My First All Grain Biab Brew Day

[JestersDarts]

Well I've done it. I've managed to get organised enough to perform my first all-grain BIAB brew!

It was a Dr. Smurto Golden Ale and its all cubed up and ready to go.. when my fermenters are free of the ciders ive been making.

I cant wait to get this one bottled! I'll definitely cellar a few for the future..

I never ran a 'water' only test with the setup, so I was flying blind, I hope to do a few batches and work out my liquid losses so I can fine-tune it for the future.



I executed this stunt this in the Riverland, with my Dad (an old school K&K brewer), who is puzzled at the whole process, but happily helped me anyway.

Classic realisation that this is a little bit magic is when when we were doughing in and that malt hit the water, he yells out to my mum in the kitchen.. "possum. POSSUM!!! GRABGET ME THE CAMERA!" haha I'll convert him soon enough I can tell..


Here is my method I used:
Placed the voile in the urn ( un sewn and fraying at the edges doubled it over actually, because I found a small tear in it) I used a wire thing I found to stop the bag touching the element.




Heated 30L water in the urn to 70 Degrees, and doughed in. Now I had 4 different thermometers, and they all read different values. This is DEFINITELY something I need to sort out for next time because I was in a panic that I was way off. And I probably was. I was hoping for a 66 Degree mash for 60 minutes. This 66 is what my thermometer read (an old vacola fruit preserving thermometer) after we doughed in, so I popped the top on, and wrapped it in a sleeping bag for an hour. I'm unsure of the accuracy of the urn's thermostat and dial, but I left the urn set at 60 Degrees just incase it dropped that low over the hour it could bump it back up by itself. It never got that low.




After the hour was up, the thermometer (I left it inside the urn) read around 63 Degrees.
Then into the kettle for the boil.





(BIABBERS may question why I don't just boil in my urn well I don't want to. I feel more eclectic this way. The roar of the burnerthe boil over when you throw in the hops aaahhh)
We squeezed the bejeezus out of the bag and got about 1Litre plus extra.


continued...

 

[JestersDarts]

I managed to pour almost all the wort from the urn into the kettle, losing only about 250mL that didn't get into the tap. There didn't seem to be any break material, so it went all in.


I forgot to turn the urn off, so the left behinds decided to burn themselves onto the element. Well I hope that comes off!

A relatively hassle free boil. Two rings roaring on the 4-ring burner bought it to a rolling boil in about 10 minutes, where I started with my 60 min hops addition.




A few games of darts showed that I'm still not as good as my old man,
And not paying attention after chucking in hops will cause boil overs! Had to happen ey!
All the hops stuck up the walls of the kettle from the boil over, so I tried to splash them back in. Liquid loss here was negligible.

Now, I don't have any measurement on my kettle to see how much evaporated, It dropped about an inch over the hour. I know that around the half way mark is about 25L. And that's where I ended just under this after the boil thereabouts.
I also forgot to see how much wort I had left after the mash n squeeze, into the kettle.
Bugger, must take more notes. Must get gloves for squeeze.

It didn't evaporate as much as I thought it would, and I had a strong rolling boil going. So I really cranked it for the last 10 minutes because I thought I'd have waaay to much to fit in that puny cube, and I didn't want to leave any behind. Anyway, the kettle drained, filled the cube up exactly, and left about 1Litre of hops and trub at the bottom of the kettle. A perfect amount for the cube.

At least I fluked one thing!
And that was that!
Took about four and a half hours all up with all the mucking around and second guessing.

The wort into the cube had a gravity of 1054 (20Degrees temp adjusted). I was hoping for 1047. I figure another 4 litres of water will bring it to the desired gravity. I'll do this in the fermenter.

This process has bought about so many questions and I know I left out a few steps.. Advice on how to proceed is welcomed.

Steps I believe I left out:

Mash out.
Once the hour mash is up, should I just raise the temperature of the urn and wort to a mashout temp, and hold for 10 minutes? Is this the right thinking?
I rekon I could rinse the grain for more sugars, because I definitely can add more water to the method, seeing I ended up with a 1054 gravity wort. Should this water be at mashout temperature?

