Bowie Blasts Off Into Ag Stratosphere

[Bribie G]

Welcome to the dark side, Bowie. I like the tap, what thread size etc and where did you buy it? How easy was it to unscrew the original Birko tap and fit the new one? I find that with a 'normal' strength brew I get good enough efficiency and if I have to put in an extra half kilo of grain what the heck.
That's a good picture of the rolling boil, yes and that's about where I would have my wort level at mash in and then later at the beginning of the boil itself so that's a good pictorial guide for newbies buying an urn.

Cheers
BribieG :icon_cheers:

 

[bowie in space]

Thanks Bribie

I gotta say your posts/tutorials have inspired me to go BIAB.

:icon_offtopic: Hey I'm moving back to QLD (wynnum/manly) next year and my parents in law live on Bribie so we'll have to talk some more in the future.

Back on topic, the tap was pretty stiff but i banged it off and took it into G&G and the guy at the counter measured it up. They did a great job adjusting to my needs, i don't know the measurements off hand but i'll find out and get back to you. It was very simple, but the part was a little expensive. You can go cheaper if you don't want stainless steel. I did because I want it to last.

I slipped it in when i got back home and had no leaking issues or anything. Very simple. That was actually the one bit of going BIAB that i didn't account for...how to get the hot wort out. Got it figured out now though, go with some silicone hose, ball valve and a barb .

You don't wanna mess about with boiling hot wort, human bodies and electrical equipment. That's the ugly bit of BIAB.

The sweet side is enjoying the beers at the end of it all :beerbang:

Bowie

 

[woodmac66]

Unreal, sounds like an ideal set up!! Just what I want.

Next brew is Ross's Summer Ale (in the recipe Data Base). I wanna try a few experienced brewers recipes before i dabble in my own. Tony's Bright Ale is in the fermenter at the moment, and it's tasting great.

AG is sooo addictive. Eventually I'll get my own house ale and i'll go from there.

What are you planning Woody?

Bowie

My first will be either Andrews Pale Ale or a Siera Navada.
I Brewed the Pale recipe last weekend as an Extract full boil volume to get a feel for heating Times for my HLT and the boils loss.
Something I did as the mash tun wasn't ready. It turned out a really Beneficial as i was able to really focus on part o the process instead of the whole thing including Pumping through the Chill Plate whirlpooling and sped of the wort through the chiller .
Identified little things that needed fixing also, hit my boil volume smack on and ended up 40 Litres @ 1043. ( I was wrapped)
Eerything went like a dream.
Once I add the Mash Tun I am sure i will have more confdence now on my first AG Brew.

I know what you are saying about addictive...... It turns into an obsession.

 

[Bizier]

Great work Bowie. You will never look back on that decision.

 

[RdeVjun]

I mainly wanna go from BIAB to mash tuns for better efficiency. At the moment I'm using more grain with BIAB because of limited sparging techniques.

Seriously? Perhaps a simple bucket for the dunk sparge might help you? If you're BIABing, that's really all you'd need, if you can't get >75% out of dunk sparging, there's something wrong. I'm usually dunk sparging with about a litre per kg of grain, just off the boil.
Red, green, white, even stainless buckets, they've each got their own idiosyncrasies, but they perform pretty well. B)
And even if you can't sparge or get the efficiency up for whatever reason, even $2 a batch in more grain is really going to take some beating economically within a reasonable timeframe, depending of course what type of mash tun you're looking at.

Don't want to you put you off mate, it is just great your AG career is underway, just wanted to relate that efficiency hasn't been an issue for me with stockpot BIABing including a dunk sparge.

BTW, if the electric urn is too ugly in terms of risk, then there's always stockpot on a gas burner or stovetop.

So, its onward & upward! :beer:

 

[bowie in space]

Cheers Bizier, here's to more AG brewing :chug:

RdeVjun, I've only got two AG's down. The second one had better efficiency than the first. I am planning #3 tomorrow and will try more techniques to improve the efficiency. Perhaps a dunk sparge will be more effective and is something I am willing to try. I'm always trying to improve on my last brew, so I'll naturally wanna keep upgrading my equipment over time.

