Moving to BIAB

[stringybob]

Hi

New to the forum but not so new to brewing. After a few years break I have started up again, beginning with a few kits just to fine tune the fermenting side of things.

Moving forward I am acquiring a 19 ltr stainless steel stock pot so I am looking to try some BIAB brews. I have read a lot of the "how-to" guides but these are obviously subjective depending on personal equipment, preferences etc. so I just thought I would talk you through my plan to see what you think (i haven't gone into too much detail in terms of water quantities, temperatures etc. as I can fine tune that as I go) .

Heat required quantity of water in stockpot then transfer to FV - add bag of grains, insulate and leave to mash for 1hr

At the end of the mash, heat "sparge" water in stockpot.

Lift grains out of FV, squeezing out as much liquid as possible and transfer bag to stockpot. Leave for 10 mins, then lift out, again squeezing out liquid.

Tip wort from FV into stockpot and boil, cool, ferment

Does that sound about right? I am guessing I will end up with maybe 12ltr at the end?

Any input appreciated

 

[Dutto]

Welcome to the Forum. :thumb:

A BIAB fanatic will be along in a couple of minutes to check out Plan "A".

Sounds good to me but I use a Mash Tun system.

 

[chub1]

Sounds good. Certainly no expert but i have done much the same with my last two brews,ie dunk sparge . I have done my mash,strained the grains and then dunked and stirred gently and left for around 7/10 minutes,strained into main pot and given a light squeeze.
Have tried full volume mash and sparging but have been dissapointed with results.At least my only two dunk's have produced spot on or above expected OG's:thumb:
I only do small 5 litre batches at a time.Been mashing in 5 litres and dunking in 2.75 litres,which has just about given me 5 litres at the end,just a smallish top up with water.

 

[Razor]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds similar to what I do, although I only have a 12l pot for 1 gal brews. :thumb:


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[astralbrew]

Hi Stringybob

pretty much the same method as i have done twice in the last weeks,, sounds about right, but you didn't mention the hops or clarifying agent in the process... got to flavour it and clean it i reckon.. ?

 

[stringybob]

Cheers for the replies chaps :thumb:

I will plough on and get a few brews under my belt using this method then. Am I correct in thinking that I can increase the grain bill for say a 22 ltr brew (therefore producing a more concentrated wort) and just add water at the final stage in the FV to dilute it to suit?

 

[johnyp]

hi there have you checked out clibits post on an easy peasy biab,i made it my first try at all grain and was well impressed.....welcome to the furum don't be afraid to ask !!!

 

[Gerryjo]

Cheers for the replies chaps :thumb:

I will plough on and get a few brews under my belt using this method then. Am I correct in thinking that I can increase the grain bill for say a 22 ltr brew (therefore producing a more concentrated wort) and just add water at the final stage in the FV to dilute it to suit?

Hi and welcome to the forum.
You're bang on about increasing your grain bill as I've done the same thing but using a 15 and 11 litre pot for dunk sparging.Last brew I used my FV and only lost a few degrees without insulation and as you'll find as you go along that there's many ways to produce some quality beer.Good luck and keep us updated 👍🍺

Sent from my ALE-L21

 

[Robin54]

Hi

New to the forum but not so new to brewing. After a few years break I have started up again, beginning with a few kits just to fine tune the fermenting side of things.

Moving forward I am acquiring a 19 ltr stainless steel stock pot so I am looking to try some BIAB brews. I have read a lot of the "how-to" guides but these are obviously subjective depending on personal equipment, preferences etc. so I just thought I would talk you through my plan to see what you think (i haven't gone into too much detail in terms of water quantities, temperatures etc. as I can fine tune that as I go) .

Heat required quantity of water in stockpot then transfer to FV - add bag of grains, insulate and leave to mash for 1hr

At the end of the mash, heat "sparge" water in stockpot.

