Someone recently suggested BIAB as a stepping stone from extract brewing. The only BIAB kits I have seen are 3 gallon which is too big for my equipment. So I'll be designing a recipe or modifying one on a calculator. 1) The mash section gives a number of options (fly sparge, infusion, decoction etc) and I am leaning towards infusion for the first batch. But the last option is "temperature." What does that mean? 2) The instructions for NBs BIAB kit have you drain the bag into a second pot and then add the drainage back. I think that is the infusion method. I have seen other methods where heated water is poured over the bag. How much better would that be? Thanks guys
1)You'll most likely doing a single infusion mash when doing BIAB. Without seeing the context that "temperature" is used in, I assume it means mash temperature. Also infusion and decoction are mash methods, where fly sparging is a sparge method. Does the calculator have all these in one dropdown? 2)The NB instructions are just a way to collect all the runnings. I personally set an oven rack on top of the pot and set the bag on it to let it drain but there shouldn't be much of a difference. Pouring over more heated water is a sparge method and different than the other two. If you're good about stirring and breaking up dough balls when mashing in, 70% would be attainable and 65% easily attainable.
The temperature input on the calculator is the temp you wish to maintain that mash for which is usually 150-156 degrees for 60 minutes. Keep in mind adding the grains to the strike water will lower the temp so make sure you initially heat up the water to 160 degrees. The closer you mash to 150-152 the more mouth feel and more unfermentable sugars there will be (lower abv) and the closer to 154-156 the more fermentable sugars and the beer will finish thinner and drier (higher abv). I like to mash around the middle at 154.
There is a part to put in a temperature which I took to mean what temp to mash at. There is also a drop down menu "type" with 5 options: "decoction, fly sparge, infusion, sparge and temperature" http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/
You got that backwards. Mashing on the higher end of the range (e.g., 156-158 degrees F) will create more dextrins and the beer will have more body/mouthfeel. Mashing on the lower end (e.g., 150-152 degrees F) will result in a more fermentable wort and a beer with a lesser mouthfeel as compared to a higher temperature mash. Cheers!
It would seem that this tool is using the term "temperature" to refer to what I would call a step mash. This article might be helpful to you: https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/1474-the-best-mash-program Cheers!
I moved from extract to biab because I didn't need any additional equipment. I like it so much I am still doing it a year or so later and I've had really good compliments on my beer from friends and my homebrew club. I recommend using brewcipher that is available for free from vikeman. It helps determine starting water volume among many other things. To answer your questions: 1) with such small volume use infusion full volume and skip the sparge. If you want you can hold back .25 gallons for a small sparge at the end. 2) temp is based on the fermentable sugars you want. Usually depends on the style. A good blanket temp is 152, but maybe lower if doing an IPA and higher for a stout 3) just pull the bag out of the pot and let it drain. I transfer the bag to a second pot just to get the last drippings while getting the boil kettle heated up. This is where you can use a small sparge of .25 gallons over the grains. Shoot for an efficincy of 65/70% on the first go. Make sure to hear you water without the bag because it will burn. Heat your water 5 degrees hotter than you want (strike water) then add the bag and begin to add the grains while stirring, making sure there are no clumps.
