# Basic BIAB. Hit me with ideas



## Dan Dan (2/10/13)

So I've finally got all my gear together to start BIAB. Now I just need a nice easy recipe to brew up for my inaugural batch. Something along the lines of a nice hoppy pale ale would do nicely, something that is forgiving enough for the first timer. Anyone got a nice easy recipe that they stand by? I haven't bought ingredients yet, I'll do that when I'm down in the big smoke next week, so fire away!!


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## HBHB (2/10/13)

Maybe head straight to a beer with a wide appeal. Smurto's golden alewould be a good starter within your criteria. That said, the database is full of excellent recipes. Screwy's red ale etc.

No going back now. All grain gives you a world of flavours to delve into.

Martin


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## Dan Dan (2/10/13)

Ha ha, I was just checking out Dr Smurtos golden ale!


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## slcmorro (2/10/13)

I chose a Galaxy Pale Ale for my first AG. I'm kegging it tomorrow.

The recipe is;

3.5kg Pilsner
850gm Vienna
666gm of Munich 1 
(Didn't have enough Munich1, so I used Vienna to compensate. Would normally be 1.5kg Vienna)
20gm Galaxy @60
10gm Galaxy @30
10gm Galaxy @10
10gm Galaxy @0

25L batch, with my efficiency at 64%, I ended up with an OG of 1040 and it finished at 1004.


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## Pickaxe (2/10/13)

**** me, how long you gotta wait for that to be drinkable? Never used galaxy that early.


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## Pickaxe (2/10/13)

My 2c, either try an ah version of something you like and have brewed, to learn the difference ag offers, it a tried and true recipe. And smurtos golden is well tested. But, theres enough recipes, what do you want to drink?


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## real_beer (3/10/13)

A great place to start: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/11694-a-guide-to-all-grain-brewing-in-a-bag/


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## Bizier (3/10/13)

Do a simple base malt + 5% crystal, with a basic Cascade-only hop schedule.
This will show you what you can't do with extract.
I had some Sierra Nevada pale the other night, makes me think back to simpler times (what 6 months ago?) when it was a fabled drop from traveller stories, when it is fresh, it demonstrates how good the hop is.


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## Lecterfan (3/10/13)

Pickaxe said:


> **** me, how long you gotta wait for that to be drinkable? Never used galaxy that early.


 Goodness.


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## Donske (3/10/13)

Bizier said:


> Do a simple base malt + 5% crystal, with a basic Cascade-only hop schedule.
> This will show you what you can't do with extract.
> I had some Sierra Nevada pale the other night, makes me think back to simpler times (what 6 months ago?) when it was a fabled drop from traveller stories, when it is fresh, it demonstrates how good the hop is.


Cascade is delicious, one of my favourite beers at the moment is a Cascae/Marris Otter SMaSH at about 4.5% fermented with US-05, such a great beer for the warm weather we've been getting lately.


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## joshF (3/10/13)

Donske, you beat me to it! Maris Otter & Nelson SMaSH is bloody awesome, and just as good with cascade!

DanDan, don't get too caught up in the whole base malt, 4 specialty malts, 3 crystal malts thing just yet. There's a tonne of people out there who can vouch for the awesomeness of a SMaSH (single malt, single hop) brew and for a first time BIABer you'll still get the experience from doing an all-grain but with a bit more simplicity, plus save a few quid by only buying 1 type of hops (you're freezer will be full of various types of the shit in a few months, you just watch  )

Good luck!


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## lael (3/10/13)

Pickaxe said:


> how long you gotta wait for that to be drinkable? Never used galaxy that early.


OT: Does Galaxy leave some funk if used early as a bittering hop?


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## lael (3/10/13)

I did the classic dsga for my first ag... And was not disappointed


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## fletcher (3/10/13)

in all honesty, and I appreciate how people say do dr smurtos, but it has a fair few different grains. nothing against it as I made it and it was fantastic; but for learning about hops/grains and for new brewers, i feel the simplest pale ale recipe you'll find is along the lines of:

~94% - ale malt
~6% - crystal 60
mash at about 65
whatever hop you want (cascade is great) at ~30-40 IBU
20ish IBU at 60
5ish IBU at 20
5ish IBU at 5 to flame out
dry hop if you want

us-05 at 18C ferment

it'll give you a great idea on the malt flavour and how cascade works with it. then experiment bit by bit with larger grain bills and different hops. when you add 4+ grains to your bill, you will hardly be able to tell the differences in flavour and what each brings to the brew.

edit: spelling (also beaten by others about a simple recipe)


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## Don Runk (3/10/13)

I started with a Marris otter SMASH w/Galaxy. But i was disheartened when i tasted it and it took me another 3 months before i tried AG again.

