Help with BIAB recipe

[Will Smith]

I am going to brew this recipe https://beerandbrewing.com/thresher-coffee-saison-recipe/ (also here https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/680127/thresher-coffee-saison )
but it is quite vague, on sparging especially with the second link not mentioning it at all. can anyone help me with this? is there no sparge?
this is my first all-grain recipe, experienced with extract brewing
thanks!

 

[IslandLizard]

The recipe gives general guidelines, not specific for BIAB mashing.

You're doing a BIAB?
Most BIAB mashes use the full brew volume in the mash/boil kettle. So for a 5 gallon batch you'd need around 7-8 gallons of water, depending on wort trapped in the grains after lautering (draining the bag), evaporation during the boil, and other brewing losses (wort left with trub in kettle, beer and trub on bottom of fermentor, etc.).

Some BIAB brewers will keep some of that water volume behind to sparge the bag after draining (and squeezing) it after the mash. This will help retrieving some of the high gravity wort that's trapped in the (wet) grain, thus raising lauter efficiency. There are various methods for that, like pouring a gallon or so of water over the bag while it hangs or rests on a grate over the kettle, or dunking the bag in a gallon or 2 of water in a large bucket, spare kettle, or other vessel, then draining and squeezing the bag again to get as much (sweet) wort out as possible.

If you're not doing BIAB, but mash in a (cooler) mash tun or kettle, you'd typically mash with about half of the total water needed and use the other half for sparging. There are 2 main methods of sparging, fly sparging and batch sparging.

Use a mash/sparge calculator such as Brew365 or one dedicated to BIAB (Brewer's Friend has one) to determine how much brewing water you'd need. That way you won't end up with too little or too much wort that's too high or too low in gravity, respectively, but exactly or at least close to what your recipe intended.

Good luck with your first all grain brew!

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

May I recommend https://www.biabrewer.info/index.php?

 

[VirginiaHops1]

My BIAB process:

I do 2.5 gallon BIAB batches. Since I probably couldn't fit my entire volume of water(~4.25 gal) in my 5 gallon kettle with the grains I split it up, about 2.5 gallons in the kettle and 1.75 in a secondary kettle. I mash in the main kettle and then when I'm done do a couple dunks and squeezes in the secondary kettle. Then I pour it all in the main kettle and start my boil. I'll leave the grain bag on a strainer on top of the secondary kettle, and a bit more wort will drip as my water is heating up. With this volume of water in my system, I end up with about 2.75 into the fermenter.

There are other ways to sparge with BIAB, and some people don't sparge at all. They have their entire volume of water in one kettle. Many ways to skin the cat.

You can use online calculators to try to determine your water volumes, and can help get you close. The best way to dial it in is just do a batch or two, take accurate measurements, and see where you end up on your system and adjust accordingly. Below is one I used

https://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/#Advanced

 

[myndflyte]

With an OG less than 1.050, you probably don't need to sparge with BIAB if you are able to get the grain double crushed. I'd recommend putting in numbers in the pricelessbrewing BIAB Calc linked above. Once I got my numbers dialed in, it's been spot on.

 

[cegan09]

Based on the single post history and the question I'm assuming you're brand new to anything all grain.

Most recipes do not mention sparging, or water volumes, or anything really other than ingredients, mash temp and length, and boil length. This is because everyone has a different brewing setup that performs differently. Putting sparging instructions on a recipe would only be helpful to those that use that specific technique.

If you want to make that recipe, you'll need to adapt it to your equipment. Typically this is done using some software like beersmith. If you are doing BIAB, setup your equipment profile for a BIAB setup that matches your physical equipment. Then enter the recipe and adjust as needed to make the targets match the recipe. It should then tell you how much water you'll need and if it will all fit in your kettle.

If you're not doing BIAB, but instead a more traditional multi-vessel setup, again make sure your equipment profile is setup to match your equipment and sparging style.

It took me a little while to get used to this when I was new. I was looking for all the steps to be laid out in recipes, but they just aren't because they'd be wrong for 90% of people reading it. After you adapt a few recipes and do a few brews you'll learn fairly quickly how to do it. Feel free to post up what equipment you're working with and ask questions on how to get through it.

 

[Will Smith]

Based on the single post history and the question I'm assuming you're brand new to anything all grain.

Most recipes do not mention sparging, or water volumes, or anything really other than ingredients, mash temp and length, and boil length. This is because everyone has a different brewing setup that performs differently. Putting sparging instructions on a recipe would only be helpful to those that use that specific technique.

If you want to make that recipe, you'll need to adapt it to your equipment. Typically this is done using some software like beersmith. If you are doing BIAB, setup your equipment profile for a BIAB setup that matches your physical equipment. Then enter the recipe and adjust as needed to make the targets match the recipe. It should then tell you how much water you'll need and if it will all fit in your kettle.

If you're not doing BIAB, but instead a more traditional multi-vessel setup, again make sure your equipment profile is setup to match your equipment and sparging style.

It took me a little while to get used to this when I was new. I was looking for all the steps to be laid out in recipes, but they just aren't because they'd be wrong for 90% of people reading it. After you adapt a few recipes and do a few brews you'll learn fairly quickly how to do it. Feel free to post up what equipment you're working with and ask questions on how to get through it.

I have a 33L brew kettle, its a 5 gallon recipe, will i be able to fit all my mash liquid in with the grain bag if i don't sparge?

 

[IslandLizard]

I have a 33L brew kettle, its a 5 gallon recipe, will i be able to fit all my mash liquid in with the grain bag if i don't sparge?

Kettle volume: 33l = 8.7 gallons

Put that in a BIAB (mash) calculator, such as this one at Screwy Brewer. You'll see you'd need ~10 gallons of volume to hold the bag of grain and all the mash water. Your kettle is about 2-3 gallons too small to hold the full mash volume (grain and water) at once. So yes, keep some water behind and after the mash sparge the bag in a big bucket or so. Once the bag is out of the kettle, you'll have more volume available. Add wort from the sparge to the kettle, leaving at least 1.5 - 2" (~4-5 cm) of headspace, to reduce boil over and wort splashing out, then add more as your kettle boils down. Or boil the remaining on a 2nd burner and add to the main kettle toward the end.

There's a lot of other good BIAB (mash) information on that page, as well as general brewing info on the whole site. Worth reading.

Another thing about BIAB brewing, get your grain milled finely, usually much finer than a typical LHBS mill gives you. Run it through twice or trice. A finer milled grist aids in faster and more thorough conversion. The bag is your filter, you'll never get a stuck mash unless you brew with 70%+ wheat or rye.

 

[cegan09]

I have a 33L brew kettle, its a 5 gallon recipe, will i be able to fit all my mash liquid in with the grain bag if i don't sparge?

Your setup is much like my first one, which I just replaced.

Most of the time no, you will not be able to do a full volume mash. But that's ok. There are ways to go about partial volume mashing, you just need to plan for it. find a brewing calculator and learn it. could be beer smith, brewers friend, the one listed above, or a number of other ones. When you enter the recipe, after you've setup your equipment profile, it will will you how much mash tun space you'll need. if you're over, just move some to "kettle top off" and mash with the reduced volume. Then after you pull the bag add in the extra water. you can do a "sparge" with it if you want. Either have it in another bucket and dunk the bag in it, pour it over the bag as it hangs above the kettle, setup some elaborate double bucket that lets you pour water over the grains and collect it below. Whatever method works for you, do it and then add that water to the kettle to boil.

feel free to keep asking questions, lots of people willing to talk you through it.

 

[Will Smith]

thanks for all the replies, quite confident now, i'll keep you updated with how the brew goes!