[Lazy Ant Brewing]

Crush is important, but making sure that the mash is completely hydrated and uniform also solves a lot of problems.  When I no-sparge I make sure to stir, stir, stir, and then stir again.  Your efficiency is already limited by the lack of a second rinse, so you have to make sure the water you use is as well mixed as it possibly can be and all grain is hydrated.  5 minutes of stirring at the beginning with a good mash paddle, a stir in the middle, and another at the end helps a lot.

I've done about 20 batches with BIAB, but only stir vigorously at the beginning because I'm afraid the temperature would drop too much if I opened the kettle during the middle of the batch.  I heat the water on a propane burner to 153 F, turn the burner off, , put the double crushed grain in, stir well, put the lid on, insulate the kettle and mash for 60 mins.  It's always worked well for me.  I get 70 % efficiency consistently and I'm satisfied with that.

I've seen photos where brewers have burned their grain bags by firing up the burner again and trying to raise the mash temp.  How do you maintain mash temp  when you"re doing BIAB?

[dmtaylor]

I've seen photos where brewers have burned their grain bags by firing up the burner again and trying to raise the mash temp.  How do you maintain mash temp  when you"re doing BIAB?

I use my electric stove, stirring whenever I turn up the heat, and haven't had any problems.  If I had a gas stove or turkey fryer style, I don't know if I would be so lucky with just constant stirring.

Alternatively, I have also boiled a few quarts of water on the side and make occasional additions of hot boiling water, then stir that in.  However I've found this to be much less effective, can only gain a couple degrees at most and it doesn't last, plus it dilutes the mash (IF it matters).

In future for my small batches, I'm going to use my oven set to 170 F, only placing the kettle into the oven when temperature begins to fall into 140s.  This should work the best, not sure why I didn't think of this sooner, since I've been brewing small 1-2 gallon batches for years.  But obviously, might not be able to do this with a bigger 3-6 gallon batch or more.

[denny]

This has all been extraordinarily helpful input; thanks to all.

It's interesting to me that nobody has commented on the mash pH, which is what I was suspecting. I was simply using bottled spring water and did not measure ph or correct in any way. But that doesn't seem to be the tree everyone is barking up!

It's good advise to stick to a simpler recipe, and eliminate variables. I will do that for the next batch in a week or so and let you all know.

Regarding measurements and calibration, etc, I was using two thermometers. The kettle thermo built in at the bottom and a hand held instant read which I know for sure is precise and accurate. I also noticed variance from top to bottom, and frequently stirred to move heat around. No dougballs or anything like that.

I didn't actually weigh my grain, perhaps I should. I just trusted my local shop. But the last batch was crushed pretty fine. I'll take a pic next time.

The current batch is giving me some concerns with an ultra fast ferm, but that's a show for another day. Well see how it comes out.

Thanks again to all. This has been ultra helpful!

I didn't mention it because it's almost never the issue.  Your pH would have to be so far off to make that kind of difference that it's hard to imagine.

[Kevin]

Have you created a custom equipment profile using Beersmith? That step is crucial in getting the estimated numbers to match you actual numbers.

Most people just use the equipment profiles provided with Beersmith. Those profiles however were supplied by users like you and me. They are great profiles - - - for the person who made and submitted them. Even Brad Smith in one of his early blogs recommends that you use those profiles as a starting point for making your own.

Brad at Short Circuited Brewers has a very good equipment profile tutorial on Youtube. Similarly, Marshall at Brulosophy has a couple of videos on his Youtube channel. One of them touches on making a BIAB mash profile too that I will leave a link for...

https://youtu.be/HwEbjOt8OR8

https://youtu.be/QmW7pwQP5mQ

https://youtu.be/VKiEjhxo2oo

[Megary]

  How do you maintain mash temp  when you"re doing BIAB?

I BIAB on a kitchen gas stove.  The cast iron grate on the stove top creates plenty of air space between the bottom of the kettle and the burner on the lowest setting.  I have at times left the burner on this extremely low setting with the bag in (resting on the bottom of the kettle) for 5-10 minutes.  I can hold my mash to within +/- 1° for the duration with stirring every 5-10 minutes or so.

[denny]

  How do you maintain mash temp  when you"re doing BIAB?

