Comments on: Brew In A Bag (BIAB) All Grain Brewing Method

By: Mike of Queensland

Mike of Queensland — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:31:42 +0000

In Australia another popular BIAB method is to use a 40 Liter electric hot water water boiling urn of the sort that you see in restaurants, church halls etc. The advantage is that it is a clean, self contained ‘turn on turn off’ system and has a built in tap of course. It is also helpful to have some sort of ’sky hook’ to hang the bag from to drain. I use a simple pulley system.

Cheers n beers.

By: BIAB + big beers? - Home Brew Forums

BIAB + big beers? - Home Brew Forums — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:37:10 +0000

[...] the grain weight shouldn't be an issue. Also, I didn't plan on doing a sparge per the info here: http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/06/20/brew-in-a-bag-biab-all-grain-brewing-method/ If anyone can give feedback on my converted recipe below, it's about 99% based off of the one [...]

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:59:25 +0000

Your eff. would be identical to that of a NO SPARGE system, which is easy to calculate.

Your eff. losses will only result from losses in conversion eff. and losses due to grain absorption.

Assuming 100% conversion eff. for this example and a total water volume of 8 gallons, the math would go like this.

10 pounds of grain would absorb approximately 1.0 gallons of water with BIAB.

Assuming NO losses to conversion eff., meaning you achieve 100% conversion eff.

Your losses would equal 1 gallon of the 8 that you started with, so 12.5%, giving you an eff. of 87%.

DISCLAIMER: You may very well not see 100% conversion eff. This is an example of how to determine your eff. with BIAB if you know your conversion eff.

If you can convert 80% of your sugars, you can see 70% eff. with this method using the math above.

70-75% eff. with BIAB is not uncommon as you do not have losses due to MLT deadspace. Typically the grain, since you are draining it from the grain sack, retains less water and you have fewer losses to grain absorption as well.

Hope this helps!

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:29:06 +0000

What efficiency do you end up with? Is it a lot lower than a batch spagre system?

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:27:30 +0000

Check out my blog for my biab experiences. I do biab exclusively. I’d suggest purchasing the voile from a fabric store, it’ll cost you $5 for one pot. Get enough fabric to put the pot inside and you’ll be fine. I use rack from a steamer pot in the bottom and direct fire with the grain bag inside with no problems. A quick rinse off with the hose and an occasional run through the washing machine and the bag will last a while.

http://armpithomestead.blogspot.com/search/label/BIAB

If you are on facebook there is a biab group as well, few members so far.

By: Intriguing: Brewing In A Bag (BIAB) | Mad Alchemist

Intriguing: Brewing In A Bag (BIAB) | Mad Alchemist — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:55:10 +0000

[...] Brew in a Bag All Grain Brewing Method: A good blog post with pictures describing the method for BIAB. [...]

By: Larry

Larry — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:37:40 +0000

According to this HBT thread, people are using paint strainer bags from home depot: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/harr-paint-strainer-biab-158276/

A 24″ x 24″ large grain bag will work for 5 gallon batches.

As for the material, check out your local fabric store for nylon mesh or voil.

Just found this in depth PDF on the subject of BIAB: http://www.biabrewer.info/uploads/BIABBooklet.pdf

By: Jerome

Jerome — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:37:58 +0000

Just found out this technique…I was thinking about it, and now even before I could try it I see others did it with success!!!

For a 5 gallon batch, where could I find a large straining bag? I saw these: http://www.winemakeri.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=16406, do you think they would be big enough?

Thank you and great article!

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:17:39 +0000

What kind of material did you make your bag out of and where did you buy it? I’ve looked around in walmart and havn’t been able to find anything that seemed strong enough with a fine mesh.

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:27:23 +0000

If you can fit the bag down on the bottom, flush to the walls of the kettle, and still have plenty of room above the rim you are fine. See pictures 1 and 2 above.