My reason for revisiting the question about mesh is to provide an easy-to-find thread for other new BIABers to find the answer to how important it might be to use a fine mesh bag vs a coarser one. (I decided to ask my question first followed by all my rambling justifications for those who prefer to cut to the chase).

I remember over a year ago reading some justifications for why it was important to use the voile as opposed to the coarser paint strainer bags. I just re-read the following thread:
http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php ... t=material.

When I first became interested in BIAB, it seemed that the main advantages to using the fine mesh voile was that (1) it allowed one to use double-crushed grain thereby increasing efficiency and (2) didn't leave as much junk behind after pulling the bag as do the coarser bags.

Todd was kind enough to send me a new laundry bag from BB&B to get me to shut up and start brewing, and I have done 3 brews using it. It is, of course, coarser than the voile.

I'm getting the feeling that the increased interest in BIAB has given way to relaxed standards (I'm being a little facetious) as folks are using different bags with good results depending upon their technique.

Apparently, more BIABers are coming out of the closet on HBT. The "electric brewing" forum on HBT is becoming saturated with BIABers. Questions have arisen on HBT as well as here regarding (1) bag material, (2) whether or not to use the basket that might have come with your kettle, (3) whether or not to recirculate during the mash.

High Gravity Brew has tapped into the BIAB market by offering a turnkey setup. http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productc ... 9p3987.htm. A thread was posted on HBT about this setup (I apologize if it's bad etiquette to post from other forums): http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/biab-e ... em-383137/.

Once again, the recirculation question came up in the discussion of this system, and it probably boils down to the fact that the bag provided by High Gravity is not made of voile, but of coarser material. Folks that use voile bags seem to be having recirculation issues. Also note that the system does not have a valve at the pump outlet.

Without regard for the actual "material" - I'm only asking about the "coarseness/fineness" of the material - what are the particular advantages of the fine mesh voile over the coarser materials that many BIABers are using? As mentioned by some BIABers as well as 3-vessel brewers who recirculate, the grain bed itself functions as a filter. This might lend credence to the idea that the coarse paint strainer bags or laundry bags are perfectly OK to use in BIAB.

Thanks for your patience,
Keith

Bob,

Thanks for the information. I'll intersperse my comments. I appreciate the "passion" behind your recommendations. BTW, I had noticed in Todd's (thughes) signature a little "WWBBD". I've wondered if that means "what would bobbrews do?"

BobBrews wrote:Coarse bags are a no-no. Swiss voile (shear drapery material) is cheap, available everywhere and easy to make a bag with. Using pillow cases, paint bags, laundry bags are stop gap methods. <snip> Grain and husks that sift thru a course bag with add astringency from tannins. Not good!

I remember reading more of an explanation of this before; I just forgot the "facts". I tho't that part of it had to do with the coarser material allowing more junk to come through. I was worried that BIAB had adopted a few sacred practices of its own that were not to be questioned. That's why I asked about the actual reasons/facts behind it.

BobBrews wrote:Their is NO recirculation issues in BIAB. Their is no recirculation in BIAB! You just put a bag of crushed grain in the heated water. Stir once to break up any dough balls and let it sit for 90 minutes! That's it! You are done! Pull the bag and boil!

I tho't the recirculation began as an effort to combat temp stratification in the mash. Some (Todd, for example) abandoned it, but he periodically cranks up the heat and stirs like crazy to maintain his mash temps. Perhaps it has sprung from the use of electric brew pots. The electric element allows the brewer a much easier and more efficient means for providing heat - and controlling it - than propane. Coupled with recirculation, one has a means for keeping mash temps much more constant. This might be important in certain beers where reproducibility is important. I dunno.

I have not used recirculation in the few brews I've done simply because I didn't have it available. I've used propane thus far, and I just added heat and stirred when the temp fell 2*F from my desired temp.

BobBrews wrote:Don't over-Analise this! The junk you see about fancy systems that circulate wort is just someone trying to sell you something you don't need! <snip>

A bag, a pot, a heat source is all you need! The results from fancy systems is about the same as a sloppy BIAB'er will get. All you need to do is download BIABacus for free! use it to guide you as to recipes. KISS <snip>

I'm a doctor; I have to be anal about these things. BTW, have you had your prostate examined recently? I'm reminded about being kidded during our weekly Kiwanis Club meetings many years ago by my undertaker friend about how I would carefully spread the butter followed by the honey on my biscuits - being careful to get both out to the very edge without running down the side. He gave me a hard time one day and I told him, "one day you're going to be lying on my table with your scrotum in my hand about to get a vasectomy, and you're going to say, 'Keith, remember how careful you always are in putting honey on your biscuit . . . ?'"

I don't have a pump yet, so I still have time to brew more beers on my current pot. Perhaps I will find that I'm making much ado about nothing. It just seems that a lot of guys are incorporating it into their designs, so I thought that there was a reason more than simply bling.

I have a version of BIABacus on my computer and refer to it frequently. I've used it on all of my brews. I think the version I use is entitled Maxi-BIAB Calculator. I believe that another version was in the works.

BobBrews wrote:P.S. You don't need to overly crush your grain! The store grind will work just right! The crushing of grain to a fine powder in order to get a better conversion is rubbish! You only get a big mess from the grain Flour! Another myth busted!

I haven't had it ground to flour. I had read that some simply have it double-crushed - IOW, run thru the crusher 2x. That's what I've done.

BobBrews wrote:P.S.P.S. There is only one official worldwide BIAB website. You are on it! It was a offshoot of http://aussiehomebrewer.com/ If you read something on those sites your golden! Anything else is suspect! IMHO!

That's exactly why I posted the question to this forum. In fact, I don't remember how I stumbled upon the aussiehomebrewer forum; I don't even remember what I was googling for. That's when I got turned on to BIAB. Maybe it was a link from there that got me to this forum.

Thanks, again, for the advice. I still can't help but believe that there are some beers that might benefit from tighter control, but I'm not currently in a position to know that. I'll try to keep it simple for a while yet. I do plan to go electric, though, and brew indoors.

I do hope for some other opinions, though. Thanks BobBrews for your response.

Keith