First Biab- How'd I Go?

[Mud Gecko]

Hi all,

So, I made my first all grain beer on the weekend following NickJD's stovetop method. Seemed to go well, I'm hoping someone with a bit more experience can go over my numbers and give me an idea on how I went.

A couple of things before I show you guys my notes, first, does someone have a skyhook they can sell me?

Second, is it okay to let the wort cool down when I'm "dunk sparging" the biab bag? It took maybe half an hour or so for the liqour to drain even while burning my hands trying to squeeze all the juice out.

Third, I live in the tropics so a "no chill" isn't really possible for me to do, after an over-night test on boiled water, it was still 45C the morning after..... I chilled the wort by putting the pot in the esky with ice water but it still took 2 hours to get to pitching temps. I'm thinking of freezing 2L blocks of ice and just chucking them in the pot after the boil. Any dramas with that idea?

Fourth, if this beer tastes as good as you all say it should, a big **** off pot is on the cards for double batches, it's a whole lot of effort to get 19 or so litres of beer

Okay aside from that, things went pretty smooth, it's fermenting nicely now so should be good to drink for x-mas :icon_cheers:


4.5kg BB pale ale
27g PoR @ 60mins

1 hour mash @ 66C
12L of of strike water @ 71C
6L of sparge @ 75C

Pre-boil- approx 16L @ 1.050 @ 55C

I added 4L of water to dilute in the fermenter for a total of about 18-19L.


Cheers.

 

[ekul]

Nochill will be perfect for you! In hot climates where the water is coming out of the tap at 25C its very hard to get the wort down to fermenting temps. With nochilling you can stick the cube in the fermenting fridge (after its cooled overnight) and wait for it to cool to the appropriate pitching temp before putting it on yeast.

Adding frozen water to your wort can be bad. When you boil the wort you kill most of the nasties in it. If you take some tap water and freeze it the water may still have living organisms whom are hell bent on wrecking your beer in it.

Getting a double batch pot is a good idea. Same amount of effort for much more beer.

 

[beerbog]

Mate, don't worry about the no chill not cooling down overnight. It is designed to gradually cool, and it can safely be stored (if airtight) for months on end. As a wiser person than me said "The worst thing that can happen is that you make beer." Enjoy. :beerbang:

 

[wombil]

Mud Gecko,good name for a croc.I used to live in the gulf,plenty there too.
Get a pair of cheap rubber gloves,[not the washing up sort,] and you can squeeze the bag no trouble.
If you can seal it up ok wouldn't hurt to let it sit for another morning when cooler.
might save stuffing around with ice.
I started out the same way,good cheap booze.
Have fun with it.

 

[Mud Gecko]

Thanks for replies fella's. I don't have a fermenting fridge yet, got the controller just need the fridge It will save a whole heap of stuffing around doing no-chill.

wombil- thats where I came up with the handle, been using it on xbox live since '06

 

[jacknohe]

It took maybe half an hour or so for the liqour to drain even while burning my hands trying to squeeze all the juice out.

Ha ha, I know the feeling! I got a pair of those cheap red water proof gloves from bunnings. They were the only water proof ones I could find at the time. After several batches of red burnt hands from squeezing, the gloves had stretched from the heat a little. Got another pair of the same gloves and put them inside the original ones. Perfect!