A Guide To All-grain Brewing In A Bag

[katzke]

Thanks... I think it went really well for a first time AG... a few tweaks over the next few brews and I think it'll be a doddle... love the simplicity of it all.

Simplicity?

You missed the entire point of BIAB being a complicated unresolvable brewing method that dose not work.

Have you not learned anything from 80 pages of posts?

In fact I think because you brewed with out a true bag we need to rename the entire thing to BIAS or brew in a sheet. It would save lots of new brewers having to beg the mother-in-law to sew up a bag for the proper BIAB. Besides BIAS is a fitting name for the system. All the traditional mashers do have a bias against those of us that dare to be different.

Then the entire discussion of a pillow case or sleeping bag approach to bag design would be eliminated.

So from now on I am no longer a BIABer but a BIAS brewer or BIASer. It is up to the rest of you to figure out what a new BIAS brewer is. I think the old term I coined was a BIABy. I am sure a culture that has its own slang will come up with a suitable name for first time BIASers.

Yep I am happy from drink though not from beer. My last brew is in limbo because I have no way to cool it and let the Gelatin that I added settle properly. Lucky for me Winter is knocking on the door (may snow tonight). For those of you that have Summer bearing down on you I recommend a Wit with Raw Wheat and your choice of malt. You can brew an easy drinker or a sneaky high alcohol brew. I think the Raw Wheat counter acts the alcohol. And with brewing in a sheet we do not have to worry about stuck sparges like the other guys do. You can play with hops and yeast if you do not like a traditional Belgian brew. I think the Coriander and Orange peal are important. For Orange peal you can use store oranges and feed the inside to the family or eat them your self. I find 2 large oranges are enough but you may like 3 if you can use them. A tip, you can put the skinned orange in the fridge in a bag for a day or 2 so you can eat the offal from your brewing.

 

[tumi2]

Hi there
Have not posted in this thread in a while so thought i would update people on how my BIAB is going.

I have now completed 4 AG beers.

1) Simple English Bitter
2) another attempt at an English bitter the same as above
3) Little Creatures Bright Ale Clone
4) another attempt at the Bright Ale Clone

As you can see i have repeated each brew twice. With the English bitter i was trying to troubleshoot a flavour i did not like (my posts about this are somewhere in this thread). I am pretty sure this was the S04 yeast that i used and dont intend to use it again.

The first batch i did i have finished and it was drinkable and got better after about 6 weeks. Unfortunately i ditched half of it after 3 weeks!!! the second English Bitter was simply not drinkable so i ditched that one keeping a few to try later on. They have not improved. I have kept a few samples of all my beers so far and one thing i have realised is that patience is a virtue and beers really do get better after about 6 weeks or so.

I then decided to change my beer and went for the LCBA clone.

I am currently drinking my first attempt at that and i am really happy with the taste and aroma. Unfortunately it is quite cloudy and has no head what so ever.

So i currently have my second attempt at this LCBA using the same recipe and process except that i am cold chilling for a few extra days and also and using isinglass during the cold chilling stage. This will get bottled tomorrow night so i hope it is clearer.

So onto the clearing beer topic is there something in BIAB that makes clearing beer more difficult.? I also no chill so this may be the cause.

Does the boil effect beer clarity?
When i boil i tend to keep it pretty soft with a light turning of the wort. I now have a rocket ship italian spiral burner so i could aim for a much more rigorous boil.

What about the mash out in BIAB? I sparge with a pot of hot sparge water but i have not raised the wort in the kettle while the grain is still inside. Does this have any effect on clarity of wort going into no-chill?

I am really thankful for the info i got in this thread as i now intend to only ever AG brew and so far cant see why i would change from BIAB.

My last question is what to do next? I am leaning towards a American Pale Ale.

 

[PistolPatch]

Argon - Congratulations to you and nice pics :icon_cheers:

tumi2 - I've got an hour to spare so here you go...

SO4: Good idea to steer clear of the SO4 for a while. It can be quite an unpopular yeast for many palates.

