BIAB and batch sparge

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
I am soon to move to AG. I have an ACE insulated boiler and was contemplating BIAB.
I read online that some home brewers have adapted the BIAB method to mash in a volume of water that is not the full boil volume followed by a dunk sparge in another vessel.
I thought that I would try that method, but it occurred to me that the initial mash liquor could be run off from the ACE into a second vessel and a batch sparge done on the grain remaining in the bag in the ACE, i.e. treat the bag as a false bottom in a traditional mash tun.
Am I missing something?

 

[BeerCat]

I take out the bag and rest it on a sieve (old pedestal fan half cover) over a FV and dribble my spare water over that. I like to drain the wort out because helps me know how much pre boil I have and I can clean the filter. Had more than one occasion where it wouldn't drain and had to be tipped out.

 

[Toredan]

I tend to mash in my boiler and then dunk sparge the grain bag in a secondary pot. Usually leave this for 10 minutes and even give the grain a good stir before adding that water to the boil.

 

[Simonh82]

You can drain you ace but that means you can't start raising the first running up to the boil straight away.

Not a big deal bit might slow your brew day a little.

 

[nigelnorris]

The only issue I can see, and the reason I dunk rather than any other form of sparge, is that I have my ACE on the kitchen worktop and really don't fancy lifting a bucket with 20+ litres of hot water up to that height to pour it back into the boiler. I don't know how hot something has to be to be harmful but 60 or 70 odd degrees feels fairly close to me, plus the pouring back in is likely to be messy.

[Just googled it, 2 seconds exposure at 65 degrees will cause 2nd degree burns apparently, >70 degrees is near instantaneous. There's a cheerful thought for the holiday season.]

If you're doing it all at floor level then not such an issue.

 

[JFB]

I normally mash in about 20l of water then get a spare FV and about 15 minutes before the end of the mash start boiling the kettle and add 15l to this. I look for about 72c.
Then lift the bag out drain on a sieve and dunk for 10- 15 minutes. This gives a pre boil of 28ish litres which seems to work out fine for me.

 

[Ale]

I may be doing a set up for AG next year as well, but it will be in my garage which has no water supply, so folowing advice on here may need a couple of hoses for cooling (one in one out). I may look at a Grainfather or similar (the Bulldog Brewer on one of the threads on here looks good value for money). I have also looked at BIAB and may still go that route. I read something recently saying BIAB does not necessarily need a sparge after the mash. It suggested squeezing the liqid out of the bag and/or letting it drip. It is not quite as efficient but apparently the difference in results is difficult to notice, if any. Shame I cant remember where it was now.

 

[BeerCat]

I may be doing a set up for AG next year as well, but it will be in my garage which has no water supply, so folowing advice on here may need a couple of hoses for cooling (one in one out). I may look at a Grainfather or similar (the Bulldog Brewer on one of the threads on here looks good value for money). I have also looked at BIAB and may still go that route. I read something recently saying BIAB does not necessarily need a sparge after the mash. It suggested squeezing the liqid out of the bag and/or letting it drip. It is not quite as efficient but apparently the difference in results is difficult to notice, if any. Shame I cant remember where it was now.

You could try the no chill method. I rigged up some hose pipes for my chiller but often cant be arsed to use it. No chill works well for beers without late hop additions like Stout and Wheat Beer.

 

[JFB]

With a little bit of playing around hoppy beers can also be made easy enough.

 

[nigelnorris]

I may be doing a set up for AG next year as well, but it will be in my garage which has no water supply, so folowing advice on here may need a couple of hoses for cooling (one in one out). I may look at a Grainfather or similar (the Bulldog Brewer on one of the threads on here looks good value for money). I have also looked at BIAB and may still go that route. I read something recently saying BIAB does not necessarily need a sparge after the mash. It suggested squeezing the liqid out of the bag and/or letting it drip. It is not quite as efficient but apparently the difference in results is difficult to notice, if any. Shame I cant remember where it was now.

Good thing about a garage that I've seen in videos is you can stick a hook up in the ceiling and raise the bag with a rope then tie it off to let it drip dry without too much squeezing. It's a mission doing it by hand just stood holding the thing above a bucket for ten minutes or so.

As said elsewhere it's easy enough to put the bag in a spare FV than pour a few litres of hot water over it to dunk sparge, having a hoist to help raise it would be a bonus for sure.

Ohmygosh I've just realised, I've been wising for ages I could get something like that together but there's no way in my kitchen, and I've just realised I have my bike workstand sitting about which will do the job perfectly. I'm all over that idea.