Biab Brewer Register

[Thirsty Boy]

No awards yet I believe K.

But then again ... with maybe one or two exceptions, none of the brewers here have been brewing AG for more than a year or two, hell most are at less than 10 batches.

If they were winning places in state and national comps ... that would say a bit about the more experienced brewers who have been plugging away with the more traditional ways of brewing, who aren't winning.

Hell, I just won my first ever place in a decent sized comp this year, if I need the same level of BIAB experience to win a gong, then its gonna wait another year or two at least before I can contribute an S or an N to this register.

 

[PistolPatch]

And a top pic it is 65b. By the look of that pic, I may well need some advice from you shortly.

Sneaking in a post here...

Katie, Kai, Llloyd, Heather, Harry & Sean are just settling down now K&L's first BIAB's has been put to rest. More later.

Katie & Lloyd have scared me somewhat though. The kit beers they produce are truly outstanding. Kai will certainly back me up on this.

The beers that these guys have shown me tonight and previously have astonished me???

Don't worry 65, even Lloyd already knows that AG is a hell of a lot less risky than kits.

Hopefully I will find their kit secret and incorporate with all-grain

Kai's drinking all my beer outside but Lloyd is right beside me. Any wise words Lloyd???

(Here he goes. Well, at least he and I.))

$%6&#@

I know you can't put that in beer but let's give it a nudge eh?"

 

[PistolPatch]

Pat, Thirsty, the boys over on the green board are debating BIAB on THIS thread. Go get em

cheers

Browndog

Missed your post BD. Thanks for the heads up old mate. ThirstyBoy has written his usual very intelligent and readable reply to your link. (I love ThirstyBoy posts!)

Guess what? I have just woken up to find Katie in my bed!!!

Unfortunately Lloyd is right beside her and I actually did wake up on my couch : (Just goes to show that all brewing systems involve one compromise or another )

Only Katie has internet access and she'll only have it tomorrow so we'll have to wait until then for a proper BIAB register update.

How'd your day go 65b? All OK?

Spot ya ron,
Pat

P.S. I'm going to do a post within the next week on dried US-56 yeast (sometimes packaged as American Ale yeast.) If anyone has had any problems with this yeast please PM or email me. Several of us have found this yeast has changed over the last year. Recipes I have used in the BIAB guide or recommended in the main thread totally rely on 56 hence my concern. The more info we have before I post though, the better.

P.P.S. If anyone has been wondering where FNQBunyip is, he has just moved house but he should get internet back on next week. He's one of the several who has recently had a 56 prob.

Time to go back to bed couch...

 

[amita]

No awards yet I believe K.

But then again ... with maybe one or two exceptions, none of the brewers here have been brewing AG for more than a year or two, hell most are at less than 10 batches.

If they were winning places in state and national comps ... that would say a bit about the more experienced brewers who have been plugging away with the more traditional ways of brewing, who aren't winning.

Hell, I just won my first ever place in a decent sized comp this year, if I need the same level of BIAB experience to win a gong, then its gonna wait another year or two at least before I can contribute an S or an N to this register.

Gday, I was wondering if recipe developement is not a contributing factot to brewing a winning beer rather than the way it has been brewed?
I know PP has done sone side by side brewing and no difference was detected.
Im a right in thinking this?

cheers Amita ,still feeling very exited about BIAB, THE WAY TO GO!!

 

[Katherine]

Pistol Patch............. 36..............Yes............................ 944lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 42..............Yes.......................... 1067lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 36 ............Yes!.......................... 510lt Mixed methods.
Hashie......................17.............Yes.............. ............ 388lt No chill
MaxT........................5...............No............................. 11lt
PJ............................1............... Will be........................ 23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......18+............Yes.........................officially lost count
Thirstyboy............... 11..............Yes......................... app 130L Mixed methods
Wardhog..................1.................?............................... 23lt
Phonos....................4.................Yes............................ 88lt Partial
Beer Man.................15...............Yes.......................... 375lt no chill, no problems
DK..........................10...............Yes.........................app 20lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2.................No............................. 46lt
Blackbock................6.................No............................ 180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7.................No............................ 16lt No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6.................Yes.......................... 175lt No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6..................No...........................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy.....................15................yes............................ 405 litres no chillin!
Murcluf....................1.................Will be........................ 11lt
Patobeermonster......9.................yes............................ 165lt
Harry_Rmbler..........7..................yes............................ 245lt
MVZOOM.................5..................yep............................ 120lt/Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................4...................YES............................ 92 N.C. for me
joecast....................4..................yup............................. 80lt
black forest man......2..................yes............................. 40lt
Rod.........................2.................yes............................. ??????
Malty Cultural..........3..................kinda-sorta.................. 45lt
W_W_W_Hahn.........2..................Yes............................ 23lt Electric
kevnlis....................6..................yes...................... 140L No Chill
hairofthedog..........10...................yes..............................200
SDJ........................1...................yes.......................20lt BIAB no chill
amita.............. .......1...................yes..............................23lt
Katie.......................1..................ASAP.........................46lt
Lloyd.......................1..................ASAP.........................46lt


What a fantastic day, though hectic. And very excititing. Thank you so much Patch for your hospitality, knowledge and most of your sense of humour!

