A Guide To All-grain Brewing In A Bag

[hughman666]

my word, what a brew day. i think my liver took a beating, for some reason we were drinking like it was new year's eve!! my estimates of consumption were:

12 x hoegaarden stubbies
3 x james squire golden ale
9 x pat's PET bottles of differing ale vaireties
~8L of hughman's APA (just under half the keg)
~2L of hughman's Weizen

that was a fair amount of beer in a 7 hour drinking/brewing session

by the time pat and norkell's lifts came to take them home, i don't think i was even speaking english! norkell had to go home via the in-laws - hahaha!

i have never laughed so hard as I did on saturday. there were plenty of mishaps but we did make a pretty good beer. my APA is fermenting really well and tastes great!

for those interested, here was the recipe:

2.5kg marris otter pale
2.5kg joe white export pils
0.25kg jow white wheat

14g chinook @ 60mins
14g cascade @ 20mins
28g cascade @ 10mins

us56 yeast

OG 1047 (temp corrected with promash)
after only 48 hrs it's already down to 1018

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.ph...4ceb3073a8a25d7

C&B
TDA

 

[Kingy]

LMAO :lol: ha good one!!!

 

[PistolPatch]

Top one TDA!!! Very good! :beer:

 

[T.D.]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[warrenlw63]

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.ph...4ceb3073a8a25d7

C&B
TDA

PURE GOLD!!! :lol: :lol:

Off for a Kingfisher Lager. :beerbang:

Warren -

 

[3GumsBrewing]

Guys, 2 quick questions -

I am using a 40L pot (I know, I know, I should have bought a bigger one!) and usually fill it up to 32L then add any water to the boil if needed.

Up until now most of my brews have used a lot of grain > 5.5kg's. Would anyone suggest altering the initial amount of water for a brew that uses only 4.5kg's of grain?

Also I have read through all posts here once but can not remember, has anyone done any calculations on the water to grain ratio for BIAB?

Cheers
DK

:super:

 

[PistolPatch]

Howdy DK,

I better answer your questions back the front...

There's no set water to grain ratio for BIAB. What you are looking for is using (assuming your pot is big enough) all the water you need for the brew right at the start. Given a large enough pot, the only factors in BIAB that will affect how much water you need are:-

1. Evaporation Rate: This will be affected by the shape of your pot and how long you boil for.

2. Losses to Trub - This will be affected by how much you can or are willing to drain out of your kettle.

3. Grain Bill - This is not as critical in BIAB as it is in traditional brewing. For example, I don't even look at the weight of my grain bill that much. I basically brew either full-strength beers or light beers. For a 23 litre batch, the former beers may be anywhere from 4.5 to 6kgs of grain and I'll use 37 lts of water at the start regardless. For light beers which have a grain bill a little over 3kgs, I use 35.5 litres of water. My evaporation rates are on the high side but the above figures work out nicely enough.

For those who want a little more accuracy, I'd work on a grain absorption figure of 500mls of water per kilo of grain with BIAB rather than the 1 lt per kilo in traditional brewing.

So Dave, I wouldn't worry about altering your initial volume with only a kg lighter grain bill especially if you are already having to use top up water.

In fact, with the smaller pot, maybe it's even worth using less water for all your brews so you are not panicking about boil-overs. Just add some extra water during the boil or at the end - make your brew day a little less worrisome.

The main thing to remember is that there's lots of room for flexibility so don't be afraid of altering volumes to suit your equipment.


Pat

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Yeah... Depends on how you look at your brewing to an extent.

I recommend the 90 minute boil. It ensures that all the good stuff that boiling does is done. It also allows you to turn everything off after 30 minutes and do some calculations.

If you're looking for a particular volume, you can - after 30 minutes - get a decent understanding of what your final volume is going to be.

If you're looking for a particular specific gravity, you can - after 30 minutes - get an understanding of what your gravity out of the boiler is going to be.

Of course, you will want to know both and if you seek out one, you'll get the other for free.

I am a recent convert to refractometers - they make all this stuff a lot easier.

Edit: schpealling

 

[3GumsBrewing]

Thanks Pat and Spills, I ended up using 35 litres and it was perfect.
After siphoning from the pot to the fermenter and leaving behind about 2 litres of crap (I don't use a hop sock) I ended up with my perfect 22 litres. I also found that when siphoning I reused the bag as a filter, made the wort clearer than I have had before!
It was a German Pilsner so fingers crossed!

Cheers
DK

 

[joecast]

forgive me for not reading the whole thread, but what i have read is pretty damn interesting. this will make not having a brew stand much less of an issue.

just wondering about part mashes? (if its been covered in the thread already, please let me know)
i dont want to overshoot my volume by too much so thinking of mashing with my final volume (about 21L) and topping up before the start of the boil. i have a rough idea of my evaporation rate so this should allow me to get pretty close to my desired volume.

ok, realising im not actually asking any question here :blink:
i will add my name to the list of people who are totally blown away by the work put into making this guide. im sure i'll be using it more over the next couple of weeks. way to go ahb'ers :beerbang:
joe

 

[PistolPatch]

Howdy Joe :super:

Really looking forward to seeing such an old member's name on the list - you must be around FNQBunyip's vintage!

