Brew in a Bag: how many use it?

Home made cooler toilet braid Denny style mash tun is also pretty easy and what I use.

 

Most of my batch's have been mashing in a bag then add the extracts later and they've always come out pretty good...not earth shattering but absolutely drinkable and something I was wasn't embarressed to have other people drink....put it this way, my wife LOVES the Zombie Dust clone I've made a couple times now. Now mind you I'm not doing a full mash but rather only 2lbs or so of something that must be mashed, mixed with the specialty grains. It definitely works for me.

Here's a video that was posted in an earlier thread about this subject. Give it a look.

 

My second batch ever was a partial mash, which I did via BIAB. After that, all my All Grain batches have used mash tuns. They are easy and relatively cheap to build.

 

I do 3 gallon BIAB batches for approximately 30% of my brews (several times a year).

 

I love doing BIAB stove top during the winter. With a fine crush and sparging the bag I've been getting 83% efficiency consistently. Less clean up and less time. I've just gotten back into it so I'm really digging it.

But when the weather breaks ill probably be back to the garage with the cooler.

 

When I first started my first couple of batches were BIAB and they turned out ok. I decided I didn't like messing with the bags and built my first mash turn. I feel that my beers are getting better using this method and it was not that expensive to do. BIAB is a good way to start to see if you like the all grain style of brewing. Have fun and experiment to see what works best for you.

 

I'm seriously considering BIAB for my entry into all-grain brewing. The only thing I'm missing is...the bag. That, and some knowledge about water chemistry - I have no idea what I need to add to RO water to get a profile that's appropriate for the beer I want to make.

 

I'm a BIAB devotee, but it fits my specific situation, which is seriously space limited and small-batch oriented. When I manage to get a bit more space (hopefully soon...), I might make the step up to a full mash. But for right now, it works well for me and I have no regrets.

 

BIAB has saved me twice...on back-to-back rye and wheat beers when a old false bottom silicone hose clogged/collapsed. I always have a couple of 5 gal buckets and bags handy now for emergencies.

 

I do one gallon brews, so I do BIAB anytime I am doing an all grain recipe.

 

Denny's Cheap and Easy for me

http://hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

 

I do BIAB, but my "bag" is a stainless steel filter... http://utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php#biab

 

Mash tun with batch sparging here.

 

So with those pluses (love doing it, 83% eff, less clean-up, less time, digging it), why would you do it another way? Larger batches?

 

Larger batches, larger gravities, and I don't want my mash tun lonely or sad.

 

The thing about BIAB, all grain, is that you need a pretty big kettle to handle all the grain and water.
I built my mash tun for roughly $60. A 48-qt cooler, a 10-foot length of copper pipe, a handful of connectors and a valve.
I already had a 33-qt kettle, so the cost for a larger one that would handle BIAB would have cost at least that much.
While building it, though I did use what I called a modified BIAB. I used my bottling bucket as a mash tun, with paint strainer bag in it. Mashed and sparked like normal, draining through the spigot. Worked well.

 

Used to batch sparge but switched over to biab to cut down on time and lessen the footprint in my garage. Although it didn't cut a ton of time off my brew day (not as much as getting a more powerful burner did) it did cut my active time down a lot.

 

For someone like me who does extract brewing in a large kettle (10G), BIAB seems like the easiest way to take the next step and try all-grain. Just get a bag and you're done! And it all sounds a lot less fiddly, which makes me think that I could start the mash before putting my kid to bed and maybe get the boil started at the same time it would have if I were doing extract.

For people that BIAB, how do you maintain your mash temps? You can heat the kettle with the stove, but do you need to worry about damaging the bag if it's touching the bottom? I've seen people recommend using a stainless steel colander at the bottom of the kettle to keep the bag from touching the bottom, which sounds like a decent way to go. I'd also be tempted to make a jacket for my kettle out of insulated bubble wrap, but you'd have to take it off before heating if the temperature dropped too much.

 

This is exactly what I do. I just closely monitor the mash temp and fire up the burner for a minute or two if the temp dips. Usually only have to do that 3-4 times during a 60 minute mash rest.

I'm able to BIAB all grain batches of 2.5 - 3 gallons. On the occasion that I want to do a 5 gal batch, I'll supplement with some extract during the boil.