Looking forward to the umbilical cord being cut loose from my mentor. Then he can come around and drink ALL the results! Sorry Pat did we drink ALL your beer AGAIN?

Ill post photos later

Katie....

 

[sathid]

Pistol Patch............. 36..............Yes............................ 944lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 42..............Yes.......................... 1067lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 36 ............Yes!.......................... 510lt Mixed methods.
Hashie......................17.............Yes.............. ............ 388lt No chill
MaxT........................5...............No............................. 11lt
PJ............................1............... Will be........................ 23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......18+............Yes.........................officially lost count
Thirstyboy............... 11..............Yes......................... app 130L Mixed methods
Wardhog..................1.................?............................... 23lt
Phonos....................4.................Yes............................ 88lt Partial
Beer Man.................15...............Yes.......................... 375lt no chill, no problems
DK..........................10...............Yes.........................app 20lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2.................No............................. 46lt
Blackbock................6.................No............................ 180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7.................No............................ 16lt No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6.................Yes.......................... 175lt No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6..................No...........................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy.....................15................yes............................ 405 litres no chillin!
Murcluf....................1.................Will be........................ 11lt
Patobeermonster......9.................yes............................ 165lt
Harry_Rmbler..........7..................yes............................ 245lt
MVZOOM.................5..................yep............................ 120lt/Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................4...................YES............................ 92 N.C. for me
joecast....................4..................yup............................. 80lt
black forest man......2..................yes............................. 40lt
Rod.........................2.................yes............................. ??????
Malty Cultural..........3..................kinda-sorta.................. 45lt
W_W_W_Hahn.........2..................Yes............................ 23lt Electric
kevnlis....................6..................yes...................... 140L No Chill
hairofthedog..........10...................yes..............................200
SDJ........................1...................yes.......................20lt BIAB no chill
amita.............. .......1...................yes..............................23lt
sathid....................1....................yes.............................2
L

 

[sathid]

There is something funky going on with my post. When I submit the post, the last line changes, and I lose one of the numbers, and the last letter or two is always put on the next line.

Maybe the post is too long or something?

I've tried 4 times now, so I give up

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Pistol Patch............. 36..............Yes............................ 944lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 42..............Yes.......................... 1067lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 36 ............Yes!.......................... 510lt Mixed methods.
Hashie......................17.............Yes.............. ............ 388lt No chill
MaxT........................5...............No............................. 11lt
PJ............................1............... Will be........................ 23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......18+............Yes.........................officially lost count
Thirstyboy............... 11..............Yes......................... app 130L Mixed methods
Wardhog..................1.................?............................... 23lt
Phonos....................4.................Yes............................ 88lt Partial
Beer Man.................15...............Yes.......................... 375lt no chill, no problems
DK..........................10...............Yes.........................app 20lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2.................No............................. 46lt
Blackbock................6.................No............................ 180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7.................No............................ 16lt No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6.................Yes.......................... 175lt No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6..................No...........................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy.....................15................yes............................ 405 litres no chillin!
Murcluf....................1.................Will be........................ 11lt
Patobeermonster......9.................yes............................ 165lt
Harry_Rmbler..........7..................yes............................ 245lt
MVZOOM.................5..................yep............................ 120lt/Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................4...................YES............................ 92 N.C. for me
joecast....................4..................yup............................. 80lt
black forest man......2..................yes............................. 40lt
Rod.........................2.................yes............................. ??????
Malty Cultural..........3..................kinda-sorta.................. 45lt
W_W_W_Hahn.........2..................Yes............................ 23lt Electric
kevnlis....................6..................yes...................... 140L No Chill
hairofthedog..........10...................yes..............................200
SDJ........................1...................yes.......................20lt BIAB no chill
amita.............. .......1...................yes..............................23lt
sathid....................1....................yes............................ 23L


Something weirds going on Sathid, I fixed it for you cause its working for me.

Thirsty

 

[sathid]

Cheers

 

[amita]

How did you go with your brew day Sathid?

cheers amita

 

[amita]

What a fantastic day, though hectic. And very excititing. Thank you so much Patch for your hospitality, knowledge and most of your sense of humour!

