Biab Brewer Register

[PistolPatch]

Name................. Brews........... are you still BIABing?........Volume
Pistol Patch............. 30................ Yes........................... 714lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 33................ Yes........................... 795lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 14 .................Yes!..........................305lt No Chill/Electric
Hashie......................12..................Yes.............. ............255lt No chill
MaxT........................5..................No.............. .............115lt
PJ............................1..................Will be........................23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......15..................Yes......................... 330lt No Chill
Thirstyboy................5.................. Yes.....................app 50lt
Wardhog..................1...................?...............................23lt
Phonos....................3...................Yes............................65l
Partial
Beer Man.................5...................Yes..........................100lt
DK..........................10..................Yes.......................app 220lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2...................No.............................46l

Blackbock................6...................No............................180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7...................No..........................161l
No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6....................Yes.........................175l
No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6...................No.............................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy......................6...................yes...........................135
itres No Chilled the last 3 with good results
Murcluf....................1..................Will be........................11lt
Patobeermonster......4..................yes.............................58lt
Harry_Rmbler..........4..................yes..............................115lt
MVZOOM.................2.....................yep..........................46lt / Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................1...................YES............................20
t N.C. for me

Just fixed up a litreage error that Harry and I got mixed up on. Whoops!

 

[paterson2929]

Very dissapointed in the lack of photos Kingy but at least Pato came up with the goods

Pato, I never thought of that design. I think Im right in saying your bag is just two peices of material stitched together as In Design A below?

'

If that works, then that is heaps easier to sew up. I think a few of the guys (and I was going to do the same) used the peices in design C and apparently that's pretty hard to make. My one at the moment is two pieces of Design B sewn together - the real basic model.

I imagine yours would work pretty well Pato so I might have a crack at that. Thanks for pics mate.

Cheers
Pat

Pat I used version C, it's not actually a rectangle it's a Rhombus, the part that attaches to the circle/base is the shorter length, I made the circle the same diameter as the outside of the pot, then you lose about 1 cm for hem,
the top part is about 15cm's longer than the side that attaches to the circle/base (bottom length rectangle).
This allows it to fold nicely over the sides, it's also about 10cm's higher than the height of the pot.
And it's got a drawstring sewn into the top, this helps tightening around the top of the pot when mashing and when pulling the grain out and draining, ( I'm sure other people are doing this).
Stitching is thick Polycotton.
After 4 brews seems to be working okay, will try it again on a wheat beer tomorrow.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

After 4 brews seems to be working okay, will try it again on a wheat beer tomorrow.

American or German? I understand that your design only works for German-style wheat beers... h34r:

 

[paterson2929]

American or German? I understand that your design only works for German-style wheat beers... h34r:

I see you need a sharp wit and a sense of humour to post on this site, hmm... I'll have to drink more beers before I post next time.
:chug:
by the way the German style Wheat is mashing as we speak. The bag is working great !!!

 

[Hashie]

Name................. Brews........... are you still BIABing?........Volume
Pistol Patch............. 30................ Yes........................... 714lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 33................ Yes........................... 795lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 14 .................Yes!..........................305lt No Chill/Electric
Hashie......................13..................Yes.............. ............281lt No chill
MaxT........................5..................No.............. .............115lt
PJ............................1..................Will be........................23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......15..................Yes......................... 330lt No Chill
Thirstyboy................5.................. Yes.....................app 50lt
Wardhog..................1...................?...............................23lt
Phonos....................3...................Yes............................65l
Partial
Beer Man.................5...................Yes..........................100lt
DK..........................10..................Yes.......................app 220lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2...................No.............................46l

Blackbock................6...................No............................180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7...................No..........................161l
No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6....................Yes.........................175l
No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6...................No.............................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy......................6...................yes...........................135
itres No Chilled the last 3 with good results
Murcluf....................1..................Will be........................11lt
Patobeermonster......4..................yes.............................58lt
Harry_Rmbler..........4..................yes..............................115lt
MVZOOM.................2.....................yep..........................46lt / Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................1...................YES............................20
t N.C. for me

