Biab - Bigger Kettle, New Technique, Beersmith?

[Acasta]

I've done the manual method like this:
FV = 23L
+boil off = 4.5L (10% for 90 min)
+Kettle trub = 2L
+liquor held by grain = 5L

Boil volume = 34.5
Are there any losses im not taking into account?

I'd like to see the beersmith setup when you have time Flash.

 

[Nick JD]

I've done the manual method like this:
FV = 23L
+boil off = 4.5L (10% for 90 min)
+Kettle trub = 2L
+liquor held by grain = 5L

Boil volume = 34.5
Are there any losses im not taking into account?

I'd like to see the beersmith setup when you have time Flash.

What's your mash volume?

 

[tavas]

Oops I missed cold break, if you're that way inclined.

Screwy had a post on here about setting up Beersmith. There's a trick to setting one of the losses to 0. There is also a BIAB mash profile on here too. I don't have my personal computer with me so I can't send it. Google is your friend on that one.

 

[Acasta]

What's your mash volume?

My bad, thats my mash volume.
Boil volume would then be 29.5L.
So maybe ill mash 26.5L then sparge 8L

 

[mxd]

for me a single batch 21-23ltr 5-6kg of grain, I was about 34ltrs in the urn and lest about 2-3ltrs in trub

 

[Flash_DG]

I've done the manual method like this:
FV = 23L
+boil off = 4.5L (10% for 90 min)
+Kettle trub = 2L
+liquor held by grain = 5L
Boil volume = 34.5
Are there any losses im not taking into account?
I'd like to see the beersmith setup when you have time Flash.

Ok this what my BS setup looks like

so I want to end up with 37L preboil and post boil of 29L (I don't have a tap on my pot yet so I siphon the Hot wort in to my fermenter which leaves behind alot more then a tap would) so about 24L into my fermenter after chilling
Grain bill determines pre-mash vols of course.
The mash profile I pretty much ignore it in BS.
I hope this helps as it took me a bit of messing around to get it all worked out for my equipment.

 

[PistolPatch]

There is a spreadsheet on this site somewhere that does all the math for you

Search for BIAB_Equipment_Set_Up_Volumes.xls

Hi there Acasta,

The above spreadsheet has now been turned into "The Calculator" and includes formulas for not only volume calcs but your grain and hop bill as well. The spreadsheet can be found here.

You will have to register on the site to download it. The main reason for doing this is to make sure that everyone stays up to date with the latest version. (For example there are many versions of the Set_UP_volumes sheet floating around - even I couldn't tell you where to find the latest version on AHB ).

For the reasons why BIAB is a very efficient method, see this post here

Cheers and good luck,
Pat

 

[felten]

The calculator is fantastic, I use the one posted [post="612969"]here[/post] basically the same but you enter the grain weight instead of the OG.

 

[PistolPatch]

Oh no Felten, I can't believe you have linked that one. I wrote that months ago!!!

That one has only one sheet and addresses only volume and total grain bill. The latest one has four sheets that deal with grain bill breakdown, hop bill/breakdown and efficiency breakdown.

Please don't spread the above any more than you have!

Pat

(P.S. Glad to hear that that version served you well though .)

 

[Screwtop]

I've done the manual method like this:
FV = 23L
+boil off = 4.5L (10% for 90 min)
+Kettle trub = 2L
+liquor held by grain = 5L

Boil volume = 34.5
Are there any losses im not taking into account?

I'd like to see the beersmith setup when you have time Flash.

I don't understand why you take :

+liquor held by grain = 5L

this into account when calculating your Pre Boil Volume.

Screwy

 

[Bribie G]

I don't understand why you take : this into account when calculating your Pre Boil Volume.

Screwy

yes, the liquor held in the grain was removed from the equation before calculating the pre boil volume. So acasta is trying to work backwards, fine, but what he has come up with is the pre mash volume, not the pre boil volume as such.

 

[Acasta]

My bad, thats my mash volume.
Boil volume would then be 29.5L.

I don't understand why you take : this into account when calculating your Pre Boil Volume.

