How I get 85% Eff. with MIAB

[SeraphX117]

I am a college student who is tight on funds so I don't have an MLT with a spigot/drain of any type. It is just a rectangular 28qt igloo cooler. I mash in a brewing bag and after mash/batch sparge... simply remove the bag. At first I was getting 55-65% eff. but I found a trick to share with you.

When mash is done: furiously mix the grain so much of it is in suspension (gotta be quick)...quickly yank out the bag and remove liquid....do the same thing after sparging (I sparge at about 180 degrees for 5 min). do this twice with your sparge water...and then of course let the bag drain into something else while I retrieve the wort.

My technique isnt perfect..I get a bit more solids than usual but i just use my racking cane to siphon the liquid out while leaving the grain pieces behind.

Until I get the money to get a proper MLT this will have to do. But I have gotten ~85% eff. on my brews that I have done this on.

 

[brewbobaggins]

This is called the Brew In A Bag method and there are many threads about it. Great method tho. Been doing it for years! Definitely a cheaper AG option.

 

[SeraphX117]

I call it Mash in a bag so it doesn't get confused with the method of doing all of this in the pot...it is exactly the same thing though.

 

[brewbobaggins]

Oh. I gotcha. I thought it was all in a pot. Re-read it and realized you do this in a cooler. Makes sense now.

 

[C-Rider]

Dont forget to press every drop you can out of the grain bag. Don't worry bout tannins or what ever. Just press as hard as you can.

 

[SeraphX117]

No wort left behind!...just don't do what i did the first time and drop the bag onto the floor...the floor was sticky after 3 moppings

 

[Fordzilla]

You sparge at 180? Don't you get astringency from that? Tannins are extracted above 170. Also, how do you sparge? The typical "dunk sparge" method that most of us BIABers use?

I BIAB myself, so I'm not trying to talk you out of it. However, if you wanted to upgrade you can build a CPVC manifold and add a brass ball valve fairly cheap.

 

[SeraphX117]

My bad..I described it incorrectly...my sparge water temp is 180...it cools down significantly after pouring into MLT...and I let the water sit for 5 min then i dunk...the point of the post was to say to mix the grains really furiously and then super quickly yank the bag out. I used to just stir lightly and just pull the bag out normally and let it drain.
I shared because something so stupidly simple helped me a lot.

I know how inexpensive it is to upgrade but after going back to school i have VERY little money...I have to save up just to fill a 10# grain bill...so i had to make do with what i had lying around the house. I was doing extract before, but it is too expensive.

 

[dstranger99]

I don't even bother with a MLT, I just do it all on the stove top, pull the bag out, sit it in another pot to drain, poke the hell out of it with my spoon, pour the wort back in the main vessel and bring to a boil. I don't squeeze the bag, I hear too mich about tannins.....I just spoon poke it to get as much wort as I can..

 

[Fordzilla]

My bad..I described it incorrectly...my sparge water temp is 180...it cools down significantly after pouring into MLT...and I let the water sit for 5 min then i dunk...the point of the post was to say to mix the grains really furiously and then super quickly yank the bag out. I used to just stir lightly and just pull the bag out normally and let it drain.
I shared because something so stupidly simple helped me a lot.

I know how inexpensive it is to upgrade but after going back to school i have VERY little money...I have to save up just to fill a 10# grain bill...so i had to make do with what i had lying around the house. I was doing extract before, but it is too expensive.

Cool, I was really just asking for my own info. I switched from extract to BIAB in september, and I'm still learning.

If your process works for you, no need to change anything. I'm itching to build a mash tun because its "bigger & better" but I will probably stay with BIAB until I buy a house in a year or two.

 

[SeraphX117]

yah...i only do it in the cooler because i have only 2 4g pots..if i had an 8-10g pot i would just use the pot. I can only fill each 4g pot to a little over 3g so i have time to stop the hot break from making a mess of things!

 

[wilserbrewer]

When mash is done: furiously mix the grain so much of it is in suspension (gotta be quick)...quickly yank out the bag and remove liquid....do the same thing after sparging (I sparge at about 180 degrees for 5 min). do this twice with your sparge water...and then of course let the bag drain into something else while I retrieve the wort.

While I agree, mixing the mash well will help rinse the grain and help efficiency, I don't see how yanking the bag out quickly will help, at all?

 

[hillhousesawdustco]

While I agree, mixing the mash well will help rinse the grain and help efficiency, I don't see how yanking the bag out quickly will help, at all?

Yeah I don't see what difference that would make. I don't mean to be critical, but this sounds like it is just BIAB in a cooler rather than a pot. Congrats on getting it to works so efficiently for you.

As far as 180 sparge goes, that temp should be fine if it is mixed with the 150ish degree grain- it should equal out about 170 and by the time your second batch sparge is ready to go your 180 water has probably cooled down closer to 170.

 

[C-Rider]

I don't even bother with a MLT, I just do it all on the stove top, pull the bag out, sit it in another pot to drain, poke the hell out of it with my spoon, pour the wort back in the main vessel and bring to a boil. I don't squeeze the bag, I hear too mich about tannins.....I just spoon poke it to get as much wort as I can..

What you hear about tannins is an old wife's tale.

I do a small batch maybe 4-6 lbs of grain. I sit the bag in a colendar over the cooler I mash in and using 2 coffee cups I press every last drop out of the grain. No tannins in my beer. There is some high sugar wort in that bag. Oh, I don't sparge.

 

[pkrath84]

Nice, I have a bunch of extra igloo coolers laying around (we like to camp alot), so I might give this a try... I'll be brewing the 5 kits I have on the way then I'll switch over to this method. I've also been looking for a way to do BIAB without having to invest more $. The answer's been sitting in my garage the whole time!

 

[BrewinHooligan]

What you hear about tannins is an old wife's tale.

I do a small batch maybe 4-6 lbs of grain. I sit the bag in a colendar over the cooler I mash in and using 2 coffee cups I press every last drop out of the grain. No tannins in my beer. There is some high sugar wort in that bag. Oh, I don't sparge.

Agreed, and the tannins from high temperature is a myth as well or else decoctions where the grain is boiled would yeild awful beer. The key to avoiding tannin extraction is making sure your pH is in the correct range.

 

[SeraphX117]

I honestly don't know exactly why quickly pulling the bag out works better (for me) it is the only thing I have done differently that could account for the eff. increase.

I don't worry about tannins when squeezing the bag either. The temp just isn't hot enough, or in contact long enough to produce them in any quantity I have noticed. I know the tannin taste well...I was brewing wine before beer. I never did make a good wine...but I never learned the importance of sanitization until I started to make beer.