New to BIAB, and needing some schooling

[FedoraDave]

Up to now, I split my brewing between AG fivers and LBK kits. I'm still doing 2.5 gallon batches two out of every three weeks, but I've forsaken the small kits. Most of my smaller batches are still AG, but rather than haul out the mash tun, and deal with washing it, I've taken to making BIAB batches those weeks.

Now...

One of the things I've noticed is that my OG is a little lower than QBrew's projected OG. For example, today, I made a batch that QBrew said should have an OG of 1.048. I came in at 1.044. Not a tragedy by any means, and I did have a final volume slightly higher than projected. I need a little more experience with this to know how much pre-boil volume is needed. Even so, with my fivers, I usually hit the projected OG right on the screws. So I have to get schooled in this technique.

Here's what my BIAB brew days look like:

I calculate my mash volume for 1.25 quarts per pound of grain, then measure the water and begin to heat it up while I grind the grain.

Once the water gets ten or so degrees above my desired mash temp, I add the grain (already in the bag), and stir like crazy, taking a temp reading and confirming it's where I want it for this recipe.

Cover the pot and take it off the burner, wrapping it in towels to insulate it. Set timer for 60 minutes. I often take a temp reading 30 minutes in to make sure it's maintaining.

Calculate my pre-boil volume, measure the remaining amount into another pot, and begin heating it up for sparge (between 170 and 180 degrees).

After one-hour mash, remove bag and drain, twisting neck of bag to force liquid out. I also put a cooling rack on the pot and lay the bag on that, pressing down with the pot lid to extract more liquid.

Transfer bag to sparge pot and cover. Set timer for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, repeat procedure to extract as much liquid as possible, add first runnings from mash pot, and proceed with boil.

Anything I'm missing? Anything I'm doing wrong? Anything I could improve?

I should add that, for my five-gallon mashes, I do two 15-minute sparges, splitting the volume needed for my pre-boil. As mentioned, I've hit my OG most times this way, and even duplicated OGs for recipes I've done three or more times.

Any hints or suggestions from more experienced BIABers would earn you a tip of The Hat's hat.

[bucknut]

Yea, seems like maybe that little extra you got at the end took off a few extra gravity points.
So "Calculate my pre-boil volume, measure the remaining amount into another pot, and begin heating it up for sparge (between 170 and 180 degrees)." I would just reduce the vol here a bit.

Other than that it looks good, depending on the mash temp I'll sometimes do a longer mash time.

[FedoraDave]

Thanks, Buck.

Yeah, I've got my volumes nearly perfect for the fivers done in the mash tun with two sparges, but somehow I just can't home in on what it takes for 2.5 gallons. I should probably make my sparge volume a little lower, with an eye towards topping off with boiled and cooled water after transferring to the carboy. Then I'd know I was getting 2.5 gallons every time.

[JimH]

Maybe others with more BIAB experience can confirm or disprove my thoughts, but when I watched a Northern Brewer TV episode on BIAB they mashed with full volume. No sparging required. He hit the 1.060 he was looking for on the nose with this method. It might.be worth trying, but I don't have much experience with AG or BIAB to prove this or expain how this works betted than sparging.

[swenocha]

I've done both... mashed with full volume, and sparged. IMHO, either will work. I think your process is fine. The only adjustments I've made to improve my BIAB efficiency is to mill finer, and to use my mash paddle more.

[Chuck N]

Dave,

Go through your back issues of Zymurgy. The January/ February 2013 issue has a very good article on BIAB. They do full volume mashes and I've been doing them for several months now. I'm always within a few points on my predicted OG (as predicted on Brewtoad.com) although I have found that grinding my grain a little finer than normal really helps. But I can get away with that since I don't have to worry about stuck sparges.

[LouieMacGoo]

Dave, the first few times you do BIAB you should plan to have your efficiency at about 65 to 70%. Adding about a 1/2 lbs of base grain to your normal 2.5 gallon AG recipe will usually be enough to make up for the loss in efficiency. In BeerSmith I dial back my efficiency to 65% which will lower the ABV and OG, then I will increase the base grain until I get the ABV/OG back to where I want it . Sometimes it takes some trial and error to get it dialed in but as you get use to the BIAB method and adjust the recipes a little you will get it working pretty well.

Also I use a finer grind on the grains or have them run through the mill twice to help improve the efficiency.

[John Sand]

As above, I grind fairly fine. But I also dunk or pour sparge, aiming a little high on gravity, low on volume. I take samples, and adjust in the fermenter.