Turns out i just dont like Marris Otter that much because the next one i tried was a basic 95%ale %5Crystal w/galaxy and THEN i was converted holy crap the difference! haven't used a kit since and dont intend on.

So i'd say do a simple grain bill first time around. But if you can go Smurto you wont be disappointed.


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## kevo (3/10/13)

My first AG (BIAB) was an ordinary bitter.

Low gravity, simple grain bill, single hop, finishes fermentation quite quickly so you can be tasting results pretty soon - simple, simple, simple.

Keep it simple is my advice.

Hope the brew goes well! :icon_cheers:


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## mosto (3/10/13)

As a L plate BIABer myself (4 brews), I'd suggest going with a simple recipe of a beer your familiar with. In my kit days I came up with a Aussie Pale Ale recipe using Coopers Aussie Pale, Galaxy, Carapils and Coopers yeast which I was really happy with. When I moved to extract, the first brew I did was an extract version of this recipe so I could gauge the difference. Subsequently, my first BIAB was an AG version of the same recipe for the same reasons. Second brew was same recipe again, slightly tweaked. Third brew was a Citra/Amarillo Pale Ale based on a beer I'd tried at a small Sydney brew pub one night when I was lucky enough to have a chat to the brewer and get a rough idea of the recipe. For my fourth, I've done a Marris Otter / Centennial SMaSH to about 33 IBU. No idea how this will turn out but I did this one as I've never used Marris Otter or Centennial and hope it will give me a feel for the two.

So basically, I'd recommend a beer your familiar with so you've got a reference point, and a relatively simple grain bill / hop schedule. If your expereince is similar to mine, you'll spend the first few brews getting to know your system as far as efficiency and volumes go. I was all over the shop on the first three brews, but got closer to hitting my numbers on the SMaSH brew so I'm getting to know my system...slowly.


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## fletcher (3/10/13)

mosto said:


> For my fourth, I've done a Marris Otter / Centennial SMaSH to about 33 IBU. No idea how this will turn out but I did this one as I've never used Marris Otter or Centennial and hope it will give me a feel for the two.


it'll come out fantastic mate. it's a lovely smash that one.


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## Don Runk (3/10/13)

Sorry i should have stated i was in the minority with my MO smash. Everyone else (about 6 people who tried it) loved it. It's a very popular smash malt that the majority love I'm sure you'll love it too.

Don't know what it is about MO is just not for me.


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## mosto (3/10/13)

fletcher said:


> it'll come out fantastic mate. it's a lovely smash that one.


Cheers fletch, I've got reasonably high hopes for it, but have read that Centennial can be a bit rough when used for bittering.


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## fletcher (3/10/13)

it can, but it'll mellow out after a few weeks (in my experiences anyway. ymmv).

edit: what were your hop additions? I love a centennial bittering personally


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## MCHammo (3/10/13)

My second brew was a pretty simple one (Much simpler than the first - one that I probably should have started with) - a basic Pale Ale. Something like 95% Ale, 5% medium crystal. NS and Cascade in the boil, dry hopped with a bit of cascade. Bloody beautiful beer. Need to make another soon - almost run out!


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## mosto (3/10/13)

fletcher said:


> it can, but it'll mellow out after a few weeks (in my experiences anyway. ymmv).
> 
> edit: what were your hop additions? I love a centennial bittering personally


10g @ 60
15g @ 10
15g @ 0
Will drop hop with 20g at day 4

20 lt batch no chill


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## Dan Pratt (3/10/13)

When I was doing Biab I was throwing all sorts of malt combo's and hops schedules into the recipe. Going with a simple 1's theory for starting all grain will serve you better in the long run for knowing the malt and hops for there taste.

95% Ale, 5% CaraMalt

Use a single hop like cascade, centennial or amarillo to get 35Ibu:

Bittering @ 60mins - 20 IBu
Flavour @ 20mins - 10 IBu
Aroma @ 5mins - 5 Ibu

Mash at 66c for 60mins

US/05 dry yeast and you should get a nice all grain beer.


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## fletcher (3/10/13)

mosto said:


> 10g @ 60
> 15g @ 10
> 15g @ 0
> Will drop hop with 20g at day 4
> ...


looks bloody great to me. 10g at 60 shouldn't make it too harsh I don't think.


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## slcmorro (3/10/13)

Pickaxe said:


> **** me, how long you gotta wait for that to be drinkable? Never used galaxy that early.


