first full size BIAB - these instructions sound ok for a first go round ?

[mongey]

so am prepping for my first all grain BIAB on Saturday after a few partials .

Am using 5kg grains, pale ale with some wheat . just going for a straight ahead pale ale with some cascade and galaxy for the boil . doing the full volume boil ,aiming for 23l at hopefully the 5 to 5.5% mark .starting the mash and all that is fine as I have done a few partials . more the water volume and the mash out temp I'm not sure on as I haven't mashed out my partials .


. found these pretty simple instructions on the grain and grape website . so think of just following it for the first time .



work out how much water you need.It will be around this much for a 23 litre batch – 30 + 0.6 x (weight of grain)
• For a 5kg Grain Bill – 33.0 litres. (probably this much would be OK for anything from 4-6kg of grain)

• Put it on the burner to heat up – heat it to 2 degrees C above the temp you want to mash at. Remember to stir thoroughly before you take the temperature.

For a mash temp of 67C heat it to 69C (67C is a nice all round mash temperature that would be appropriate for a wide variety of beers)

• Put the bag into the pot with the water like it was the liner of a rubbish bin.
• Pour in the crushed grain, stirring well. Try not to splash it too much as too much oxygen can be bad for the brew at this stage.
• Take the temperature after thoroughly stirring for a few minutes.
• If the temperature is too low, turn the burner on low and constantly stir it while you raise the heat to the proper temperature. (67C) It shouldn’t be more than a degree or two off and wont take long. Be careful not to overshoot, its easy to do
• Put a lid on the pot and wrap it up in an old blanket or some towels for insulation. Let it sit for 60 mins.
• Unwrap the pot and put on the burner again. Stirring Constantly – raise the temperature up to 76-78C. Let it rest there for a few minutes.

then its re move bag , let drain ,start boil yada yada yada

 

[Rocker1986]

What's the recipe? Hopefully no long boiled Galaxy in there.

Anyway it all sounds pretty normal process wise. Only things I really do differently are use 11L more water than the intended batch size, put the bag in before I heat the water up and heat it to about 3-4 degrees above target mash temp. Mash out is done at 78.

If you end up no-chilling into a 25 litre cube then you will probably want about 30-31 litres left behind in the kettle/pot after the boil, otherwise the cube won't be filled properly, or if it is you'll wind up putting most of the kettle trub shit in with it which you don't want. You may need to start with 35-36 litres of water. Those cubes hold about 27 litres or so of wort, so the post boil volume needs to account for that plus the trub loss. You'll also end up with a batch size about 25-26 litres rather than 23, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The starting water volume isn't just dependent on batch size, it's also influenced by the boil off rate/boil length, how much you lose to kettle trub and the grain absorption rate. It may be something you have to work out on your own system but the 10-11L more than the batch size is a good starting point.

 

[mongey]

Thanks Man

to be honest haven't really decided the boil schedule yet . need to read and think about it .seems the easy part for now . chucking shit in every 10 minutes and more at flame out hasn't steered me wrong yet .

Ill keep that all in mind . the 10 to 11 l above batch size sounds like a good tip

 

[Rocker1986]

Just don't put any Galaxy in early and you'll be sweet.