Beer Tips #7: From Steeping to Partial BIAB
I'm calling this one a tad early. I haven't actually done either steeping grains or any BIAB yet. But, if you stick with the simpler BIAB methods, steeping grains is really just a Partial BIAB as far as I can tell. And, this is the basis of the next recipe which I'm going to be trying in a few weeks.
As already stated, steeping grains (which is almost always done in a muslin bag already) is really just a macro-scale BIAB. You're doing an overly simplistic mash on a small percentage of your grain bill. But, if you have the equipment to do say a 2-3G boil you can get away with converting even more of your extract to grains without adding much/any more complexity. Depending on how lazy you are that might mean assuming very bad yields from the grains, but grains are cheaper than extract anyway, even for the same relative amounts.
You can certainly make some changes to improve your efficiency with the grains. Mash-out or sparging for example. Doing just a mash-out is probably the simplest. Raise the temps and when they hit over 170F-ish slowly pull the bag out and wait for it to drain into the wort. So, end result is, you maybe increase steeping time to 60 minutes, make sure to stir the grains occasionally, and do a mash-out before the boil. All you should really get vs just steeping is a 30 minute increase (assuming you were only going to steep 30 minutes otherwise).
For me, this is a dry run for the summer to see if I really know what I'm doing as far as BIAB is concerned. When the temps get warmer and I grab a burner and wort chiller I think I want to do full boil batches of BIAB.
Using a Partial BIAB approach I have a bit of a safety net. Probably over half of my fermentables will still be coming from extracts and using processes I've used a few times now.
And herein lies the point of this post. If you're already steeping grains for extract recipes and you're tempted to see how using more grains or even going all-grain might change your game but you don't want to invest more yet... well, you probably already have everything you need to do to start converting some of your base malts to the BIAB approach. Cost savings for this approach are minimal, so I only recommend it if you want to baby step up to AG or you enjoy the final product better this way.
Your efficiency isn't likely going to be great (65% maybe or even less) if you're not able to sparge or find other ways to get the most out of your grains, and also, you're still buying a bunch of extract which can be as much as 5x as expensive as the grains. Total bill should come out cheaper, just may not translate to much more than pennies a glass.
For me, I'm expecting terrible efficiency. I'm doing a partial boil as well (due to inability to boil a full boil on my stove and planning to help cool the wort with top up water), so I can't really spare any water for sparging so I'll only be trying a mash-out. Also, it will be my first time. But, I'm just going to try to increase my grains by 10-15% to compensate (well, I just dropped my efficiency in BeerSmith to 65% and let it help me arrive at my target values).
Alternatively, you can always measure gravity after your steep and adjust via extract/sugars to hit target gravity (and calculate your own personal efficiency). If you're not super concerned about hitting targets accurately, then just keep rolling. As a lot of people point out, as long as your process remains the same, things like efficiency will remain roughly the same over time as well, so even if you didn't measure everything at every step, over time you should be able to tweak your recipes to be largely reproducible.
And there you have it... the minimalist partial BIAB approach!
My expectations from this experiment are to find out how using fresher grains in a batch impacts flavor, body and other aspects of my beer. Also, as mentioned, as a pre-cursor to doing full BIAB batches in warmer weather.
My pre-hopped wort kit batches are almost all at the drinkable stage and no amount of hacking that kit seems to yield appreciable differences (all 3 used same Cooper's IPA kit as a base). I'm sure if I keep throwing more and more hops at it, that it will change enough, but by then it may also be totally undrinkable. If I do such a kit again I'll probably start with a lower IBU blonde ale or something so I can be a bit more aggressive with my own hop and other additions and convert it into an IPA. But then, not sure I'll ever go back to such a kit. Once you start adding a bunch of hops, the price isn't really any better than a built to order extract kit or a partial BIAB as above. And, if you're not just dry-hopping it means boiling which eliminates the other value of those kits, the super short brew days.
