Brew in a bag?

[Barticus]

excellent stuff. :

Cant wait til I get one under my belt as well.

 

[Kinleycat]

Bumped.
Found it after googling BIAB.
I think I will be going in this direction when I have fiddled with a few more kits.

 

[rich27500]

Good skills, it works. Feel free to ask for advice

 

[johnnyh]

I like the sound of this so have done a bit of further reading.
How does it compare results wise to maxi-biab?
I like the sound of maxi due to the smaller pot/kettle needed... I might get away with that

 

[ArmChair]

What is involved in doing this?

 

[johnnyh]

I can't put the link to the article I found as it tells me it is too spamy

But there is a site I found called biabrewer . Info /viewtopic.php?f=23&t=352
(remove the spaces in the URL)

Anyone have any thoughts on doing it this way?

 

[Asalpaws]

Read the earlier bits in this thread, essentially the main draw back is brew size is limited by your pot. I did a 15 L of a mild OG 1040 (final beer volume) brew on Saturday and the mash volume was about 28 L. As gravity increases you need more volume. I now have a 45 L brew pot which handles most things, it's not like you need 23 L of 11% Imperial Stout !

 

[Kinleycat]

Good skills, it works. Feel free to ask for advice

I have a pan that will hold (filled to the brim) 25ltr, clearly the bag of incredients will displace some of the water so:
how much water would be sensible to use in this size pan?
once i have made my wort(?) and to cool it down quickly could i make the volume up with cold water to 20-25litres?
i assume once its cooled sufficiently (below 27c) i then add my yeast and bucket it up or do i need to add additional sugars?
Well you did say ask!!! :lol: :lol: :thumb:

 

[rich27500]

Displacement depends on how much grain you use as does adding sugars. If you were sticking to just grain (which you should IMHO,) then around 4kg is enough to make 4-5% beers. To be on the safe side I'd allow a litre per kilo in terms of displacement. You can set water aside at mash temp and top up after if you want. You can just add cold water to get your desired volume/gravity most people prefer to use cooled boiled water if they do this. Pitching at 27c is a bit hot and the yeast goes in when in the fv not before.

Here's the best guide I've seen for maxi BIAB http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=352

 

[Kinleycat]

Displacement depends on how much grain you use as does adding sugars. If you were sticking to just grain (which you should IMHO,) then around 4kg is enough to make 4-5% beers. To be on the safe side I'd allow a litre per kilo in terms of displacement. You can set water aside at mash temp and top up after if you want. You can just add cold water to get your desired volume/gravity most people prefer to use cooled boiled water if they do this. Pitching at 27c is a bit hot and the yeast goes in when in the fv not before.

Here's the best guide I've seen for maxi BIAB http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=352

Thanks Rich,
Im going to give this a try later on, probably the spring. :thumb:

 

[JohnStone]

Excellent thread.........can feel the pull of the dark side.

 

[fbsf]

Good skills, it works. Feel free to ask for advice

Sorry Rich, but I also have a Q.

I'm planning on using BIAB for my next beer - a high ABV Double IPA. It's only going to be a short brew - 12L or so, but is this sort of thing doable with BIAB?

I'm guessing that I'll lose about 4.5L to the grain (4.5kg), 3L to the hops and 3.5L to the boil, so I'll need to start with about 23L. Should I be looking at mashing with 13L then sparging with 2x 5L ish, or do a single sparge of 10L?

 

[Kinleycat]

Good skills, it works. Feel free to ask for advice

Sorry Rich, but I also have a Q.

I'm planning on using BIAB for my next beer - a high ABV Double IPA. It's only going to be a short brew - 12L or so, but is this sort of thing doable with BIAB?

I'm guessing that I'll lose about 4.5L to the grain (4.5kg), 3L to the hops and 3.5L to the boil, so I'll need to start with about 23L. Should I be looking at mashing with 13L then sparging with 2x 5L ish, or do a single sparge of 10L?

I thought i was getting the hang of all the lingo but i have a Q?
What did you just say and why did you say it!!!!! :wha: :hmm: :wha: :hmm:

 

[fbsf]

I have a Q - I have a question.

Basically, what I was asking was whether Brew In A Bag - BIAB - was suitable for higher alcohol brews as well as standard brews.

The brew I'm planning will come out at about 9% alcohol, so will need quite a strong wort.

When you add the water to start the mash, some of it gets absorbed by the grain and stays there - which is the "loss to the grain" I mention.

