Planning my next brew and I would like to have a go at BIAB. Any advice on the below would be appreciated!
-Is the main advantage over extract the ability to use base malts?
-it seems I only need a large bag outside of my existing equipment (10 gallon brew kettle). Can anyone recommend the preferred bag?
-is there a chance that I'll get low efficiency and the extract process would have been better in this arena?
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Yea, grab a bag and you're good to go. My BIAB efficiency has ranged from the 50s to 79% generally around 60% so extract definitely has higher efficiency but seeing as the cost of grain is less than extract it should even out. Double cracking the grain seems to help. I've done a few batches where I sparged to increase efficiency but that kind of takes away from the speed & simplicity that make the method so appealing - I can get a brew done in under 4hrs.
Since I usually brew session beers and only 2 or 3 gallons at a time it works great for me and my 8 gal kettle. I can even put the whole thing in my oven to try to avoid loosing heat during the mash. If you're going to brew a really high gravity beer and are worried about all the grain you could always add as much grain as you can comfortably fit in the bag then add some DME.
This is a great video summing up the style and has some good tips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6WVul6IEKk