Clearing Beer: BIAB should be no different to getting clear beer than traditional. Let your wort settle for twenty minutes before you put it in the cube. Don't drain off every last inch of wort. Allow for some wastage in your recipe calculations. If you are having clarity problems, make sure you do a 90 minute boil and ensure it is a medium rolling boil regardless of your evaporation rate. (Evaporation rates vary greatly from vessel to vessel. Yours will be on the high side with your 50lt pot.) DON'T simmer your wort - boil it. When racking from no-chill cube to fermenter, once again, don't drain every last drop. Leave the crap behind. After fermentation, chill your fermenter to 0-2 degrees for say 4 days and then rack it to your keg. That should give you very clear beer. If not, start looking at your pH. Isinglass works well but add it to the cold wort.

Pale Ale Recipe: Try NRB's All Amarillo American Pale Ale. It is a recipe that you can alter greatly and still get a beautiful beer. It is my house beer and quite a few other brewers I know use it as their house beer. It is a beer enjoyed by a huge range of palates, young and old, male and female. It is a less sharp version of Little Creatures Pale Ale and the brewers I know prefer it to Dr Smurto's JSGA recipe so you should be quite pleased with the result.

Look forward to hearing how you go.

Spot,
Pat

P.S. That only took 20 minutes - a record!

 

[flattop]

For the record, i had one BIAB brew that turned out incredibly cloudy it was a Dr Smurto's GA (no reflection on the creator). I forgot the whirfloc and the gelatin later on.
The brew looks like mud although the first glass from the bottle can be clear, once the bottle is cracked the gas raises the mud from the bottom so the second glass is always very muddy, I mean yarra river muddy (i'm talking cut it with a knife cloudy).
I clearly did something wrong, that said it tastes fine!
My following brews were fine, no idea what went wrong.

I love BIAB, unfortunately i have been so busy the last few months i've actually bought a couple of Liquid wort kits to keep stocks high for summer.

 

[bullsneck]

Just purchased a Crown Urn. So excited! I'll be BIABing in no time.

Can't wait to delve into the AG world!

:icon_offtopic: Anyone know a good place to purchase some cubes for no-chill in SE Melb?

 

[DUANNE]

i got all my cubes from rays outdoors for about 10 bucks each. or you can get the willow or bmw style ones at bunnings for around 20 bucks for memory. i tried the jerry can style ones but they didnt work for me and just use the square ones from rays now.2c

 

[bullsneck]

Cheers, BH.

Rays close to work.

Come to think of it, doesn't the jingle go...

Ray's Outdoors, come see what we got.
From tents to no-chill cubes, we got the lot.

 

[tumi2]

Rays Outdoors in Camperdown Sydney now have plenty of cubes in stock. They are a dime a dozen there so get in fast if you want some. They have 25 liters and 15 liter cubes but not the 20 liters cubes they had last year. They will be getting the 20 liter ones which actually fit 23 liters but they dont know when and have had trouble getting the current stocks.

 

[Bribie G]

I note that Rays are in Perth now, hopefully they will get up this way eventually. You would think that QLD would be an ideal market.

 

[WarmBeer]

:icon_offtopic: Anyone know a good place to purchase some cubes for no-chill in SE Melb?

I use one from a Fresh Wort Kit from Grain & Grape.

Only fits about 17 lt, but that suits my current boil pot size, plus means I get to brew more often :beerbang:

Saw a 20lt cube in the Home Hardware near Caulfield station, if that's anywhere close to home (SE Melb is a BIIIG area)

 

[chappo1970]

<Snip> ... you end up basically at the Braumeister. (witness chappo's suggestion about re-circulating BIAB systems) So if people are interested in traveling that road - well, the journey is a bit easier if you already have a good idea what the destination looks like.

TB

I resemble that remark!

Well after plenty of umming and arghhing I'm heading down that road. Basically going to use what I already have in the brewery just in a different configuration to suit a more hybred BIAB. Still only for experimental brews but it does make complete sense to me to do it. I guess the purist BIABers will get their knickers in a knot but so be it.

Bought a 20lt Urn the other day just need to sort out the pillow case and the plumbing. Probably will make a little rig for it so I use up floor space and not the premium bench space. Also making it easier to transfer the pump between rigs.

