Brew Night 3rd BIAB

[andy@67]

G'day All,

Just waiting for my wort to settle before I cube it. This is my 3rd AG BIAB brew. It is a white IPA (the one brewed at the G & G BIAB demo).

Started at 2045 and will be all done at 0145. I did mash for 90 minutes and boiled for 75 minutes.

Pre boil aiming for 35.5 L at 1048 and got 36L at 1048.

Post boil looking for 26L at 1066 got 27L at 1066.

Pretty happy with that according to beersmith that is nearly 85% mash efficiency and just over 73% brew-house efficiency.

Anyway better go and cube my brew cya all later.

Cheers,

Andrew.

 

[Crusty]

Nice one Andrew.
Sounds like it was a perfect brew day............ :beerbang:

 

[andy@67]

Thanks.

All was good except when I was squeezing the air out of the cube the bung shot out across the shed (must not have screwed it all the way in when I cleaned the cube), I lost a couple hundred mL, but not too bad.

Cheers.

Andrew.

 

[wbosher]

Lucky it didn't shoot all over you.

 

[andy@67]

Hmmm, good point would cause a nasty burn. I was more worried about the beer running onto the floor than thinking about getting burnt. Mind you the couple of 9% tripels (2nd BIAB brew) I had probably did not help.

Note to self "make sure bung is in tightly before filling cube".

Cheers,

Andrew.

 

[ajmuzza]

Love the dedication. AG with kids for me means the other side of the day - 6am start. I could try a late start but with a 1.45am finish the kids would still get me up at 6am. Plus the beers I would have had for a 1.45am finish would be ugly at 6am.

Out of curiousity what do you use to tighten your bung? I've had the same issues using cubes for storage (with bungs) and for fermenting (with taps)and have issues getting chucking the bung back in getting it leakproof tight.

 

[BeerNess]

I use plumbers tape and a jerry can spanner thing I bought for $5 from a camping store, so damned handy!

 

[andy@67]

Hey all,

Plumbers tape is a good idea, the threads on most cubes, and fermenters for that matter, seem to have fairly loose tolerances. So some plumbers tape to take up the slack would be good.

We have a 4 year old boy and 14 year old twin boys, but the 4 year old usually wakes up after 8 and I started work at 4:15 pm so I got a bit of a sleep in.

I usually use a pair of pliers to tighten the bung, the jaws of mine fit into the slot of the bung. For taps I usually use some multigrips.
On the night in question I just forgot to tighten the bung. Doh......

I pitched my yeast into a starter tonight ready to sart brewing on Thursday.

Regards,

Andrew.

 

[Rocker1986]

Yesterday I went to Bunnings and picked up one of those 25L "fermenters" to replace my old bottling bucket, and while I was there I decided to grab a few taps for use with my cubes instead of the bungs, although I am keeping the bungs in case I do need them at some point. I figure it'll be easier and less messy to empty a cube into the FV from a height via the tap instead of picking it up and tipping it through the top opening, at least for the first half of it and then if I want to I can turn off the tap and pick it up to empty the rest in. Will have to wait until I brew with the only cube I've 'tapped' first though - the other two with bungs are filled with brews awaiting the FV.

I usually use a pair of pliers for the bungs as well but taps I just tighten by hand, they never seem to leak on me.

 

[pist]

Love the dedication. AG with kids for me means the other side of the day - 6am start. I could try a late start but with a 1.45am finish the kids would still get me up at 6am. Plus the beers I would have had for a 1.45am finish would be ugly at 6am.

Out of curiousity what do you use to tighten your bung? I've had the same issues using cubes for storage (with bungs) and for fermenting (with taps)and have issues getting chucking the bung back in getting it leakproof tight.

The end of a suitably sized ring spanner works well too. Every bloke should have a set of those in the shed somewhere, so saves you buying the proper tool.

 

[andy@67]

G'day All,
Rocker just be careful that you tilt the cube on the corner away from the tap when you squeeze the air out. Otherwise the tap may pull out with a similar result to my forgetting to tighten the bung.

Regards,
Andrew.

 

[Rocker1986]

They should be pretty right I think, they pretty much tighten to the point where I had the bungs to, except I don't need any tools to get the taps there. :lol:
I tried them at one turn back from really tight and while they didn't leak, they were loose enough that they would move when I tried to turn the tap on or off, so all the way they go. I generally fill the cube pretty well all the way up so it's only a gentle squeeze necessary, if at all.

Either way, cheers for the advice.

 

[andy@67]

G'day All,

Pitched a 1L starter of Wyeast 3944 last Thursday morning at 20C. Must've lost a bit more when the bung came out than I thought as I only had 19L in the fermenter so 2L of filtered tap water brought it up to 21L with an OG of 1.061.

Wow the 3944 is certainly vigorous I thought it was going to climb out of the fermenter even with 9L of head-space, anyway it's down to 1.020 today (Beersmith says I should expect it to go about 1.014) and tastes awesome still a little sweet up front but a nice dry finish and the hops need to mellow a little, so do I add my dry hops now or wait another day or so. I intend to add 20g each of Challenger and Styrian Goldins for 3 to 5 days.

Thanks for the help.

Regards,

Andrew.

 

[lael]

for sealing taps etc - i would recommend oringsandmore #210 - less hassle and super reliable.

 

[andy@67]

G'day All,

Just an update. Put the dry hops in on Tuesday planning on removing them tomorrow night. Took a hydro reading just now 1.010 which gives 83% apparent attenuation. I was expecting something like 1.014-15. I pitched the 3944 at 20C last Thursday and rose it to 21C on Tuesday with the gravity at 1.020 when I dry hopped. It is tasting great from the sample jar, the upfront sweetness has receded nicely and even at 20C tastes quite balanced. I cannot quite taste the corriander or cardamon, but there is a hint of orange, so I might make a tea to up those flavors. Although being an IPA maybe there should be more hops there.

Should I raise the temp tomorrow to say 23C for a couple days to let the yeast clean up or just crash chill it tomorrow when I remove the hops.

Regards,

Andrew.

 

[fcmcg]

It's too late to do a diacytel rest ( rasing the temp) as this should be done when your 2/3rds of the way through your ferment ( around 1.022 for eg)
at 1.010 , i'd be crash chilling for a couple of days before kegging/bottling.
Cheers
Ferg

 

[andy@67]

Thanks for that Ferg. I will crash chill it tomorrow when I remove the hops.

Cheers,


Andrew.

 

[andy@67]

G'day all,

Update time, kegged this brew on Tuesday night. Still a little green, but is a nice refreshingly dry hoppy wit. The spices and citris are there but are very subtle.

On a side note I found myself in Melbourne last Saturday with some time to kill, so I went along to Vicbrew at the Belgium Cafe at Southbank. I got to steward for the last half dozen or so IPAs. Got to taste some nice homebrew and had an awesome time. Thanks to Martin for taking the time to show me the ropes.

Cheers,

Andrew.