Hi folks - BIAB question inside

[JaimeT]

Hi all,

I'm 99% certain that I saw on this forum a step by step guide to a mini biab complete with recipe for an american pale ale, which I followed mostly to the letter, and it turned out an amazing beer!
Herein lies the biggest issue, I forgot to record the recipe in my book, and ALSO did not bookmark the page. I think you can see my subsequent problem!

Does anyone know of the page I seek? Am I remembering something which simply does not exist here?
Please help!

A little about my brew history:
I have successfully brewed a ginger beer from goop;
Unsuccessfully brewed a ginger beer from scratch;
Successfully brewed a cider from crushed fruit; and
Went straight to the mini biab with great success.

Thanks all for your time

 

[philrob]

I'm not sure, but is this linked thread the one you might be looking for?

https://aussiehomebrewer.com/threads/brewfather-scaling-for-mini-biab.101255/

 

[philired1]

Hi all,

I'm 99% certain that I saw on this forum a step by step guide to a mini biab complete with recipe for an american pale ale, which I followed mostly to the letter, and it turned out an amazing beer!
Herein lies the biggest issue, I forgot to record the recipe in my book, and ALSO did not bookmark the page. I think you can see my subsequent problem!

Does anyone know of the page I seek? Am I remembering something which simply does not exist here?
Please help!

A little about my brew history:
I have successfully brewed a ginger beer from goop;
Unsuccessfully brewed a ginger beer from scratch;
Successfully brewed a cider from crushed fruit; and
Went straight to the mini biab with great success.

Thanks all for your time

I think you mean "A guide to Mini-BIAB". It is at www.biabrewer.info. Hope this helps

 

[JaimeT]

I think you mean "A guide to Mini-BIAB". It is at www.biabrewer.info. Hope this helps

YES! Thank you Phil!

https://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=153
This is the thread I found originally and it worked a charm. I now know what I'll be doing on Sat/Sun.

 

[AHB_Admin]

Welcome to the forum, Jaime!

 

[AHB_Admin]

This is the thread I found originally and it worked a charm. I now know what I'll be doing on Sat/Sun.

Hey Jaime,

So, what did you do on that Sat/Sun?

 

[JaimeT]

Hey Jaime,

So, what did you do on that Sat/Sun?

Well... I had a massive timing fail and didn't get to the brew shop on time. That was rectified yesterday and I have a bag of grain ready to brew this afternoon or tomorrow! Have to do some arts and crafts with the small people before that though so we will see when I get time.

 

[JaimeT]

Quick update, beer has finished cooking and is currently cooling. Into the fermenter tonight, slap in some yeast and wait 10 days to bottle. Have to get some 350ml bottles as last time I brewed it, I didn't realise why I was getting fairly well hammered until I did some math and realised it was way stronger than I originally thought.
I'd love to keg it, but alas, no gear and the bottles are working fine for me still, just have to wait a couple extra weeks before drinking time.
Intending on crash cooling at the 10 day mark for a day or 2, but will see how that works for timing as I will be bottling it on a weekend.

 

[AHB_Admin]

That's great, you'll have plenty of beers for next year.
I'd love to know how it turns out. Have fun and good luck!

 

[JaimeT]

Minor update:
Couldn't test OG because somehow my hydrometer broke in the move. Something smashed the top of it so have to wait till tomorrow for the brew shop to open to buy another.
Airlock stopped bubbling away about 3 days after fermentation started so not sure what has happened. Will take a test reading to see if it halted for some reason tomorrow. Might buy some extra yeast while I'm there in case it has stopped for some reason. First batch I brewed didn't bubble at all due to an issue with the fermenter moulding leaving a tag on the seal area which I fixed so not entirely sure what is going on.
Hopefully it is all still going well!

 

[Drubbing]

Never trust airlocks, they are not a reliable indication of fermentation. A brew can still be fermenting without producing enough activity to move an airlock. Only your hydrometer is reliable. I've never used an airlock. I started with a Coopers fermenter and still have it. Over 100 brews done and no airlock needed.

 

[Brewman_]

Two things I always use to test a complete ferment.
1) Hydrometer.
2) Taste it. And I mean taste it all the way through fermentation. The hydrometer may indicate a static final gravity, but the taste is the final check. You will learn when it is not done.

 

[JaimeT]

Thanks for the info guys. I checked the reading tonight and it came back at about 1008/1009 so I'll check again tomorrow evening and see if it has moved. Was aiming for 1006 but without an OG reading it might be hard to tell where it should be.

 

[JaimeT]

Two things I always use to test a complete ferment.
1) Hydrometer.
2) Taste it. And I mean taste it all the way through fermentation. The hydrometer may indicate a static final gravity, but the taste is the final check. You will learn when it is not done.

Of curiosity, what would not done taste like?

 

[Brewman_]

Of curiosity, what would not done taste like?

Hi Jaime,
There will be people here with a better palate than mine here that could better explain this. As the beer ferments there are a range of flavours that can occur during the process, e.g. Sulphur notes, Diacetyl, worty unfermented / sweet notes, etc.

By tasting the fermenting wort during the process you will notice these and also notice when they dissipate / get cleaned up by the completion of the fermentation process. What I have noticed is that if you package the beer with these notes the resulting beer usually exhibits those characteristics and will not improve a great deal. I learnt that the hard way.

I like to take small tastes throughout the fermentation process.

I hope that helps.
Cheers
Steve