A few small batch BIAB questions [first time brewer]

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sixfignig

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I'm about to dive head first into small batch BIAB, but as I'm still a beginner have a few questions I'd like to clarify. For my first batch I’ll be following an APA recipe scaled down in BeerSmith to suit my equipment, the aim being a 12L (or potentially 9L depending on keg) batch size.

A brief overview of my process will be as follows:

  1. Mash grain in 16.32L water @ 66.7C for 75min

  2. Adjust water to pre-boil volume of 14.4L (measure OG)

  3. Boil wort for 60min adding hops whirlfloc at specified times

  4. Rapidly cool wort to fermentation temp of 19C

  5. Transfer wort to 15L fermenter and pitch yeast

  6. Primary Fermentation for 2 weeks @ 19C

  7. Rack beer from fermenter to 12L mini keg (measure FG)

  8. Purge O2 with CO2 and leave for another 2 weeks @ 19C

  9. Force carbonate with CO2 and store in fridge for additional week before consumption.

My main questions are around fermentation and kegging/conditioning.

Q1. Based on my overview above, is my process whereby I transfer the beer into the keg for another 2 weeks at room temperature reasonable/wise? Preferably would like to go straight from primary fermentation tank into keg. Are my only issues going to be potentially more trub / cloudy beer?

Q2. Can I force carbonate my beer (with the beer obviously cooled down), de-attach the cylinder and regulator, store in the fridge, and simply re-rig it up when I want to dispense? Fridge realestate is at a premium and don’t think I can store much more than the keg itself in my Fridge (eg. No regulator/tap/CO2 cylinder). Any tips in general for force carbonating my 12L keg?

Q3. General tips for small batch BIAB based on the above?

Looking forward to diving into this over the coming weekends, so any help appreciated!
 
Q1 - after 2 weeks chill in fermenter down to 2 degrees and leave for one week or more. Then keg and gas at 12psi or there abouts ( not knowing beer style ).
After a week, get into it!
 
Diesel80 said:
Q1 - after 2 weeks chill in fermenter down to 2 degrees and leave for one week or more. Then keg and gas at 12psi or there abouts ( not knowing beer style ).
After a week, get into it!
Pending fridge real estate cold crashing does seem like a good option.

I'm mainly interested in brewing Pale Ale and IPA style beers, any tips for keg carbonation? Due to the relatively small size of the setup I'm probably looking at a modified Sodastream + regulator setup. Am I correct in saying that once chilled I can carbonate to a stable 12PSI and then detach the CO2 and regulator for storage?
 
I also recommend leaving it in the fermenter after the 2 weeks & cold crashing at 2 degrees for at least a week. Then transfer to your keg & carbonate. You'll get a nice clear beer that way

Personally, I force carb using the 'Ross method' coz I'm impatient & it means I'm drinking it an hour later. One of the many benefits of kegging
 

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