2nd Crack of the whip

[Edd]

Time has come for my second crack of the BIAB whip. I enjoyed my first attempt and am looking forward to trying out some tips received. Primarily this will be an attempt at ‘no chill’ as the time taken to reduce temp of wort last time was crazy. I’m also going to be dunk sparging in order to gain the correct volume into the fermenter. I was shy by 3 litres or so previously.
I’ll be doing an American IPA again, very similar to last with a heavy dose of cascade and Galaxy hops. It’s great getting to know the various hop flavours and then recognising them in other craft beers. Roll on tomorrow’s brewing session!

 

[Brewnicorn]

Getting into BIAB soon myself. Watching for updates keenly! Cheers [emoji482]

 

[Edd]

Went a lot smoother this time round. Found it much easier than anticipated to siphon off in to the NC cube and it saved so much time! I am going to adjust my boil loss value to 4L per hour as I am not losing as much as the current value allows for (6L per hour). Although I achieve a decent rolling boil, as it is a standard stove top and a 30L pot, it’s not a particularly vigorous one. This means that instead of the anticipated 20L @ 1.052 OG I achieved more like 23L @ 1.049 OG with a calculated efficiency of 69%. Shit, for my second attempt I’ll take that in spades! Also, this time round I have chosen to rehydrate the yeast, as I am doing a NC it gave me bags of time to sort that out this afternoon before aerating the wort and pitching the little buggers.

 

[Edd]

Seems as though this time might not be all plain sailing. I’ve got a suspected stuck fermentation and there is a definite ‘plastic’ background taste & aroma to the samples. It’s been sat on 1.026 after a fairly vigorous initial fermentation period.
I am almost convinced that the first issue is due to my method of temperature control. The first time around I had a heat pad warming the fridge continually whilst under temp control, this time I haven’t. I’m reasoning that due to this the temp is reducing to my lower boundary and staying in that zone too long rather than a heat pad helping it stay in the favoured bracket.
The second, well I think this may be due to tainting from the NC cube I used? I have gave it a fairly thorough wash beforehand and sanitised it to death but maybe it’s leached some odours off the cube as it was it’s first use. Like a new water bottle does occasionally. The taste was slightly bitter too but I’m not overly concerned at this point as the sample was very cloudy and full of trub.
I’ve swirled the FV and raised the temp to see if I can’t kick start the yeasties back into business. I might well start putting the heat pad on overnight to prevent it dropping down into the mid teens. As for the taste, well not an awful lot I can do about that. Just hope for the best!
Any thoughts/opinions much appreciated, cheers.

Edd

 

[rossbaker]

Seems as though this time might not be all plain sailing. I’ve got a suspected stuck fermentation and there is a definite ‘plastic’ background taste & aroma to the samples. It’s been sat on 1.026 after a fairly vigorous initial fermentation period.
I am almost convinced that the first issue is due to my method of temperature control. The first time around I had a heat pad warming the fridge continually whilst under temp control, this time I haven’t. I’m reasoning that due to this the temp is reducing to my lower boundary and staying in that zone too long rather than a heat pad helping it stay in the favoured bracket.
The second, well I think this may be due to tainting from the NC cube I used? I have gave it a fairly thorough wash beforehand and sanitised it to death but maybe it’s leached some odours off the cube as it was it’s first use. Like a new water bottle does occasionally. The taste was slightly bitter too but I’m not overly concerned at this point as the sample was very cloudy and full of trub.
I’ve swirled the FV and raised the temp to see if I can’t kick start the yeasties back into business. I might well start putting the heat pad on overnight to prevent it dropping down into the mid teens. As for the taste, well not an awful lot I can do about that. Just hope for the best!
Any thoughts/opinions much appreciated, cheers.

Edd

Did your cube washing include a good shake with a litre or two of boiling water?Doing this 2 or 3 times is usually what's required to get rid of that plastic taste/aroma.

 

[Edd]

Did your cube washing include a good shake with a litre or two of boiling water?Doing this 2 or 3 times is usually what's required to get rid of that plastic taste/aroma.

Ahhhhh, ummmm, heh heh, nope! That could well be the culprit then, thanks for that. I’ve adjusted the temp and she’s back on the boil again which is good. I’ll give the cube an epic wash before the next batch as I will definitely be using the NC from now on.

 

[rossbaker]

Good stuff. Only required before first use with new fvs and cubes.

 

[Edd]

It’s dropped 2 more points in 24 hours so we are at 1.024 now. Is it worth chucking in a pack of us-05 to bring it on or am I best of leaving it a bit longer. I just can’t see it getting to 1.014

 

[Edd]

I think I’ve found the cause of a high FG. The thermometer that was supplied with the original kit is out by 4C, this means that my mash temp would have been 72 and not 68. Bugger it. Ah well, live and learn. Just means that I will have a low alcohol, slightly plasticky tasting, Christmas beer. It’s still getting drank, every last drop! I’ve chucked some additional yeast in to try and squeeze a couple more points out but I’m happy to learn lessons and look forward to the next brew.