I have done all 3 styles (extract, biab, non-bag all grain). Personally I’m not the BIGGEST fan of biab, but that’s just me. It has nothing to do with taste, just something about the bag in general… it made me feel like I was making a gigantic cup of tea with a giant teabag. There is absolutely nothing wrong with biab, it just wasn’t for me.
I first started with 1 gallon all grains. Tried a 1 gallon extract and found it boring, went back to all grain. Moved up to 5 gallons, but did not want to spend the money for the large, all grain equipment right away, so I did 5 gallon extract brews with partial boils. Got the hang of brewing by doing various 5 gallon extracts and 1 gallon all grains. Finally bit the bullet, moved up to 5 gallon (and one time, a 10 gallon) all grain and have never looked back. I love it. Any sort of all grain feels more like a legit form of brewing, more like how the commercial brewers do it. Extract makes me feel like I’m playing with a little kids chemistry set… just add add pre measured substance, provided fully for you, at certain times… and get a beer at the end. It works, but I like it less. Biab is a great way to jump into all grain brewing. It makes smaller batches (3 gallons) so you aren’t overwhelmed by 5+ gallons right away. Like I said, it was not my favorite style, but it did teach me plenty and jump started my interest in all grain. I say give it a shot, many people love it and stick with it, some use it as a spring board to bigger things. What’s the harm in trying?
BIAB here also. BIAB is all grain. Limited by space(no basements here)(garage hotter than hell all but @ 1 day a year). I love BIAB, makes some good beer…5 gallon batches.
To answer your question, you can still do kits and do all grain, or you can make your own recipes up( I use brewing software to assist). If doing kits, which is fine(I still do on occasion) The OG will still be up to you to hit with good process as you said. Each kit will give you a target OG.
Really you can’t go wrong here, it’s what works best for your space and budget. Enjoy!
I started with extract, then to partials extract and specialty malt steeping… Then into Mash with a tun and the such… I tried BIAB, and then the wheels got spinning… I’m using one kettle, simplified my process. Tinkering with water and have a decent feel for how to manipulate my water… Learning the grist to ABV isn’t too hard, you have to ask the computer questions and there are many answers to read… I posted one quite some time ago that I figured out that works fantastic for me… I don’t use the online stuff that many of the smarter peeps here do… I’m digitally challenged so I had figure things out with pencil and paper… I wonder if one of the smarter computer wizards here could find that and repost it…If you lived close by, I’d have you come over to brew and see how my setup works… Sneezles61
Don’t sweat the efficiency numbers for the first couple batches. Just do it, then worry about doing it better. Your recipe should have a target OG just see how close you get.
Couple point for first AG batches. You really need to have the right mash temp. Your strike water will have to be be a bit hotter than you need because it cools a bit when the grain is added I need 163 water to mash at 155. You really need to actually measure and write the measurements down to help you you learn your system.
Second. Figure out your boil-off rate before you brew. Fill your pot with a known amount of water, and boil it for an hour, then measure the what’s left after it cools a bit. If you boil off one gallon per hour, then you need to start the boil with 6 gallons to make a 5 gallon batch.
You are very good at this stuff… Thank you Flars! I hope that explanation helps ChrisR and Redivan16 find their ABV and efficiency … In a rather simple way. Sneezles61
I just did my first BIAB on Sunday and I must say that I’m digging it. Far less clean up and much shorter brew day than my normal all grain method. Besides my crappy electric stove that takes forever to boil and undershooting my water needed to end up with 2.5 gallons in fermentor, it was a pretty good brew day. I did top up the fermentor with RO water. I’m trying some small batches and figured to give the BIAB method on the stove top a shot rather than lugging out all the other equipment. I will use my burner next time but it was nice to the put the kettle in the sink to chill my wort. I kind of rushed it and didn’t take any readings but I’ll see what I end up with and go from there!
Hit 82% efficiency last weekend with my BIAB. I have 3 layers of Refectix insulation that I have sewn together and wrap my kettle with a velcro fastener (similar for lid as well). I lose at most 2 degrees over an hour with stirring every 15 mins.
This last attempt, after the hour was up, I just went to bed and picked up in the morning where I had left off. The setup lost about 20 degrees over the 8 or 9 hours I slept.
I build my recipes on the 80% efficiency. I keep doing the math and thats what I get… +/- a point or so… I just did a Belguim IPA… It went a bit higher… I won’t complain… The best part of my BIAB?.. One kettle is all I use… Start to finish… for the brew day I mean! Sneezles61
This is becoming pretty consistent for me as well. My only problem with BIAB is that my 8 gallon pot, on the stove, only has 2 inches of clearance before it encounters our over-range microwave. My wife is not going to let me get rid of the microwave to do larger volumes haha.
Need a new wife then? She has to be a great gal to allow you to do your brewing in a small apartment… I’ll brew next W/E and take some pictures… Show you what I use… Sneezles61
Same here, no basements in Florida. Garage too hot for storing anything you actually want to use again. So I’ve got part of two closets, temporary status in one bedroom, and the guest bath/ shower is full of clean bottles, coolers, keg supplies, etc. She is very tolerant of my hobby, and likes my less bitter products, last night,“can I have this much of a lager?”, my answer hell yeah!
My recipes are also formulated at 80% efficiency for BIAB with a sparge. I recently opened the gap in my grain mill a bit to lower my efficiency and make it more predictable. Only reason to really care about the efficiency numbers is for consistency.
It’s nice to get to a point where your system and process are dialed in and consistent.
Sometimes I’m not as careful about strike volume as I should be so if my mash efficiency is off it’s usually because of that.
That is my problem also, along with designing a 12 gallon batch… you know…trub, sampling, and to get a FULL 5 gallons into each keg… HINT HINT Sneezles61
She has to be a great gal to allow you to do your brewing in a small apartment… I’ll brew next W/E and take some pictures… Show you what I use… Sneezles61