Screwy

One step ahead of ya mate :icon_cheers:

 

[Bribie G]

my brain hurts :blink:

Hey Acasta I'm doing a brew today, only a 40L pot but I'll do some accurate measurements and post what I did to get a 23L cube with around a 5.5k grain bill and a 60 min boil. I'll even weigh the baggie on the scales afterwards and we'll see what liquor it took out :icon_cheers:

 

[Screwtop]

One step ahead of ya mate :icon_cheers:

My bad, missed your post :lol:

 

[katzke]

my brain hurts :blink:

Hey Acasta I'm doing a brew today, only a 40L pot but I'll do some accurate measurements and post what I did to get a 23L cube with around a 5.5k grain bill and a 60 min boil. I'll even weigh the baggie on the scales afterwards and we'll see what liquor it took out :icon_cheers:

That will not tell you much. Remember we take out sugar and other stuff from the grain to make beer. Now if you weighed the wet grain then dried it to the same moisture it was before you started to brew then you would get a better idea of how much water it held after mashing.

Way too much work. Better to just stick with the formulas that have been worked out.

 

[Bribie G]

That will not tell you much. Remember we take out sugar and other stuff from the grain to make beer. Now if you weighed the wet grain then dried it to the same moisture it was before you started to brew then you would get a better idea of how much water it held after mashing.

Way too much work. Better to just stick with the formulas that have been worked out.

Duh. .... yes should of thought of that - as the best-case illustration if I do a cereal mash with kilo of maize then although that kilo counts towards the grain bill, by the time it's been cooked, mashed etc there is only a small amount of that kilo in the remaining spent grains. So I'll just post what the initial strike volume was and what I ended up with just as a 'ballpark' thing to check the calculator.

 

[felten]

My bad PP, I should have checked it over more thoroughly

 

[PistolPatch]

No probs at all felten. That spreadsheet still works okay for volumes - just lacks some other features which can be handy.


Pat

 

[Acasta]

Update:
I did a run today, using my new 50L pot. Recipe below, I used about 34L pre-mash, then mashed for 90min at about 65deg, after the 90min i hung the bag up and started boiling. Doing a 90min boil and ended up with 19.5L of 1.052 in the fermenter. I'm a little annoyed about the low efficiency as i was planning on a strong IPA, but ended up with a standard ale haha.
Any ideas on what went wrong?

Im thinking i should have sparged, and i may have had about 23L but lost a fair bit messing around with cooling and transferring and trub.
Thanks.



RRecipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 19.00 L
Boil Size: 24.49 L
Estimated OG: 1.067 SG
Estimated Color: 23.5 EBC
Estimated IBU: 66.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.00 kg Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe White) (5Grain 69.0 %
1.40 kg Munich I (Weyermann) (14.0 EBC) Grain 24.1 %
0.40 kg Caramunich II (Weyermann) (124.1 EBC) Grain 6.9 %
25.00 gm Galaxy [14.00%] (60 min) Hops 41.6 IBU
10.00 gm Galaxy [14.00%] (20 min) Hops 10.1 IBU
20.00 gm Cascade [5.40%] (20 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
30.00 gm Cascade [5.40%] (10 min) Hops 7.0 IBU
20.00 gm Cascade [5.40%] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafAle US-05 (Fermetis #US-05) Yeast-Ale

 

[PistolPatch]

Hi there Acasta,

The problem is with your batch size - your efficiency was actually fine. Batch size can be really confusing with many programs. You have based your batch size on fermenter volume whereas your software was working on end of boil volume. Next time, set your batch size to how much you want in the kettle at the end of the boil. For example, if you want 19.5lts in your fermenter, try setting your batch size to say 23.5lts. Remember, your OG doesn't change after the end of the boil.

Take a few measurements during the brewing process for your first 5 or ten brews. After doing this, you'll see they can be a bit all over the place but you'll get some good averages to work from and get better as you go along.

So, nothing you have done wrong except on the batch size. You should still get a very tasty beer.

Congratulations and :icon_cheers: ,
Pat