B I A B Step Mash

[reviled]

That's me! Ginger is Rusty.

:huh: Geez, cant you keep one name and be happy with it

 

[reviled]

So how did you guys go this weekend? All good I hope...

 

[moetman]

Ihalf the time I don't even turn the burner off - just get the grain out of the pot and let it continue on its merry way to the boil while I am buggering about with the bag.

What sort of buggering about are you doing with the bag Thirsty ? Rinsing?

 

[Thirsty Boy]

What sort of buggering about are you doing with the bag Thirsty ? Rinsing?

Various things - tossing it in a bucket, hanging it up to drain, giving it a squeeze, emptying and cleaning... some or all of those things. Usually just squeezing (while its still hanging over the kettle) and emptying/cleaning though.

No reason the flame cant be on flat chat from the moment your bag is clear of the wort - as long as you can still work around the kettle without burning your nads off if it is.

Rinsing the bag ( I assume you mean in order to extract more sugar) is in the "advanced" BiaB bag of tricks and is only necessary if you are an efficiency freak who insists on getting better than 80% mash efficiency. It also makes life a lot harder and necessitates more equipment - I virtually never bother with it.

TB

 

[bennyc]

I've done this and it worked a treat. I have an urn at home but it only takes 8 litres. However, if I use it three times and calculate my volumes correctly, I get protein and saccharification rests followed by mash-out. Saves gas too!

So I take it that you work out your strike water volume and addition volumes to roughly bring it up to your desired boil volume (and using software to calculate the temps needed)? Are there any problems that using a smaller volume to begin with might cause (can't think of any, but just in case...)?

 

[RobB]

So I take it that you work out your strike water volume and addition volumes to roughly bring it up to your desired boil volume (and using software to calculate the temps needed)? Are there any problems that using a smaller volume to begin with might cause (can't think of any, but just in case...)?

What BIABers call a 'smaller volume' would be perfectly normal to brewers using traditonal methods. I certainly haven't encountered any problems so far.

I just use the equations in Palmer's How To Brew. I know how much I want to end up with in the kettle and how much I'm adding with each 'dump' from the urn, so I work it out backwards.

I start my boil with about 27 litres. Accounting for water retained by the grain, this means that I'll have added 30 litres of water over the course of the mash.

8 litres of this volume (the final urn dump) comes from the mashout step, so my saccharification rest uses 22 litres of water for 5kg of grain. That's an L:G ratio of 4.4 which is high for a traditional masher and low for a BIABer. Either way, it works for me.

Now that I think about it, if I take out the second urn dump (another 8 litres), my protein rest volume is 14 litres for an L:G of 2.8 which is perfectly normal for traditional mashers. So I don't encounter any problems which a good stir can't fix.

 

[time01]

attempted my first BIAB step mash yesterday, and even though I did a lot of stirring, when I went to lift the bag out at the end of the mash, I had managed to burn the bottom of pot a little and split the bag. I was thinking of just putting a wire rack or something similar at the bottom of pot and sit the bag on top of it for the entire mash, any other suggestions? apart from raising bag when raising temp?

 

[Bribie G]

Kitchen shop.
Curved roasting rack.

 

[Alex.Tas]

I just use some bulldog clips and clip the bag to the side of my electric urn at a height where the bottom of the bag cannot reach the heating element. Four clips seem to do the job. I'm not too sure how well this would work for gas fired though (I'm not sure what you use). I don't see any real problems so long as you aren't getting too much heat up the side of the kettle which may melt/burn the bag as it hangs over the side.

I was going to get a wire rack then couldn't find a true stainless one (most are plated and i didn't want to have to replace it every now and again due to corrosion). I tried the bulldog clips and it works fine. It also means that i can shift the bag to the side of the pot, and then scrape the concealed element during steps - which is of vital importance if you want to do a protein, BG or acid rest.

Now days I add boiling water to move up from a protein rest, and then use the element to move from beta to alpha/mash out. It is more messing around and equipment to add the boiling water, but it suits me fine as I already had a Big W pot anyway.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

When I was BIABing I found a perforated pizza tray upside down was perfect to cover the element.

Like this

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Black-Steel-Pizza-trays-10-inch-10-size-with-holes-perforated-/291581431201?hash=item43e39b8da1

or these come in different sizes

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3x-Pizza-Pan-Tray-230mm-9-Aluminium-Perforated-Plate-Round-Oven-Tray-/301383338090?hash=item462bd8c86a

 

[pajs]

I BIAB small volumes in a big pot. Easy enough to use one hand to lift the bag, the other to measure temperature while the gas ramps it up to the next point. I step mash almost all my brews now, even if just adding a single 78c or so 10 minute mash out rest period. Instead of stirring the grain inside the bag, swishing it around in the water seems to work well during the ramp ups.

 

[mje1980]

I use pegs to hold the bag up off th bottom during a step. I have a gas fired keggle. 3 pegs hold it up just fine. I lift up, peg, then light the gas. Occasionally one will drop in but it's easy to fish them out.