biab Q.

[DIXIEBOY1]

I have zero biab experience but also have zero room in my buikding and to brew and live on the thirdfloor where it isnt feasible to hau stuff up and.down.stsirs all.day. what are your ideas about biab? Do i sparge lime normal and then.hand press the water out.of.the grain or what itthe best biab technique?

 

[TopherM]

Read this primer first:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f244/biab-brewing-pics-233289/

There is not typically a "sparge" step in BIAB.

 

[mkyl428]

I usually just squeeze the bag unless I'm short on volume then I will do a small sparge to get my volume up, usually not more that a gallon maybe two. BIAB is meant to be a no sparge technique all your water is supposed to go into the mash. I have 2 five gallon buckets one with holes drilled in the bottom. I usually pull the bag let it drain over the kettle for a bit then move it to the two stacked bucket system simmilar to a zapap to drain the rest of the way while I bring the rest of the wort up to a boil, then I will squeeze the bag a bit and if need be sparge the grain in the bag to get my volume.

 

[JohnSand]

I do a dunk sparge, then squeeze the bag in a colander by pressing on it with a plate. There are many methods. Check the BIAB sub-forum. And if space is limited, consider small batches.

 

[BigRob]

Sparging requires another vessel, add an extra pound of base malt and live with lower efficiency on huge beers. That said I'm not that wasteful, I do sparge the bag, but for starter wort only, after the main brew is finished.

Honestly, easiest BIAB technique is a mashing in the full boil volume + absorbtion losses amount of water, hoist out the bag at mash out, drain it, then squeeze the hell out of it, then proceed like any other brewday with your boil, cool, transfer to fermenter, etc. Heat resistant gloves are useful in the squeeze.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

Steps for BIAB

1. Prepare equipment

2. Heat water

3. Mash-in

4. Mash-out

5. Lift, drain, squeeze grains

6. Measure results (pre-boil) using hydrometer or refractometer

7. Boil

8. Cool

9. Measure results (post-boil) using hydrometer or refractometer

10. Transfer, aerate, pitch yeast, ferment

 

[jtratcliff]

Depends on your capacity. Do you have a large enough kettle for full volume BIAB for the batch size you want? If not, you can sparge in an extra pot or just pour water over the grain bag. Cool water is fine. Warm may be better.

I always squeeze the bag to get all that sweet goodness. Tannins are not an issue at this scale.

 

[RM-MN]

Steps for BIAB

1. Prepare equipment

2. Heat water

3. Mash-in

4. Mash-out

5. Lift, drain, squeeze grains

6. Measure results (pre-boil) using hydrometer or refractometer

7. Boil

8. Cool

9. Measure results (post-boil) using hydrometer or refractometer

10. Transfer, aerate, pitch yeast, ferment

That's a nice list of steps but you can eliminate a few. Mash out isn't needed unless you are using a conventional tun and fly sparging. I usually skip the pre-boil tests too since I have done enough batches to know that if I measured the amounts of grain correctly I will get the results expected. You can even eliminate the cool and do no chill and if you use dry yeast aerating isn't real necessary.

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

Steps for BIAB

1. Prepare equipment
2. Heat water
3. Mash-in
4. Mash-out
5. Lift, drain, squeeze grains
6. Measure results (pre-boil) using hydrometer or refractometer
7. Boil
8. Cool
9. Measure results (post-boil) using hydrometer or refractometer
10. Transfer, aerate, pitch yeast, ferment





STEP 1: Prepare equipment

• Check valves on brew kettle, are they closed? Are all bits and pieces in place and watertight?
• Add False Bottom (a stainless spaghetti strainer upside down works)

STEP 2: Heat water
Mash temperature is usually somewhere around 152-degrees F.
Strike temperature is somewhere around 160-degrees F.

• Add 7.5 gallons of water to boil kettle (depending on grain bill and boil time this amount might need to change) and heat to the required strike temperature

• While heating the water, lower mesh bag into the water



STEP 3: Mash-in

• Once you have reached your target strike temperature, turn off the heat and slowly add your grains while stirring the mash. If possible have someone help with this so one can pour grains while the other stirs. Stir well so there are no grain balls or clumps.

• Once all the grain has been added and stirred, you should be at or near the required mash temperature.

• If your mash temperature is too high, add cold water to lower the temperature. If it's too low, add hot water or heat to raise the temperature. It may take some practice to hit your mash temperature and hold it. This can change based on many factors such as the weather, your equipment, etc.

• The long stemmed thermometer will allow you to monitor the temperature inside the mash. Short stemmed thermometers will only give you a temperature reading for the top of the grain bed and this could cause problems since the top can be much cooler than the bottom or center of the mash.

• Cover the kettle and monitor with your thermometer and maintain the required mash temperature.

• Once the mash is completed remove cover and stir gently.



STEP 4: Mash-out

The mash-out step is important when doing no-sparge BIAB since it will help improve brewhouse efficiency and it also makes the grain bed more fluid which helps when draining the grains in the following steps.

• Fire up the burner and stir the mash while bringing the temperature up to the required mash-out temperature of 170-degrees F.

• Once mash reaches 170-degrees, cut the heat again and let sit at 170-degrees for 10-minutes.

• After 10-minutes at 170-degrees, mash-out is complete.





STEP 5: Lift, Drain, Squeeze Grains

• Tie a knot in the top of the grain bag. Attach your rope to the grain bag and slowly lift the grain bag from the kettle and secure rope so that it allows the bag to hang directly above the kettle while draining.

• Twist the grain bag a squeeze out as much wort as possible.



STEP 6: Measure results

Taking a gravity reading at this point will allow you to determine your brewhouse efficiency.

• Take a pre-boil specific gravity measurement using a hydrometer or refractometer.

• Record how much wort you collected in your kettle.



Use this calculator to determine efficiency:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/brewhouse-efficiency/



STEP 7: Boil

• Now you continue on with the boiling process just as you would for an extract or all-grain batch.

• Use the rope again to hang a small mesh bag to hold any hops or spices. Placing these ingredients inside a mesh bag helps keep it out of your fermentor at the end of the boil.



STEP 8: Cool

• Use an immersion chiller to quickly lower the temperature of the wort to yeast pitching temperature.



STEP 9: Measure results

• Take a post-boil hydrometer reading to determine your original gravity (OG) for this batch.



STEP 10: Transfer, Aerate, Pitch, Ferment

• Transfer wort to fermentor.

• Aerate wort. gently rock the fermentor to splash wort for a few minutes.

• Pitch yeast and ferment.