Brew In A Bag (BIAB)

[Brewer #369152]

I have been all grain brewing for 5 years with a standard list of equipment, mash cooler, 15 gallon boil kettle propane burner and a variety of carboys for fermenting. Looking to shorten up my brew day, increase the precision of my temp control, move inside to brew and maybe play around with step mashing. Anybody made the transition to BIAB and have some experiences to share? Looking at the Spike Solo electric system.

Cheers

 

[Minbari]

Have always done biab. with a herms setup you only need 2 pots. One for the mlt/boil pot and one to house the herms coil.
I don't know about off the shelf setups, made my own, but a typical day for me is 6-7 hours

 

[Donoroto]

I use a Brewzilla 35, so if you have questions, let me know. I also use a Spike Flex+ fermenter, and it is excellent.

About shortening your brew day: What I suggest is to carefully time each major step to see what kind of time it really takes, then examine each of these for time savings. That's the only real way to speed things up.

Some time ago I posted a thread on brew day times, and the consensus was about 5 hours, from very start to very finish. Some broke the day into 2 or 3 parts, e.g., day before add the water and any brewing salts, set the system to have it hot for mash-in the next morning, then hot wort into the fermenter for a no-cool, pitch yeast & clean up the 3rd morning. So 'brew day' is only about 2.5 hours, but I think that's inaccurate, one must add all three days' work together.

 

[soccerdad]

I generally do small (3Gallon) batches with no recirc on the mash. Can usually do this with one kettle only.
Depending on how much I do one day ahead - like prepping the water and crushing the grist - I might do 3G in 3 or 4 hours.
I also might leave an item for the next day ( like pitching yeast). Depends on the season. Ground water here is never really cold.

 

[Herm brews]

I make ~2.5 gallon BIAB batches using a single vessel, and chill that vessel in an ice bath - about as simple as it gets. My brew days usually last around 6 hours, give or take.

 

[Megary]

Also doing 3 gallon (into fermenter) BIAB, one vessel (formally known as a big pot ) for mash, boil, cool.

My day looks like this, give or take:
5 Min - laying stuff out and making coffee!
40 Min - waiting for my stove to heat to Strike Temp... eating breakfast. (I can mill grains now if I want, but usually do this the night before.)
5 Min - Mashing in and breaking up dough balls
60 Min - Mash...and stirring mash, watching Premier League
5 Min - Mashing out and letting the bag drain
25 Min - Getting to Boil...and dumping grains and cleaning bag
60 Min - Boil...and sanitizing fermenter, siphon, etc...and watching Premier League
5 Min - Post boil, stirring, moving pot to ice, whatever
45 Min - In ice to cool...and watching Premier League
15 Min - Transfer and pitch yeast
30 Min - Clean up
1 Min - Grab a beer, it's now just past noon!
------------------------------
296 minutes ≈ 5 hours

 

[GFHomebrew]

I've always Biab ed. I recommend an all in one electic brew system. I built my own. But I'd def buy the bruzilla or the many cool all in ones I love the look of the clawhammer you have over there except I'd have the return pipe ontop of the grain bed anyways.

I've got a little munchkin now and I've since evolved my brew day to to fit around her schedule. So I stagger the brew day usually it'll be an hour here and there for three days.
Day one set up brew rig measure out strike water sparge water set it all up so I just hit the switch.

Brew the beer /no chill right there in kettle.
Take Real wort Starter to spin overnight

3rd day transfer wort to fermentor pitch RWS and clean up.

 

[soccerdad]

Also doing 3 gallon (into fermenter) BIAB, one vessel (formally known as a big pot ) for mash, boil, cool.

My day looks like this, give or take:
5 Min - laying stuff out and making coffee!
40 Min - waiting for my stove to heat to Strike Temp... eating breakfast. (I can mill grains now if I want, but usually do this the night before.)
5 Min - Mashing in and breaking up dough balls
60 Min - Mash...and stirring mash, watching Premier League
5 Min - Mashing out and letting the bag drain
25 Min - Getting to Boil...and dumping grains and cleaning bag
60 Min - Boil...and sanitizing fermenter, siphon, etc...and watching Premier League
5 Min - Post boil, stirring, moving pot to ice, whatever
45 Min - In ice to cool...and watching Premier League
15 Min - Transfer and pitch yeast
30 Min - Clean up
1 Min - Grab a beer, it's now just past noon!
------------------------------
296 minutes ≈ 5 hours

Those 60 minute stretches are killers .. Take your eye off of things for a second and before you know it Arsenal is out playing City or Liverpool is up 2 - nil on Chelsea. Gotta be careful ;-)

 

[Megary]

Those 60 minute stretches are killers .. Take your eye off of things for a second and before you know it Arsenal is out playing City or Liverpool is up 2 - nil n Chelsea. Gotta be careful ;-)

That Liverpool-Chelsea game was a thing of beauty.

