Attempt At My First Biab

[bruce86]

Ok so i took the plunge today and had a go at biab using a worked down recipie from brewing classic styles the wittbeer one. i mashed away (temp dropped a fair bit like 10deg ) but i went ahead and squezzed and poured the water over the bag and added back to the pot. Now here is the big prob the hydrometer doesnt float so i take it i have completely messed something up.

The recipie was scaled down with brew mate.

What happened:
crushed all the grain and wheat flakes and oats to a flour.

The recipie needed a 2 step mash so i got the water to 54 deg and mashed for 15 mins then raised to 67deg and mashed for 50mins

mash in 258pm Mash out 414pm at temp 56deg.

now im stuck since i cant get a reading does this mean the mash was a complete mess up lol.


cheers in advance for any help. and if i have made a real obvious mess up please be gentle lol

 

[bruce86]

hahahah ********. anyway i managed a reading just stressed out only it is 1035. i was aiming for 1049 so same question applies lol where did i go wrong

 

[iralosavic]

hahahah ********. anyway i managed a reading just stressed out only it is 1035. i was aiming for 1049 so same question applies lol where did i go wrong

What temperature was the wort when you took the SG reading? Have you calibrated the hydrometer (noted the SG of pure water and applied any disparity to future readings)?

 

[bruce86]

What temperature was the wort when you took the SG reading? Have you calibrated the hydrometer (noted the SG of pure water and applied any disparity to future readings)?

it was 46 deg and i used the beer math calc on nicks thread and it only made the diff of 1 point. 1036 became 1035. took me a while to squeeze with all the wheat. i tok a reading of my tap water to check my hydrometer and it read 1000

 

[cam89brewer]

What reading does the hydrometer actually have for one?? or is it just 1.000?
There are 2 Major targets temperatures you want to achieve:
The Sacchrification temp of approx 66 C and mash out as you said but you are aiming at a temp around 75C, these are crucial in the starch conversion process and could be the reason why you aren't detecting and dissolved solids in your hydrometer test. Also there is no need to crush your grains to a flour and could also cause other problems along the way, all you need to achieve is the outer shell of the grain to be cracked to expose the starch inside...

 

[iralosavic]

it was 46 deg and i used the beer math calc on nicks thread and it only made the diff of 1 point. 1036 became 1035. took me a while to squeeze with all the wheat. i tok a reading of my tap water to check my hydrometer and it read 1000

The temperature compensation calculator on the "brew calcs" link above stops working at 40c and even at 40c, you should add 6.8c to the given reading. At 46, the accuracy will be further affected and you may be looking at close to 10 points higher than your reading, getting your wort up to 1045ish. I'd suggest taking a reading at room temperature (20c) if you haven't already added yeast and see what it reads. You may be a few points lower than your target (could be you have a method/system that is less efficient than the assumed efficiency of the recipe), but not too far out.

 

[bruce86]

What reading does the hydrometer actually have for one?? or is it just 1.000?
There are 2 Major targets temperatures you want to achieve:
The Sacchrification temp of approx 66 C and mash out as you said but you are aiming at a temp around 75C, these are crucial in the starch conversion process and could be the reason why you aren't detecting and dissolved solids in your hydrometer test. Also there is no need to crush your grains to a flour and could also cause other problems along the way, all you need to achieve is the outer shell of the grain to be cracked to expose the starch inside...

My hydrometer when reading water is 1000 thats what it has on it if that is what you mean :blink: so i needed the mash temp to be higher. i got those temps from the book <_< . yeah going to flour made the bag hold the wort pretty well prob the reason it took so long for me to drain

 

[bruce86]

The temperature compensation calculator on the "brew calcs" link above stops working at 40c and even at 40c, you should add 6.8c to the given reading. At 46, the accuracy will be further affected and you may be looking at close to 10 points higher than your reading, getting your wort up to 1045ish. I'd suggest taking a reading at room temperature (20c) if you haven't already added yeast and see what it reads. You may be a few points lower than your target (could be you have a method/system that is less efficient than the assumed efficiency of the recipe), but not too far out.

This is the reading pre boil so i havent added yeast im following nicks thread pretty closely process wise

 

[cam89brewer]

If you haven't made any hop additions yet and are still to boil maybe the best option this time would be to boil for an hour or so first to increase the strength a little bit.?. thats if your not happy with a light to mid strength beer

 

[bruce86]

If you haven't made any hop additions yet and are still to boil maybe the best option this time would be to boil for an hour or so first to increase the strength a little bit.?. thats if your not happy with a light to mid strength beer

Ok i just chucked it on the stove to get the boil happening i may just leave it low then im not too worried about the alcohol content just hoping it tastes good lol

 

[manticle]

Is 1035 the preboil SG or post boil? Is 1049 the intended preboil or post boil?

