Barley Belly's Maiden Biab Brew Day

[Barley Belly]

After 26 2V/3V AG brews under my belt I decided to take the step up to BIAB and I have the pictures to prove it.

WARNING:- There are heaps of pictures

Here is a brew log and some pictures of my cherry poppin maiden Biab brew day for your pleasure/critique (feel free to comment on any improvements I can make or mistakes I might of made):-

12.45PM Fill to 32ltr 26 degrees celcius water, urn temp control 110c, 2400w handheld in, lid on
12.55PM Water 50C
1.05PM Water 70C
1.10PM False bottom in, bag in, grain in, quick stir, temp 68C, too high, added 1l water, mash 5/10 mins

1.20PM Mash 66c, foil on foam on, lid on for 60 minute mash

2.25PM Heat on, lid off, stir mash until 76c

2.40PM Mash 76c, lid on for 10 minutes

2.50PM Heat on, raise bag and give gentle twist/squeeze

CONTINUED.....

 

[Barley Belly]

2.55PM Bag out and into sparge bucket, false bottom out, 2400w element in

3.00PM Sparge grain in bag with 2 litres 76c water, collect and add to wort, squeeze bag, collect and add to wort

3.10PM Rolling boil, element out to stop boilover

 

[Barley Belly]

3.30PM 40min hops

4.00PM 10min 1/2 whirlfloc
4.05PM 5min hops
4.10PM Flame out, hop bag out, whirlpool, lid on for 20 minutes

4.25PM 0min hops in hop bag
4.30PM Drain to cube and cleanup (ended up with about 2.5 litres trub, will try 1 litre initial volume less next time)

All in all a good day for my cherry popper

 

[beerbog]

Nice log and pictures. Well done. :beerbang:

 

[TSMill]

Nice pics, not sure I would have that much faith in a glass table though.

 

[Bribie G]

Love your work.

• how much was that over the side element and where from? I take it you run that off different circuit to the urn
• as mentioned in the other thread would your SS man be willing to make me / others a false bottom as well - I'll supply postpack?
• what diameter silicone hose and how did you get it onto the tap (brute force I presume :lol: )
• post picture of your biceps

B)

Edit, yes going on the level of the wort on boiling I'd say you definitely were a bit too high - I'd try initial volume of 33 L for an eventual "normal" 23L into the fermenter and a typical grain bill of around 5k and mark that on your site tube for future ref. You can always adjust with boiling water if needed later on, or put in an extra litre at the beginning if you are doing a bigger grain bill, which is better than too much water initially and then wasting wort at the end of the process (with probably a weaker beer to boot). Pretty soon after a few brews you'll be able to just eye the level and say "yup that's right".

 

[ashley_leask]

Love your work.

• how much was that over the side element and where from? I take it you run that off different circuit to the urn
• as mentioned in the other thread would your SS man be willing to make me / others a false bottom as well - I'll supply postpack?
• what diameter silicone hose and how did you get it onto the tap (brute force I presume :lol: )
• post picture of your biceps

B)

Edit, yes going on the level of the wort on boiling I'd say you definitely were a bit too high - I'd try initial volume of 33 L for an eventual "normal" 23L into the fermenter and a typical grain bill of around 5k and mark that on your site tube for future ref. You can always adjust with boiling water if needed later on, or put in an extra litre at the beginning if you are doing a bigger grain bill, which is better than too much water initially and then wasting wort at the end of the process (with probably a weaker beer to boot). Pretty soon after a few brews you'll be able to just eye the level and say "yup that's right".

Looks great, hope my first one goes as well.

Tell me about that lagging round the urn? Looking into what to use around my new Crown.

Cheers,

Ash

 

[Barley Belly]

Nice pics, not sure I would have that much faith in a glass table though.

Wasn't so sure myself. But it's right over the legs and the board spreads the load and no heat actually gets through.

Fingers crossed it holds up.

I have a BBQ I used top do 3V on but it is a bit high. I don't want to build something specifically for the purpose as simplicity was one of the main reasons I went to BIAB.

