I'm wanting to expand my repertoire to all grain and BIAB. I've done 8 extract batches, and outside of my own recipe design flaws, have a pretty good process down. That said, I have two questions: 1 - what recipe do you recommend? I know that BIAB tends to get not-great efficiency, and so if there's a recipe that's not super-sensitive to that, that would be great (I'm thinking that this means not-high gravity...not a problem) 2 - I am still working the water volume calculations, but I might be limited on space in my kettle for mashing in the bag (i.e., full volume of water + grain volume > kettle volume). Can you do a smaller mash and then top up the water for the boil after you remove the grain bag? Any other advice appreciated, but I've done a pretty good amount of reading. Thanks in advance...I'm my 2nd BIAB batch will be a brown that a non-homebrewer buddy and I are going to go halvsies on the cost/product, so I want to get my process down.
From what I have been told/read 70-75% efficiency is still possible with BIAB, but am not really sure if that is "good" or not. Any recipe would probably be good. On the volume, I have read/heard that shooting for more water to start with is better with BIAB. I have yet to do one myself as I can't easily boil the required water inside, so am stuck doing partial mashes until the warmer weather hits Maine. I will say I plan to hold about half a gallon off from the main mash and heat it separately. Then using a game hoist (http://www.discountramps.com/kill-s...-54457485169&gclid=CMi3qvjavdICFYSPswodbJkMcA), allow the bag to drain and pour the "sparge" water over it. I know that isn't what everyone does but I hope it helps me out some. Either way, having the largest pot available would probably be a good idea.
Interesting setup. My house has a walkout basement with a deck above and two eye bolts already screwed in...I'm going to Lowes today to get some rope, a pulley and a cleat to install for the hanging/pulling part. I hadn't considered the sparge water as part of my water volume As for recipe, I think I'm going to do a SMaSH just for simplicity...it might not give me much info on the details of my process, but it'll let me practice and work out some stuff with minimal complexity on the "recipe tracking" side.
I've done 4 BIAB and get 70% efficiency without squeezing the bag (some ppl say to squeeze it, some ppl say not to squeeze it). For a 5 gallon batch, I usually do all the grain in 5 gallons of water and then "sparge" (or rinse) the hoisted bag with 2.5 gallons. I typically make very hoppy beers so I assume 1 gallon of boil off, .75gallon lost to grain absorption, .5 gallon lost to hop absorption, plus gravity readings. I have a ~9.5 gallon kettle and can easily fit 5 gallons water and 12 lbs grain for a ~6% ABV beer at 70% efficiency. Hope that helps!
I've done about 25 BIAB 5 gal brews and get 75-80% efficiency. I do it a bit differently, having the LHBS double crush the grains - no concern for a stuck sparge. I typically use about 7.5 gallons of water in the kettle for the mash and then "sparge" up to preboil volume (usually less than 1 gal) after draining and pushing on the bag with my mash paddle.
#1 - I do BIAB and get high 70's to low 80's efficiency. Most people who do BIAB get high 70's or above. Some consistently get high 80's. Squeeze the bag to get the most out of the mash. #2 - Yes. I hold back a gallon of my mash to either use as a sparge if I get lower than expected efficiency, or as an addition to the boil if I get higher than expected efficiency. The main thing you want is consistency.
#2 - Why not do a mini mash? Mash some base grain + specialty malt. Sparge. Fill up to level you are comfortable with boiling and add malt extract. It's a lot easier than trying to maneuver 10-20 lbs of 150 degree grain onto a strainer over your pot and pouring hotter water over that. Might be easier till you can get a full sized pot and a cooler.
A SMaSH is great for a first time. I do BIAB and routinely get over 80% efficiency by using 2/3 of my total water for the mash and the other 1/3 for a dunk sparge. After the mash I pull the bag, drain it a bit then put it in a bucket. I pour in the sparge water a stir it a bunch over about 10 minutes. Then I pull the bag and squeeze it like it owes me money. This works well.
