I am buying my grains milled, I do not have a mill yet. As for the dilution, I can't always avoid it. My kettle is only 17L (to the top) so I only have room form 15.5L pre-boil volume. If I want to end up with more than a 10L batch, I have to dilute it. Alternative is to use DME but I prefer not to do so
I will gladly sparge with more water, I was not sure about the ratio I should maintain. You see, I have 2.7kg of grain here and I think I am supposed to use at least x2.5 as strike water. Because I am not sure, I always use a bit more, so instead of 7L, I used 9L as strike water. I could definitely use those extra 2L for sparging, as long as the x2.5 grain to strike ration is correct.
As for the sparging itself, I have a secondary 9L kettle which I use. I drain and then place the grain on a colander above the main kettle. I then slowly drop as much of the sparge water I feel I can, so as for the remaining to be able to accommodate the grain bag. I probably end up with 3L in the secondary kettle, where I place the grain bag and I leave it there for about 5 mins.
Here is one example from a few years ago. Just do a partial boil in each pot.
I know people that don't even sparge when they do brew in a bag (shocking ! but true).
I thought you are not supposed to squeeze because of tanninsI know people that don't squeeze when they BIAB and manage 88% brewhouse efficiency on average.
I'd say their fudging their figures 88% brew house my best is 87% that's with a sparge to Catch remaining sugars left in the mash .I know people that don't squeeze when they BIAB and manage 88% brewhouse efficiency on average.
I'd say their fudging their figures 88% brew house my best is 87% that's with a sparge to Catch remaining sugars left in the mash .
Either that or their milling their grain to powder.
I'm glad to know either way
I thought that as well. Comments anyone?I thought you are not supposed to squeeze because of tannins
I don't believe you can squeeze tannins out of a brew bag. I'm pretty sure that myth has been debunked.I thought that as well. Comments anyone?
I agree, some say "squeeze it like it owes you money"I don't believe you can squeeze tannins out of a brew bag. I'm pretty sure that myth has been debunked.
I think sparging with overly hot water that has a pH far too high is the biggest risk of tannin extraction. In other words, it's not a big risk.
This.Whether or not I squeeze is dependent on if I've reached my target preboil volume or not
Squeeze it like it owes you money. Don't worry about tannins.I thought you are not supposed to squeeze because of tannins
Eat more roughage...I thought that as well. Comments anyone?
I find BIAB gets better efficiency because you can use a finer grind and not worry about it getting stuck, also find that less water in mash gives better efficiency. For example I rarely go over 3 to 3.5gals water to say 10-12lb grain mash. Take a reading and dilute at end to hit your numbers. I know people that don't even sparge when they do brew in a bag (shocking ! but true).
As a BIAB brewer, I agree with all of this. I have found thinner mashes definitely lead to better conversion. I know I can get about 80% for a standard-ish beer every time if I wanted to. But since I Full Volume Mash...thinner mashes also mean longer boil times.I can get better efficiency with a thinner mash. I started doing this after reading various posts (BF and others). It was a few years back so I don't remember the exact improvement, but it was enough for me to keep doing it. The below is from:
http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/inde...g_Efficiency#conversion_and_lauter_efficiency. It refers to traditional batch sparging but, I can't imagine the findings would be that much different for BIAB.
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