Looking forward to the umbilical cord being cut loose from my mentor. Then he can come around and drink ALL the results! Sorry Pat did we drink ALL your beer AGAIN?

Ill post photos later

Katie....
[/quote]


congratulations K+L, welcome to the wonderful world of brewing BIAB style!

cheers amita

 

[PistolPatch]

What a fantastic day, though hectic. And very excititing. Thank you so much Patch for your hospitality, knowledge and most of your sense of humour!

Looking forward to the umbilical cord being cut loose from my mentor. Then he can come around and drink ALL the results! Sorry Pat did we drink ALL your beer AGAIN?

Ill post photos later

Katie....

Well guys, we have our first female BIAB brewer and from the beers that I have had of her and her partner, Lloyd, we couldn't be luckier in seeing their names added to this register. What these guys have done with kits is truly outstanding. I have only ever had two kit beers strike my mind before. One was from InCider and the other from Old_dog. These both had only the tiniest of extract twangs and were both light-coloured beers. Katie and Lloyd produce top kit beer at a consistency which has truly astounded me and it often has zero extract twang. What the?

I think they may have a secret ingredient in their brewing - a bit of enthusiasm and fun. You'll see it here in Katie's first thread. Am hoping that you guys will make her and Lloyd feel welcome either here or in that thread. Any courtesy you show them will not be forgotten by them. In real life, they are just what I have said... top brewers, a little uncertain about their beers and a tad scared of doing their first thread. Good stuff!

As usual, I'd like to write a lot more (amita - what a top bloke - and all the other guys who have recently had a crack at their first all-grain...) but I reckon I better write a few pages to one of our English members, wimbymoonshine, who I reckon might become England's BIAB pioneer and massatomic who wrote a really nice PM...

Spot ya ron,
Pat

P.S. Also have quite a long post to write to the main thread that I hope will cover a lot of ground and hopefully will get done in the next week.

 

[RobB]

Pistol Patch............. 36..............Yes............................ 944lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 42..............Yes.......................... 1067lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 36 ............Yes!.......................... 510lt Mixed methods.
Hashie......................17.............Yes.............. ............ 388lt No chill
MaxT........................5...............No............................. 11lt
PJ............................1............... Will be........................ 23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......18+............Yes.........................officially lost count
Thirstyboy............... 11..............Yes......................... app 130L Mixed methods
Wardhog..................1.................?............................... 23lt
Phonos....................4.................Yes............................ 88lt Partial
Beer Man.................15...............Yes.......................... 375lt no chill, no problems
DK..........................10...............Yes.........................app 20lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2.................No............................. 46lt
Blackbock................6.................No............................ 180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7.................No............................ 16lt No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6.................Yes.......................... 175lt No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6..................No...........................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy.....................15................yes............................ 405 litres no chillin!
Murcluf....................1.................Will be........................ 11lt
Patobeermonster......9.................yes............................ 165lt
Harry_Rmbler..........7..................yes............................ 245lt
MVZOOM.................5..................yep............................ 120lt/Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................4...................YES............................ 92 N.C. for me
joecast....................4..................yup............................. 80lt
black forest man......2..................yes............................. 40lt
Rod.........................2.................yes............................. ??????
Malty Cultural..........5..................kinda-sorta.................. 75lt
W_W_W_Hahn.........2..................Yes............................ 23lt Electric
kevnlis....................6..................yes...................... 140L No Chill
hairofthedog..........10...................yes..............................200
SDJ........................1...................yes.......................20lt BIAB no chill
amita.............. .......1...................yes..............................23lt
sathid....................1....................yes............................ 23L

My last couple of efforts have used dunk-sparging (a term I pinched from Spills). It's not pure BIAB, but I have stuck with the bag.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

My last couple of efforts have used dunk-sparging (a term I pinched from Spills). It's not pure BIAB, but I have stuck with the bag.

Paypal or cash will be fine, thanks.

I like to think that people who play with BIAB are happy to experiment and find out stuff for themselves. Modifications to the purist BIAB technique will come and go over time so that it is *both* a gateway AG brewing method and something that committed brewers can use as a basis for their Production System.

Thirsty Boy and I (and probably others) have done a decoction BIAB. I DunkSparge(tm). Double batches through pico-batches have been done. The technique mitres into other brewing concepts as easily as you want/need it to.

And as most of you are aware, you can even make good beer with it!