Lift grains out of FV, squeezing out as much liquid as possible and transfer bag to stockpot. Leave for 10 mins, then lift out, again squeezing out liquid.

Tip wort from FV into stockpot and boil, cool, ferment

Does that sound about right? I am guessing I will end up with maybe 12ltr at the end?

Any input appreciated

I would do your grain steep in your stock pot, since you can get that boiling whilst your sparge is going on in any other container. I find, and my figures are about the same as Chubs, that you will need about 14 Litres in total for the boil, because you will lose a lot in steam during the boil. Also bear in mind that big grain bills, an IPA for instance, will lose you more liquid than a simple ale recipe.
Thirdly, if your doing this on the kitchen stove, a 14 litre rolling boil may be pushing it - it will work...just takes time. trust that helps

 

[Covrich]

Nothing wrong with what you have suggested

BIAB typically doesn't have a sparge stage (alot of people do a seperate sparge anyway as they cannot mash the total volume and this works fine) and you use the total volume of water in a single pot mash / mash out then boil its a complete single stage.. in a 19liter pot it would be a little tight to get 12Lts but not too far off.

For bigger such as 22L you will have to probably maxi biab where you make the more concentrated wort and dilute it at the end

 

[stringybob]

I have a 2kw Ikea "portable" induction hob which I am going to commandeer to the brewery :) so I am hoping this will be enough to get a decent boil going

 

[stringybob]

Ok, I have everything ready to go, so I am all set to brew this weekend. Doing a very simple 2.5kg Marris Otter with Fuggles hops. A few final questions:

I will be cooling the pot in a sink of cold water which is likely to take a good while to get down to pitching temperature. I presume I need to keep the lid on for this (slows down the cooling process but reduces risk of nasties)?

I am intending on rinsing out the grain bag and using this for the hops in the boil. Does this need to be suspended off the base of the pot?. Alternatively I can boil the bag to sterilise and use it to filter the cooled wort into the FV?

I have Safeale SO-4 yeast - bearing in mind I am doing a 12ltr brew, do I pitch the full packet or just half?

 

[Dutto]

Ok, I have everything ready to go, so I am all set to brew this weekend. Doing a very simple 2.5kg Marris Otter with Fuggles hops. A few final questions:

I will be cooling the pot in a sink of cold water which is likely to take a good while to get down to pitching temperature. I presume I need to keep the lid on for this (slows down the cooling process but reduces risk of nasties)?

I am intending on rinsing out the grain bag and using this for the hops in the boil. Does this need to be suspended off the base of the pot?. Alternatively I can boil the bag to sterilise and use it to filter the cooled wort into the FV?

I have Safeale SO-4 yeast - bearing in mind I am doing a 12ltr brew, do I pitch the full packet or just half?

Personally:

I would keep the lid on when cooling down. It will speed up matters if you leave the cold tap running (to keep a constant supply of cold water coming) and let it go down the sink overflow.

Before I made my Hop Dropper (see photo) I just let the hop bags wander around in the boiler rather than keeping it off the bottom.

Also, when it has done service as a hop bag why would you need to sterilise it before using it as a filter for the wort? It will have been in a boiling environment for about 60 minutes so just emptying the hops from it and then rinsing it in cold water from the tap should be okay.

Finally, I can't see the point of saving half a sachet of yeast. It won't be necessary to pitch all of it but ask yourself "Will I be happy to use the other half in a week's time?" If the answer is "Yes" then pitch half of it otherwise use the lot. (Like wot I wud do!) :thumb:

 

[Covrich]

Yeah I would keep the lid on especially as it goes below 80..

With regards to hops you can just dump them in free if you wanted ( actually thing they work better when in loose rather than a bag) in the bag it will probably not sink anyway. If you have an ordinary sieve you can transfer the wort through a sanitised kitchen sieve.

Personally I wouldn't worry too much or get hung up you will find a way that works for you (some just dump everything in) .. Just go for it an enjoy it, you will learn so much from this first go yourself.