# Another 'first BIAB' help Dr Smurto's Golden Ale



## eresh666 (29/6/13)

Guys,

Anxiety is creeping up on me the days of kit & kilo are behind me how badly can I stuff this up?

50L SS keg with welded tap & brew/mash thermometer about 3 inch off the bottom
italian Spiral burner from Beer Belly

Total Water 26L (BIAB brewmate setting)

No chill method I'm leaving in keggle over night (moved to the laundry once cool enough with a pot lid and glad wrap to create a vacuum (or should I put it straight into the fermenter once its down to say 60 degrees celcius? Starsan on coopers ferm bucket and any other 'utensils' not worrying about the keg due to boil temp.

Finings in after fermentation to clear everything up to be added 2 days before bottling.

Any pointers? One thing I'm not too sure about is once I hit my strike temperature and then mash temp after 60minutes to a raise the temp again 'mash out' before boiling or don't I need to do that for BIAB?



Golden Ale
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 20.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.250
Total Hops (g): 55.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.047 (°P): 11.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.62 %
Colour (SRM): 7.9 (EBC): 15.6
Bitterness (IBU): 46.9 (Average - No Chill Adjusted)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
2.400 kg Pale Ale Malt (56.47%)
0.800 kg Munich I (18.82%)
0.800 kg Wheat Malt (18.82%)
0.250 kg Caramunich I (5.88%)
Hop Bill
----------------
15.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.8 g/L)
20.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.6% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
20.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.6% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60


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## Byran (29/6/13)

I dont see why you couldnt leave it in the keggle overnight?
The only thing with that is Oxidation. Thats why no chills are usually put into airtight containers. But if your gonna put into a fermenter straight away with the lid on? It could work.... Id be getting a Water jerrycan or something and putting the hot wort into that with the lid on to cool. Its pretty easy to transfer with a hose and gravity. Then you can keep your fresh wort for ages before fermenting it.
Otherwise get or make a chiller. 
See how it goes it could be fine with just a lid on it overnight.
Otherwise. Go for it!


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## fletcher (29/6/13)

looks good mate.

with brewmate and its initial settings, don't be surprised if they're not 100% accurate (with boil off %s, losses to trub etc) as you'll need to write down your losses and record them so you can input them into brewmate for future brewdays. your first few brews might be off slightly as you get used to all your figures and set up but after a few you'll be killing your target figures all the time.


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## yum beer (29/6/13)

26l water seems a bit low to me.....I use more than that for 14-16litre batches.
As Fletcher says you can make adjustments in your brewmate settings after this batch, keep a good record of all your numbers and volumes for later changes.


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## emnpaul (29/6/13)

I'm assuming your thermometer is protruding into your vessel by at least 50mm. Be careful not to catch your sack on it when pulling your voile. It's not a good feeling. Seed will go everywhere.

Not sure from your post if you're doing step mash or single infusion at 66. You might want to consider sticking to single infusion for your first BIAB.

I think you'll be fine with glad wrap over your keggle overnight. 

Apologies if this is too late to be useful (i.e. you've already brewed).


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## GuyQLD (29/6/13)

1. Strike volume seems low for 20l. What is your boil off set to?
2. Mash outs pretty much are always beneficial with BIAB. Are you using gas or electric? For gas just stir the buggery out of it with the gas on at the end of the mash (60 mins +) till you hit above 75'C. Electric is basically the same deal; only you need to protect the element/bag. 
3. I'd leave it in the keggle while it chills. If you lid on as soon as (or not long after) you'll pasteurise the headspace and has a much lower chance of oxidising the wort than transferring to the fermenter. Assuming you believe in such things.


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## citizensnips (30/6/13)

I use the same set up as you mate and just put it roughly in on beersmith and came up with 29.9L inital boil, I did the exact same thing as you and started with too little and had to water it down because it was too strong.


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## djar007 (30/6/13)

Be careful not to catch your sack on it when pulling your voile. It's not a good feeling. Seed will go everywhere.



This sounds painful.


