Does anyone know a good way to get started with BIAB? I was thinking of doing 1 or 2 gallon test batches in the winter to get ready for nice weather again. I came up with an idea of getting a 3 gallon igloo cooler and "mashing" in a paint strainer bag and then draining into a pot for the boil. That way I could more efficiently hold the temperature. Any input?
If you're mashing in a cooler, it's technically not BIAB...the idea behind BIAB is that all you need is a bag and kettle of suitable size. I did one BIAB batch and I just wrapped my kettle in an old quilt while it was mashing. Any reason you're planning to stick to 1-2 gallon batches?
If you're going to buy a dedicated cooler anyway, why not make it into a regular mash tun, with a false bottom or braided hose and a valve for lautering?
I enjoy BIAB - I do 5-gal batches in a 15-gal kettle. No cooler/mashtun. If you go BIAB I recommend getting a grain crusher. It improved my efficiency significantly...
I have a 10-gallon setup (including a Mash-Tun that is a modified cooler. I want to brew small test batches that I don't necessarily want 5 or 10 gallons of. I was planning on brewing 2 gallons and splitting them in separate 1 gallon bottles to try different things during fermentation (hops, oak, fruit, etc). I don't have a place that I can brew with my equipment indoors during the winter so I figured this would be a good way to experiment with new recipes. The separate mash tun idea came from reading about how others do BIAB and problems they experience with doing everything in one pot. I know from experience that the cooler hold the temp well so I was wondering if deviating from the BIAB process would be better, same, or worse.
Got it. I wouldn't think using a cooler would provide significant advantages. I think you might as well spare the expense and equipment space and just mash in the kettle. With a fine crush and a good amount of stirring you should get pretty decent efficiency. An old quilt or sleeping bag should hold the temp ok, and if you notice it really dropping, turn a burner or two on lowish with whatever insulation safely out of the way.
Happy to help. Take it with a grain of salt since I'm not an expert and I don't have any notes on how much heat I lost. I will say that the beer turned out pretty good and had what I would deem appropriate body for a 2-row only beer mashed at 152F. I just realized there's an important tidbit I left out regarding my one BIAB experience. After the mash, I pulled the bag out and basically did a batch sparge in my fermenting bucket. So in my case an extra container was useful. Now since you already have a setup, I don't think an extra piece of equipment is necessary, but that whole process (.039 setting on the mill, LOTS of stirring in the mash and a batch sparge) got my efficiency to 68%. If you're only doing 1-2 gallon batches though, there should be a lot more space for the grain to move around in the bag since you'll only be using a few pounds, so you're efficiency will likely be better (I had 10 pounds in a 5 gallon bag and it was pretty tight).
What's the configuration of your current mash tun? If it's cylindrical (relatively small footprint), I bet you could do 2-gallon batches in it with no problems.
You are essentially using the bag as a lautering device, as per BIAB, but modifying the original one vessel approach. I have done this a few times for different reasons and it works like a charm.
Thanks, for the input. I don't mind grabbing a cooler to use. I was just basing it off of my experience previously brewing 5 and 10 gallon batches. I want to try to match my efficiency to my larger scale set up so I can have the beer turn out similar if I decide to brew larger batches. I am just concerned about heat loss using just a pot. I'm not planning on going all out and modifying the cooler, just using the bag instead of a false bottom or a stainless steel braid (at least at first). A 3 gallon cooler runs about $30. My current mash tun is a 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler. It is pretty wide so i don't think it will work very well for small batches. What do you guys do to strain the wort after the boil? I am just going to use a regular, unmodified pot (no false bottom or screen). I was just going to pour it through a double strainer. Any better ideas?
Since you also plan on using larger batches, you might be interested in one of the reasons I have tried this; it could be something you'll try down the road: I wanted to be able to mash two beers at once. I have a large mash tun which could contain all the base malt for two batches, which was the same for the two recipes. IIRC, I was doing an IPA with all pilsner malt and something Belgiany using pilsner malt and some other things that needed mashing like biscuit malt and/or aromatic malt, plus some special B (which doesn't need mashing). I didn't want those grains in the IPA grist, so I did a side mash with a little more pilsner malt and whatever specialty malts that were destined for the Belgian. I split my runnings from the main mash and added the lautered secondary mash to one of the vessels to make the Belgian. You might later decide to put the second mash tun to use this way. It doesn't seem like a bad thing to have around.
“I am just concerned about heat loss using just a pot.” Since you are mashing smaller volumes an simple way to maintain a constant mash temperature is to place your pot (with the grains in them) inside your oven and set the oven to 150°F. Easy peasy! Cheers!
I really think you're overthinking this. The 10 gallon rubbermaid cylyndrical cooler should work fine for small batches. The inside is barely 12" in diameter, so the grain bed would be plenty deep, roughly comparable to 5 gallon batches in some of the bigger rectangular coolers a lot of people use. That's not to say that your idea couldn't work, just that it's probably not necessary.
I agree that the OP doesn't need another mash tun (unless he wants to do split batch double mash stuff like I was describing ). However, if he really is concerned that the grain bed is not deep enough, he can always mash in a bag in the oversized mash tun. Then there's no stuck sparge issue. Easy if your oven maintains temps this low. The lowest setting on mine is 175°F. It still might be workable, perhaps with the oven door open, but I'd want to monitor the temp carefully the first time I tried it.
Peter, my old oven would let me set to 150°F. That was a true ‘set it and forget it’ method. My new oven’s lowest setting is 175°F so I have to ‘manually’ maintain the 150°F by periodically turning the oven on and stopping it when it reaches around 155°F. I have to do this about 3 times over the 60 minutes. I use an electronic cooking thermometer with a long temperature probe (that is in the middle of the mash). I am able to maintain and measure a steady mash temperature; I usually mash at 152-153°F. Cheers! P.S. I have an analog laboratory thermometer that I use to ‘check’ my electronic thermometer. My electronic thermometer is ‘dead nuts’ accurate.
I think I am way over thinking this. I knew about the oven idea but my oven only goes down to 200 degrees. I am going to give it a try with my 10 gallon mash tun and go from there. I just want to make sure I get above 70% efficiency. How does everyone make out with BIAB and efficiency? I want to make sure I cover all my bases before I take the time to brew a batch. I don't want to invest the time if I am not going to give me a accurate result of what I could get with my larger setup.
In the modified approach that I mentioned, I sparge the bag contents. My efficiency has not suffered, although it may not be a fair comparison. Still, efficiency really should not be a primary concern of homebrewers. We are not generally working on margins where the only way we can afford to brew is by scraping a few extra points out of our efficiency. Buy an extra pound or two of base malt or use some DME to compensate if you end up coming in low.
70 - 75% extraction efficiency is doable with a no sparge BIAB technique. From my past experience (about 25 no sparge BIAB batches (5-7 gallons each), the keys to achieving those numbers were a fine crush and doing a 10 minute mash out before you lift the grain filled bag out of the kettle.
I started out all-grain brewing this very way. It's not the true Aussie BIAB method but who cares. Mashed up to 6# grist in a 5G paint bag in a 3G Igloo cooler. Drained and squeezed the 1st runnings into boil kettle. Double-dunk sparges. 2.45 batch size. Decent extract and brewhouse efficiencies. (75%; 60%) Lotta work but it works. --- Pro Tip: double bag the grains