#13 is in the fermenter, an Australian dark ale, aka, Tooheys old clone

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Name................. Brews........... are you still BIABing?........Volume
Pistol Patch............. 30................ Yes........................... 714lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 33................ Yes........................... 795lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 15 .................Yes!..........................312lt No Chill/Electric
Hashie......................13..................Yes.............. ............281lt No chill
MaxT........................5..................No.............. .............115lt
PJ............................1..................Will be........................23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......15..................Yes......................... 330lt No Chill
Thirstyboy................5.................. Yes.....................app 50lt
Wardhog..................1...................?...............................23lt
Phonos....................3...................Yes............................65l
Partial
Beer Man.................5...................Yes..........................100lt
DK..........................10..................Yes.......................app 220lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2...................No.............................46l

Blackbock................6...................No............................180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7...................No..........................161l
No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6....................Yes.........................175l
No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6...................No.............................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy......................6...................yes...........................135
itres No Chilled the last 3 with good results
Murcluf....................1..................Will be........................11lt
Patobeermonster......4..................yes.............................58lt
Harry_Rmbler..........4..................yes..............................115lt
MVZOOM.................2.....................yep..........................46lt / Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................1...................YES............................20
t N.C. for me

Same old, same old... But with Nelson Sauvin hopping this time.

 

[Kingy]

Name................. Brews........... are you still BIABing?........Volume
Pistol Patch............. 30................ Yes........................... 714lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 33................ Yes........................... 795lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 15 .................Yes!..........................312lt No Chill/Electric
Hashie......................13..................Yes.............. ............281lt No chill
MaxT........................5..................No.............. .............115lt
PJ............................1..................Will be........................23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......15..................Yes......................... 330lt No Chill
Thirstyboy................5.................. Yes.....................app 50lt
Wardhog..................1...................?...............................23lt
Phonos....................3...................Yes............................65l
Partial
Beer Man.................5...................Yes..........................100lt
DK..........................10..................Yes.......................app 220lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2...................No.............................46l

Blackbock................6...................No............................180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7...................No..........................161l
No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6....................Yes.........................175l
No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6...................No.............................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy......................8...................yes...........................181 litres
Murcluf....................1..................Will be........................11lt
Patobeermonster......4..................yes.............................58lt
Harry_Rmbler..........4..................yes..............................115lt
MVZOOM.................2.....................yep..........................46lt / Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................1...................YES............................20
t N.C. for me

1st attemp at a double batch today and the bag held up extremely well. Both in no chill cubes.
same amount of work but twice as much beer :super:

cheers kingy

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Name................. Brews........... are you still BIABing?........Volume
Pistol Patch............. 30................ Yes........................... 714lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 33................ Yes........................... 795lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 15 .................Yes!..........................312lt No Chill/Electric
Hashie......................13..................Yes.............. ............281lt No chill
MaxT........................5..................No.............. .............115lt
PJ............................1..................Will be........................23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......15..................Yes......................... 330lt No Chill
Thirstyboy................6.................. Yes.....................app 62lt 50:50 NC
Wardhog..................1...................?...............................23lt
Phonos....................3...................Yes............................65l
Partial
Beer Man.................5...................Yes..........................100lt
DK..........................10..................Yes.......................app 220lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2...................No.............................46l

Blackbock................6...................No............................180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7...................No..........................161l
No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6....................Yes.........................175l
No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6...................No.............................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy......................8...................yes...........................181 litres
Murcluf....................1..................Will be........................11lt
Patobeermonster......4..................yes.............................58lt
Harry_Rmbler..........4..................yes..............................115lt
MVZOOM.................2.....................yep..........................46lt / Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................1...................YES............................20
t N.C. for me



Did a trippel today. Small batch (12litres) and as a bit of an experiment did a nice 4 stage step mash. Direct heat of the pot with lots of stirring.

