My First Biab Ag

[eric8]

Well I finally got round to doing my first BIAB, bout bloody time! Have had the grain for at least 3 weeks just sitting there and smelling good.
Couldn't work b/c of the rain, and swmbo had to go out with the our girls. I might brew my beer then I say, so I did.
Here's the recipe


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 20.00 L
Boil Size: 26.27 L
Estimated OG: 1.067 SG
Estimated Color: 75.9 EBC
Estimated IBU: 44.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 68.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3500.00 gm Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe White) (5.9 EBGrain 55.6 %
1500.00 gm Munich, Light (Joe White) (17.7 EBC) Grain 23.8 %
500.00 gm Amber Malt (Joe White) (45.3 EBC) Grain 7.9 %
500.00 gm Chocolate Malt (Joe White) (750.6 EBC) Grain 7.9 %
250.00 gm Crystal (Joe White) (141.8 EBC) Grain 4.0 %
50.00 gm Roasted Malt (Joe White) (1199.7 EBC) Grain 0.8 %
45.00 gm Fuggles [4.50%] (90 min) Hops 22.0 IBU
35.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (60 min) Hops 17.1 IBU
15.00 gm Fuggles [4.50%] (15 min) Hops 3.8 IBU
18.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (5 min) Hops 1.7 IBU
WLP005 British Ale yeast
Total Grain Weight: 6300.00 gm
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Full-volume InfusioAdd 0.00 L of water at 65.0 C 65.0 C 60 min
Mash Out Heat to 75.0 C over 20 min 75.0 C 20 min

So I started very slowly adding my water to the keg, a litre and a half at a time, blimey :huh: . Then got the temp up. When the temp was right I added my grain and gave it a good stir and checked temp again, it was down about 3 deg. Cranked the 3 ring up again and got back to temp, phew. Found another use for the dip tube, mash stirrer. Had a prob with the bag coming over the lip of keg a couple of times, obviuosly didn't tie it tight enough!Held temp pretty well, only lost about a degree over the 60 mins. Was meant to get up to 75 C for mash out, but only got to 70, oh well.
Then came time to remove bag. Must remember next time to not try and remove the bag so quickly, as i ended up with an amount of my liquid gold on the garage floor :angry: . Then had a bit of trouble tying the bag to the metal beam to hold it up, the bag was a wee bit heavy :blink: .
Then came the boil. i got a bit excited AGAIN, and started the hop addition BEFORE it had got to the boil, duh, take it out freddie. Got it up to boil and back in went the hops. After that it was all pretty plain sailing, thankfully.
So thanks to everyone who has helped me on my way, PP of course (the Godfather), Phrak for helping me with my gear, Doc for answering lots of my dumb questions, and the HBG guys for letting me taste their fantastic beers, hopefully i will soon be like them, and Gerard for cracking my grain even though he doesn't do it anymore.
Heres to BIAB and AG :super:
Eric
Look at that sweet wort on the ground, luckily it wasn't as bad as it looks!!

 

[snagler]

Great stuff
Ive often wonder about whether spills like that invite bacteria and other nastys into your shed/brewing enviroment to stay. My shed floor is old and the concrete is very porous, so Im very wary of this happening.

 

[matti]

Nice work.
Spills, huh?
There will be some very happy slugs about LOL

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Looks like nice work to me Eric. Well done.

You no-chilling? and if so, how'd you get your kettle up on that chair or whatever it is?

Nasty if you are lifting up 30kg of hot sugar water... horrible accident waiting to happen.

Actually, looking at the chair thingy... wouldn't take too much in the way of "modification" to turn it into a permanent boil stand and save a lift.

Welcome to BIAB and AG. The world of beer is now officially your oyster.

Thirsty

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Great stuff
Ive often wonder about whether spills like that invite bacteria and other nastys into your shed/brewing enviroment to stay. My shed floor is old and the concrete is very porous, so Im very wary of this happening.

Just what are you saying? I think I find that offensive...

 

[Phrak]

Well done Eric! :beer: Can't wait to taste it
Don't stress about the mess on the garage floor. It'll get a bit sticky, but just hose it out or dilute with a bucket of water.

Hint: Rig-up a hook on the beam in your garage, above your kettle and/or above your draining pot. It'll make removing and hanging the bag much easier.