Minimising trub into cube
I forgot to allow for hot break, and rekon there's going to be a crudload of break material in the cube. Should I use whirlfloc and whirlpool next time?

Should I have taken so much from the kettle?
Am I meant to let the kettle sit and this break material fall out, then transfer?
With this cube, I I'll try and minimise the amount of trub I pour into the fermenter.

Thankyou AHB for all the learning's, teachings, and getting me this far. I know there is so much more for me to do, and no doubt will offer your advice of where to improve next time. I really would like if everyone could pick apart my process, and tell me what to do better next time I need the guidance!

I'm going to give it another crack this weekend, so Dad can have some wort to ferment for himself. I think he was a bit sad when I packed the piping hot cube in my car and left back for Adelaide.
he brews coopers stout cans with a kg sugar.

I'm hoping to do a version of "Three shades of stout" http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...&recipe=304
and show him the reason we spent 4 hours making wort.

Cheers

JD

 

[argon]

Well done mate... Looks like you got most of the process spot on. You could easily proceed the way you're going.
As for adding a mash out step. When raising the temp give your mash a big stir/pump up and down with your mash paddle/ paint stirrer. This will even out temp differential and help ease the sugars out of the grain.

No worries doing a brew in a sheet... My first few full size biabs were done in an unseen sheets with no issues.

Get the old man into the AG brewing too, then you can just tell everyone you're spending more time with the family, when you're really knocking up beer together... Sounds a good deal.

 

[Barley Belly]

I'm by no means an All Grain Examaspurt, BUT, I read that "Hot side aeration" is a BIG NO NO.

Maybe someone more learned will clarify :unsure:

 

[j1gsaw]

We squeezed the bejeezus out of the bag ?????? eeeeeeekkk! (feminem scream)

 

[JestersDarts]

I'm by no means an All Grain Examaspurt, BUT, I read that "Hot side aeration" is a BIG NO NO.

Maybe someone more learned will clarify :unsure:

yes I've read this debate many times over.
I thought that this would come into affect after the boil? I ran the finished wort into the cube from the bottom via hose.
In anycase, this splashing from the urn to kettle could be avoided next time by running a hose to the bottom of the kettle from the urn. The wort is only max 70Degrees at that stage, then boiled - which removes a lot more oxygen anyway from the wort yeah?

 

[Nick JD]

I'm by no means an All Grain Examaspurt, BUT, I read that "Hot side aeration" is a BIG NO NO.

HSA?



Forward to 3:00.

 

[Nick JD]

yes I've read this debate many times over.
I thought that this would come into affect after the boil? I ran the finished wort into the cube from the bottom via hose.
In anycase, this splashing from the urn to kettle could be avoided next time by running a hose to the bottom of the kettle from the urn. The wort is only max 70Degrees at that stage, then boiled - which removes a lot more oxygen anyway from the wort yeah?

HSA is oxidation of the Melanoidins, not oxygen disolving into the liquor.

 

[JestersDarts]

HSA is oxidation of the Melanoidins, not oxygen disolving into the liquor.

Oh ok sweet - I dont know much about it.
I guess I'll see how it turns out, and if its something that i need to avoid in the future.

I dont want this to turn into a HSA debate!

Are there any other suggestions for my next brew?
So far I'm going to attempt a mash out at temps
take better measurements
aim to reduce the break into the cube





that video is awesome - they are having a ball!

 

[tavas]

Maybe a dunk sparge after your mash or mash out as you've indicated.

You've already noted about hot break in the fermenter. i think that was what killed my first one. Way too bitter and no head.
Did you account for bitterness in the cube? Some say to do it, I find my beers need to drop back the bitterness as I believe its from the cube.

Yep, better measurements. Get a steel rule and use it for volume calcs.

otherwise, I think the secret is practice makes perfect.

 

[Goofinder]

I'm not sure why you are using both the urn and a separate kettle to do BIAB unless you enjoy cleaning. You're losing the single vessel advantage of BIAB but not getting any (potential) benefit from a traditional 3V setup.

You have almost enough gear there to do 3V if you want to go that way in the future (especially if you just use the voille to line the urn as your mash tun). Or you could add an esky with some sort of manifold.