I BIAB on a kitchen gas stove.  The cast iron grate on the stove top creates plenty of air space between the bottom of the kettle and the burner on the lowest setting.  I have at times left the burner on this extremely low setting with the bag in (resting on the bottom of the kettle) for 5-10 minutes.  I can hold my mash to within +/- 1° for the duration with stirring every 5-10 minutes or so.

I put the pot in the oven.

[erockrph]

  How do you maintain mash temp  when you"re doing BIAB?

I BIAB on a kitchen gas stove.  The cast iron grate on the stove top creates plenty of air space between the bottom of the kettle and the burner on the lowest setting.  I have at times left the burner on this extremely low setting with the bag in (resting on the bottom of the kettle) for 5-10 minutes.  I can hold my mash to within +/- 1° for the duration with stirring every 5-10 minutes or so.

I put the pot in the oven.

What I ended up doing was heating my water on my electric stove, mashing in a 5 gallon beverage cooler lined with a BIAB bag (for a 3 gallon batch), then transferring back to my kettle for the boil. It is a couple of extra steps, and some extra equipment, but it allowed me to walk away for an hour knowing that my temp would stay in range for the length of the mash.

[jdibling]

[quote author=denny link=topic=35737.msg448663#msg448663 date

I didn't mention it because it's almost never the issue.  Your pH would have to be so far off to make that kind of difference that it's hard to imagine.
[/quote]

Just got a new pH meter from Amazon today, calibrated it, and measured the oH of the same water I used for the last brew. Had a half gallon left. It came out at 7.4 pH. Is that a significant enough difference away from 5.2 to 5.6 to make a meaningful difference?

[Drewch]

How do you maintain mash temp  when you"re doing BIAB?

If it's a larger batch, I just wrap the kettle in a heavy wool blanket and leave it be.  Smaller batches, I preheat the oven to about 150 and stick the kettle in there for an hour.

[jdibling]

Have you created a custom equipment profile using Beersmith? That step is crucial in getting the estimated numbers to match you actual numbers.

Did, yes. Also did a number of tests to see how quickly heat dissipates from the kettle over an hour with fire off, and even what my boil off rate is. I'm a geek with that kind of stuff. 😁

[dmtaylor]

Just got a new pH meter from Amazon today, calibrated it, and measured the oH of the same water I used for the last brew. Had a half gallon left. It came out at 7.4 pH. Is that a significant enough difference away from 5.2 to 5.6 to make a meaningful difference?

The pH of the water doesn't really matter at all.  The chemistry and pH in the mash is what matters.  Funny... I was just talking about this elsewhere earlier today...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/distilled-water-ph.685329/#post-8983599

[ynotbrusum]

Brew smith and Brewfather were used in recipe formulation, but no water adjustment?  Guess I didn’t think to question that aspect.  Dave is right if no acid or salts were used to fine tune the pH, it could have had a significant impact.

[denny]

[quote author=denny link=topic=35737.msg448663#msg448663 date

I didn't mention it because it's almost never the issue.  Your pH would have to be so far off to make that kind of difference that it's hard to imagine.

Just got a new pH meter from Amazon today, calibrated it, and measured the oH of the same water I used for the last brew. Had a half gallon left. It came out at 7.4 pH. Is that a significant enough difference away from 5.2 to 5.6 to make a meaningful difference?
[/quote]

Water pH doesn't really matter... it's mash pH you need to be concerned with.  Once you add grain the pH will change. Go to Bru'nwater.comll read the water knowledge page and download the spreadaheet.  Then plug your base wter and grain bill into it.  It will help you add minerals for flavor and then adjust the pH.

[denny]

Brew smith and Brewfather were used in recipe formulation, but no water adjustment?  Guess I didn’t think to question that aspect.  Dave is right if no acid or salts were used to fine tune the pH, it could have had a significant impact.

I think I might take issue with "significant ".  PH would need to be massively off to have a major effect.

[dmtaylor]

Brew smith and Brewfather were used in recipe formulation, but no water adjustment?  Guess I didn’t think to question that aspect.  Dave is right if no acid or salts were used to fine tune the pH, it could have had a significant impact.

I think I might take issue with "significant ".  PH would need to be massively off to have a major effect.

I'd agree with that.  It would have to be pretty far off to have a major impact.