First BIAB and No Chill complete. Didn't all go to plan

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Lowlyf

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So I punched some recipe ideas into Beersmith and came out with a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale recipe. I scaled it to suit my half batch pot of 20L for a rough batch size of 12L.

The recipe called for:
2.6kg Pale Malt
0.23kg Crystal 60
7g Nugget @ 90min
9g Perle @ 15min
14g Cascade @ 2min
7g Cascade dry hop @ 7 days

So away I went and ordered my gear online and it arrived safely. It should be noted that the minimum purchase on malts was 500g. So 2.6kg Pale malt and 500g was ordered of Crystal 60.

Sunday came around and I get stuck in at about 1:30pm.
I have so much on my mind trying to remember some youtube video's I had watched and trying to remember bits and pieces I had read.

My water hits temp and I chuck in my bag and all the grain and start mixing well, I throw the lid on and keep a keen eye on my temp throughout the hour. So far I'm pretty happy.
After the hour is up I start to wonder how I am going to tackle the next phase and wonder if I should do another mini 10 min sparge to extract whatever is left. I realise after wort and **** is going everywhere that my second pot I was going to sparge with isn't big enough and I decide to sparge over my existing wort.

Once I have cleaned up the sticky mess I raise the temp on my delicious sugary wort and I am pretty chuffed with myself thus far.

Finally the wort comes to a rolling boil and and I get all flustered as somehow my beersmith app timer f*cks up and I lose my position. Now I'm 2 MINS IN add my 2min 14g cascade edition.... 15mins passes and so I add my perle edition.... At this point I was thinking hmmm, what did I buy the nugget for then? And I assumed it was for the dry hop.

Now the boil has finished I also am trying the no chill method for the first time. So I rack the boiling hot wort into my cube and dang that **** is hot. Try getting air out of the cube when the walls are damn hot is near impossible. I try my best and screw the lid on. The thing blows up like a balloon so I think to myself, "**** I'm getting out of here!". A few hours pass and it has shrunk and sucked in the sides like it should. Winning.

I'm sitting watching TV and I think to myself... ****, I just cut open both malt bags and threw them in. So instead of following the recipe (which I thought I was) I have added:
2.6kg Pale Malt
0.5kg Crystal 60

So after this I check my recipe again and I realise I completely stuffed up my recipe with the hop additions also.
This is how the recipe reads now:
2.6kg Pale Malt
0.5kg Crystal 60
14g Cascade @ 58min
9g Perle @ 45min
7g Cascade dry hop @ 7 days.

Not to mention I had read that when using the No chill method, its best to amend the hop additions by 20mins. So this thing is probably going to Uber bitter and nothing like a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Anyway I had fun doing it. I'm pitching the yeast tonight. See how it turns out.

Cheers!
 
Call it an AIPA and a win at the same time.

All things considering i think you did very well and learnt a heap of the small issues along the way.

I would possibly look at changing your grain supplier if they wont supply a recipe in one bag or split bags into smaller amounts.. Most others will but charge between $1-2 per bag for smaller amounts.
 
RDWHAHB

It will make beer (sanitation willing)!

Just FYI mate hop addition convention is when it says "@ 90mins" it means from the end of boil, so your total boil time is 90 mins and you throw the 90 min in when it starts boiling. A 2 min addition would 2 minutes from the end of the boil (or 88 mins from start if doing 90mins).
 
And it will probably still be the best you've ever made! Don't worry mate, in a couple of months you'll have it down pat!
 
you should put the recipe in to beersmith to see what the bitteness will be, as said previously the cascade @2min is 2 minutes from the end of the boil :)

it'll be fine, or we can improve :)

Let us know what the bitterness is, then we may need to add some LME or DME and potentially water to get the balance back to what it should be.
 
**** I wish my first brew went that well.

Sounds like you went fine everywhere but your hop additions and even then I wouldn't stress. With those additions I'd say it'll come out more like 20 to 30IBU, so more like a higher alcohol slightly sweeter summer ale. What temp did you mash at?

#edited after a quick check in Beersmith.
 
I remember stressing over my first BIAB or three, then I realised how simple it actually is.

welcome aboard the grain train mate.

soon enough you will be brewing while doing other stuff around the house because it has become second nature.


good luck remembering the Irish Moss (I never do).

have fun and enjoy.
 
Rob.P said:
good luck remembering the Irish Moss (I never do).
haha that is so annoying when you realise that has been left out!

i like to take a quote form my jiu jitsu professor - "you either win or you learn" either brew a great beer or learn about a part of your brewing that can be improved, cheers!
 
Cheers fellas. Yeah I was aware of the hop times, I just completely stuffed up. I racked it into a fermenter tonight and pitched the yeast. I took an SG reading and the thing came out at 1.068. It's going to be a monster!

I'm also wondering about my water. I was doing a 12L batch in beer smith, but I'm not sure if I started with enough? Or ended with enough? I have absolutely no idea. I'm limited with my current pot size only being 20L.

I started with 12L in the mash. Then added another 4 in the boil. So whatever boiled off I'm not too sure but I may be left with roughly 13L. It's pretty damn strong though
 
you want have enough water in your mix.....
grain absorption is almost 1klitre of water per kg, so 12 plus 3,
boil off probably around 15-20% especially in a small pot, allow around 2 litres,
small losses in transfer and trub, 1-2 litres.
Should have added around 18-20 litres to get back to 12.
Beersmith should allow you to adjust your losses and get the right amount, may take a few goes to lock in.
Add 3-4 litres of cooled boiled water to dilute back to 1046-1049 and will be back closer to your 12 litres.
 
yum beer said:
you want have enough water in your mix.....
grain absorption is almost 1klitre of water per kg, so 12 plus 3,
boil off probably around 15-20% especially in a small pot, allow around 2 litres,
small losses in transfer and trub, 1-2 litres.
Should have added around 18-20 litres to get back to 12.
Beersmith should allow you to adjust your losses and get the right amount, may take a few goes to lock in.
Add 3-4 litres of cooled boiled water to dilute back to 1046-1049 and will be back closer to your 12 litres.
Okay so it's all in the fermenter now and is around 12L as is. Are you saying I should add another 4L?
 
haha. that happens all the time. In fact it must be our normal way of thinking that 0 minute hops start the boil and 60 minute hops are added at the 60 minutes boiling mark.
 
Mate, to help you get a solid routine in place, use this thread as a base point. Was exactly what I needed when I started out. It was excellent in getting my thoughts in order on brewday. Nice job on your first brew, sounds like it went exactly as you'd expect, and you'll probably be surprised by how drinkable your beer is.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/55617-step-by-step-biab-lcba-clone/
 
Haha my first biab was a disaster and half of it ended up on my garage floor.

After your next few brews you'll look back and laugh ☺
 
madpierre06 said:
Mate, to help you get a solid routine in place, use this thread as a base point. Was exactly what I needed when I started out. It was excellent in getting my thoughts in order on brewday. Nice job on your first brew, sounds like it went exactly as you'd expect, and you'll probably be surprised by how drinkable your beer is.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/55617-step-by-step-biab-lcba-clone/
Why has this leak only been brought to my attention now! It's brilliant! Haha thanks mate
 
Fellas, should I try to bump up the water in there to even out the SG? Or is it too late now?
 
Haha pisser.
...I can't even do extracts without writing out a step by step plan first.
 
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