3rd Biab All Good

[flattop]

3rd BIAB under the belt.... all good.

An attempt at the venerated Dr Smurto's GA.
Thanks to a few tips after my 1st and 2nd BIAB i have modded my process a little.
It went much smoother this time.
I fitted a cheap timer to the urn so it was at 66* when i got up this morning, threw in the bag and grain and started the mash.
Unfortunately it was cool in Melbourne this morning so raising the boil afterward was a fight even though i used a cardboard windbreak/insulator wrapped around the urn. That said the process was dusted in around 3 1/2 hours so it was a good day. Except for throwing the breaker when the missis turned on the TV, amp, dvd, dishwasher all on the same circuit as the urn....

I no chill cubed in a 20 litre plastic Jerry from "Bunnies" and here's the interesting thing, last time i drained the urn into a fermenter then into the cube, that way i was able to strain some of the crud out before it gets into the cube.
Because the neck of the Jerry is narrow i fitted a nylon filter into the neck (shaped like a sock) and this was for the most part successful.
Problems encountered were that it took longer to drain the urn to prevent overflow and that as the filter was a very narrow mesh i had to stop halfway as it was becoming full and not draining and empty the crud from the filter. Other than that it worked well as a technique.

The filter i used was for swimming pools bought in a pack of about 5 from Kmart. I had a few laying around and was wondering how to strain the wort into the jerry when i came up with that.... The filter was held in situ by the rubber ring that holds the Jerry lid on.

Anyhow i will pitch the brew sometime this week.... i will know in a month or 2 how it went.

 

[troopa]

Id be lucky if my brews made it a month
Ifs it a nice brew i might leave a 6er for another month just to see if it matures nicely
But other then that.. 4 days after bottling im usually into it

AG certainly makes a big difference to me on bottle cycling
Before on Kits and Bits it would of had 350-400 bottles cycle over a 2-3 months

Now with AG its more like 100-150

 

[flattop]

4 days??? a bit green!
I wish i had 300 bottles... then again all that cleaning i would probably keg it.... I have around 180 bottles i guess PETs and glass, the mix is about right although another 60 wouldn't go astray, i don't want to store hundreds moe , a mate has around 800 in crates stacked to the ceiling...i don't have the space and lugging them down under the house and back is a pain.

 

[Bribie G]

Flattop, you seem to have issues draining the wort of the junk, are you using kettle finings such as Whirlfloc? I find with Whirlfloc and a HOPSOCK then, after boiling and giving it a 20 minute rest the wort in the urn is crystal clear and the trub has compacted down to a fairly flat layer of 'breadcrumbs' at the bottom, well below the tap level.

 

[raven19]

The good Doctor wont steer you wrong with the GA... well done.

We wouldnt be Aussies if we weren't tweaking the setup to increase efficiency and final volume...

 

[flattop]

No i'm not generally having a big issue or using whirfloc, i noticed a lot of posts saying ppl didn't use whirfloc... so i thought i would see how i went.
That said i'm not really having that many issues, i whirlpool my urn before i drain.
The material that filled the sock was fine in nature generally so i wouldn't consider it a huge issue.
I've bottled my first AG today and i want to let it sit for 2 weeks and see how it clears as it was a bit hazy.

If it doesn't clear then i may rack and gelatin the next brew (i couldn't rack this one as all fermenters were full).
I'm not using a hopsock as i found that the hops break down to very fine anyhow so the residue ends up in the trub.
One of the reasons i did use the filter was to see if i could improve the brew and also to drain every last bit from the urn as my 20 litre jerry holds more like 23 litres so it was all about trying to fill the jerry close to the neck if possible to leave less air inside.
As it was it was probably full enough and i left less than 1/2 a litre in the urn.
Generally it's just about trying to get the best brew for the least effort and less trub to clean from the fermenter at the end as i also want to yeast harvest.

