New to BIAB, and needing some schooling

[FedoraDave]

busier than a 3 legged cat trying to cover a turd on a icy lake.

What an evocative phrase. I'll have to remember that one.

Well, I've got a lot to think about regarding my approach to BIAB. I need to:

* Consider no-sparge full-volume

* Consider using my large pot, since my smaller one may not accommodate the water and grains at the higher volume, which means my boil-off rate is going to change

* Consider grinding my grains twice

* Consider adding a larger amount of grain than the recipe might call for

* Consider yourself at home! Consider yourself part of the furniture! We don't wanna cause no fuss!

Whoops, sorry! Turned into a production of "Oliver!" for a second there.

[Beer-lord]

Since I don't have a pulley and really have no way to pull a wet bag of 15 lbs of grain, I use 2 Lowes paints buckets lined with paint bags and strain some grain into each bucket and squeeze to remove some sugar. Those 2 bags as well as my BIAB bag are now much easier to lift and squeeze.

I also start with about 9 gallons but brew 6 gallon batches so the extra squeezing helps get me very close to my numbers though I'm usually closer to 5.5 gallons. Sometimes I too add some extra base malt.

[RickBeer]

I've been tossing around in my head, only half-seriously, how I would handle a bigger pot, big bag of grain, and big buckets as I have a bad back. One thought I came up with involves a pulley system, maybe on a rail, that would allow me to lift the heavy items in the basement and move them around. I have an exposed ceiling so attachment points wouldn't be a problem. One thought was to build a platform, on heavy casters, that included an arm with a pulley so I could lift something and then roll it over to where I wanted it. Just thinking at this point. To really use the basement for brewing I'd need to install a sink (plumbing is roughed in), a pump to get the sink discharge up to the outflow pipe, a stove if I was going to use one (and then of course ventilation), etc. Just dreaming - but I know I can't carry too much weight or the back will remind me why.

[jimjohson]

imo it'd be easier to get a cheap cherry picker(engine hoist) than run rails. it'd sure handle more weight that your gonna put on it, so the cheap part shouldn't matter.

[Brewbirds]

Dave have you looked at the posts in SMEIBBs' Corner? It sounds like what you are trying to get to for your small batches.

Also since a shorter brew day is your goal for the 2.5 batches just thinking out of the box here but what about using one brew day to do a mash for a batch of base wort and then on the second brew day you can do your steeping grains and hop boil?

Doing a late extract addition may also help with your volume issues.

[FedoraDave]

@Paul, I only do BIAB for 2.5 gallon batches. I don't want to hoist that much wet grain, either, and four or so pounds of dry grain is plenty, thanks.

@Birdie, I'll check out the SMEIBB stuff. Thanks for the tip. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by doing a mash for a base wort, and then doing the other stuff. First of all, I don't want to take an entire day that I could be brewing from grind to pitching and use that just to make wort. Second of all, I'm not sure how or where I'd store that base wort until I could use it all. I assume you mean wort enough for a fiver, but then splitting it on the next two brew days. I'm not sure I'm crazy about that idea, if I'm understanding it correctly.

I also like to try different base malt mixtures sometimes, so unless I planned really far in advance, I'd have to use the more generic wort.

[John Sand]

There was a thread on HBT just recently about splitting wort into two separate beers. Options include dry hopping, using different yeasts, adding steeping grains, separating one mash into two boils etc.

[Brewbirds]

@Paul, I only do BIAB for 2.5 gallon batches. I don't want to hoist that much wet grain, either, and four or so pounds of dry grain is plenty, thanks.

@Birdie, I'll check out the SMEIBB stuff. Thanks for the tip. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by doing a mash for a base wort, and then doing the other stuff. First of all, I don't want to take an entire day that I could be brewing from grind to pitching and use that just to make wort. Second of all, I'm not sure how or where I'd store that base wort until I could use it all. I assume you mean wort enough for a fiver, but then splitting it on the next two brew days. I'm not sure I'm crazy about that idea, if I'm understanding it correctly.

I also like to try different base malt mixtures sometimes, so unless I planned really far in advance, I'd have to use the more generic wort.

Yeah like I said just thinking out of the box Dave. From your posts you were saying you had a schedule where you did a fiver and then two 2.5's in rotation then back to the fiver, rinse repeat.

So I was just wondering if, since time was an important issue, it went fiver, a base wort (thought you had a beer fridge) and then a brew day of of the 2.5 and it would get your pipeline filled without the HME route.

So let's say your fivers done now you're next brew day you mash some Pale Malt for two 2.5 batches and stash it then on the next, what would have been a MB HME batch you do a couple of 2.5's with two different recipes re: hop and steeping grains. The next brew would be a fiver then another base wort, let's say Marris Otter for two and that becomes steeping and hops on your third rotation.

Sitting way over here and typing an idea is far from what you would visualize yourself doing in your kitchen with your normal methods so yeah out of the box right?

Hey I'll do anything to chip in and try to help out even if it turns out dumb.

[FedoraDave]

I see what you're saying, and it's not dumb; just not what I'm interested in doing. Yes, I have a small dorm fridge in the ManCave, and a lager fridge in the basement, but I keep the dorm fridge stocked with six-packs, and right now the lager fridge is ... well, it's making and storing lager.

My rotation is brewing a batch every Sunday, letting that batch ferment for three weeks, and bottling it on a Saturday (so it's actually fermenting for 20 days). Then, the following day, I use that carboy to brew again. So it's Fiver, Threefer, Threefer, bottle Fiver, brew Fiver, bottle Threefer, brew Threefer, etc. I'd lose a week, or else have double Threefers one week. I dunno. I appreciate your input, and it may work for some folks, but it doesn't appeal to me at this point.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Good information in here as usual folks, appreciate it. I'm planning to buy a continuous sparge system that needs full wort volume. That's what actually got me started on my water profile quest in the first place. Since the water to grain ration is so high in the new system the mash is a lot thinner than my current infusion mash so there's a need to keep the water pH under control. I'm planning to add the grain absorption, boil off volume, trub loss and final beer volumes together when calculating the total amount of water I'll need for a batch. The manufacturer claims their 20 gallon BIAB system can produce 12 gallons of finished beer, depending on the ABV of the recipe used. I've never paid much attention to BIAB methods until now but I'm definitely interested in hearing how others are doing it.