All grain or biab

For the lifting side of things, I plan on getting this when I go out doors with my BIAB. if I brew inside, I have to stick to partial mashes.

http://www.discountramps.com/kill-s...-54457485169&gclid=CKnO5tiYkNICFctMDQodLpYCeQ

 

Yeah, that ought to work.

Plus you can use it during deer hunting season!

That is a win-win right there!!

Cheers!

 

This would seem to me to be the best of both worlds - no cooler modification required. I've done partial grain where I used the five gallon Igloo cooler. Worked great - held temperature with no fuss and no crane to lift the bag out. Didn't need to sparge, but could have easily. Then just let it drain completely, scoop out the wet grain.

http://brulosophy.com/2015/06/17/brew-in-a-bag-in-a-cooler-reviewing-the-brew-bags-mlt-filter/

 

If one is planning to mash in the kettle, then using a bag would be less equipment. If they used the bag in a cooler then no. I could see if space is a concern, a bag that could be folded up would be better than a 70qt cooler. Easier, not really if you account for the lifting and having to maintain mash temps. One would have to start looking into insulating the kettle and/or using fire to maintain and not scorch the bag. The mash itself is the same, so the pros and cons are more about space, time, effort, ect....

I use a bag, but in an insulated mash tun. It makes clean up way easier, just pull and dump, instead of scooping out sticky grain. Also makes the Vorlauf step almost useless since the bag filters any grain particles. Last beer was 12lbs dry and was easy to lift by hand and let drain for a moment before tossing (use heat resistant gloves).

Recently I have been doing no sparge mashes for anything under 1.060 and been getting what I would say is good efficiency, usually 75-80%. Most recently hit 85% on a 1.050. This only really pertains to the questions on sparging when doing BIAB in a kettle. If your only doing medium sized beers, I am not sold that sparging is really needed.