I wanna give BIAB a good bash though, just like I did with the 20 odd extracts and partials. I've learned heaps in the last year and I intend to keep learning. Besides, I can't afford any more upgrades at this stage and I'm happy with the beer at the moment.

...and I love my Urn

Bowie

 

[Thirsty Boy]

You shouldn't be having efficiency issue with BIAB - period. Even with no sparge of any description, you should easily be getting 70+ percent mash efficiency. All you have to do is pretty much read the guide on the first page of the main BIAB thread and then maybe the first half dozen posts that clear up a few mistakes/questions about the guide.

If you think efficiency in the 70s is low, then your expectations are unrealistic. Efficiencies in the 70s are pretty much stock standard for any form of brew.. maybe fly spargers with good set-ups and experience could grumble about it, but most wouldn't.

Before you dick about with sparging your BIAB - maybe get 4 or 5 batches under your belt. If you haven't hit 70% efficiency by then, you can sparge, but if you have to.. I would say you have something else mildly wrong with your mash and would look at pH.

And if your reasons for going from BIAB to another method is based around efficiency, then you are definitely going to have to go with a fly/flood sparge brewhouse - you just aren't going to get better efficiency from a batch sparge set-up than a BIAB set-up.

But the differences are kind of small anyway - in a 23 batch the differnece between a realistic efficiency expectation from fly sparging of 80-85% and the 75% that you could easily average with BIAB - is about 300-500g of base malt. I'm not trying to convince you to not move from BIAB to another system - but you might want to think about it some more if efficiency is your driving reason.

TB

 

[bowie in space]

Thirsty Boy,

My post above suggests I am going to give BIAB a good bash, ie. more than 5 or so brews. I have also taken considerable time to read the BIAB articles as mentioned again in my posts above. No amount of reading or watching, however, can compare with doing. My efficiency levels over my first three attempts (third today) have improved each time and I am happy to continue to BIAB. It is merely a minor point that I have indicated in my first few attempts. It may raise awareness for others who are going down the AG path that perhaps you may need to add a touch extra grain to achieve the desired levels. Not to mention the messy side of BIAB. If dragging a hot bag of grain out of an urn, winching it up and running even hotter water through it was considered ideal sparging and brewing techniques, I'm sure people wouldn't be having as much fun. I have also stated that the beer blew me away. Much better than any partial I have made. So, whatever negative connotations people may want to pin down and drag out of an otherwise celebratory post have no room in this thread.

Bowie

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I'm sorry you thought I was being negative - I wasn't. I was just trying to give you a heads up that you might not get what you expect from a change from BIAB to another method - if what you expect is an increase in efficiency. And that you don't actually need to raise the awareness of other people about it requiring a touch of extra grain.. because it as a matter of fact; doesn't. I was hoping to save you some trouble with your BIAB and/or perhaps some future disappointment about the results of any future change of technique you might make.

But don't let me distract your celebration any more than I already have - you have enough experience with three brews under your belt to be giving advice to other people about how its all done - you obviously don't need any further input from the likes of me, so I shall refrain from giving you any.

Good luck with your future brewing and well done on the brews you have already made

Thirsty

 

[Bizier]

FWIW

I got a 55% or so efficiency on a brew I did yesterday. My crush was fine, so I think I will add rice hulls next time I brew a weizen AND correct my pH instead of leaving it up to Sydney Water.

To compare, the last time, I added 5.2 and crushed to dust, and got above 90% efficiency. I inadequately prepared the yeast for this gravity, so I got a stuck ferment at 1.030 on a 46L batch.

It is very possible to get good efficiencies from BIAB.

 

[technocat]

I got a 55% or so efficiency on a brew I did yesterday. My crush was fine, so I think I will add rice hulls next time

I did an APA yesterday and got a tad over 55% with a fine crush twice through the mill. good husks no stuck sparge. Used a stabilizer and did the same format as countless times before with much better efficiencies. It has got me stuffed why I throw one of these now and again.