Basic BIAB. Hit me with ideas

[Dan Dan]

So I've finally got all my gear together to start BIAB. Now I just need a nice easy recipe to brew up for my inaugural batch. Something along the lines of a nice hoppy pale ale would do nicely, something that is forgiving enough for the first timer. Anyone got a nice easy recipe that they stand by? I haven't bought ingredients yet, I'll do that when I'm down in the big smoke next week, so fire away!!

 

[HBHB]

Maybe head straight to a beer with a wide appeal. Smurto's golden alewould be a good starter within your criteria. That said, the database is full of excellent recipes. Screwy's red ale etc.

No going back now. All grain gives you a world of flavours to delve into.

Martin

 

[Dan Dan]

Ha ha, I was just checking out Dr Smurtos golden ale!

 

[slcmorro]

I chose a Galaxy Pale Ale for my first AG. I'm kegging it tomorrow.

The recipe is;

3.5kg Pilsner
850gm Vienna
666gm of Munich 1
(Didn't have enough Munich1, so I used Vienna to compensate. Would normally be 1.5kg Vienna)
20gm Galaxy @60
10gm Galaxy @30
10gm Galaxy @10
10gm Galaxy @0

25L batch, with my efficiency at 64%, I ended up with an OG of 1040 and it finished at 1004.

 

[Pickaxe]

**** me, how long you gotta wait for that to be drinkable? Never used galaxy that early.

 

[Pickaxe]

My 2c, either try an ah version of something you like and have brewed, to learn the difference ag offers, it a tried and true recipe. And smurtos golden is well tested. But, theres enough recipes, what do you want to drink?

 

[real_beer]

A great place to start: http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/11694-a-guide-to-all-grain-brewing-in-a-bag/

 

[Bizier]

Do a simple base malt + 5% crystal, with a basic Cascade-only hop schedule.
This will show you what you can't do with extract.
I had some Sierra Nevada pale the other night, makes me think back to simpler times (what 6 months ago?) when it was a fabled drop from traveller stories, when it is fresh, it demonstrates how good the hop is.

 

[Lecterfan]

**** me, how long you gotta wait for that to be drinkable? Never used galaxy that early.

Goodness.

 

[Donske]

Do a simple base malt + 5% crystal, with a basic Cascade-only hop schedule.
This will show you what you can't do with extract.
I had some Sierra Nevada pale the other night, makes me think back to simpler times (what 6 months ago?) when it was a fabled drop from traveller stories, when it is fresh, it demonstrates how good the hop is.

Cascade is delicious, one of my favourite beers at the moment is a Cascae/Marris Otter SMaSH at about 4.5% fermented with US-05, such a great beer for the warm weather we've been getting lately.

 

[joshF]

Donske, you beat me to it! Maris Otter & Nelson SMaSH is bloody awesome, and just as good with cascade!

DanDan, don't get too caught up in the whole base malt, 4 specialty malts, 3 crystal malts thing just yet. There's a tonne of people out there who can vouch for the awesomeness of a SMaSH (single malt, single hop) brew and for a first time BIABer you'll still get the experience from doing an all-grain but with a bit more simplicity, plus save a few quid by only buying 1 type of hops (you're freezer will be full of various types of the shit in a few months, you just watch )

Good luck!

 

[lael]

how long you gotta wait for that to be drinkable? Never used galaxy that early.

OT: Does Galaxy leave some funk if used early as a bittering hop?

 

[lael]

I did the classic dsga for my first ag... And was not disappointed

 

[fletcher]

in all honesty, and I appreciate how people say do dr smurtos, but it has a fair few different grains. nothing against it as I made it and it was fantastic; but for learning about hops/grains and for new brewers, i feel the simplest pale ale recipe you'll find is along the lines of:

~94% - ale malt
~6% - crystal 60
mash at about 65
whatever hop you want (cascade is great) at ~30-40 IBU
20ish IBU at 60
5ish IBU at 20
5ish IBU at 5 to flame out
dry hop if you want

us-05 at 18C ferment

it'll give you a great idea on the malt flavour and how cascade works with it. then experiment bit by bit with larger grain bills and different hops. when you add 4+ grains to your bill, you will hardly be able to tell the differences in flavour and what each brings to the brew.

edit: spelling (also beaten by others about a simple recipe)

 

[Don Runk]

I started with a Marris otter SMASH w/Galaxy. But i was disheartened when i tasted it and it took me another 3 months before i tried AG again.

Turns out i just dont like Marris Otter that much because the next one i tried was a basic 95%ale %5Crystal w/galaxy and THEN i was converted holy crap the difference! haven't used a kit since and dont intend on.

So i'd say do a simple grain bill first time around. But if you can go Smurto you wont be disappointed.

 

[kevo]

My first AG (BIAB) was an ordinary bitter.

Low gravity, simple grain bill, single hop, finishes fermentation quite quickly so you can be tasting results pretty soon - simple, simple, simple.

Keep it simple is my advice.

Hope the brew goes well! :icon_cheers:

 

[mosto]

As a L plate BIABer myself (4 brews), I'd suggest going with a simple recipe of a beer your familiar with. In my kit days I came up with a Aussie Pale Ale recipe using Coopers Aussie Pale, Galaxy, Carapils and Coopers yeast which I was really happy with. When I moved to extract, the first brew I did was an extract version of this recipe so I could gauge the difference. Subsequently, my first BIAB was an AG version of the same recipe for the same reasons. Second brew was same recipe again, slightly tweaked. Third brew was a Citra/Amarillo Pale Ale based on a beer I'd tried at a small Sydney brew pub one night when I was lucky enough to have a chat to the brewer and get a rough idea of the recipe. For my fourth, I've done a Marris Otter / Centennial SMaSH to about 33 IBU. No idea how this will turn out but I did this one as I've never used Marris Otter or Centennial and hope it will give me a feel for the two.

So basically, I'd recommend a beer your familiar with so you've got a reference point, and a relatively simple grain bill / hop schedule. If your expereince is similar to mine, you'll spend the first few brews getting to know your system as far as efficiency and volumes go. I was all over the shop on the first three brews, but got closer to hitting my numbers on the SMaSH brew so I'm getting to know my system...slowly.

 

[fletcher]

For my fourth, I've done a Marris Otter / Centennial SMaSH to about 33 IBU. No idea how this will turn out but I did this one as I've never used Marris Otter or Centennial and hope it will give me a feel for the two.

it'll come out fantastic mate. it's a lovely smash that one.

 

[Don Runk]

Sorry i should have stated i was in the minority with my MO smash. Everyone else (about 6 people who tried it) loved it. It's a very popular smash malt that the majority love I'm sure you'll love it too.

Don't know what it is about MO is just not for me.

 

[mosto]

it'll come out fantastic mate. it's a lovely smash that one.

Cheers fletch, I've got reasonably high hopes for it, but have read that Centennial can be a bit rough when used for bittering.