 

[soccerdad]

Really ! Take your eye off Mane or Salah for half a second and you pay the price. But Kovacic from a kilometer and a half out makes you realize it ain't over yet.

 

[NorthWest Small Batch Brewing]

I generally do small (3Gallon) batches with no recirc on the mash. Can usually do this with one kettle only.
Depending on how much I do one day ahead - like prepping the water and crushing the grist - I might do 3G in 3 or 4 hours.
I also might leave an item for the next day ( like pitching yeast). Depends on the season. Ground water here is never really cold.

you can do 3 gal ... I have done 1 gallon batches actually in the Mash & Boil

 

[soccerdad]

My thing with 3 gallons is that it only weighs + / - 24 pounds. Manageable weight to schlep around. Sometimes it's too much to drink up and I think I could go 1 or 2 G. If I had any friends they would help me drink it. The one or two friends I have drink shite beer.

 

[Bubba Wade]

About 3 years ago, I bought a Gigawort electric brew vessel. The intended market was extract brewers but it’s perfect for 2.5 gallon BIAB.

I also have a 3.5 gallon Brewtech SS stainless fermenter with cooling system. I can finish a batch in about two and a half hours with the following adjustments:

1. Cut mash time to 45 minutes. I’ve checked conversion and it has always been complete. I could probably cut this to 30 minutes with some recipes.
2. Cut boil time to 30 minutes. I make a slight adjustment to the amount of buttering hops to account for the shorter boil. No issue with getting a good hot break or getting a clear beer.
3. I transfer boiling wort directly to the fermenter. This completely sterilizes the fermenter. I use the chiller coils to cool the wort and pitch yeast at my convenience.

 

[Craigerrr]

I have a Brewzilla and am fairly happy with it.
It has its warts, but is a nice little machine.

 

[Josh Hughes]

About 3 years ago, I bought a Gigawort electric brew vessel. The intended market was extract brewers but it’s perfect for 2.5 gallon BIAB.

I also have a 3.5 gallon Brewtech SS stainless fermenter with cooling system. I can finish a batch in about two and a half hours with the following adjustments:

1. Cut mash time to 45 minutes. I’ve checked conversion and it has always been complete. I could probably cut this to 30 minutes with some recipes.
2. Cut boil time to 30 minutes. I make a slight adjustment to the amount of buttering hops to account for the shorter boil. No issue with getting a good hot break or getting a clear beer.
3. I transfer boiling wort directly to the fermenter. This completely sterilizes the fermenter. I use the chiller coils to cool the wort and pitch yeast at my convenience.

I too use the Gigawort…because of @Bubba Wade love for my 2-2.5 gallon batches.

 

[Over The Cliff Brewing]

I go back and forth between my Brewzilla (5gal) and the old big pot on the stove (2.5 - 3 gal). When I look at some of the beautiful but elaborate brew systems, the first thing I think about is all of the items that need to be cleaned and sanitized thus extending my brew day. So BIAB for me. If there is an easier method (non extract), then I want to know about it.

 

[Minbari]

I go back and forth between my Brewzilla (5gal) and the old big pot on the stove (2.5 - 3 gal). When I look at some of the beautiful but elaborate brew systems, the first thing I think about is all of the items that need to be cleaned and sanitized thus extending my brew day. So BIAB for me. If there is an easier method (non extract), then I want to know about it.

Mine is all done in one pot. The second pot is only for the HERMs coil. Just tap water, never clean it.

Other than wiping out the brew pot, cleaning consists of running pbw through the system for 30 minutes.

 

[Donoroto]

I go back and forth between my Brewzilla (5gal) and the old big pot on the stove (2.5 - 3 gal). When I look at some of the beautiful but elaborate brew systems, the first thing I think about is all of the items that need to be cleaned and sanitized thus extending my brew day. So BIAB for me. If there is an easier method (non extract), then I want to know about it.

You know, a brewzilla is just a BIAT (brew in a tube) system. Or maybe the bag is rigid stainless? Either way, cleaning is the worst part.

 

[The Brew Mentor]

M

 

[The Brew Mentor]

The above picture is my Deceased Brother in laws system that I brewed on for the first time on new years day.
He built that long before any of the "grain Father" systems came about.