Thanks for the encouragement, Jazzman. The great thing about BIAB is that the extra equipment (for me a coil chiller and a bag) is minimal.
Congrats on your clean bill of health–always good to hear of someone overcoming the big C. Brew on!
:cheers:
Ron
Well done, Ron. It’s great seeing another brewer try out this excellent mashing technique that I have come to love and use almost exclusively.
[quote=“Frenchie”]Brewed my first BIAB yesterday and it was interesting to say the least.
Full disclosure–I’m over 50 so something as exciting as moving from extract to BIAB is way more adrenaline than I’m used to, so I’m hoping this major goof is at least understandable.
Thanks to all you folks for the irreplaceable help I continually receive here.
Cheers,
Ron[/quote]
Oh Frenchie, don’t blame the age, 50 is the new 30… blame 1st time jitters. :cheers:
congrats on your first BIA----oh crap I forgot the bag!
:cheers:
Yep. Should have written a game plan down to follow. I was like a kid with a new toy.
My EXACT words as the last of the grains fell into the kettle!
Follow up:
After 1 week, SG is 1.010 and the taste is very good. Still getting airlock activity (barely) so it is going a little lower than any extract porter or stout I have done before.
Thanks and cheers,
Ron
As you know, this is a pastime where sometimes, the only way to know what you don’t know, is to make the mistakes!
I feel bad, a fellow beer nerd just made the jump to START brewing. I have been pretty busy with my 2 month old, so couldn’t really arrange a day to be over there to walk him through the whole process, though I did get over for a few. Some major missteps (amount of strike water, bag not big enough, husks in boil), but sometimes you need to make the mistakes to realize they can be made.
BIAB is seriously great. I had bagbrewer.com sew me a bag, which he customized based on my kettle dimensions. Great guy, SUPER strong bag, and it has really nice handles sewn in, which are surprisingly handy.
Frenchie,
Upon reading your post I’m going to make the following bold prediction…
I bet you’re a Human-Being.
I can tell because from what I’ve observed in my 55+ years is that Human-Beings make mistakes. But the amazing thing is that they learn from those mistakes and carry on.
I’ve gone from HME “brewing” to extract brewing to partial mash/extract brewing and now I’m doing BIAB. My beers have gotten better with each step. And, yes, my first attempt at it was fraught with mistakes. But the beer still turned out good enough for me to want to continue and, while I’m still tweaking my process, I’m not ever looking back.
I’ll just say congrats on the move and for being open minded enough to continue even though things were not perfect. Your beer will be fine and the next adventure will be right around the corner. Nobody is perfect but at least the HOBBY is pretty much forgiving for the most part.
Keep your chin up and get the next batch brewing…!!! :cheers:
Thanks for all the encouragement, guys. I definitely won’t be looking back. This is just way too much fun. Where else can you do biology, chemistry, and physics experiments, and your reward is BEER! What a great hobby!
:cheers:
Ron
Thanks for the write up
that does it…I am jumping in on the BIABandwagon… 
I finally decided to do BIAB because I’ve gotten to the point where I can really taste that “extract twang” that I’ve heard others talk about. I know there are many on this forum who make great extract beer, but I just felt like after 40 or so batches that I had done all I could do with extract, and I knew mine could be better. I’ve got a good system as far as boil, cooling, temp control, etc, but I was still getting beers that were just slightly watery and twangy. For me, at least, I think this is a step in the right direction. And all I had to do was get a bag and a chiller. No other new equipment.
Always looking for better beer!
Cheers,
Ron
This was a great read. I can tell you that I went to the mash tun before going BIAB. I have now done 4 BIAB and I do not think I will be going back to the mash tun. It is much easier but the bag can get heavy with 12 to 14 pounds of grain in it wet. I will have to work out a pully system I think. A friend of mine brews with me and he is doing partial grain on the same day I brew. He may make the jump to all grain with the purchase of a bag. That is the cheapest move for equipment I have seen and the quality goes up for very little investment.
Cheers,
Greg
Greg,
You’re right about the weight. Even with 10 lbs of grain, mine was heavy. I placed a step ladder over my kettle, placed a slat of wood across two rungs at the right height, and hung the bag on the slat over the kettle with a quick clamp while I drained and squeezed the bag. Worked great and cost me zero. But, a pulley system would be cool, and probably not cost too much.
I’ve seen a video (I think on youtube) with the guys from Australia who supposedly came up with the BIAB idea. I think they were doing a 10 gal batch, and if I remember correctly they had a pulley and rope system of some kind. As long as the bag is strong enough, I’m sure any size homebrew batch is possible with BIAB.
Cheers,
Ron
I do three gallon batches for now so usually the weight of the grain isn’t a big deal. But I went to a kitchen specialty store and bought a large stainless steel colander/ strainer. It sits right on top of my brew kettle. Then I can pull out the grain bag at the end of the mash, set it in the colander and set the colander over the brew kettle and let the wort drain out of the grain bag. Also works great for doing a sparge.
Ron,
I know it has been a long while but I like your ladder idea. I have gone mostly mash tun for the last year now and my friend is doing BIAB on the same day so we are still lifting the bags. I like the ladder idea and will try it next week.
Greg
Greg, here’s a pic of my setup. you could easily swap a pulley system for the clamp if the bag is too heavy. I don’t have any trouble with a grain bill of 10 lbs or less. Much more and a second hand becomes necessary. I actually rigged a pulley system like this to fry a turkey-if I can find the pic I’ll post it too.
Cheers,
Ron
nothing more exiting than brewing a beer get all happy when brewing day arrive
even more than my own work and got to say got a cool job a scuba dive instructor
the best thing when a beer does come out fine after waiting for 6 weeks
You probably would be more happy about diving if that was your hobby and brewing was your job. 
thats true or full time busy with music
Thanks Ron,
My ladder is just like that and so are some of my clamps, (woodworker). Brew day is Friday and we will set it up just like that.
Greg