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## eresh666 (30/6/13)

well I thought it went to plan hit temps ok did a mash out to 75 degrees for 15minutes while stirring. however my OG is way too low 1030 (I have stirred the wort/mix etc I think maybe I didnt have the bag and grain freely positioned yet secured in the keggle restricted the grain?).

I guess it will be awesome to drink yet not enough alcohol perhaps a little watery?

I went with 27L as noted a few people had commented it total water was a little low.


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## doon (30/6/13)

What are you measuring gravity with?


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## fletcher (30/6/13)

did you make sure you tested gravity and adjusted for the temperature of the wort?


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## doon (30/6/13)

If it was a hydrometer 1.030 at 75 deg corrects to 1.054


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## wbosher (30/6/13)

I just plugged your recipe into Beersmith and it said to start with 35L of water. That's on my gear, so yours will be a little different, but still shows that you were probably well under.


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## eresh666 (30/6/13)

Thanks again guys I see the problem once it cools the OG is picking up I'm going to cool a 'sample and give it another go'. If its going to be too high I will add some boiled water to bring it back down.

testing it with a coopers kit hydrometer and a cheap one from brewcraft.


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## wbosher (30/6/13)

If you know the temp of the sample, you can convert it. Or if you're quick, I can check in Beersmith while I'm still online.

Also, have you calibrated your hydrometer? Coopers ones are known for being out until you calibrate them.


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## eresh666 (30/6/13)

my sample is at 50degrees hydrom is stating 1034 now, keg is sitting on 83degrees OG was around 1020.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/

adjust value 1043? so no water?


edit..... 40 degrees 1038 now


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## eresh666 (30/6/13)

money shot... first guy on the forum to do it sideways...


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## wbosher (30/6/13)

1.034 @ 50C is 1.044
1.020 @ 83 is 1.049

This according to Beersmith, and assuming that your hydrometer is calibrated to 1.000 at 20C.

Looks to me like you may be ok.


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## eresh666 (30/6/13)

Thanks 



wbosher said:


> 1.034 @ 50C is 1.044
> 1.020 @ 83 is 1.049
> 
> This according to Beersmith, and assuming that your hydrometer is calibrated to 1.000 at 20C.
> ...


Thanks for checking... BTW kia ora (I grew up in Auckland ).


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## wbosher (30/6/13)

We hate bloody Aucklanders down here in Welly town  I guess you could compare it to QLD vs NSW sort of rivalry.

Anyway, good to hear your 1st BIAB is on track.


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## eresh666 (6/7/13)

Update for everyone...

its been sitting in my garage in a spare fridge at 18 degrees since last sunday morning however dropped down to 15 over the last few days. FG is at 1020 I'm going to give the bucket a swirl and try and raise the temp slightly other than that mid next week I will bottle it.

FG should be around 1012 but who knows as its my first try at all grain?

It tastes bloody amazing!


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## eresh666 (10/7/13)

Gravity is down to 1012 now, brew heater belt saved the day  will be bottling it friday night! Then on to the next one!


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## chefeffect (10/7/13)

Not long now until you have a mouth organism :beerbang:


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## time01 (3/11/13)

im attempting the following recipe I found in this topic in about 30 mins, so no doubt ill have questions as I go. im doing it as a BIAB and its my first time.

how long should I mash for and what temp? or is that at the bottom of the recipe? 66degrees for 60 mins?

Golden Ale
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 20.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.250
Total Hops (g): 55.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.047 (°P): 11.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (°P): 3.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.62 %
Colour (SRM): 7.9 (EBC): 15.6
Bitterness (IBU): 46.9 (Average - No Chill Adjusted)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
2.400 kg Pale Ale Malt (56.47%)
0.800 kg Munich I (18.82%)
0.800 kg Wheat Malt (18.82%)
0.250 kg Caramunich I (5.88%)
Hop Bill
----------------
15.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.8 g/L)
20.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.6% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
20.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.6% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60


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## gmorosi (3/11/13)

