Quick question re BIAB

[alymere]

It is always best to do full volume BIAB but many people do successfully do maxi BIAB.

Can somebody explain why this is please?

I get better mash effieciency when BIAB mashing in 3l per kg grain and then dunk sparging twice with the rest of the water than just full volume mash. Am I in danger of affecting quality?

I find post 18 of this thread to be useful http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=1502&p=21567&hilit=washing+machine#p21567

Unless your pot size restricts you to maxi biab always try and use all of the liquid at the start and don't bother sparging.

 

[Rivvo]

Thanks, I will bear that in mind :thumb:

 

[tommidolcetto]

tommidolcetto wrote:
Quote:
It is always best to do full volume BIAB but many people do successfully do maxi BIAB.


Can somebody explain why this is please?

I get better mash effieciency when BIAB mashing in 3l per kg grain and then dunk sparging twice with the rest of the water than just full volume mash. Am I in danger of affecting quality?


I find post 18 of this thread to be useful http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php ... ine#p21567

Unless your pot size restricts you to maxi biab always try and use all of the liquid at the start and don't bother sparging.

Not sure about the washing machine analogy in this post which basically implies a higher water to grain ratio in the mash results in better efficiency as a washing machine rinses or sparges!
Surely in full volume BIAB mashing when you remove grain from wort you are leaving a lot of sugars clinging too/in the grain that could be extracted with a sparge?

Anyway it's quality that I'm trying to improve not efficiency - is there a reason for full mashing to improve quality?

 

[alymere]

Try reading post 4 of this link http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=2558&p=36456&hilit=+sparging#p36456 and if possible read the "sweet liquor shop" posts. I found this extremely helpful and it saved me a whole lot of money not having to buy loads of equipment to make great beer.

 

[Rivvo]

So basically :-
Full volume biab if possible is best
Max volume biab and sparge is second best
Partial volume boil and pits boil dilution is very very bad :shock:

Those guys on there are very helpful but so much of it is way, way over my head.

I think for most recipes I'm going to have to do option 2, but I reckon I can do several on full volume.

 

[tommidolcetto]

Try reading post 4 of this link http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php ... ing#p36456 and if possible read the "sweet liquor shop" posts. I found this extremely helpful and it saved me a whole lot of money not having to buy loads of equipment to make great beer.

OK I accept that efficiency is not improved but is quality affected by using a smaller kettle and then sparging the bag of grains and adding this back to the boil?

 

[alymere]

I doubt you would ever really know for sure until you did full volume and a small pot version using identical ingredients.

 

[Duxuk]

My view is that some BIABers treat it like a religion. They believe all of it, even though some of it defies logic.
So I drain my grain after a full volume BIAB mash. If I then rinse my grain with 4l of warm water I will get 4 l of extra liquor at maybe 1040 SG. So logically if I start with less water and do a mini sparge I will extract more sugars, get a higher SG pre boil and hence increase my overall efficiency. I find I get 10% or more increase in total efficiency after doing this process in a dozen brews.
This does not mean that I will improve the beer quality this way, just the extraction of sugars.
I can also do a 23l brew in my 32l stockpot, which was not really feasable without a sparge.
I always boil full volume and don't need to dilute because experience has told me how much water to start with.
If you're happy to leave sugars trapped in your grain bed then I'm happy for you. If you want to get 20l at 1055 from 4.2kg of grain, you're going to have to sparge.
I was just trying to tell the OP how to increase his beer production for no extra outlay on equipment.
I think I'd better lash my bare torso with a syphon tube and pray to the BIAB Gods for absolution :pray:

 

[PaulCa]

I make full volume tea in my mug, but if I take the bag out and put it into another cup of boiling water it will go someways to making a another brew too.

 

[Duxuk]

I make full volume tea in my mug, but if I take the bag out and put it into another cup of boiling water it will go someways to making a another brew too.

Yes, but nearly all the caffeine will be dissolved into the first cup. So the second cup won't satisfy!

Back to beer. My mini sparge method only does what 3 vessel brewers do. They get more of the sugars out. I don't take it to the limit where I might extract tannins or whatever.

 

[Stevelmu]

My view is that some BIABers treat it like a religion. They believe all of it, even though some of it defies logic.
So I drain my grain after a full volume BIAB mash. If I then rinse my grain with 4l of warm water I will get 4 l of extra liquor at maybe 1040 SG. So logically if I start with less water and do a mini sparge I will extract more sugars, get a higher SG pre boil and hence increase my overall efficiency. I find I get 10% or more increase in total efficiency after doing this process in a dozen brews.
This does not mean that I will improve the beer quality this way, just the extraction of sugars.
I can also do a 23l brew in my 32l stockpot, which was not really feasable without a sparge.
I always boil full volume and don't need to dilute because experience has told me how much water to start with.
If you're happy to leave sugars trapped in your grain bed then I'm happy for you. If you want to get 20l at 1055 from 4.2kg of grain, you're going to have to sparge.
I was just trying to tell the OP how to increase his beer production for no extra outlay on equipment.

I think I'd better lash my bare torso with a syphon tube and pray to the BIAB Gods for absolution :pray:

This is exactly what I do with my 30L pot with no issues.