First BIAB/All Grain

[Gr390ry]

So I'm venturing into BIAB after reading through the threads on it, with my equipment it is the easiest way for me to get into all grain. Wednesday I'm going to put down my first BIAB and the first time I have brewed a Pilsner, I'm hoping for some feedback/advice on my recipe from anyone? I'm trying for a simple Pilsner to get myself started. Plus any BIAB tips that I wouldn't have read yet in the sticky threads would be great!

Pistol Pete Pilsner


[SIZE=9.96pt]Recipe Specs[/SIZE][SIZE=9.96pt]----------------[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Batch Size (L): 21.0[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Total Grain (kg): 4.500[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Total Hops (g): 65.00[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Original Gravity (OG): 1.044 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt](°P): 11.0[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt](°P): 2.8[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.32 %[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Colour (SRM): 3.1 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt](EBC): 6.1[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Bitterness (IBU): 32.7 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt](Average)[/SIZE] [SIZE=9.96pt]Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 68[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Boil Time (Minutes): 60[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9.96pt]Grain Bill[/SIZE][SIZE=9.96pt]----------------[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]4.000 kg Pilsner (88.89%)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]0.500 kg Carapils (Dextrine) (11.11%)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9.96pt]Hop Bill[/SIZE][SIZE=9.96pt]----------------[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]15.0 g Magnum Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) [/SIZE][SIZE=9.96pt](0.7 g/L)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]10.0 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]20.0 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]20.0 g Saaz Pellet (3.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (1 g/L)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9.96pt]Misc Bill[/SIZE][SIZE=9.96pt]----------------[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.[/SIZE] [SIZE=9.96pt]Fermented at 16°C with Saflager S-23[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9.96pt]Recipe Generated with BrewMate[/SIZE]

 

[meathead]

I've done about 15 BIABs now and here are my tips

Don't drink until you start to boil (did I say boil, I meant crack grain)
Plan plan plan
Measure twice cut once
As in cooking measure out hops and label
Use a timer
Squeeze the **** out of the bag
Measure gravity and take notes
Shut off the tap
Don't panic
Be a hygiene zealot
Find a brew chair
Play some blues really loud
Send swmbo out with the mc/visa
Use a hop sock
Boil vigorously

 

[Gr390ry]

I've done about 15 BIABs now and here are my tips

Don't drink until you start to boil (did I say boil, I meant crack grain)
Plan plan plan
Measure twice cut once
As in cooking measure out hops and label
Use a timer
Squeeze the **** out of the bag
Measure gravity and take notes
Shut off the tap
Don't panic
Be a hygiene zealot
Find a brew chair
Play some blues really loud
Send swmbo out with the mc/visa
Use a hop sock
Boil vigorously

Hahaha you have just covered my normal partial brew days bar the SWMBO with the card, she gets enough use out of that during the week. The list did give me a good laugh

 

[MartinOC]

Meathead - GOLD!!

 

[indica86]

Good luck and all the best.
I hope your first AG is a freakin awesome as mone was.

 

[thedragon]

Good luck Greg, your gonna love it. Good to see someone jumping in to AG without overthinking it.

You'll learn from every brew you do. Write stuff down, ask questions, have a go.

Most of all, have fun!

 

[gaijin]

The ingredients and recipe look great. I do a full mash (not BIAB), so not fully sure on usual efficiencies with that method, but when I did my first AG brews, I was getting efficiencies of around 75% before getting up to around 85% when I got better at sparging. So, you might get a better efficiency than 68% - more alcohol - joy.

My first pilsner had a few errors which I put down to:
1. Make sure you cool the fermenter to 16C before pitching the yeast (which is probably a little too high). I got some nutty off flavours which I think was because I got too drunk on brew day and pitched at around 25 without letting it cool down overnight.
2. I usually brew lagers at around 12C before raising to 18C for the diacetyl rest when the krausen starts to subside.
2. Pitch a big starter. Probably worth making one now to be ready by wednesday.

All grain is sooooo worth it! If it feels like a lot of screwing around first time around, don't worry, it gets easier as you do more batches.

PS. This is my first post after reading AHB posts religiously for ages. It helped me get into AG brewing and posters probably don't realise how much you guys help out noobs like I used to be. Big thanks!!!!

 

[Tahoose]

I did my first AG brew a little blind, as for amounts of water ect.

Biggest tip I could give is download brewmate, it's free and very simple to use.... Doesn't take long to download and install either. This will help immensely.

I think you can get beersmith on a trial basis also, bit I haven't used this so not sure.

 

[Gr390ry]

Thanks for the tips guys. I've already got brewmate, I have been using it for making my partial recipes which has helped a lot. I have done a really, really small all grain before (only 2L) to test the process out so I'm very excited to see how my big batch goes.

Thanks again for the tips and encouragement guys, appreciate it.

 

[BDD]

You are right man, BIAB, is in my opinion the easiest, cheapest and best way to get into all grain. Originally i started setting up for a 2v esky mashtun setup when getting into all grain. I got impatient and bought a cheap BIAB bag and did a brew. Haven't looked back. Its so simple. I actually have most of the gear to set up an esky mashtun but im too lazy haha. I think i will only look into a multiple vessel setup if i get bored and am looking for something different to do. I'm sure there are advantages to the 2v and 3v setups but im very happy with the simplicity of the BIAB system. Keep brewing man you won't regret the move to all grain no matter what system you end up using.