Chap Chap

 

[muckey]

Bought a 20lt Urn the other day just need to sort out the pillow case and the plumbing. Probably will make a little rig for it so I use up floor space and not the premium bench space. Also making it easier to transfer the pump between rigs.

Chap Chap

so you're going to start a 'brew in a handbag' rig????

does sherman know??

 

[PistolPatch]

Looking forward to the pics of that Chappo :icon_cheers:

 

[O'Henry]

I have read through bits of this thread over the past few months, but really it is just too long. My question didnt really warrant another thread, so I figured I could put it here.

I am planning to BIAB (ish) tomorrow put have no tap on the boiler (50l saucepan). I will be no chilling. What is the best way to get it out of the boiler and into the cube? I have 2m of tubing I use for racking that I got at a LHBS. I am unsure of what else to do/use.
I thought maybe I could sterilise the cube with boiling water (of which I have plenty to fill it) and then just chill the wort in the boiler, down to about 60/70C, in an industrial freezer (also close at hand) and then syphon it out.

Any advice?

 

[PistolPatch]

Good luck tomorrow O'Henry :icon_cheers:

I think you really need to use silicone hose to syphon very hot wort. Other ones are not rated to the high temp and can give some pretty bad flavours. So, what should you do?...

Just let it sit in the kettle overnight. I occasionally do this and put foil around the lid. Syphon it gently the next morning, gradually lowering your syphon until it stops running clear and then pitch your yeast as soon as you can. This works fine.

Look forward to hearing how you go,
Pat

 

[O'Henry]

Hey PP. Thanks for the reply. If I let it cool partially and then cubed it, would this work? Can't really leave it to sit out and cool naturally in the pot... I might have to give it away, rather than waste all my time and ingredients on a bung batch. Should just do it when there are no time restrictions on the stove...

 

[RdeVjun]

Hey O'Henry, please don't give it away mate, you have a couple of options!

I can't see there's a great deal of difference cooling the wort in a pot or a NC cube, either naturally or assisted/ forced. Basically both methods rely on sanitary cooling, NC has the advantage of remaining sealed until it is needed. Putting hot wort into a cube thoroughly sanitises it though, whereas the pot is sanitary from a hour or more of boiling.

I actually cool my stockpot in the laundry tub most of the time and then pour it out through a sieve (catching whole hops and some break) into the fermenter the next day when it has cooled and then pitch a starter into freshly- aerated wort. The pot needs a lid, but as PP says, some foil will suffice and this skips the cube entirely. So, for now you could do much the same with your pot in the freezer? Or just do as you've suggested, chill it in the freezer and then syphon it into a sanitary cube (BTW, yes, hot water is OK, don't forget the lid and seal too! I often do...), but I'd chill it a bit further so the hose can handle it.

It sounds like you only have access to the stove/ kitchen/ whatever for a short while, in which case, NC is probably the best way to go, but to do that in the long run you'd be better off with the silicon tubing and if you can fit a tap to the pot it would be easy as, but this may not be an option so syphoning would be the way to go.
If your pot was smaller I'd even suggest just pouring it into a NC cube while hot (with a funnel and sieve), but this is only likely to work safely with a smaller pot. I did this for ages with a 20 litre stockpot and found that HSA, at homebrewing scales, is just a load of old rot...

Hope it works out for you! :beer:

 

[Thunus]

[quote name='O'Henry' post='538807' date='Oct 18 2009, 11:07 PM']I have read through bits of this thread over the past few months, but really it is just too long. My question didnt really warrant another thread, so I figured I could put it here.

I am planning to BIAB (ish) tomorrow put have no tap on the boiler (50l saucepan). I will be no chilling. What is the best way to get it out of the boiler and into the cube? I have 2m of tubing I use for racking that I got at a LHBS. I am unsure of what else to do/use.
I thought maybe I could sterilise the cube with boiling water (of which I have plenty to fill it) and then just chill the wort in the boiler, down to about 60/70C, in an industrial freezer (also close at hand) and then syphon it out.