[FedoraDave]

I'm thinking it's my volume. I still haven't dialed in to the absolute best pre-boil volumes for a single sparge BIAB. I may try running the grains through twice, but only if I correct my pre-boil and still don't hit the projected OG.

Good advice, everyone! Thanks!

[duff]

Except for the first batch I have been doing my all grain batches at full volume instead of using the 1.25 quarts per gallon ratio. The first batch I did similar to the way you did it and I ended up a bit low. After noticing a lot of people online were doing full volume mashes I switched to doing it that and haven't had a problem. I found that I seem to get right about 70% efficiency that way. The Pilsner batch I did that was 100% pilsner malt came out closer to 80%. My notebooks are packed up right now but I will try to find what preboil volumes I was using.

[FedoraDave]

No-sparge goes against my grain (no ten inpunded), but I'll give it a try. This means I'll have to learn how to recalculate my volume, and I'll probably wind up with a batch or two that I have to add water to after filling the carboy.

I've got some thunkin' to do, I can see that. I like doing 2.5 gallon batches BIAB. All the control of AG without a lot of the fuss of hauling out the mash tun and the attendant cleaning required.

I'll start with working on my pre-boil volume and see how it goes from there.

[mashani]

FWIW, the full volume is how BIAB was "intended". Doing it partial volume/thick mash is actually the "deviant" practice when it comes to BIAB.

I do what I call partial volume boil partial mashes with BIAB with a late extract and water "top up". But because of in effect I'm still doing a high water volume thin mash in those cases, as I get better heat control with more water volume, and I end up with better efficiency.

EDIT: I would never have thought you hadn't done a BIAB until now... I always figured you'd done dozens of them

[FedoraDave]

Prior to the Cooper's buy-out, I was content with Mr. Beer's Advanced Recipe selection for my small batches. It made for an easy brew day, and got a lot of variety in the pipeline. And I really liked them, for the most part, although I still preferred my original AG five-gallon beers. I was at the extremes, doing full-volume AG mashes every third week, and MB kits the other two weeks.

Now, I'm a little less enamored of extract kits, even though two-thirds of my batches are still 2.5 gallon ones. And I know I couldn't take the fuss of doing a full-volume mash every week. BIAB gives me a less involved and slightly shorter brew day, and I get the creative control and QC of AG. Not sparging would make it even shorter. Right now, I'm more or less just doing basic recipes, mostly 2-row, maybe a little specialty grain for body, color, and a little flavoring, and trying out different hops, just to see what they're all about. Lots of pale ales and IPAs, in other words, although I'm also using it to experiment with styles I haven't done, such as the cream ale I'm bottling Saturday, and I'll probably get around to trying a Kolsch eventually, and some saisons, when the weather warms up and I can ferment a little hotter.

But yeah, BIAB is a technique I'm relatively unfamiliar with. I should look up and study some of the YouTube videos I know are out there on this subject.

[John Sand]

Dave, if you choose, you can still sparge BIAB without losing time. I mash in about 1.25 qts/lb. When I pull the grain bag, I put it in a colander in a pasta pot. The mash/boil kettle goes onto the stove to start heating to boil. It's not nearly full, so I don't have to worry about boil-overs. Then I squeeze the grains by pressing on them with a plate. That wort goes into the boil. Then I dunk or pour sparge and squeeze again. That goes into the boil. When using a 5g pot, I may reserve some until the wort boils down a bit. Since I'm sparging while it heats, no extra time is taken.

[Inkleg]

Sorry Dave, I've seen this post, just been busier than a 3 legged cat trying to cover a turd on a icy lake.
Here's a typical BIAB day for me. I normally do full volume BIAB.
Look at my BeerSmith recipe print out to know how much water to start with. Have my profile loaded, so BeerSmith calculates everything for me.
Average staring water volume is around 9 gallons. Bring said water up to temperature indicated by BS, kill the heat, put in bag, stir in grains like they owe me money, check temperature, look at that, dead on where BS calculated, put on lid, wrap it blanket, set timer for 75 minutes and just walk away. Come back when the timer goes off, lift and squeeze bag and start boil. That's about it. Other than I will add at least 1 extra pound of base grain to make up for not sparging.
Some times I'll hold back a gallon or two of the total water and spare after the mash, with warm or cold water, but not always. Just depends on my mood that day.
The rest you know, pitch right amount of yeast and ferment at good temperatures.

Hope this helps.