Help With First Ag-biab

[smilinggilroy]

Hi All,
Need help with boil volumes and some procedures for my first AG-BIAB.
I am using beersmith but not having success with working out BIAB methods with this program. Am I missing something??
Anyway....I wish to start by doing a small batch low alcohol brew for visitors in the upcoming seasons.
I have a 19lt stock pot paired to an inefficient electric stove (will give a gentle to moderate boil with 14lt of water in it).
So I estimate that the boil off rate may be down, so need to know approx. how many litres of water needed to start with.

• Wish to end up with 13.5lt in the fermenter.
• Mash for 60min. @ 64*c
• Boil 60 min. (maybe longer?-90??)
• Will be using half pkt. of yeast (US-05)

Have got all the ingredients for the RECIPE BELOW and wish to get it going tomorrow lunchtime.
Have read the Bjorn J & Nick JD how to posts so hopefully I might have a bit of an idea what to do(maybe not). :unsure:

TIA
Cheers

Low Alc. #1-small batch

Type: All Grain
Date: 27/08/2010
Batch Size: 13.50 L
Brewer: Me
Boil Size: 9.21 L Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (5 Gallon)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU

1. 1.17 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (5.9 EBC) Grain 72.22 %
2. 0.27 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 30L (59.1 EBC) Grain 16.67 %
3. 0.18 kg Barley, Flaked (3.3 EBC) Grain 11.11 %
4. 11.00 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 17.2 IBU
5. 10.10 gm Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
6. 10.14 gm Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (1 min) Hops 0.7 IBU
7. 0.34 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
8. 0.34 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) Misc
9. 1 Pkgs SafBrew Ale (DCL Yeast #S-05) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.026 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.007 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 2.53 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 22.9 IBU Calories: 90 cal/l
Est Color: 11.6 EBC Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 1.62 kg
Sparge Water: 7.55 L Grain Temperature: 22.2 C
Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C TunTemperature: 22.2 C
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 4.22 L of water at 75.4 C 67.8 C
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Dried Malt Extract Volumes of CO2: 2.2
Pressure/Weight: 92.9 gm Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 16.0 C Age for: 28.0 days
Storage Temperature: 11.1 C

 

[Acasta]

Did you enter the vaules of your equipment? if you do that, giving it the values, it will then give you a boil volume.
If you want mash info, you need to create a mash profile to suit your BIAB system, and beersmith will calc the rest for you.

 

[goomboogo]

You may be surprised at the evaporation even with what you call a gentle to moderate boil. I know you're wanting to get started around lunch time but you could do a run with just water and check the evap rate for 60 and 90 minutes. This will give you some idea what allowances will be required for evaporation. You can always use the water later on for your mash.

I don't BIAB so am not aware of the exact water to grain ratio for the mash.

 

[smilinggilroy]

Did you enter the vaules of your equipment? if you do that, giving it the values, it will then give you a boil volume.
If you want mash info, you need to create a mash profile to suit your BIAB system, and beersmith will calc the rest for you.

Thanks Acasta for the reply,
I did enter values of equipment:-*Equipment: Brew Pot (5 Gallon)*
However creating a mash profile, I have no bloody idea what or how to do this. :huh:
Not the greatest with programs :unsure:


Also Thanks Goomboogo for your suggestion, am off to do that right now!

Cheers All.

 

[Acasta]

Mkay, well with the 19L pot, which i also have and use.
If you wanna brew this arvo, i wont bother teaching you beersmith for now, just do a 13L mash, then do 2 4L batch sparges. This should give you about 16L in the kettle.
Add it all in as your boiling and you'll be right.

In the future, i would recommend creating a custom profile for the equipment and your mash, this way u can tell it your only doing a 16L boil and it will adjust accordingly. Then you can tell it how u want to mash, and it will calc it all for you. With the high Gravity brews like this, i would just stick with the above mash profile, or one that suits your equipment. I've worked out the above numbers to fill up my pots and bucket almost to the brim with 5kg grain in the bad.

EDIT: Just realised you wanted a 13.5L batch... Ok well, do a 11.5L mash and a single 4L sparge should leave you with about 13L in the kettle.

 

[stevem01]

You need the BIAB_Equipment_Set_Up_Volumes spreadsheet, search on this site or look on the BIABrewer.info site

 

[smilinggilroy]

Thanks to all that replied :icon_cheers:
Will follow up on all advice given.
Got through the episode quite well, hit target gravity and was only 500ml down on volume.
Just hope it is a success in the glass.
Cheers All.

P.S. F**k the stove top....40lt Birko arrived yesterday :super:

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Had a boil that went from 35L or so, down to 18L in 90 minutes. OG was massively high, so diluted back to 22.5L. Even then efficiency (after dilution) was 80% so happy as a pig in the proverbial.

Big urn (or burner + pot) is the dream, need cabinet clearance from the Minister of War & Finance before doing so. Having said that, my 2 big w pots (on special, so $11.98 for a pot is great) on the stove are doing me fine for normal sized batches.

I did a number of 9L batches on the stove to experiment, and they've all been really good drops. It's a ton of effort, but it's nice to be able to experiment before doing a fullsize batch of said brew and finding out it isn't that great.

Using qbrew for my program (as it runs on windows and linux), and it's pretty decent. I'm starting to learn not to rely on the pure figures, as they don't assess taste.

Going to do an amarillo and some noble variety amber ale soon. Have some leftovers in the fridge I can use.

 

[black_labb]

probably a bit late but for a low alcohol beer i'd suggest to mash higher as it will be a very thin beer with the small amount of fermentables and low mash temp. I'm sure it will be enjoyed though and that is only a minor thing.