Any advice?[/quote]

Here are some shots of my pot, I have used 1/2 inch brass all thread and 2 flanged nuts, cut up some of the wifes tupaware to make washers. Others I know have cut washers from leather gloves which has worked as well. Inside is a brass 1/2 inch compression fitting and some flexible brass tube. I have fitted a stainles tap but a brass one would have been fine. I then use silicon hose to fill my cubes no chill. All of the parts will be available from your local plumbing shop.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

could[/i] be a problem... ergo the test

TB

 

[nikgr]

I found a source for material in my country and I took photos of a sample do you think is this good for Biab?
photos
photos2
photos3
photos4
I believe it is nylon or polyester and it is a very fine mesh cloth in some pictures are more magnified than looking by eye

 

[katzke]

I found a source for material in my country and I took photos of a sample do you think is this good for Biab?

It looks about right. Cannot say for sure with out a reference. Post a picture with a ruler so we can see what the mesh looks like. Then we can say for sure.

 

[stevewahb]

Hi All,

Tomorrow I will brew my first AG (Scottish Ale 70) using BIAB as my method of choice, ever since reading a little article about it in BYO magazine earlier this year and reading most of the posts on the web site since with great interest. If it were not for BIAB I would probably still be Extract focused.

Will report back in the coming days on my experience.

Regards,

texasranger

 

[Macca17]

Been procrastinating long enough, so will be doing my first AG this week, as soon as I get the last of
my ingredients from Ross Hopefully haven't left it too long for an nice German Bock for Chrissy.

 

[argon]

Opened the first bottle tonight from my first biab I posted here a little while back... Good lord am I happy with myself right now.

Honestly, best beer ever! Now to plan the next one. Anyone thinking of ag biab, get into straight away... No regrets. Got the bag sewn up now by mum, who did a great job. Column shaped with elastic drawstring and 8 tabs for lifting wet grain. Also got my SS pulleys and cleats for the new rig made from some steel shelving from bunnings ( will have to post pics soon of the new rig )

 

[Hashie]

Well done argon, there will be no looking back for you now!

 

[mrcmatt]

Thanks for putting all this great information in one place. I used the black ale spreadsheet to make my own. I posted it here http://brewlogblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/br...-checklist.html on my brew blog: http://brewlogblog.blogspot.com/

thanks again

 

[Elbow]

Just got back from Spills and TB's demo at Grain and Grape this morning. Really good demo, I think around 10 showed up. I reckon myself and 9 others will be jumping right into BIAB after Spills and TB's excellent demo. I had no idea all grain could be that simple.

Got my Swiss Voil from Spotlight. Burner and 50 litre pot in the next few weeks and i'm away!

 

[fcmcg]

Just got back from Spills and TB's demo at Grain and Grape this morning. Really good demo, I think around 10 showed up. I reckon myself and 9 others will be jumping right into BIAB after Spills and TB's excellent demo. I had no idea all grain could be that simple.

Got my Swiss Voil from Spotlight. Burner and 50 litre pot in the next few weeks and i'm away!

Elbow...i was there too...which bloke were you ?
Ferg

 

[Elbow]

Elbow...i was there too...which bloke were you ?
Ferg

The guy with the blue and red top who had to leave just before the end. What time did it end up finishing up?

 

[stevewahb]

Opened the first bottle tonight from my first biab I posted here a little while back... Good lord am I happy with myself right now.

Honestly, best beer ever! Now to plan the next one. Anyone thinking of ag biab, get into straight away... No regrets. Got the bag sewn up now by mum, who did a great job. Column shaped with elastic drawstring and 8 tabs for lifting wet grain. Also got my SS pulleys and cleats for the new rig made from some steel shelving from bunnings ( will have to post pics soon of the new rig )

Hi Argon,

Great to see that you are very happy with your first BIAB. I am a few weeks behind you, given I only brewed up last weekend. A few questions for you (& wide community), if you don't mind?

1/ Did you No-Chill ?
2/ Did you get a significant about of suspended material?

While a considerable amount has already fallen out (Brew: Scottish ale 70) during the first week of fermentation, I can only guess that it will take a considerable period to fully clear.

3/ If so, how long did your beer take to clear?

Just interested more than anything at this point in time in your answers to see if what I am seeing is in line with others BIAB experience?