Brew In A Bag And Equipment Questions

[katzke]

Need to push more hose on the copper chiller. I have a good 5 or 6cm pushed on mine.

Only explosion I have had was the fitting that goes on the garden hose.

 

[Brewing_Brad]

Jack Daniel's in the airlock

Really? Is it because the alcohol kills off any nasties that may get in there and thus providing another layer of protecting for the brew or are you just being decadent? Either way, I like the idea.

 

[BreathingHeat]

I really appreciate everyone's feedback. Embarrassingly, I edited out a ton of pictures because I thought it was too over the top (we're kind of documenting the process for our friends and fam back home). Next time, I will post them all from beginning to end.

Nice setup mate, as for answering one of your questions goes, i bought some silicon hose from Craftbrewer a while back and use it for transfering all my wort. I use it straight from the kettle after the boil, straight into my no chill vessel then it comes back out at racking time and again at kegging time. It fits right over your fermenter taps so no fittings needed. Simple piece of equipment that i cannot go without these days.
Oh and the corny kegs, in my experience ball locks seem the most popular, have not come across too many pin kegs, so it depends on where you are buying them from. It also helps to put in your location so people can recommend where to buy the gear as well.
Im no expert though, just my two cents woth. Cheers.

It seems that ball locks are the best direction. Thanks for the guidance.

Great setup mate... testament to the simplicity of BIAB.
As for your "mistake"s, don't worry too much i'm sure you'll end up with awesome beer. But consider these points;

- Make sure next time you leave the lid off for the boil as you want to boil off the nasties and precursors to some detrimental flavours. If you'r not getting a vigorous enough boil with the lid off, try floating a food grade plastic bucket lid or SS bowl on the surface of the wort. This will cut down surface area, allowing a more vigorous boil.
- I like to make sure all hoses are silicone. PVC can leach off flavours int the wort, especially when hot. Silicone is great as it insulates nicely, holds firm under heat and doesn't leach anything.
- Don't worry much about the sediment into fermenter. If you're taking measures to exclude as much kettle trub and break material as possible. You're doing well enough.
- Measuring OG, something I forget on a regular basis. Your beer won't taste any better or worse cause you don't know it. So not really worth a worry.
- Starting at 23 then getting to 19-21 for 1272 is about right, if a little high. 18 is spot on in my opinion ... it will throw up a few fruity esters. But appropriate for an IPA. so you should be cool. Look into getting a ferm fridge if you can. Temp control is paramount in creating good repeatable beers.

Ball lock kegs... easily available. Kegging is awesome.

Cheers

Thank you so much for all of this tremendous information. I am ready to do it all over again this weekend and not make any mistakes.

Need to push more hose on the copper chiller. I have a good 5 or 6cm pushed on mine.

Only explosion I have had was the fitting that goes on the garden hose.

Yeah, I learned that lesson the hard way. The entrance hose popped off of the chiller about 2 minutes after that photo was taken. I insisted on turning up the water pressure, even though my girlfriend said to keep it low . I guess she was right :huh: . I have fixed Copper Cobra for our next brew day. 2 hose claps per side and about 4 cm on the copper. :super:

Really? Is it because the alcohol kills off any nasties that may get in there and thus providing another layer of protecting for the brew or are you just being decadent? Either way, I like the idea.

I had heard of people using vodka for sterilization purposes. We love Jack Daniel's, so we deemed it would be appropriate for the maiden voyage. It was topped off with Makers Mark after dry hopping. A little for it and a little for me.

 

[Strange Brew]

Just on your ice bath taking hours. Did you have the water level in your ice bath at least level with the liquid in the pot? This is just a mistake I found someone doing with thier ice baths because if the ice bath isn't up to at least the level in the pot then the ice will create a cold pool of water down the bottom and a hot pool will just sit at the top and not cool via the ice bath.

I managed to cool a 9L batch in about half an hour with a single bag of ice and a couple of ice bricks. Got a great cold break forming out of it too, was quite surprised.

 

[BreathingHeat]

Just on your ice bath taking hours. Did you have the water level in your ice bath at least level with the liquid in the pot? This is just a mistake I found someone doing with thier ice baths because if the ice bath isn't up to at least the level in the pot then the ice will create a cold pool of water down the bottom and a hot pool will just sit at the top and not cool via the ice bath.

