Dukes of Ale

This past weekend I  brewed my first batch using the Brew In A Bag (BIAB) method.  Typically, from setup to clean up, my brew days take 7 to 8 hours to complete using my normal fly sparge setup.  With the BIAB method I used this past weekend it took about 4 hours from start to finish.

I made a simple American Pale Ale and had no problems with my mash pH or hitting my desired starting gravity.  I mashed just under 13 pounds of grains in 8 gallons of water at 152 degrees for 70 minutes, removed the bag and let drain over the kettle while heating the extract to boiling.

After the boil I had just over 5 gallons in my carboy and 1 gallon remaining in the kettle with an OG of 1.060.  The carboy is in my temperature controlled chest freezer for fermentation.

I will update this posting as things progress and let everyone know how it is looking.  If I can get my act together I think I should be able to get it kegged so that I can bring a growler to the July meeting for people to taste (it will only be 2 and a half weeks old).

I see two main advantages to using this method.  First, it makes for a much shorter and simpler brew day.  Second, it is potentially much easier for someone to switch from extract brewing to all grain brewing.  The only equipment you need is a kettle large enough to handle the extra water and  grains and the bag of course.

There are some disadvantages but that is for another dicussion.

Patrick

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Discussion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.