Probably a 20 min rest is all i need

As for tweaking, the process is new to me, i don't venture to think i could improve the process for all in the start but if i can improve the process for me then i'm happy.
I tried the "dunk sparge" again today, about 700mls of water at around 70* using a fermenter as the bucket, not entirely successful as the grain bag was hard to get into and out of the fermenter, i don't have a food grade or clean bucket to do it in. It was moderately successful in getting more wort out of the grain as i splashed it around for a few minutes...

the spent grain went on the fruit trees instead of the pot plants, i'm tired of the birds and mice in the pot plants on the terrace...

 

[flattop]

Well i pitched the Dr Smurto's GA today.
I'm a little disappointed with the SG around 1038, perhaps i need to adjust the process.
Do i raise the mash temp or lower it, lengthen the mash time or just lower the initial volume (cheating?)
I used the "dunk sparge" which added 1/2 a litre volume perhaps this is weakening the brew.
All this said the wort is a strong flavored bitter wort so i think it tastes roughly how it should.
To that end i am quite satisfied....

I just think perhaps to do it properly i need to improve the process
Any idea's

 

[Thirsty Boy]

mash temp wont make a hell of a difference to your efficiency.

anyway - is 1.038 paticularly bad?? - what was it supposed to be, and were your volumes what you expected them to be?

If you were shooting for a post boil of say 21L and you got 23 (or something like that) ... then your process is fine, you just added too much water. Add less.

Apart from that - to improve a BIAB efficiency - stir the brew a few times - stir constantly while raising the whole mash to a mashout/sparge temp of 77 or so - squeeze the bag well - sparge in some way if you can be bothered.. but I would try and get the basic process right first. Try mashing for 90min. But I know time is an issue for you, so leave that till you cant make other things work.

If you are going to "dunk" sparge - more like 4-5L rather than 700ml and make the water sparge temp (80 or so)

and practice

Its amazing how just doing a few brews will magically improve your efficiency and ability to hit your numbers

 

[flattop]

Thanks TB

Target was 1047 so i was around 9 points low, target volume was 23l i got around 22l @ 20*c so near enough.
I stirred constantly and i did raise the temp to about 75 my mash was 90 mins. Boil 90mins so the basic process is correct, my bag is a bit overlarge in depth i wonder if it wasn't creasing in the bottom, the wort was too dark to tell.
I didn't want to use too much water in the dunk sparge as i was afraid of a watery outcome.

Look i think the flavor is probably good i just wanted to get closer to the target, if i am off target then i am probably not going to get a beer as good as the recipe is made to be.

 

[crundle]

Flattop,

what was your grain crush like? I have been getting mine done for me when I buy the grain, but am thinking this is still too coarse for best results with BIAB. Maybe for your next brew, try getting the grain passed twice through the mill to make it finer, and see what happens to your efficiency and gravity readings.

I have the same issue with my brews being low in the SG and FG, and have checked my temps and processes to no real avail. I think that this is the easiest way to increase your readings, yet to do so myself though as I am still working out what to brew next after my Oyster Stout, but the next grain bill will be run through twice to see if I can hit my gravity targets. My beers taste great, but are just a bit thinner than they should be, and I am mashing for an hour and boiling for an hour as the recipes demand.

I hope to decide on what to make this week, will let you know how the finer milling goes. Failing that, you can always get a Marga Mill......

cheers,

Crundle

 

[Thirsty Boy]

sounds like you are doing pretty much all the right stuff - if you actual efficiency is low, I suppose you need to start thinking about looking at crush and then maybe water chemistry.. although you are in melbourne and I have watched plenty of BiaB brews here with stuff all done to the water, that had no eff problems.

What do you have your efficiency set to?? Maybe you are just expecting too much?

Oh and I just noticed ... your urn was set to 66 - then you threw in your grain. That is a bit low I reckon, and upping your temps a degree or two might have an effect - but if you are ramping to a mashout... then I dont really think thats it.