I managed to cool a 9L batch in about half an hour with a single bag of ice and a couple of ice bricks. Got a great cold break forming out of it too, was quite surprised.

I kind of panicked when the wort chiller busted, so I quickly transferred the 50 degree wort from the kettle to a sterilized fermenter, to ward off contamination. The fermenter was plastic, so it took quite a while to cool down. I shouldn't have the same issue next time.

 

[Strange Brew]

I kind of panicked when the wort chiller busted, so I quickly transferred the 50 degree wort from the kettle to a sterilized fermenter, to ward off contamination. The fermenter was plastic, so it took quite a while to cool down. I shouldn't have the same issue next time.

Yeah I can just imagine . Good article mate.

 

[big78sam]

my only piece of advice would be...put some bloody shoes one will ya.

100 dgr wort onto sandaled feet would suck arse.

That was exactly my thought!

 

[BreathingHeat]

A couple quick questions.

1) This weekend I am transferring the beer from the fermenter to a corny keg and some bottles. Do I need to prime all of the beer or just the beer that's going to be bottled? Basically, do I need to prime the beer that's going in the keg?

2) I am going to let the beer in the keg condition for a week or two before drinking it. Do I need to apply gas to the keg during this time or can it condition without being hooked up to the C02? Which is best?

Sorry, in hindsight I should have started this thread on the beginners board. Guess I wanted to play with the big guns.

but....we are brewing a Bell's Hopslam DIPA hybrid this weekend and I will post some pictures.

Thanks!

 

[boybrewer]

A couple quick questions.

1) This weekend I am transferring the beer from the fermenter to a corny keg and some bottles. Do I need to prime all of the beer or just the beer that's going to be bottled? Basically, do I need to prime the beer that's going in the keg?

2) I am going to let the beer in the keg condition for a week or two before drinking it. Do I need to apply gas to the keg during this time or can it condition without being hooked up to the C02? Which is best?

Sorry, in hindsight I should have started this thread on the beginners board. Guess I wanted to play with the big guns.

but....we are brewing a Bell's Hopslam DIPA hybrid this weekend and I will post some pictures.

Thanks!

Just prime the bottles if you are going to keg and bottle at the same time . If not just pour it all in the keg let it condition and gas it up and then transfer to the bottles . Me not being a kegging person can't answer the other question . Perhaps someone with kegging experience can answer that one . Great tutorial .

P.S. Merry Christmas

 

[Cocko]

A couple quick questions.

1) This weekend I am transferring the beer from the fermenter to a corny keg and some bottles. Do I need to prime all of the beer or just the beer that's going to be bottled? Basically, do I need to prime the beer that's going in the keg?

2) I am going to let the beer in the keg condition for a week or two before drinking it. Do I need to apply gas to the keg during this time or can it condition without being hooked up to the C02? Which is best?

Sorry, in hindsight I should have started this thread on the beginners board. Guess I wanted to play with the big guns.

but....we are brewing a Bell's Hopslam DIPA hybrid this weekend and I will post some pictures.

Thanks!

1) There is 2 ways to carb a keg, with priming sugar, like a bottle [NB: this will cause sediment and most trim their pick up tube a few mm so not to serve it] and the second is with the C02 from the gas bottle. So if you are going to carb with the C02, you can either force carb [Search 'Ross Method'] or simply supply your keg a constant C02 feed at serving pressure for about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, best done cold, and should be carbed.... Do some searching, you will work it out!

2) Depends on above, but once it is kegged bleed the air out with C02 and then you can let it sit either warm or cold but again depends on your above choice..

2c

Hope it helps.

 

[BreathingHeat]

To be clear, I have a kegerator and will be using a C02 bottle to carbonate the keg while drinking it. I just need to know if the gas should be applied to the keg during the initial 1-2 weeks of non-drinking conditioning.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Cocko]

I just need to know if the gas should be applied to the keg during the initial 1-2 weeks of non-drinking conditioning.

So you would bleed the air out with c02 regardless. Then if 'conditioning' before carbing - then no, just as long as it is bled it will be fine, cold or warm.

Then carbing etc...