 

[Barley Belly]

• how much was that over the side element and where from? I take it you run that off different circuit to the urn

The over the side element is a Grimwood 4108B 2400w 240volt. I picked it up at a local electrical wholesaler called Davis & Spence for $99. I was planning on running it on a separate circuit but as luck would have it I have a outdoor double power point right behind the table I'm using and while testing my urn plugged both the urn in and the element without tripping the circuit breaker. Worked perfect the first brew but last night tripped while boiling the kettle in the kitchen for the sparge water. I guess he kettle is on the same circuit. Reset and kettle off no probs. As you can see it gets the boil really motoring along.

• as mentioned in the other thread would your SS man be willing to make me / others a false bottom as well - I'll supply postpack?

Replied in other thread.

• what diameter silicone hose and how did you get it onto the tap (brute force I presume :lol: )
• post picture of your biceps

Standard 1/2inch heavy duty silicone from Ross. Was a bit of a struggle to get on the first time but even harder to get off. Had to put a cut in it and prise it off with a screwdriver. The second time (now with a cut) went on easier also with a bit of keg lube to try and stop it sticking. Had trouble initially getting it to stay on as the lube was making it slide off. Finally got it to stay but still had trouble getting it off, not as much as the first, but still more than I'd like. I am planning a weldess bulkhead and 3 piece ball valve in the future, so hopefully it will fix the problem.

PM's my biceps pic :unsure:

Edit, yes going on the level of the wort on boiling I'd say you definitely were a bit too high - I'd try initial volume of 33 L for an eventual "normal" 23L into the fermenter and a typical grain bill of around 5k and mark that on your site tube for future ref. You can always adjust with boiling water if needed later on, or put in an extra litre at the beginning if you are doing a bigger grain bill, which is better than too much water initially and then wasting wort at the end of the process (with probably a weaker beer to boot). Pretty soon after a few brews you'll be able to just eye the level and say "yup that's right".

Wasn't sure exactly how much water so I picked a happy medium between your guide and my old 3V volumes. Changed it down for the next one and the volume/trub was a little more where I'd like it. Can't mark my site tube as decided it wouldn't be a great use eventually and would just turn out to be a pain in the arse to clean, so I siliconed it up.



While I have you Bribie, if I could trouble you for a bit of advice.
I'm using, I think, the same hop bag as you (the one from Ross), and I'm not to sure my old 3V hop measurements are still any good. After being used to just chucking the hops straight into the wort doing 3V, the bag seems VERY restrictive and the aroma that used to come off the 3V wort was far greater than the BIAB with the bagged hops. You know how you pick the bag up and the water drains very slowly, so the water wouldn't be freely getting all the flavours and aromas. I'm thinking the hop flavour and aroma isn't going be as intense???

What are some of your experiences with this???

I'm thinking of going either one of two ways, with the second being the more likely.

1) Up my amount of hops to compensate

2) Make up a pickup to fit in the original tap to suit my Beerbelly hopscreen (was going to do anyway when I got my weldless bulkhead) and just chuck the hops in as per my old 3V way and let the screen take care of them

I just think hopping with the same quantities as my old method will leave my beers under bittered,flavoured and less aroma????

I No Chill and hop to around 19IBU (Beersmith) with a 40 minute addition with a 5 min addition of a couple of IBU (Beersmith) and them throw the aroma hops in the wort 5 mins before draining to the cube. It has worked fine so far and suits my taste.


Any ideas???

 

[Bribie G]

thanks for the advice

I've stopped using the hopsock for the same reason that the hops are a bit restricted. What I now use is the 2ftx2ft bag from Craftbrewer, I just peg it around the lip of the urn and the hops swim around in it (a bit like a shark proof enclosure at the beach)

Also with no chill, I have started cube hopping, just put the last hop addition (pellets) straight in the cube and it works great with Cascade, Styrians etc.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Nice - good picks and nice process. You could maybe save yourself a tiny bit of time by whacking your elements in/on as soon as you lift your bag. No need to wait till its drained or removed. Heat on as soon as the bag is in the air.

