BeerBorg

I haven't done BIAB myself yet but have been gathering information on the High Gravity electric brewing system. I've only read one post suggesting that BIAB wort is always going to be cloudier than conventional infusion mashing because of the continuous sparging. It kind of makes sense that the continuous sparging upsets the grain bed more than conventional sparging but I've never heard this complaint before when reading a lot of other BIAB posts.

So the question is, does continuous sparging or BIAB produce cloudier wort than the wort lautered using fly or batch sparging?

Screwy - I find that with continuous recirculation my wort is very clear going into the fermenter. I drain everything from the kettle, and when I rack the beer from the bucket to bottle, there's less than an inch of trub (usually 1/2" or so), and most of it is clean yeast.

With traditional BIAB methods (no recirculation), I was getting a lot of gunk into the bucket; 2-3 inches of trub was not uncommon.

I definitely get a lot of junk on the bottom but I double strain to my fermenter to get much of it out. Just a few minutes more work and I get tons of aeration to boot. A good strainer into the first vessel then using the same strainer into the final vessel takes me 7-10 minutes.
That said, I'd love to have an E system but unless I find the end of the rainbow, that ain't gonna happen.
By the way, my beers may not be pristine clear but are pretty darn clear but I'm never working towards that goal anyway.

I do a modified BIAB with a sparge not traditional full volume BIAB but I find my wort might be obviously cloudier in the boil but once I add whirlfloc and chill the wort and give it a few minutes to let cold break settle out the wort transfering to the fermenter is just as clear as it is with my traditional all grain mashtun batch sparge method with vorloufing.

Since moving from extract to AG I have only done BIAB.
The wort always is "much" cloudier than with the extracts. It also does not fully settle out during the cooling process, even with an extended wait time, and I do not strain it to the fermenter. I also do not use any clearing agent.
It DOES settle out during the fermentation though so I don't have a problem with it.
If I were harvesting the yeast for the next batch from the fermenter it might become a problem, but I now make a double starter, use half, and save the other half for a pure yeast starter next brew cycle. I double the next starter and save half again. I'm able to do 5 or 6 generations of starters that way. Works for me.

My BIAB brews have been cloudy, but I am still learning. I have been transferring the wort directly into my fermenter through my plate chiller in 5 mins. This does not give the whirlfloc enough time to settle out. I notice that after 30 mins or so, the trub settles to the bottom. I'm thinking of doing some rapid cooling, (5 mins) into the carboy from the plate chiller, then waiting 30-45 mins. Then transfer to another carboy above the trub line. I use better bottles with the spigot, and can get exactly above the trub line to transfer. I haven't tried this method out, nor do I know if it is a good one. I do know that whirl-floc works really well, but seems to take a good 45 mins or so for stuff to settle.

Another method, I heard this from another user on the Mrb forum- Floyd (where are you?). He uses a plate chiller like mine, and re-circulates the wort using a pump back into his kettle. Then, once it has cooled, he lets it sit another 30 mins before transferring it to his fermenter. Eventually, this is probably the direction I'm headed with this.

Another thing, I have been using as many filters as possible to prevent stuff from getting into the plate chiller. I use one big hop bag, and then have a kettle filter. I also use a filter for the dip-tube in the keg. My last beer, which was a Zombie Dust clone was my best BIAB by far. By filtering as much as that crap as possible, as well as a nice, long cold-crash, I was able to get a really good finished product.

Mine are cloudier going into the fermenter and leave more trub, but not cloudier in the bottle then when I used to use a MLT.

As always, thank you folks for chiming in with your replies. Now that potential issue has been laid to rest I feel more confident the RIMS BIAB system I'm looking at will produce some clear beer too.

Screwy, which one are you looking at? You may have mentioned it elsewhere but I can't seem to find it.

Screwy, I batch sparge on all recipes. Have not had too many problems with cloudy beer as I chill with imersion chiller too about 65 * ,yes it takes time unfortunatly . Then on a 5 gal batch it goes onto a fermenting / bottling bucket to aerate b4 pitching yeast then transfered to carboy . I am usually ok if I'm careful . On 3 gal batches it does get tricky to not pick up the gunk.

Beer-lord wrote:Screwy, which one are you looking at? You may have mentioned it elsewhere but I can't seem to find it.

I like the Final Gravity 82 quart system, it's the one I have my heart set on now.

I have gotten clear results using BIAB with a batch sparge, by adding 1/2 tsp of Irish Moss with 10 minutes left in the hop boil.

ScrewyBrewer wrote:

Beer-lord wrote:Screwy, which one are you looking at? You may have mentioned it elsewhere but I can't seem to find it.

I like the Final Gravity 82 quart system, it's the one I have my heart set on now.

Make sure you have a way to hoist the basket; it's gonna be heavy! Do you have way to mount a pulley system or an electric winch overhead? Harbor Freight has some inexpensive winches...

On the other hand, you'll be able to make 10 gallon batches of pretty much any gravity beer.

He's looking at a system from High Gravity (not Final, that's a typo). https://www.highgravitybrew.com/product ... 6p3987.htm

The NSA told me this...