Brew in a bag?

[Asalpaws]

Has anyone tried brew in a bag all grain? I was thinking it might be a way to try more different styles of beer albeit for lower grain efficiency!

I thought I could use my Brewpacks boiler if I put a grill over the element.

Does anyone know where I might get massive muslin bags for the purpose?

 

[RobWalker]

Most people sew them together. There's plenty of info online on materials, its very inexpensive for a little work. I do it regularly on a small scale - with enough patience efficiency is high, you can add a few extra hundred gram of grain to compensate too.

You need a 50l boiler for a full batch so you might be looking at a 3.5-4 gal batch dose in a brupak boiler. The bag you make is tougher and made to fit the shape of the boiler so you don't need to add a grill.

 

[puravida]

BIAG is the only method I use to brew.
You'd want to put a grill at the bottom if if you plan to fire up the elements to raise your mash temp but only if your mesh bag reaches that far down sit would be touching the elements.

I use a drawstring mesh straining bag that fits my kettle perfectly.

 

[Duncs]

You can buy them << here >> £8.75 plus postage

 

[andyd]

The Richie mashing and sparging bag you can buy from most on-line brewing shops fits the brupak boiler nicely. I BIAB using this and with an additional sparge step in a separate bucket I can make 5 gallon brews no problem. No problems with efficency either, I'm getting 75-80% I think.

As puravida says you only need to cover the element if you're heating while the bag is in there but if you insulate well this shouldn't be necessary.

 

[Asalpaws]

Does the beer taste as good as proper all grain ? If so I can hardly believe we don't all BIAB!

How do you convert the recipes? I have Graham Wheeler's book he gives AG recepies for 19 liters these might be OK with the Brewpacks boiler. TBH I struggle to get through 23 liters on my own so smaller batches would be good.

 

[RobWalker]

If you put 'em in beersmith it has a scale button. other than that it's just percentages.

It IS proper all grain. Some people prefer other methods, they all have their ups and downs, but it's 100% an all grain method :)

 

[puravida]

As Rob says - it is 100% all grain brewing!
You are just using different equipment to extract the fermentibles from the grain. Once you pull that bag of grain out the process is identical.

I love the simplicity of Brew in a Bag, I don't have the space for a 3-vessel system and it suits me to make lots of 19L batches as I enjoy tweaking recipes and experimenting.

 

[Swift Pint]

Does the beer taste as good as proper all grain ? .

YES! Also what is "proper" all grain? The way I see it BIAB IS proper brewing all grain, you have all of the control over your recipes that you have with a 3-tier setup, just without a lot of the hassle!

If so I can hardly believe we don't all BIAB!

Same. I started BIAB-ing on a smaller setup (2gallons) when I moved into a flat. Im trying to get my head around how to BIAB with 5+ KG of grain, but would like to go down that route when I get more room to brew bigger batches.

How do you convert the recipes? I have Graham Wheeler's book he gives AG recepies for 19 liters these might be OK with the Brewpacks boiler. TBH I struggle to get through 23 liters on my own so smaller batches would be good.

With BIAB you need enough room too fit the full volume of water along with all of the grain in the pot, which may mean you eaither need a bigger pot / scale down the recipes. I get similar efficiency doing BIAB verses a fly sparge, so no need to tweak the recipe for extraction rates etc. I suspect you just need to scale it down in a linear manner. As Rob says .... Beersmith all the way!!

 

[Swift Pint]

Also, if you want a decent grain bag and have access to a sowing machine / someone with a sowing machine, then you cant get much cheaper than THIS from Wilkos Plus you can sow your bag such that the bit at the top of the curtain for the hooks can be utilised with a bit of cord for a draw string. Great! :thumb:

 

[puravida]

I mash with about 2/3rds of my final wort volume - so about 13-14L with about 5kg of grain. Never measured - just rough is fine.
Then I pull the bag out into a colander sitting in a spare FV and pour a further 10L or so of hot water over it to rinse off the remaining sugars.
This goes into the pot and boil as normal giving a start volume of about 25L or so.

Honestly - I never measure my wort volume until it is in the FV where I will dilute the final volume with a few litres of tap-water to hit my target OG and volume.

 

[RobWalker]

im really considering this now. I have £90 spare that was going on a small sofa, but what with a bitey little puppy running around, it sounds like it'd be rude not to...can you use a single element for a boil?

puravida, whats your finishing volume at 25L?

 

[puravida]

You just need a big stock pot and boil it on your stove top.

 

[RobWalker]

it takes me 40 mins to get a decent boil in a 10L with my stove, hahah...i'd certainly need to buy/build a boiler.

 

[puravida]

Ahh fair enough!! :thumb:

 

[puravida]

Finishing volume about 19L or thereabouts - enough to fill a corny is my goal.
I'm not too fussed a litre or so either way to be honest as long as the OG is about right.

 

[Asalpaws]

Wow I'm sold, just a shame I went to all the effort to make my mash tun. I've only used it a couple of times and it's about to be superceeded by a net curtain!

 

[artyb]

its the future.... :grin:

 

[BrotherMalice]

put your mashtun on the fs forum, no doubt someone will have it off you :)

 

[Asalpaws]

How do I calculate my brew efficiency? I'm going to try a Irish Stout and I would like to see how the BIAB stacks up against a fly sparge.