BIAB - recipe changes and sparge process

[radiant-designer]

So big brew day is tomorrow, I plan on brewing http://wiki.americanhomebrewers.org/PointonsProper-AllGrain
I got a new stainless mesh basket and was going to do a BIAB (my first) I have seen some people do a no sparge, others do.... I want to get as much of the sweet wort out, but I am also worried that py squeezing it too much I might also get a lot of the tannons as well.

Do i need to change the recipe at all to accommodate the differences for brew in a bag? Should i just start with about the full pre boil water plus a bit more for the grains absorbing some?


One last thing is the recipe says 1 oz of black patent malt used during sparge.... so I am guessing that I add that to to the grains before I pull them out? such as rais the temp to mash out temp and add the black patent malt, wait 10 mins then remove the grain??

 

[Foosier]

BIAB does not require any real differences in the recipe. Because your efficiency can be lower (not always) most BIABers will add an extra .5 lb of base malt to make up for the difference. Otherwise the recipe is the same.

Generally you will want to start out will the full volume of water. This accounts for the size of the finished batch, grain absorption, trub loss, evaporation, etc. Search for SIMPLEBIABCALCULATOR in google this will help you with figuring out how much water you need and the mash temp.

On the tannins, you will not extract tannins by squeezing the bag. Tannin extraction is a function of temperature and PH. Your PH should be fine under most normal scenarios. Lots of people really squeeze their bags and have no issues. Squeeze away.

On the patent malt, I am not so sure when you would add it. I believe adding it late helps keep some of the bitterness from being imparted into the wort, but still extracts the color and roasty flavor. I'd probably throw it in at the end of my mash before I started raising my temp for mashout.

 

[Doed]

I measure the amount of wort in my pot after I remove and squeeze the bag. If I am a little low on boil volume I will pour some water through the grain bag to reach my boil volume. If my boil volume is correct after removing the grains, I just continue on with the boil.

I use Beersmith for my water calculations.

I think your idea on the black patent malt is probably correct.

 

[radiant-designer]

Thanks. i also heard that people double mill or mill finer to make up for their efficiency.

I am just coming from extract and partial mashes, and most kits and recipes for the specialty grains always say dont squeeze the bag so its a new one on me.

 

[Doed]

Yes that is true about double milling. Before I had my own grain mill, I would ask the online retailer to double crush, never really sure if they did, but I trusted them. Now that I have my own mill I can crush as many times as I want. I have recently only ran my grain through one time and haven't noticed much of a change in efficiency.