First AG BIAB done, pictures, recipe and woes inside.

[oscarman]

Ok so did my first AG BIAB yesterday, it went alright, though i think maybe i didn't get enough liquid out of the bag after removing from the pot because of not having a big enough bucket to drain it into.

Here is how it went:

Briess Pale Ale - 3.9kg
Rolled oats - 560g
Simpsons Choc - 337g
Weyermann Caramunich 1 - 280g
Simpsons roast Barley - 280g
Simpsons Crystal 90 - 225g

20g of Chinook in boil 60 mins

Planned 20 litres at OG 1.060.

So all went well, mashed in at 71* in 17 litres which gave me a mash temp of 67*. It was stable for most of it, then went down by 1-2 degrees near the end. Mashed for 60 mins, didn't do a mash out. Tried to get as much wort from the bag as possible, but didn't do too well, sparged with about 6 litres (i think most of it just went back into the grain though).

Ended up with about 13 litres of wort after the boil, chilled in the bath with ice down to 20*. Checked gravity after putting into fermenter, it was on 1.080! So i added water... Not sure if i should have done this, but i did. It ended up on 1.060 (my planned OG), then i pitched the yeast. Ended up with about 19 litres of wort.

GRAIN!

Giving it a hug to make sure it's warm enough.

This was the first stir after covering, **** it smelled amazing.

This is where it all went wrong... Draining with mega spillage, also not a big enough container...

Boil went smoothly, but lost a LOT to evaporation.

So it probably wont turn out that amazing, but i'll be interested to see. It's sitting on a happy 18* in the fermenting fridge.

All in all, it was fun, and definitely a good learning experience.

Next item to buy: bbq rack to go over the pot so i can strain the bag easier.

 

[philmud]

I can't see a problem with diluting the wort, but would be inclined not to use tap water. I recently did this & ducked down the street & bought a 5L bottle of spring water. That said, coopers suggest tap water for their kits, so maybe not necessary.

 

[Nick JD]

Tap water is fine for diluting in the fermenter. Bonus is that it's oxygenated.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Tap water is fine for diluting in the fermenter. Bonus is that it's oxygenated.

Have often 'overboiled' and had to dilute back. Depends on the stove and powerful it is.

 

[Bribie G]

Looks like that pot coped well, and you are lucky to have gas so you can have a couple of burners going. That's saved you a lot of expense.
Well done, hope it ferments out well.

Tap water is fine.

 

[oscarman]

Yay!

 

[wbosher]

First time always throws up a few problems, gives you something to solve for the next time. I'm onto my 7th or 8th AG brew and still finding ways to improve my process or upgrading equipment, much to my wifes dislike. Great fun, and you get beer at the end!

 

[dammag]

Ice cream bucket of death. h34r:

 

[wbosher]

Mate, I'd loose the krausen collar. Makes it a lot easier getting it in and out of the fridge, and just moving around in general. I haven't used mine for ages, you don't need it. Where is you temp probe, inside the fermenter? That's where I put mine, after thoroughly sanitizing it of course. That's another good thing about the Coopers fermenter, the lid doesn't completely seal so you can slide the wire underneath the lid. Seals well enough to keep the nasties out though.

 

[Crusty]

Ice cream bucket of death. h34r:

Gold............... :lol:
Total Brew porn, I love it.

 

[citizensnips]

Ha great housing for the unit. Don't worry mate, exact same thing happened to me on my first BIAB, pretty much hit the same figures as you and diluted. It just came out lacking a little bit in terms of body and flavour, still happily drank the whole lot. Don't take it the wrong way though but if anyone is looking to replicate a tooheys extra dry or even for that matter corona or the likes, I think diluting it could be the go to get that 'flavourless' profile that's often hard to achieve in home brewing......just a thought

 

[oscarman]

So fermentation seems to be happening but there is no krausen... There has been a tiny bit of action, because there is a small mark around the top of the beer, i think maybe some oxygen is leaking through the lid, definitely going to buy a better fermenter anyway, could this be it? Anyone know why this would be happening? The gravity reading has gone from 1.040 - 1.010 in 2 days...

 

[fletcher]

congrats mate, how fun is it!? i also used an old and cheap cake cooling rack that i pulled the legs off for keeping the bag atop the bucket. made it easy to batch sparge too to get some more sexy sugars.

i can't recommend enough the thin jerry cans (about 20-23L versions) which you can buy from bunnings or camping stores and most brew shops have them too. with your fridge you might even be able to fit 2 of them side by side for more beer i started with the coopers one, did one beer and ended up ditching it for the cheaper jerry cans.

 

[oscarman]

Anyone got any ideas about the krausen issue?

 

[djar007]

looks like the fermentation is almost done. There was a larger Krausen ring there by the looks of it. In my experience at that gravity and seeing a lot of the yeast has settled and finished working , I wouldnt expect a massive ring. Also when it is fermenting along happily it is more milky and darker toward the end. Just check the sg in a few days and see if it has dropped some more.

 

[oscarman]

looks like the fermentation is almost done. There was a larger Krausen ring there by the looks of it. In my experience at that gravity and seeing a lot of the yeast has settled and finished working , I wouldnt expect a massive ring. Also when it is fermenting along happily it is more milky and darker toward the end. Just check the sg in a few days and see if it has dropped some more.

This definitely isn't cause for concern?

And don't worry, i peered through the lid to get these shots very quickly.

 

[Wisey]

worry?

bottle it and worry later if somethings a miss

 

[mxd]

leave it alone to Wednesday or so, then do a reading, taste it, if it's at expected FG and tastes fine then leave it for 3 days and repeat., if still at expected FG then chill it down to 1-2 degrees for 2 or 3 days then bottle or keg.

 

[oscarman]

congrats mate, how fun is it!? i also used an old and cheap cake cooling rack that i pulled the legs off for keeping the bag atop the bucket. made it easy to batch sparge too to get some more sexy sugars.

i can't recommend enough the thin jerry cans (about 20-23L versions) which you can buy from bunnings or camping stores and most brew shops have them too. with your fridge you might even be able to fit 2 of them side by side for more beer i started with the coopers one, did one beer and ended up ditching it for the cheaper jerry cans.

Do you know the specific name of these jerry cans?

 

[Nick JD]

What's it taste like?