At this point, I'm reasonably sure I could make a beer I'd enjoy using just extract and hops (no steeping grains). Which shaves an hour or more off of the above. I sure I'll find I enjoy a beer which uses steeping grains and real grains more. But, if I'm just trying to save time on brew day, that is a luxury I'm, sure I'll be able to live without.
As already stated, steeping grains (which is almost always done in a muslin bag already) is really just a macro-scale BIAB. You're doing an overly simplistic mash on a small percentage of your grain bill. But, if you have the equipment to do say a 2-3G boil you can get away with converting even more of your extract to grains without adding much/any more complexity. Depending on how lazy you are that might mean assuming very bad yields from the grains, but grains are cheaper than extract anyway, even for the same relative amounts.
You can certainly make some changes to improve your efficiency with the grains. Mash-out or sparging for example. Doing just a mash-out is probably the simplest. Raise the temps and when they hit over 170F-ish slowly pull the bag out and wait for it to drain into the wort. So, end result is, you maybe increase steeping time to 60 minutes, make sure to stir the grains occasionally, and do a mash-out before the boil. All you should really get vs just steeping is a 30 minute increase (assuming you were only going to steep 30 minutes otherwise).
For me, this is a dry run for the summer to see if I really know what I'm doing as far as BIAB is concerned. When the temps get warmer and I grab a burner and wort chiller I think I want to do full boil batches of BIAB.
Using a Partial BIAB approach I have a bit of a safety net. Probably over half of my fermentables will still be coming from extracts and using processes I've used a few times now.
And herein lies the point of this post. If you're already steeping grains for extract recipes and you're tempted to see how using more grains or even going all-grain might change your game but you don't want to invest more yet... well, you probably already have everything you need to do to start converting some of your base malts to the BIAB approach. Cost savings for this approach are minimal, so I only recommend it if you want to baby step up to AG or you enjoy the final product better this way.
Your efficiency isn't likely going to be great (65% maybe or even less) if you're not able to sparge or find other ways to get the most out of your grains, and also, you're still buying a bunch of extract which can be as much as 5x as expensive as the grains. Total bill should come out cheaper, just may not translate to much more than pennies a glass.
For me, I'm expecting terrible efficiency. I'm doing a partial boil as well (due to inability to boil a full boil on my stove and planning to help cool the wort with top up water), so I can't really spare any water for sparging so I'll only be trying a mash-out. Also, it will be my first time. But, I'm just going to try to increase my grains by 10-15% to compensate (well, I just dropped my efficiency in BeerSmith to 65% and let it help me arrive at my target values).
Alternatively, you can always measure gravity after your steep and adjust via extract/sugars to hit target gravity (and calculate your own personal efficiency). If you're not super concerned about hitting targets accurately, then just keep rolling. As a lot of people point out, as long as your process remains the same, things like efficiency will remain roughly the same over time as well, so even if you didn't measure everything at every step, over time you should be able to tweak your recipes to be largely reproducible.
And there you have it... the minimalist partial BIAB approach!
My expectations from this experiment are to find out how using fresher grains in a batch impacts flavor, body and other aspects of my beer. Also, as mentioned, as a pre-cursor to doing full BIAB batches in warmer weather.
My pre-hopped wort kit batches are almost all at the drinkable stage and no amount of hacking that kit seems to yield appreciable differences (all 3 used same Cooper's IPA kit as a base). I'm sure if I keep throwing more and more hops at it, that it will change enough, but by then it may also be totally undrinkable. If I do such a kit again I'll probably start with a lower IBU blonde ale or something so I can be a bit more aggressive with my own hop and other additions and convert it into an IPA. But then, not sure I'll ever go back to such a kit. Once you start adding a bunch of hops, the price isn't really any better than a built to order extract kit or a partial BIAB as above. And, if you're not just dry-hopping it means boiling which eliminates the other value of those kits, the super short brew days.
At this point, I'm reasonably sure I could make a beer I'd enjoy using just extract and hops (no steeping grains). Which shaves an hour or more off of the above. I sure I'll find I enjoy a beer which uses steeping grains and real grains more. But, if I'm just trying to save time on brew day, that is a luxury I'm, sure I'll be able to live without.
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