 

[eric8]

Looks like nice work to me Eric. Well done.

You no-chilling? and if so, how'd you get your kettle up on that chair or whatever it is?

Nasty if you are lifting up 30kg of hot sugar water... horrible accident waiting to happen.

Actually, looking at the chair thingy... wouldn't take too much in the way of "modification" to turn it into a permanent boil stand and save a lift.

Welcome to BIAB and AG. The world of beer is now officially your oyster.

Thirsty

Thanks Thirsty. I am no-chilling and I did lift up the kettle onto the chair, i only ended up with 16 odd litres and will add some water. So it wasn't to heavy.
Good idea about the chair, although I don't think swmbo would like that.
Eric

 

[eric8]

Well done Eric! :beer: Can't wait to taste it
Don't stress about the mess on the garage floor. It'll get a bit sticky, but just hose it out or dilute with a bucket of water.

Hint: Rig-up a hook on the beam in your garage, above your kettle and/or above your draining pot. It'll make removing and hanging the bag much easier.

Tim, I can't wait to taste it either, but unfortunately will have to wait .
I do a hook that I can hook up to the beam, so I will have to set it up for the next brew, better get some more grain .
Eric

 

[ale_snail]

the only thing i wonder about is how to keep the temp at a constant

 

[PistolPatch]

LOL Eric!

My goodness! I never thought we'd see the day!

Must be absolutely tops to have got there - I know you've been working so hard at it.

I was going to ring you tonight to say congrats but the time diff. works against us. I was also going to ask a few questions - might as well ask them here as it could be of help to others...

1. I'm not sure why you added 1.5 litres at a time?
2. I''m not sure why you only got to 70 degrees for the mash out?

Mate, from the look of your pics, you have a great set-up. Don't worry about spilt wort. (Some of those pics could be interpreted that you had wort everyehere but I think that is the rainwater???) It is a good idea though for all who brew over concrete floors to make a bleach solution of 30ml to 20 lts of COLD water and then scrub the floor.

Thnaks a heap for your SMS yesterday (or whatever they call those picture SMS's.) It meant a lot.

Spot and many cheers to you Eric!
Pat

 

[eric8]

1. I'm not sure why you added 1.5 litres at a time?
2. I''m not sure why you only got to 70 degrees for the mash out?

Pat,
Thanks mate I thought the day would never come either. There was a bit of hose water there as well, but mostly wort .
I only did a litre and a half at a time as I hadn't measured it out before hand, and was using the dip tube as my water level.Phrak's great idea!
I'm not sure why I only got to 70 degree's either, maybe b/c the paint on the burner? First time it had been used.

Cheers Pistoli and many thanks for all your help and support. :beerbang:
Eric

 

[PistolPatch]

Ah! That explains the 1.5 lts!

Maybe give the holes of your burner a go with a drill bit - I think they take 3mm drills from memory. If that doesn't work, you might have to buy yourself an adjustable regulator.

Will look forward to hearing how she tastes and maybe I can get a taste in September when I come over

Cheers again mate,
Pat

 

[eric8]

Yeah I should have drilled the holes before I started, as I knew that the paint drips in the holes, dohh.
I will make sure i save a bottle or two for you Pat, and maybe not drink the keg to quick, nah that won't happen .
Eric

 

[Kingy]

hey Eric since ive been AG'ing my beer has been dissapearing a lot faster and not many people get to sample it when it ages to its very best.
the best way to fix the problem is buy more kegs :beerbang:

but then again it hasnt really fixed this problem its just made more work for me to keep them all full and means more brewing time which means more drinking :huh:

ah well enjoy mate

cheers kingy :beer:

 

[eric8]

Sounds like a bit of a quandry Kingy, but one I am willing to figure out
Eric

 

[dan_pilbara]

Read the BIAB threads and don't really know where this belongs.

Looking at doing my first BIAB as my grain bill is starting to get too big for my partial set up. The equipment i have is a 40L and 10L urn. Questions are can i put a weldless thermometer through the side of he big urn or will this pierce the bag? Where is the jury on using a bucket and sparging? I have a small roll of SS mesh could i use this to make the basket or will the mesh size be too large?

Thanks Dan

 

[Fents]

best to ask that stuff here dan,

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...mp;#entry234058