Similarly, some also gets absorbed by the hops when they are boiled. Finally, some gets boiled off as water vapour, so you basically need to work out how much water to start with, to get a final amount ready for fermentation.

Lastly, the Sparge is rinsing the grains after they have soaked ("mashed") so you get as much of the sugary liquid off of them as possible.

Does that make any more sense? I have a habit of rambling a little :

 

[Kinleycat]

I have a Q - I have a question.

Basically, what I was asking was whether Brew In A Bag - BIAB - was suitable for higher alcohol brews as well as standard brews.

The brew I'm planning will come out at about 9% alcohol, so will need quite a strong wort.

When you add the water to start the mash, some of it gets absorbed by the grain and stays there - which is the "loss to the grain" I mention.

Similarly, some also gets absorbed by the hops when they are boiled. Finally, some gets boiled off as water vapour, so you basically need to work out how much water to start with, to get a final amount ready for fermentation.

Lastly, the Sparge is rinsing the grains after they have soaked ("mashed") so you get as much of the sugary liquid off of them as possible.

Does that make any more sense? I have a habit of rambling a little :

Cheers fbsf :
As clear as a foggy day in a coal cellar all that!!! :lol: :lol:
The water lost to the grain and hops etc, is this lost from the overall end liquid or does it need to be re added?
Eg. If i wanted to end up with say 20ltrs does it not matter how much you start with (within reason) if you have the right volume of ingredients and cook for the right time and add supplementary water to get the right total liquid i.e 20ltrs.
In theory the concentration of the grain in less water (a stronger wort) would be rectified by the additional dilution of the added water.
I think!!, ive confused myself in the end :lol: :lol:
Whats a sparge?
:thumb:

 

[Kinleycat]

I have a Q - I have a question.

Basically, what I was asking was whether Brew In A Bag - BIAB - was suitable for higher alcohol brews as well as standard brews.

The brew I'm planning will come out at about 9% alcohol, so will need quite a strong wort.

When you add the water to start the mash, some of it gets absorbed by the grain and stays there - which is the "loss to the grain" I mention.

Similarly, some also gets absorbed by the hops when they are boiled. Finally, some gets boiled off as water vapour, so you basically need to work out how much water to start with, to get a final amount ready for fermentation.

Lastly, the Sparge is rinsing the grains after they have soaked ("mashed") so you get as much of the sugary liquid off of them as possible.

Does that make any more sense? I have a habit of rambling a little :

Cheers fbsf :
As clear as a foggy day in a coal cellar all that!!! :lol: :lol:
The water lost to the grain and hops etc, is this lost from the overall end liquid or does it need to be re added?
Eg. If i wanted to end up with say 20ltrs does it not matter how much you start with (within reason) if you have the right volume of ingredients and cook for the right time and add supplementary water to get the right total liquid i.e 20ltrs.
In theory the concentration of the grain in less water (a stronger wort) would be rectified by the additional dilution of the added water.
I think!!, ive confused myself in the end :lol: :lol:
Whats a sparge?
:thumb:

I've wiki'd the answer, and that makes sense.
Something it mentioned was that if the temp for the sparge was wrong it would release tannins. Is that the case only if the water is too hot?
I'm getting there (i think)!!
:

 

[artyb]

a quick reply..

a mash out is/can be done, [10 -15 mins]
which is raising the temp of the grains at the end of the mash,before removing them,
this high temp steep is the same as a hot water sparge,
it releases sugars that are stuck to the grain, which is hat a sparge does...

 

[fbsf]

Cheers fbsf :
As clear as a foggy day in a coal cellar all that!!! :lol: :lol:

Have a look here: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=493 it walks you through an AG brew - things will make a lot more sense once you have digested it! :thumb:

 

[LeedsBrewer]

Im fairly new to this as well but for what its worth fbsf - I'd do it the way you said. 13L mash which is the recommended 2.5:1 ratio of liquor to grains. I'd then do a 10L mash out sparge at 76C for 15 mins.

I massively miscalculated the losses due to hops, boil off and grain in my AG1. So have upped my figures for next time.
how did you calculate losses for grain and hops? was this done through a calculator?

 

[fbsf]

Cheers for the confirmation. :thumb:

Not really - I just did a bit of googling, and came up with those as reasonable figures.

EDIT - I ought to say that there is going to be about 160g of hops in that brew, so that's why the hop absorption is so high.