No idea mate, first AG brew myself. Kegging it today. Is there something wrong with using Galaxy as a bittering hop?

I tasted the SG hydro sample, and it wasn't overly bitter or bad. I got the recipe (or at least the idea) from here...

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/i-winged-today-galaxy-pale-ale-369127/


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## Dan Dan (3/10/13)

Pickaxe said:


> My 2c, either try an ah version of something you like and have brewed, to learn the difference ag offers, it a tried and true recipe. And smurtos golden is well tested. But, theres enough recipes, what do you want to drink?


What do I wanna drink?? ALL THE BEER. I'm getting heaps of ideas here. Didn't get too far through the recipe database, because my list was getting too long! I'm looking forward to getting started!


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## carniebrew (4/10/13)

Pickaxe said:


> **** me, how long you gotta wait for that to be drinkable? Never used galaxy that early.


I've found the same issue...did this as a partial about 7 weeks ago:

2.3kg JW Trad Ale
250gm JW Cara

1kg wheat LME (at end of boil)

11gm Galaxy (12.3%) @ 60
22gm Galaxy @ 15
25gm Galaxy @ 0
25gm Galaxy @ d (4d)

36 IBU, 5.2% abv....and it's still almost completely undrinkable, harsh, almost viciously so. I'm close to tipping it to free up some bottles. Will keep some to see if it ever comes good, but I won't be doing an all Galaxy at those levels again!


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## slcmorro (4/10/13)

Oh noes. Hope it's not super bad. It's currently carbonating in the keg now, and I have 9 longies to age also. Will see how it turns out.


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## Don Runk (4/10/13)

Don't stress I'm a big galaxy user and I have used it for bittering almost exclusively.

I've gone from fv to drinking in keg in 3 days and it was fine by me, and of course much better again after 7 days in the fridge. 

No one has ever said my beers bittering was harsh but it seems plenty of folk pick that up with galaxy.


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## Don Runk (4/10/13)

Btw if you are a fan of galaxy the best batch I ever did with it was all late hops. 

Still boil for a full 60 mins but don't add any hops until the 20min mark. 

Split your hop amounts evenly over 5 additions - 20,15,10,5 and 0

You use a lot more hops to get your ibu's where you want them but it is well worth the extra $

Can be a bit too much passion fruity for some though.


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## fletcher (4/10/13)

I just recently put down a vienna galaxy smash and used it at 50 and 20 so hopefully it'll be decent.


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## stm (10/10/13)

Haven't had that problem with Galaxy myself. Did a pale ale to 50 IBU with Galaxy all the way (bittering addition of 15g at 60min). Smooth and very drinkable after two weeks bottle conditioning. Bitter yes, but no harshness detected. Non-craft beer drinking mates thought it was nice.


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## slcmorro (12/12/13)

This keg emptied pretty quick at a party I had. I liked it. Tasted pretty ordinary for the first two weeks, and then right after that it hit a sweet spot very quickly. I'll be doing this again, with the exact same hopping schedule other than the addition of 25g Cascade @ 5.


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## GundyBrewer (12/12/13)

I brewed a cascade hopped pale ale for my first BIAB (and first beer) which was drinkable, but I made a hefeweizen for my second brew which I would rate as pretty good. It was an easier beer to brew in many ways as well.

There was only one hop addition, chill haze is not an issue in the finished article so trub removal is not so important and I didn't worry making a yeast starter. Although step mashes are recommended for hefes, I did a single step mash and ended up with a decent brew. I didn't have to stuff about cold crashing either. Plus, it conditions quickly so you get to drink it sooner.


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## contrarian (13/12/13)

My first couple of BIAB brews were SMASHs. This gives you a good idea of what flavours you can get from different malts and hops as well as the effect of mash temperature etc. Amarillo and Maris Otter is a lovely combination. This weekend I am looking at doing a Maris Otter and EKG SMASH. My approach was to aim for a mash temp between 60 and 70C and just make beer while I tuned in my system.

Whatever you go with it will be awesome!


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## jaypes (21/12/13)

I would agree with doing a smash, once you have worked out what different malt flavors you like then tackle the big ones.

baby steps first then you will be a real expert later on with a good foundation


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## wbosher (22/12/13)

I'm going to weigh in and say the same as everybody else...do a SMaSH.  One of my favourites is Smurto's English IPA, although I guess technically it's not a SMaSH as it has a small amount of chocolate, it's bloody beautiful.

OT - shouldn't this be in the AG section?


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## fletcher (22/12/13)

do a smash, but add a wee bit of crystal to round it out i say


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