batch or HERMS are what I use most often.

Chose what's right for your values, space or budget and brew great beer!

 

[Chadwick]

I do BIAB and I'm not even considering anything changing anytime soon. I also do a lot of barleywines and high gravity brews. My kettle is 10 gallons and I have no problem mashing 20lbs of grain with it. It is, about the limit of what I can do without moving up to a 12 or 15 gallon kettle, but it works for me. Granted, my batches are never larger than 6.25 gallons going into a fermenter, more often 5.5-6 gallons. But it works for me. One thing I do may be considered heresy. I drain my mash, as much as I can, into a container. Then I set that container aside. Then I add, usually about 2 gallons, 170F hot water back into the kettle with my spent grains and soak and stir them around pretty good. Then I lift the bag and let it drain. Once all of this is competed I put the kettle back on the stove, add the wort I pulled off the first time, and start heating up for the boil. I usually have around 7.5-8.5 gallon in the kettle at this point. I boil from there.

Many times I'll have long boils as a result of this, but I don't care. Never had a DMS issue doing it this way. lol. But I do manage to get OG's in the 1.100 territory if I want. Plus, I alway keep some DME around if it needs a push. I rarely need it.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

I have to buy a lot of large, shiny things that are destined to piss off my wife.


Brewing with a three vessel system fulfils that need... more than I ever imagined.

 

[trussell]

I have done both BIAB and a gravity 3 vessel system. I got good results from each but thought the wort was a but cloudy with BIAB.

Last time I sparged the bag over a separate vessel and squeezed. Next time I try a BIAB I think I'll try Chadwick's method. Basically it's a modified batch sparge.

 

[acidrain]

Holy necro-thread batman.
Whatever... I'll chime in too.
I didn't see in the poll "tried it, didn't like it".
My equipment progress was:

Extract, one kettle.
Partial mash, one kettle. Added an immersion chiller.
BIAB, one kettle, full volume.
BIAB, one kettle, full volume. Added a pulley system.
Added a second kettle and a drain valve to the MT. I started noticing temperature cold spots during the mash. Started trying to stir more while mashing.

Had trouble stirring the mash in a bag and added a sort of wire spreader to keep the bag from getting all twisted and to give room to stir.

Started noticing that the temperature during mash was not even or steady no matter how well I insulated.

One day I tore the bag, so I just drained out the bottom valve and discovered it worked without even using the bag or a proper false bottom.

I decided to try using a piece of screen as a false bottom, and it worked OK.

This was my turning point... the bag was a pain in the ass, and easier was my goal.

I soon built a traditional MT, and the following years I enjoyed very much building bigger and better traditional equipment. Still going too. I never looked back nor regretted moving from BIAB.

 

[chisena]

So I have been brewing on my eHERMS (gas boil) for several years now. I love it and enjoy tinkering with it. I'm not particularly interested in high gravity beers and mostly brew session ales and lagers. My only complaint is the time involved with a brew day. From prepping to clean up, I'm spending 5-6 hours in the garage. Five years ago I wouldn't have thought that was an issue, but life changes. Is it crazy that I am considering dabbling with BIAB? I have a 240V BoilCoil and High Gravity EBC-SV controller. I was thinking about buying a 62 qt pot with a basket and building a single vessel electric BIAB rig. Is that crazy or what? This would solely be a time saver. Not sure whether I am having a stroke of genius or losing my mind. Thoughts!?!?

Current rig. . .

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429580026.423626.jpg

 

[wilserbrewer]

How big is your current kettle? How big is the kettle above w/ the herms coil in it? Might be possible to reconfigure what you have? I would suggest keeping your proposed BIAB rig simple, perhaps insulating rather than recircing w/ a pump and do simple infusions....no pump and lines to clean saves time, and with a little experience single infusion works fine IME.

 

[haeffnkr]

So I have been brewing on my eHERMS (gas boil) for several years now. I love it and enjoy tinkering with it. I'm not particularly interested in high gravity beers and mostly brew session ales and lagers. My only complaint is the time involved with a brew day. From prepping to clean up, I'm spending 5-6 hours in the garage. Five years ago I wouldn't have thought that was an issue, but life changes. Is it crazy that I am considering dabbling with BIAB? I have a 240V BoilCoil and High Gravity EBC-SV controller. I was thinking about buying a 62 qt pot with a basket and building a single vessel electric BIAB rig. Is that crazy or what? This would solely be a time saver. Not sure whether I am having a stroke of genius or losing my mind. Thoughts!?!?

Current rig. . .

View attachment 272529

If I prep my grain the day before and have my water additions ready, I can come home to water already heated and mash in immediately, then go mow the lawn or play with the kids for 45 minutes, then pull the bag and get the boil started, then go off and do something else for another 30 or 40 minutes, then I need to finish up the boil chill and dump to a fermenter.
12 gallons to the fermenter, double batches.

Total time from mash in till clean up, 3 hour and 15 minutes and the grass is cut or the kids are fed, etc.

I like my setup, that is for sure !!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=448915&page=2

Kevin