Mash in at 55 protein rest for 10mins
ramp to 62 Beta rest for 40mins
Ramp to 72 dextrine rest for 20min
Ramp to 80 Mash-out for 10 min

I am a believer in the cake rack at the bottom of the pot, so with stirring during the ramps, the bag never even looked in danger and I have never hit my rest temps so dead on before in any sort of brew. Each ramp only took about 1 min per C so thats similar performance to what I get out of my HERMS.

Given my pre-boil volumes and gravities... I got an outstanding mash efficiency of 81%


Its been a while between BIABs for me... love the bag B)

 

[LovesToBrew]

Lovestobrew - Brews-0
Still BIABing?- never started
Volume- I like it loud

 

[paterson2929]

Name................. Brews........... are you still BIABing?........Volume
Pistol Patch............. 30................ Yes........................... 714lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 33................ Yes........................... 795lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 15 .................Yes!..........................312lt No Chill/Electric
Hashie......................13..................Yes.............. ............281lt No chill
MaxT........................5..................No.............. .............115lt
PJ............................1..................Will be........................23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......15..................Yes......................... 330lt No Chill
Thirstyboy................6.................. Yes.....................app 62lt 50:50 NC
Wardhog..................1...................?...............................23lt
Phonos....................3...................Yes............................65l
Partial
Beer Man.................5...................Yes..........................100lt
DK..........................10..................Yes.......................app 220lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2...................No.............................46l

Blackbock................6...................No............................180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7...................No..........................161l
No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6....................Yes.........................175l
No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6...................No.............................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy......................8...................yes...........................181 litres
Murcluf....................1..................Will be........................11lt
Patobeermonster......6..................yes.............................93lt
Harry_Rmbler..........4..................yes..............................115lt
MVZOOM.................2.....................yep..........................46lt / Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................1...................YES............................20
t N.C. for me

Just did a half batch of berapnopod's "Mum's Stout"
h34r:

 

[LovesToBrew]

Has anyone had problems with grains gettin in between the bag's double stitching?

 

[deckedoutdaz]

Why are you guys doing a 1/2 brew??.....I mean, whats the advantage?

 

[LovesToBrew]

download the demo of beersmith, you can work it out in there. i'm not sure if FG has a bearing on how much you add, but I'd work on a grams per litre theory as one batches final volume will vary from anothers.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Why are you guys doing a 1/2 brew??.....I mean, whats the advantage?

I've moved on from the half-brew to the Quarter-Brew! For me, it has several advantages.

I get to brew more often, which means more fun and more learning. Each time I brew, I improve my procedures and (occasionally) the final product.

I end up with less beer. This is good if an experiment doesn't work and, although I consider myself a talented amateur, a man can only drink so much beer. It also helps with storage - I don't have a huge Beer Storage Facility or a dedicated coolroom.

Each iteration costs a very small amount. I'm brewing today and the grain/hops will cost about $2.50. If I get it horribly wrong, the loan sharks aren't going to be coming after me.

My Quarter Brews are easily doable in my small boiler ($20 from the Asian Importers) and on my stove with the rangehood turned up high. This means that I can brew in the comfort of my own home, as opposed to when I do my full-sized 'production' brews which have to be done outside, exposed to the harsh Melbourne elements. I can fit two such brews inside my Fermentation Facility (fridge), so if I get the timing right (which I rarely do) I can be brewing two to three times a week.

I still do full-sized brews from time to time and am thinking I might just have to do a double batch soon to complete the set.