 

[brettprevans]

ahhh so Thirstyboy DunkSparged at the Vic caseswap? I missed the sparge and had wondered about it how the hell you guys sparged. I was busy doing other things.....

so with DunkSparging do you add the equivilent of sparge volume of water to the boil to reach your target volume? noobie question I know.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

ahhh so Thirstyboy DunkSparged at the Vic caseswap? I missed the sparge and had wondered about it how the hell you guys sparged. I was busy doing other things.....

so with DunkSparging do you add the equivilent of sparge volume of water to the boil to reach your target volume? noobie question I know.

No. TB's a bit of a girl when it comes to demonstrating BIAB - he insists on doing it 'plain vanilla', so you wouldn't have seen.

It's really simple, though. You decide how much you want to use for your mash versus your sparge. You mash in your vessel as you normally would and lift the bag out as you normally would. At that point, you produce a second vessel with your sparge-temperature water and introduce the bag of grain as you would a teabag to a cup of tea. When you're sick of jiggling about, you drain the bag again and pour the runnings into your boiler.

I started sparging with my estimated boil-off for the process. I am now using a bit more than that as I find it increases my extraction efficiency a bit and also provides the anti-BIABers something to poke fun at. If you currently have a good handle on how much water you need to start with to get to a given end-point, you can just reserve/allocate as much as you want for your sparge.

 

[RobB]

I use my bag in an esky with a 3:1 L:G ratio and have a regular batch sparge volume waiting in my kettle, in which I dunksparge.

I have been getting more consistent results this way, but I have also been growing more confident and competent, so perhaps I can attribute my success to this rather than a change in technique. I'm going to try a pure BIAB again and see how I go.

Strangely, I think it actually helped that I couldn't control my temperature during the mash. My first few BIABs went up and down like a yoyo because I would panic about losng half a degree and over-compensate. I also didn't fully appreciate how much the temperature could vary over the height of the mash and hence the importance of a really good stir when measuring.

On a vaguely related topic, should I be worried about the thick base of my Robinox pot continuing to radiate heat after the flame is off? My temps were always greatest right at the bottom of the grain bed and I was wondering if this was the cause?

Cheers,

Rob

 

[65bellett]

I have a few questions about this dunksparging business. When I am dunk sparging the bag what temp should the sparge water be? Does all the sparge water have to be added at the beginning bfore the boil or can I add it bit bit through out the boil to keep the water at the right level?

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I have a few questions about this dunksparging business. When I am dunk sparging the bag what temp should the sparge water be? Does all the sparge water have to be added at the beginning bfore the boil or can I add it bit bit through out the boil to keep the water at the right level?

When I first read this, I thought you had forgotten that sparging is brew-speak for rinsing and that in doing so we are trying to get more malty goodness out of the grain.

Then I went away, cleaned up some cat vomit and poured myself a beer and thought about it again. I now think I know what you're asking - although I did previously as well.

The short answer is that you could do just that. The problem is that the boil does just more than remove water from the kettle and do things to the hops. Although they are minority compounds, there are other things in the malt that you don't want in your beer and can be driven off by the boil. Precursors to dimethyl sulphide (DMS) are a good example. If you are using malts that are more likely to contain/produce such things and you don't boil them for long enough, you might end up with flavours you do not want.

Does that mean you cannot do what you're talking about? No, but I wouldn't. Palmer is your friend if you want/need/desire more.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

ahhh so Thirstyboy DunkSparged at the Vic caseswap? I missed the sparge and had wondered about it how the hell you guys sparged. I was busy doing other things.....

so with DunkSparging do you add the equivilent of sparge volume of water to the boil to reach your target volume? noobie question I know.

As Spills said, no dunksparge at the case swap. In its naked form, BIAB is a no sparge technique. And Spills' disparaging remarks aside.... when I demo, I like to keep the process down to the most straightforward technique that I know is effective.

In answer to the question (ish) - " . . . wondered about it how the hell you guys sparged"

Basically you don't have to with BIAB. Not sparging at all will most likely give you an efficiency % somewhere in the 70's. If you dunk sparge, you'll probably get another 5% out of it. But then you need another container/pot to do it in and/or a seperate kettle etc etc. If you can be bothered with the extra (not all that much) effort, well and good. For mine, with a bit of a bag squeeze, I get 75ish % efficiency (into the boiler) and thats good enough for me. So I don't bother.

It all depends on what you want. I like BIAB for its ease, speed and simplicity - mucking about with sparging takes away from that. If I thought it would make better beer...... that would be different. But it doesn't, it just saves 50 cents on malt. Screw that.

If I was going to do it on a regular basis.. I 'd probably go the route that Malty Cultural has gone with the mash-tun/bag combo and dunk sparge in the kettle.

Thirsty