There's no way 46 degrees is only one point of difference compared to 20 degrees. Using this calculator http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator...r.html?14428082 I get 1.043.

What does this mean?

mash in 258pm Mash out 414pm at temp 56deg

The Sacchrification temp of approx 66 C

Saccharification temp of approx 60-70 degrees depending on the beer profile you want and the attenuation you are trying to push.

 

[cam89brewer]

Compared to kits and extract I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the finished product and brewing with grain will also give you a lot more freedom when trying to fine tune recipes to your own taste. There is no going back now ... :lol: :beerbang:

 

[seemax]

I would suggest starting with simple single infusion brews so you can get the hang of all grain ... learn the ropes then starting toying with stepped mashes, etc.

In saying that, even after years of brewing I'm still doing basic BIAB single infusion .. no sparge... with good efficiency and low effort... heck, the beer even tastes good!

 

[bruce86]

Compared to kits and extract I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the finished product and brewing with grain will also give you a lot more freedom when trying to fine tune recipes to your own taste. There is no going back now ... :lol: :beerbang:

Nope no going back despite this issue i have had its been a pretty good time messing around today :beer:

 

[bruce86]

I would suggest starting with simple single infusion brews so you can get the hang of all grain ... learn the ropes then starting toying with stepped mashes, etc.

In saying that, even after years of brewing I'm still doing basic BIAB single infusion .. no sparge... with good efficiency and low effort... heck, the beer even tastes good!

will def try something a bit more simple next time good thing i order way more grain than i needed :super:

 

[iralosavic]

1.036 @ 46c = 1.045. That is a fairly high OG for a witbier pre-boil (unless it's a Belgian?). As manticle asked, what is your target post boil OG?

I'm not sure how to make this calculation, but the evaporation during an hour boiling will obviously increase the concentration of fermentables and increase your OG. If I were you, I'd just follow the recipe the rest of the way through and take another SG reading post-boil at some point before adding yeast, preferably closer to 20c.

 

[bruce86]

1.036 @ 46c = 1.045. That is a fairly high OG for a witbier pre-boil (unless it's a Belgian?). As manticle asked, what is your target post boil OG?

I'm not sure how to make this calculation, but the evaporation during an hour boiling will obviously increase the concentration of fermentables and increase your OG. If I were you, I'd just follow the recipe the rest of the way through and take another SG reading post-boil at some point before adding yeast, preferably closer to 20c.

ok will follow it out. the target 0G post boil is 1049. it is a belgian recipie. and sorry manticle i missed it

 

[pyrosx]

This is the reading pre boil so i havent added yeast im following nicks thread pretty closely process wise

As I understand it - NickJD does most of his mashing and boiling at high gravity, and dilutes later...

But you seem to be using a different recipe from a book - designed for normal gravity mashing and boiling.

Quit stressing that your "numbers aren't right" - you can't follow the ones from Nick's thread because you changed the recipe, and you can't follow the one from the book because your method is entirely different.

My first two BIAB batches didn't go entirely to plan - but they made drinkable beers. I wrote down everything that happened, figured out my issues, corrected them - and my 3rd and 4th batches have gone entirely to plan.

 

[iralosavic]

Honestly, based on the temperature compensation calculation, your post boil gravity is going to get very close to your target of 1.049.

You've done the right thing taking a gravity reading pre-boil, as this will come in handy later down the track when you look back and figure out what your efficiency was on your first AG brew and I also agree that you should "relax and have a home brew".

That's a quote I lost count of reading when going through my grandpa's (90 years young and still batting) first home brewing book (from over half a century ago). It's timeless advice - home brewing should be a relaxing, almost theraputic process. Have a home brew!

 

[bruce86]

Honestly, based on the temperature compensation calculation, your post boil gravity is going to get very close to your target of 1.049.

You've done the right thing taking a gravity reading pre-boil, as this will come in handy later down the track when you look back and figure out what your efficiency was on your first AG brew and I also agree that you should "relax and have a home brew".

That's a quote I lost count of reading when going through my grandpa's (90 years young and still batting) first home brewing book (from over half a century ago). It's timeless advice - home brewing should be a relaxing, almost theraputic process. Have a home brew!

Glad i did something right haha. Advice was taken on board 2 home brews down :chug: . and the pot is cooling in an ice bath i have enjoyed the day but will def try something a little simpler next time. It didnt look or smell to flash but to hell with it i had grabbed a dry yeast to throw in it instead of a liquid one so if it works it works if not chalk it up to experince :icon_cheers: