Just a little help

[jacksonchrisw]

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum and new to the brewing hobby. I am just like half the people on this forum. I started out with the Mr. Beer kit and now I want a challenge. I have done 3 batches with the kit and I think I want to go all grain. I got me a bayou classic 3066 for 30 bucks. Since I want to keg my brews with the corny kegs, I went and got a 42 qt kettle to handle the 6 gallon batches. I was going to start with BIAB. After doing a lot of research on this forum, I still had a few questions. Some people recommend sparging and others don't, so which is it? I have the promash software that was given to me. Is this a good calculator for efficiency? And lastly, I am wanting to start with a dead guy ale clone. Is that kind of pushing it for a first AG brew? Thanks in advance for your comments.

 

[Yooper]

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum and new to the brewing hobby. I am just like half the people on this forum. I started out with the Mr. Beer kit and now I want a challenge. I have done 3 batches with the kit and I think I want to go all grain. I got me a bayou classic 3066 for 30 bucks. Since I want to keg my brews with the corny kegs, I went and got a 42 qt kettle to handle the 6 gallon batches. I was going to start with BIAB. After doing a lot of research on this forum, I still had a few questions. Some people recommend sparging and others don't, so which is it? I have the promash software that was given to me. Is this a good calculator for efficiency? And lastly, I am wanting to start with a dead guy ale clone. Is that kind of pushing it for a first AG brew? Thanks in advance for your comments.

A Dead Guy clone is a pretty simple beer- it's a single infusion mash at a high-ish temperature and it's very forgiving. That would be fine for any AG brewer.

I've never done a BIAB brew, but it's true that some sparge and some don't. With BIAB, there are many methods and all are "correct" as there isn't a single way that works. I do a traditional AG brew, with traditional sparging. But others do a no-sparge for that, also. It's not wrong to do what works for each brewer- but it makes it hard to learn as a beginner!

Don't sweat it, and just read what others who BIAB do and find a method that seems likes it makes the most sense for you to do with your equipment and your ability.

 

[jmprdood]

OP - welcome to the board.

Yooper is right, there are as many methods as there are brewers. I personally do a sparge of sorts because I rinse the grains to bring my volume up to what I have the capacity to boil. But I am limited by my brew kettle and living in an apartment without a traditional kitchen.

Read the forums and try a method. If it works for you, great. But don't be afraid to experiment a little and try different techniques.

Cheers!

 

[Genjin]

There is a good chance that your efficiency will be out of whack on your first time or two until you get things under control, then you can dial in your recipes based on your own brewhouse efficiency. Don't panic! I get between 68-70% now and I am perfectly happy with that, though I know that others get higher. If you want you could have some dme on hand to bump up your gravity if you miss your numbers low.

I do BIAB and I have done both sparging and no-sparge. I prefer to sparge based on my setup. If you use a calculator, I find that I get a little more wort after sparging because I squeeze the bag. Most traditional AG brewers don't squeeze the grains and so it is my guess that they get more liquid left in the grains.