Apart from that - the only thing i can suggest is that one day you give it a try without the sparge step and see if you actually need it (not saying you dont, just that its a step that you might be able to delete for extra simplicity)

How did you find the brewing process as compared to 2V/3V?? - there aren't too many brewers out there who have changed from multi vessel to BIAB so I'm pretty interested in your thoughts on it.

TB

 

[BobtheBrewer]

thanks for the advice

I've stopped using the hopsock for the same reason that the hops are a bit restricted. What I now use is the 2ftx2ft bag from Craftbrewer, I just peg it around the lip of the urn and the hops swim around in it (a bit like a shark proof enclosure at the beach)

Also with no chill, I have started cube hopping, just put the last hop addition (pellets) straight in the cube and it works great with Cascade, Styrians etc.

+1 on the hopsock. I have started using a smaller version of the mashing bag, made out of voile, for my hops. Drains a lot quicker and swirls around during the boil a lot more.
Bob

 

[Barley Belly]

Looks great, hope my first one goes as well.

Tell me about that lagging round the urn? Looking into what to use around my new Crown.

Cheers,

Ash

Sorry Ash,

The lagging is a cheap gym mat lashed on with tie down. It's around 20mm thick.
I found a 4 foot by 4 foot piece at a pawnbroker for $5
Bargain

 

[outbreak]

Each time I see BIAB in an urn I think I am going to have to go down that track! Nice work!

 

[katzke]

I think we need a new term. Spiab

I am a traditional Biaber and do not get why some think they should sparge.

Sure if you are doing the stovetop with a small pot and need to get extra wort to fill that small pot after pulling the bag.

For the cost of an urn you can get a nice burner and a big old pot. Not to mention a few extras.

Not saying what you are doing is wrong.

 

[bcp]

Nice to see someone bring a sense of bling to BIAB!

 

[Bribie G]

On Aussie day I brewed Manticle's Youngs London Special Ale style. The grain bill is quite hefty and one of the constraints of BIAB in a 40L urn is that efficiency can suffer as the grain bill gets too much above "regular" gravity beers. I normally do a mashout and was planning a sparge in a bucket as well.
However I'd painted myself into a corner as I ended up doing a "live log" for Jims Beer kit to settle a question about how quickly you can do a full volume BIAB, so I had to be snappy. So I omitted the mashout and the sparge and went for an hour mash, hour boil and give the bag a really good squeeze as the wort was heating to the boil. Next day when I was ready to pitch, I'd hit a very respectable OG (1060) which was a tad higher than the recipe had been predicted by beersmith at my usual 75% efficiency. So I double checked the quantities, boil times etc, massaged the figures till I got 1060 and ended up scoring a nifty 80% on this occasion.

So for the extra faffing around and considering that I normally go for around 1050 to 1055 I'll just keep it plain and simple from now on and see no personal advantage in sparging, although mashout is in the faffin' department but not a time issue as the element is only off for the minute or so of pumping at mashout.

Edit: from starting to heat the strike liquor to finishing the cubing, 4 hours and 5 minutes.

 

[bcp]

One of my objectives this year is to bring elegance and simplicity to my brew day. Everything should fit, flow and work neatly. And there can be no freaking elegance in wrapping a doona around my urn. What did you use to make the perfectly tailored 'grunt' bag? How do you get it off for cleaning?

 

[Barley Belly]

Well after two brews on my Biab rig I decided some changes needed to be made. I wasn't happy with the hops being restricted in the hop bag I was using during the boil. So, I attacked my old 3V rig and stole the Beerbelly Break/Hop screen from the kettle.

The hole in the original tap was to small for the custom 1/2" staino pick up tube, so I decided now was a good enough time to upgrade the tap to a 3 piece stainless steel ball valve. I also ordered camlock fittings as well but they are 2-3 weeks away. A hose barb will do for now.

As you can see the break/hop screen sits nicely under my false bottom.

I also found some velco cable tidies which I attached to the tie downs to hold the electrical cable.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure :love:

 

[Bribie G]

Awesome, gotta get one.
Now, how did you remove the urn tap and with what degree of difficulty?

That's the thing that has always deterred me from attempting to fit a ball lock.