The Brew Bag Blog — BIAB

Tannins & Squeezing the Bag are Not Synonymous

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Squeezing the bag of grain and tannins are not synonymous. Excerpted and paraphrased from the books “Water - A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers” and “Malt - A Practical Guide From Field to Brewhouse” - Tannins, a subset of polyphenols, are present in grain husks and cell walls. They are released at mash temps and bind with proteins to form haze. In conjunction with a pH above 6, excess tannins are extracted and impart an astringent flavor - they can not be produced by pressure.

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Brew in 90 Minutes - Modified Parti-gyle

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So, you're into your brew day, and as usual you think "what if I could transfer ALL the sugars left in the grain to the boil kettle, there's beer waiting to be born!" And then you brew, clean up, have a brew, and realize you made 5 or 10 gallons in 3.5 hours (BIAB), or 6 hours (non BIAB), so you have another brew and forget about it. 

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Mash - thin or thick?

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I wrote this in response to an article written by Brad Smith in which he stated that one of the "cons" to brew in a bag was a high water to grain ratio. He didn't respond.  "You mention that a high WTG ratio produces less beta-amalyse. In my research the higher WTG ratio impacts conversion positively. The enzymatic conversion of starch to maltose for B-Amaylase is activated in the temperature range of 143.6 to 152.6.   See the following from Kai Trauser with references to Dr. Ludwig Narziss and Dennis E. Briggs." The results for mash thickness were somewhat surprising....

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Brulosophy - A few of his favorite things for Christmas.

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We didn't know The Brew Bag was a "favorite thing", but we're glad it is! The paragraph below is the excerpt from his site -  http://brulosophy.com/2014/11/24/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-gift-ideas-for-a-homebrewer/  Whether you’re a regular BIAB’r or not, a high quality bag can come in real handy on brew day, and The Brew Bag is a killer option. These bags have a fine enough weave to keep all husk material out of your wort while allowing decent flow liquid, and they can also be used as a hop filter to reduce kettle trub. Click here for a detailed review.

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Moving Sugar Water - Filter vs Pickup

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Conversion and MIlling Converting starch to sugar is a complicated molecular process but as brewers we witness the simplicity of that process by milling grain, mixing in hot water and waiting for the magic to happen. Depending on your process, sixty to one-hundred-twenty minutes later we have wort (sugar water).  Milling the grain breaks it up so the hot water can kick the enzymes (on the outer layer of the seed) into action and convert the endosperm (starch) into fermentable sugar. This process is known as conversion (literally converting starch to sugar through molecular action) and depending on the mix...

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