Just curious do you heat your sparge water?
>>. Yes. I heat the initial water in my 10.5 gal kettle, and add to the round cooler with grains in a bag. Drain and squeeze when done mashing into that kettle. Heat the remaining mash out water in my old 5 gal pot, and add that and the grain bag back into the cooler for the mash out. Drain and squeeze again after 10-15 mins. Combine volumes into the big kettle and commence boil.<<
I think we could call your hybrid; Brewing With A Bag.
>> Really all we are doing is "mashing in a bag," right? You do a full volume mash in a bag, I do it with a batch/dunk sparge step. Once you get your runnings, do you leave the bag in? I suppose you could add another clean bag to the kettle to catch the hops and other gunk during the boil, but I'm assuming most take the grain bag out after the mash and boil without another bag in the kettle. The fact that my mash is accomplished in 2 steps rather than a full volume doesn't negate that we are both simply mashing in a bag.<<
Granted if you are only using 2 vessels you are saving in equipment and space compared to full 3 vessel brewing; which is part of the beauty of Biab.
>> I started with extract, and have the old 5 gal pot laying around, which I use to heat the mash out water. So I guess I have a 3 vessel setup. 5 gal round cooler plus a 10.5 gal and a 5 gal pot.<<
What I think some are missing is that in pure Biab you use the full volume of water you will need in the mash. The extra water rinses the grains just as sparging does.
>> If it works and you like it, then great. I'm not going to argue whether BIAB is a purist technique to begin with. We are still simply mashing in a bag.<<
A 90 min Biab full volume mash and a 60 min mash with a sparge really keep the grains in contact with water for approximately the same amount of time. I just think that doing the full volume route is simpler.
>> I agree, it may be simpler for some, but my process is pretty simple, too. I, probably like some others, like the ability to control water to grain mash ratios. Does it matter much in the end in for a 5 gal batch?...I really don't know. I've read that there could be issues with ph with full volume, which I've never needed to mess with with my setup.<<
For those who do use the cooler set up; how do you regulate your mash temps? In using my brew kettle as the mash tun ( with a blanket wrapped around it) if my temp falls out of range I just add heat.
>>. Hmm. One of the benefits of an insulated cooler is that they hold their heat really well. It takes a little trial and error, and a calculator helps. It also helps in my setup if I preheat the cooler/MT. For example, if I add 165-170 deg water at dough-in, it will regulate down to my mash temp very quickly, and will hold it there for a good hour. It does the heat regulation for you.<<
Using your current setup; I would suggest trying full volume. As long as the cooler can hold your mash temps; you may want to join the dark side of pure Biab.
>> So, I could do a full volume in my 10.5 gal kettle (may try it out one day). I cannot do a full volume mash in my 5 gal cooler, though, hence the drain and batch sparge extra step. For me, the cooler holds mash temps wonderfully, and it frees me up for an hour to do other things. I don't have to worry about wrapping the kettle, or monitoring and adding heat among the way. Again - if it works for you and others, that's great and I'm not tying to convince anyone to do it otherwise. Maybe one day I'll try a full volume mash for the hell of it. I'm open to trying new things.<<