EQArtimus wrote: ↑5 years ago
"high gravity beers without extra grain to compensate for no sparge. Other than that, I think this BIAB thing is pretty nice..."
Hey David,
I have a couple ideas that I want to toss out, in addition to ShorePoints' thoughts.
We should confirm what you are using to track your brew day, and that you are using our free BIABacus file. Certainly you do not have to, but it works great and most of us use it religiously every time we brew. ShorePoints had some advice for you, but his advice makes the assumption you are using our BIABacus file... I do not see that you confirmed that you use BIABacus or something else...
Second thought, most of us here would consider BIAB to be a "continuous sparge", rather than "no sparge"... It is all about Grain contact time with heated water. Conventional 3V brewing uses a mash with less water and then a sparge with added water to rinse grain. Traditional BIAB has full contact time with all of the grain and all of the water, not adding sparge water later to rinse the grain, as it is not needed when you have continuous contact with all the water & grain simultaneously. It should be more efficient to use BIAB if running a 90-minute mash (mash and continuous sparge), than batch sparging in particular.
When I brew, using propane and a brew kettle outside, after turning off heat and adding grains, I mix the grains thoroughly using a potato masher and sometimes spoon, put lid on and cover with blankets and sleeping bag. Hold heat for 45 minutes the pull insulation off, check heat - normally have dropped a couple degrees so slightly pull bag, heat for a couple or three minutes - turn off heat, stir again, check temperature, cover again and let sit for another 45 minute time.
There are people that speed their brew day up and cut the mash time back hugely, and it certainly produces beer, probably good beer, but they will pay the price in lost efficiency (and have to add more grain, etc.) because of less grain contact time with heated water. I am more of a traditionalist...
Let us know how it goes... And good luck!