I've confirmed to my own satisfaction that I can scale between 6 litres and 24 litres and there is no magic that makes it different (if you add the correctly scaled amount of energy, etc.) so I should be able to commission a megalitre brew bag and put Fosters out of business... :blink:

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Name................. Brews........... are you still BIABing?........Volume
Pistol Patch............. 30................ Yes........................... 714lt Changed to BIAB
FNQ Bunyip............. 33................ Yes........................... 795lt
SpillsMostOfIt........... 16 .................Yes!..........................318lt No Chill/Electric
Hashie......................13..................Yes.............. ............281lt No chill
MaxT........................5..................No.............. .............115lt
PJ............................1..................Will be........................23lt No Chill.
jimmysuperlative......15..................Yes......................... 330lt No Chill
Thirstyboy................6.................. Yes.....................app 62lt 50:50 NC
Wardhog..................1...................?...............................23lt
Phonos....................3...................Yes............................65l
Partial
Beer Man.................5...................Yes..........................100lt
DK..........................10..................Yes.......................app 220lt No Chill all the way!
Adam......................2...................No.............................46l

Blackbock................6...................No............................180lt No Chill
Zizzle......................7...................No..........................161l
No Chill/Electric
Phrak......................6....................Yes.........................175l
No Chill for all
Deaves.................. 6...................No.............................app 140lt ..All Chilled
Kingy......................8...................yes...........................181 litres
Murcluf....................1..................Will be........................11lt
Patobeermonster......6..................yes.............................93lt
Harry_Rmbler..........4..................yes..............................115lt
MVZOOM.................2.....................yep..........................46lt / Electric / Bag / No chill. Breakin' all the rules
Eric8......................1...................YES............................20
t N.C. for me

A tiny batch of Hefeweizen just coming to boil. When it's old enough, I'll drive it to the abattoir and have it butchered... :blink:

 

[Thirsty Boy]

What Spills said.

More batches without too much volume. I have serious trouble getting through the quantity of beer I brew and dont have a lot of room to store.

I also dont like to brew large batches of really strong beer like trippels or barleywines etc. I just dont drink all that much strong beer. So rather than one large batch of something that will last me all year, I'm planning on a small batch every 3 or 4 months. Then over a period of time I will accumulate a variety of aged strong beers, with a new one reaching drinking age every few months.

I can brew 40 litres at a crack if I want to, its just that sometiimes I want to brew, but I dont really want any more beer.

 

[troydo]

what do you use for the fermenter in these smaller batches? or do you use your normal fermenter and just deal with the added air?

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

what do you use for the fermenter in these smaller batches? or do you use your normal fermenter and just deal with the added air?

For my Tiny Batches, I use Decor 8.5litre storers for primary and (when I can be bothered with a secondary), some cute little 6litre 'jerry cans' given me. The storers have a handle and a lid and cost about $13 in the supermarket or Bunnings. I no-chill in them (straight from the boiler) with the lid on and *ugh* syphon out of them into bottles or whatnot.

You could definitely go cheaper if you find a cheap and cheerful homewares store, but the cute thing about the Decor stuff is that it is designed to be microwaved, dishwashered, etc, so I have no fear of my hot wort falling through the bottom of them or lending an interesting flavour to my beer (no interesting flavours in my beers, thanks!).

 

[troydo]

thats a great idea! and one that would definatly encourage more people to AG.

All of the ag stuff is about doing full size batches.. can i suggest that someone type up a post about small AG brews and put it as a sticky, most people have the pots and such in their kitchen to do one that size...

ive just never thought of it so either im dumb or its a good idea st sticky....

Could be either :unsure:

 

[Thirsty Boy]

When I first started out with AG I designed my system to brew 12litre batches on. A full HERMS mind you, just a small one.

10litre mash tun, 20litre HLT, 15litre drinking fountain PET bottles as fermentors... worked a treat. I only really upsized when I went to kegs instead of bottles.

Heres a picture of my Pre-BIAB small batch system. I still use the HLT for my full size system and I still have the mash-tun under a bench somewhere



Of course doing it BIAB style all I now require is this




If you (or anyone you know) wants info on how I constructed the small system, just PM me and I'll send you details.

Thirsty