I did this recipe as my first BIAB (electric urn) about 3 weeks ago, and the general advice I found suggested a 90 minute mash @ 66 degrees


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## time01 (3/11/13)

thanks geech.

what points should I take a hydrometer reading? straight after the boil?
I am doing a no chill brew


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## [email protected] (3/11/13)

G'day Time01,
I would suggest you note volume and gravity pre and post boil. This will help you figure out your systems numbers which will help you hit your targets in future. Just remember to either let the gravity samples cool before you drop the hydrometer in, or run the reading through a calculator to adjust it for temperature. 
Also if you no chill your 20 minute hop addition will behave like a 35-40 addition and your flame out hop addition will behave like a 15-20 minute addition. This is due to the slow cooling time. 

Hope this helps. I did this beer as my first BIAB and it was very tasty. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## time01 (3/11/13)

thanks for the tip andy, unfortunately I had already finished once I read this.
so I ended up starting with 15L of water and mashed at 66 for 60 mins, I then rinsed the grain with 2L of boiling water.
did the boil as per above recipe, and gravity was 1066 and I was left with about 10L of wort.
topped up the fermenter with cold water to 20L and pitched the yeast at 24 degrees.
gravity reading before I pitched the yeast was 1034 so quite a bit less than the above recipe.
next time I will build a recipe for a smaller brew to be able to boil and mash in my 19L pot, apart from that any other tips?
will this still turn out ok? just a more like a midstrength im thinking?
a lot of lessons learnt and definitely good to get my first BIAB out of the way, onwards and upwards!


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## [email protected] (4/11/13)

No probs Time01,

You have made beer, it might not be the beer you were aiming for, but it will be beer!!

What set up are you using?

If you are maxi BIABing you should dunk sparge in an esky or similar, use water at 80C. Then as you boil add the sparge water into the boil. Boiling water may release tannins into your wort, so you probably want to avoid that. Also if you maxi BIAB yo need to be aware that your hop utilisation will be less I believe the consensus is that you increase the hop bill by about 10%. 




Cheers,

Andrew.


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## New_guy (4/11/13)

I finished the same brew on Sunday as my 2nd attempt at BIAB

This is what beersmith told me: 

Mash Ingredients
2850.0 g - Pilsner (2 Row) Bel
950.0 g - Munich Malt
950.0 g - Wheat Malt, Ger
300.0 g - Caramunich Malt
0 min - Saccharification (66.7 C for 75 min, 10 min rise)
Add 39.07 l of water at 70.4 C
1:25 hours - Mash Out (75.6 C for 10 min, 7 min rise)
Heat to 75.6 C over 7 min
1:42 hours - Mash Complete
Fly sparge with 0.02 l water at 75.6 C

Brewing Estimates
Tun Loss: 0.00 l Boil top-up: 0.00 l
Boil Vol: 36.00 l Boil Gravity: 1.035 SG
Boil Off: 8.07 l Post-boil: 27.93 l
Top Up: 0.00 l Trub Loss: 3.82 l
Batch Vol: 23.02 l Est OG : 1.047 SG


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## time01 (9/1/14)

Hi guys,

well I sampled my first AG over x mas and apart from being a little undercarbonated it tasted very nice considering it was my first try!

I want to give this same recipe another go either this or next week.

has anyone got a "how to no chill" link? and how can I adjust my hop schedule accordingly for it?
secondly is this a fair run down on how to maxi BIAB? found it here http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/73484-new-to-biab-and-beersmith-how-to-scale-recipe-to-suit-19l-mini-biab/