I'm only saying this because it takes time to get used to your gear enough to hit targets consistently, and if you change something later you'll need to re-calibrate. It might pay to work out whether you want to stick with the current setup or go to a 'traditional' BIAB or 3V configuration since you have most (if not all) of the gear for either.

Othersise, take lots of notes.
If you want to mash out raise the temp to about 75-78 degrees for 10 minutes.
Whirlpool after flameout then let it sit for 10 minutes and that should get rid of some of the break.
1/2 tablet of Whirlfloc 5 minutes from the end should help too.
If you're worried about HSA, sparge into a blue bucket.
And... enjoy the beer when it's ready. :icon_cheers:

 

[JestersDarts]

I'm not sure why you are using both the urn and a separate kettle to do BIAB unless you enjoy cleaning. You're losing the single vessel advantage of BIAB but not getting any (potential) benefit from a traditional 3V setup.

You have almost enough gear there to do 3V if you want to go that way in the future (especially if you just use the voille to line the urn as your mash tun). Or you could add an esky with some sort of manifold.

I'm only saying this because it takes time to get used to your gear enough to hit targets consistently, and if you change something later you'll need to re-calibrate. It might pay to work out whether you want to stick with the current setup or go to a 'traditional' BIAB or 3V configuration since you have most (if not all) of the gear for either.

Othersise, take lots of notes.
If you want to mash out raise the temp to about 75-78 degrees for 10 minutes.
Whirlpool after flameout then let it sit for 10 minutes and that should get rid of some of the break.
1/2 tablet of Whirlfloc 5 minutes from the end should help too.
If you're worried about HSA, sparge into a blue bucket.
And... enjoy the beer when it's ready. :icon_cheers:

Thanks mate - this is great. Originally I did plan to go for a 3V system, but have run short of funds for a mash tun, and short of this, I thought hey I got all of the equipment here (and more) for BIAB - so lets get stuck in.
I built the kettle first, and really enjoyed using it - so I'd like to keep on doing so. Getting used to it for when I get a mash tun too.
The space is no issue, so i dont need to drop back to just the urn. oh and I really liked firing up the kettle.
I heard a blue bucket definately helps reduce HSA, so will give that a shot next time.

I didnt take into account extra bitterness from the cube. However, i figure i'll get about 26L of 1047 wort from this, and the recipe was planned for 23L. So the hop additions are based around 23L. Maybe this will help back the hops off a bit for the extra volume?

I hear you with changing the set up half way through but I was just so keen to get going, I jumped straight in.

 

[JestersDarts]

Maybe a dunk sparge after your mash or mash out as you've indicated.

You've already noted about hot break in the fermenter. i think that was what killed my first one. Way too bitter and no head.
Did you account for bitterness in the cube? Some say to do it, I find my beers need to drop back the bitterness as I believe its from the cube.

Yep, better measurements. Get a steel rule and use it for volume calcs.

otherwise, I think the secret is practice makes perfect.

Cheers tavas -

I'll make a measuring pole for the kettle. That way I can see how much evap I get over the hour as well.

 

[Cannibal Smurf]

Mash out.
Once the hour mash is up, should I just raise the temperature of the urn and wort to a mashout temp, and hold for 10 minutes? Is this the right thinking?
I rekon I could rinse the grain for more sugars, because I definitely can add more water to the method, seeing I ended up with a 1054 gravity wort. Should this water be at mashout temperature?

I normally mashout at 76, keeping my bag in the kettle and stir like a madman for 15mins or till temp is reached then sparge with 78 degree water.

edit: forgot {quote}

 

[JestersDarts]

I normally mashout at 76, keeping my bag in the kettle and stir like a madman for 15mins or till temp is reached then sparge with 78 degree water.

edit: forgot {quote}

Do you have a separate pot going with 78 degree water to sparge?

 

[Cannibal Smurf]

Yup, I've got a BigW 11L SS special with a BigW el cheapo kettle element installed.

 

[davo4772]

HSA?



Forward to 3:00.

:icon_offtopic: Checked their webpage. Interested to see if it worked. No mention of a finished product, perhaps it was a dud?


Dave