If an increase in temp at the end of the mash means a mash out, raising the temp to 168°F then in most cases you can skip that. Is a Rubbermaid esky a cooler? If so temps in coolers can be raised by adding hot water. Sometimes boiling hot depending on how much you want to raise it.
I have never done a BIAB so I’m not much help there but it looks easy enough.
I’d go with a rectangular cooler rather than the Eskimo. Lots of people use those, but you have a lot more choices with rectangular. Check out Denny’s page for more
http://www.dennybrew.comYou will be happy with all grain! That said, going traditional all grain vs BIAB is a personal choice on what works best for you. I do BIAB because of space limitations and Floridas weather. I believe a good portion of the contributors to this forum are traditional all grain setup.
I can make BIAB work on an inside range but there are limitations. I’ve never done a really big beer such as a OG greater than 1.090 and reaching a boil can take a long time comparatively. I am happy with BIAB otherwise.
A lot of people like extract because it’s simple so BIAB would also be simpler than cooler tun. I started with mash tun because that’s how I learned, but now anything 5 gallons or less I generally do BIAB. I have done a lot of my recipes both ways and havnt noticed any difference. My initial concern was clarity but that hasn’t been a problem. Seems like more and more people are doing BIAB. A lot of people that say negative thing about it is because it’s just not the way they do it, the my way is better crowd. Also the brew supply industry would prefer to sell you more stuff. This is only one persons opinion I’m sure you’ll get more. This debate goes on and on and there is never a consensus which leads me to believe it doesn’t make a difference to the beer.
The best mash/sparge method depends on your personal goals (optimize for ease of use or efficiency, equipment costs, small storage requirements, cleanup time, ability to automate, etc). But also on the volume of beer you plan to make per batch. For batches up to 5 gallons, it is hard to beat BIAB. When making 20 or more gallons, fly sparging becomes attractive. I batch sparge, which gives me the control I like for the wide variety of mash profiles and recipes I do.
But anything can make good beer.
I personally find BIAB to be unworkable for batches larger than maybe a couple gal.
I’ve done both BIAB and cooler mash tun. I’ve been doing exclusively BIAB for the last year or so even on 12 gallon batches. I have a ratchet hoist system to lift the bag out of the kettle.
BIAB is easiest for me in my particular circumstance. I have a 2 vessel setup on a rolling cart and don’t need to drag out the cooler every time. I also brew outdoors in my basement stair well so carrying the bag out to empty is easier than carrying the cooler out to empty.
Having said that I tore my bag pulling it out of the kettle yesterday so I immediately thought…well…guess I get to use the cooler tun next brew day…who knows maybe I’ll stick with the cooler for a while…
[quote=“dannyboy58”]I’ve done both BIAB and cooler mash tun. I’ve been doing exclusively BIAB for the last year or so even on 12 gallon batches. I have a ratchet hoist system to lift the bag out of the kettle.
BIAB is easiest for me in my particular circumstance. I have a 2 vessel setup on a rolling cart and don’t need to drag out the cooler every time. I also brew outdoors in my basement stair well so carrying the bag out to empty is easier than carrying the cooler out to empty.
Having said that I tore my bag pulling it out of the kettle yesterday so I immediately thought…well…guess I get to use the cooler tun next brew day…who knows maybe I’ll stick with the cooler for a while…[/quote]
And for me, what you do is harder than the way I do it. But I have my equipment permanently set up.
I just started doing all grain batches in a 10 gallon igloo style cooler. I find the experience more enjoyable than extract, and my beer has improved as well. I will still fire off an extract batch if I want a shorter brew day, or if there is a good NB sale going on. I’ve made good beer with both.
:cheers:
No matter what you choose, its still about the minute details that will get you to awesome brews. I haven’t done a BIAB and I believe there are goods points to its simplicity to get you on your way. From there you can ramp up to all grain with a mash-tun ifn you want more involvement into yer hobby! Just as you started I’ll bet many here have too, extract, DME, then to partial, and all grain. Its yours to do! Sneezles61 :cheers:
I totally agree. I did my first and only 2.5 gallon BIAB a couple of months ago, and it was such a PITA I won’t do one again unless there is no other choice (for whatever reason) but to brew in the kitchen.
You should definitely try all grain. Have been doing it since the start of the year and I will keep doing it.
I have not done BIAB so can’t help decide which one is best, but converting a square 50qt cooler into a mash tun is very easy and affordable so I cannot see anything wrong with it. Then again making beer is a hobby so personal feel and opinion matters 
Pete
I’ve only ever done all grain so I don’t know the difference between extract and all grain. What I do know is the difference in setups that I used to have and the one I curently have. I build my new system with a focus on ease of use and clean up. I have what I call a progressive clean up and I must say it is way easier than my old system. I have a keg style mash tun and I scoop the majority of the spent grains out and then use a shop vac to finish it off. I also set up with a water spigot right above my set up with a hose and use my pumps in conjunction to rinse and clean everything. I usually have my HLT, HERMS coil and mash tun clean while my wort is in the boil kettle. Once I run the wort through the chiller all I have left is to clean the boil kettle. That gets a thorough rinse and scrub and gets a major cleaning about every 5-7 batches. By the time I pitch my yeast pretty much everything is cleaned up.