The super non-scientific way is work out your grain bill (include a kg of DME in there unless you can mash in a bigger container).
- Fill your pot about 3/4 to 4/5 (for 4kg grain bill) and have a few litres of warm water on hand
- put in your bag and get to your strike temp (mine has been 71 degrees for a 66 degree mash).
- once strike temp reached take pot off heat.
- Dough in all your grains to your bag but not your DME. Mix it up and make sure there are no dough balls.
- top the pot up as full as you can get it (using either hot, warm or cold water to maintain your mash temp.
- tie up your bag while trying to keep it as loose around the grain as your fabric size allows (if you leave the bag over the outside of the pot your will lose wort to capilliary action. (obviously leave bag in the pot)
- put the lid on the pot with wrap with towels and blankets to insulate it and leave for 90 mins (I put mine on the carpet with a towel underneath it and throw a couple fo bean bags around it.. holds temp within 1 degree for 90mins)
- after 90 min mash, take out grain bag and drain over a bucket
- transfer pot of sweet wort to heat source and crank the temp.
- after the majority of flow has stopped from the bag, empty wort from bucket to the boiling pot
- put bag back in bucket and sparge with warm (70 degrees? someone?) water until the bucket can take no more.
- after a few minutes drain grain bag over bucket and add to boiling pot
- repeat this process until the pot is a couple of inches from the top.
- while achieving boil watch closely for boil-over. have on hand a spray bottle with water in it, adjust nozzle to heavy mist/shower. If the boil starts to errupt, squirt it with some water and bobs your uncle.
- once you hit boil temp, take the lid off, start your boil timer and do your thing
- 5 mins from flame out add your 1 kg of DME and stir in
- put the lid on and transfer pot to laundry tub full of cold water to chill.
- once in the tub, use a sterilized ladle to whirpool your pot to help settle out the trub
- once cooled close to desired temp carefuly (as not to disturb the trub) pour wort into fermenter.
- if your fermenter has Litre marking, just add water to desired mark (remembering the additional water will also change the wort temp).
- pitch yeast as desired temp and tada!

..that makes it sound difficult but it's a peice of piss. I've been mainly doing basic (3.7kgs of Pale with 300 grams of carapils for some maltiness, and 1kg LDME) single hop beers this way to get an understanding of hop characteristics.


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## maxim0200 (10/1/14)

Good thread, thx


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## [email protected] (27/1/14)

G'day All,


time01 asked me to respond to this thread via PM.

Below is my no chill process, it is taken from Dan and Geoff's process at the Grain and Grape Demos.

To no chill I turn the flame off put the lid on the kettle and walk away for about 15 - 20 minutes then I whirlpool and leave for another 10 minutes. 

Then I run the still very hot wort into a cleaned and sanitised cube (20 L jerry can), I use a length of silicon tubing for this, put the end of the tube on the bottom of the cube to reduce oxygenation. Then I put the cube against the wall and squeeze it with my knee and put the lid on. I then tilt the cube so that any remaining air runs to just underneath the lid, then I again squeeze it with my knee and slowly open the lid until all the air comes out (a little bit of wort comes out as well). Then tightly seal the lid and keep in a relatively cool dark place, it should keep for a number of months. 

As for your hop additions, anything that is under twenty minutes can go directly into the cube so the wort goes on top of it. Flame out additions are a little problematic as there is no real way to do that. Although I have found that you get more aroma from the cube additions than you would expect from a 20 minute addition. If your recipe has flame out additions you could try dry hopping instead.

When I transfer to the fermenter sometimes the whole lot goes in and sometimes not, it does not seem to make much difference either way


Hopes this helps, if you have any further questions do not hesitate to ask.


Cheers,

Andrew.


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## time01 (16/2/14)

With the help of 2 mates we decided to bite the bullet and buy a Rambo burner and 70l pot. Made the brew day so much easier! Thanks to andy for his hop additions advice and no chill. Og was 1044 so very close to the mark and was left with 20l of wort. Will dry hop the last hop addition and post how it all turns out.


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## jkhlt1210 (18/2/14)

time01 said:


> im attempting the following recipe I found in this topic in about 30 mins, so no doubt ill have questions as I go. im doing it as a BIAB and its my first time.
> 
> how long should I mash for and what temp? or is that at the bottom of the recipe? 66degrees for 60 mins?
> 
> ...


wouldnt mind trying this recipe


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## time01 (19/2/14)

ill let you know how it turns out


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