Hopefully my last post here helps a bit with your question or should I say musings Certainly you have a lot of lee-way to play around until you get your final volumes right. I reckon you could go in at at least 28lts for your mash though without any worries of over-shooting.

Look forward to hearing how you go and if you have any other questions, fire away.

Spot ya,
Pat

 

[Batz]

Pat
My old mate
Do you always do Brew in the bag thing?
Could this be why the two recipes of mine you have brewed don't taste the same as the ones I brew.
Well it is a factor in the equation I am afraid :blink:

Batz

 

[Screwtop]

Went and priced some copper today for an immersion chiller $ 230 for an 18 metre roll :angry:

so i gave it a miss and brought 3 bags of ice and and filled the bath up. It worked extremely well except when i drained the bath and found that because my pot dont fit properly in the bath it scratched the shit out of the tub while i was cooling.

Ive allready been in trouble for scratching the bath when cleaning kegs :blink: The missus is gunna kill me when she gets home bcoz these scratches are huge. and also bcoz i havent tidyed the house up but ive done a brew and my shed is spotless.

need help
kingy

Kingy,

Hit your nearest scrap metal yard and head for the old hot water system liners (copper) inside they have beaut copper coils, cut it out and you pay for the scrap weight in copper, asked at the local scrap yard the other day and they said about $15 - $20

Screwy

 

[Kingy]

Kingy,

Hit your nearest scrap metal yard and head for the old hot water system liners (copper) inside they have beaut copper coils, cut it out and you pay for the scrap weight in copper, asked at the local scrap yard the other day and they said about $15 - $20

Screwy

Cheers mate its a great idea.. but ive been no chilling (my last 5 brews) and cant notice any differance so ill stick with the no chill from now on.

And i just done my first double batch and worked well and id hate to think of how much water i could waste with a chiller now that ill be doing more twin batches

cheers kingy

 

[PistolPatch]

Pat
My old mate
Do you always do Brew in the bag thing?
Could this be why the two recipes of mine you have brewed don't taste the same as the ones I brew.
Well it is a factor in the equation I am afraid :blink:

Batz

Ah Batz!

I'm still trying to get to the post office to send you my Altbier. I really struggle with getting to Aust Post! I left the last alt for about a month and it tastes OK but there's still something I don't like about it. Lots of people don't even notice the flavour. Anyway I'm hanging to hear what you reckon. I'm thinking that maybe I'm expecting it to taste a certain way which might be based on false memory syndrome as I don't think I ever tasted the Bat Cave alt before 1am :blink: I think matti has done the alt in the bag and loves it. I loved my early ones too so maybe my taste buds have just gone haywire and all they focus on is this one bit I don't like???? (I've done the same with many old girlfriends :blink: ) Next brew I'm doing is the alt with 56. I reckon that'll fix it!

As for the Kin Kin, Brad and I tried that together - he batched and I bagged. Both were bloody awful but we didn't have your special yeast only SO4 :angry:

Mmmm. I reckon I might have to con you into sending me your alt and I'll taste it before 1am so I actually know what I'm aiming for!

I like Screwtops idea on the scrapyard - need a second chiller. Thanks mate.

Hey Kingy, Harry did two double batches on our gear yesterday. No worries at all with the bag handling the extra grain. Too easy!

Spot ya,
Pat.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I like Screwtops idea on the scrapyard - need a second chiller. Thanks mate.

I read somewhere recently that per capita water usage in the West is about double that of the Eastern states. Now I know why!

joecast - For my first BIAB ever, I ignored the recipe in the BIAB guide, but followed the volume advisories to the letter and got very close - a little under in fact. Of course it will depend on your kit, but I wouldn't be worrying too much about that sort of thing for your first one. I was expecting to turn out something heaps worse than I ended up with and my liver has never been more shrivelled...

 

[Kingy]

Ok so i was gunna do a brew today and couldnt find my grain bag which is usually washed and packed away. Then i thought the missus had put it somewhere so i questioned her and "nup dunno where it is"

Any way i found my grain bag under the bench in my big bucket still full of grain from last brew day 4 days ago and it has about 20-30 spots of mould on it .(dont know how i forgot to clean this as im obsessed with cleaning and getting everything ready for the next brew day)
Im washing now it hot water with brewers detergent to try and get it out.

Is there anything that i can soak my bag in or wash in to get rid of the mould? Without affecting to strength of the bag.

Does it really matter if the mould stays. As The boil should take care of any nasties?

cheers, kingy

edit: spelling

 

[Adamt]

I say... take the Napisan challenge! (Home brand of course). Then rinse well of course.

Yes the boil may take care of most of the nasties but its still likely to smell or taste like mould. You wouldnt cook make a stew with mouldy meat would you? (I'd hope not)

 

[PistolPatch]

LOL Kingy!

Nice to hear from Adamt and yep, go the Napisan, If that doesn't work then try pink stain remover which is a bit more powerful.

If you have the material for your bag that I do, it takes a beating so don't be worried about affecting the strength. The only thing I am aware of that affects material strenght is bleach. Bleach, while I do love it for other brewing purposes, eats away at material over time even if you rinse it.

Spot ya,
Pat