Pleas help the dumb arse who doesn't have a clue

[Damn]

Firstly, I've only done 3 BIAB's so far but I've learnt a heap and wanted a step by step method too.

Secondly, if you haven't got your boil off rate I would measure the boil off rate of your keggle by boiling 30l of water for 60mins then measure the finished volume. 5-15% is typical but as stated depends on how hard you boil. If your not sure how to calculate it, there are many here willing to help. If you can't be bothered working out your boil off rate then record your volumes from before and after your brew. If you've got too much liquid at the end of the boil you'll need to add dextrose to get your OG to match recipe. If you've lost too much liquid add more (boiled/chilled) water to the fermenter. Make sure your consistent with your boil vigour from brew to brew or your boil off rate may vary.

I agree with Crusty. But to simplify the steps for his recipe even further using his boil off rate. Assuming grain temp is 22o. *Adjust strike temp accordingly to grain temp. Beersmith can do this also. ** I'm skipping a mash out with these steps.

• Fill Keggle with 29.09l water.
• Heat to a Strike temp of *68.8.
• Add grain, seal, wrap in blankets or how you maintain your mash temp of 66o for 1 hour.
• **Remove bag. Draining over pot whilst heating up to boil.
• Boil for 1 hour adding hops at intervals as per recipe.
• Empty contents into no chill container squeezing all air from container.
• Add liquid to fermenter when its cooled to target temp. 18o?
• Add yeast as you've done per previous brews.
• Ferment away.

Keep records for improving on your next brews.

On another note there are plenty of local brewers who happily help you do a brew.

Hope this helps

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I am preparing for the mash paddle shoot so I am brewing naked atm.

Like really, I want to do this but feel I may embarrass and make other brewers feel inadequate :lol:
Nev

 

[djar007]

You haven't seen me naked obviously. One of the few

 

[New_guy]

Thanks Everyone for for making such an effort to help
Damn - that's a good start for me
I will do the test to measure the boil off rate - I think in my first BIAB it was much greater than 15% much more like 50%

Djar007 - Naked brewing and photo shoot in August hey? - brave man

 

[djar007]

I plugged my situation into brew mate . It accounts for shrinkage and suggests I get a life.

 

[Spiesy]

Thanks Everyone for for making such an effort to help
Damn - that's a good start for me
I will do the test to measure the boil off rate - I think in my first BIAB it was much greater than 15% much more like 50%

Djar007 - Naked brewing and photo shoot in August hey? - brave man

I hate to be that guy complicating things, but I'm going to be.

I wouldn't use a percentage as your boil off rate... use volume over time. It's more accurate.

In the same sized vessel, a 20l batch will boil off more of a percentage than a double 40l (or so) batch... go off 2l/hr (or whatever, this is just an example) - not a percentage.

Exposed surface area is the constant in a cylindrical vessel, batch volume is not necessarily so (i.e. you may be brewing a double batch, or BIAB'ing with different grist sizes).

BTW: I'm in Reservoir, and like to brew every other weekend, hoping to brew tomorrow. You're welcome to join me, probably kick off around midday.

 

[New_guy]

All good spiesy

The questions i need to answer is are

A) what volume will evaporate in a 30 lt batch in a 50lt keggle on a gas burner

B) what should the above volume be?

Presume a very standard pale ale

In my first batch the end volume in the fermenter was 13 liters

I mashed in at 68 then boiled for 60 mins with hops added at predetermined times

It took a long time to get to get up to boil temp ie 100 ish deg

Does the boil need to achieve this temp?

 

[manticle]

Only you can answer that but if it helps you will boil off the same volume in the same amount of time. For example, on a 4 ring burner, med pressure reg and keggle I will lose around 10 litres in 60 mins. If I started with 40, I would end up with 30. If I started with 30, I would end up with 20.

All systems are different and need to be calculated on an individual basis.
Boil some water or just wing a brew and measure the loss for next time. You will also lose some to trub and to grain absorption.

 

[Damn]

Correction, I agree with Spiessy, thank you.

"I wouldn't use a percentage as your boil off rate... use volume over time. It's more accurate." Yes, Yes as stated above by both Spiessy & Manitcle, measure your volume over time. Do exactly the same to measure volume over time rate. By boiling 30l of water for 60mins then measure the finished volume. This can be recorded in BeerSmith under your equipment. Since your interested in measuring your Volume over time rate I would also record the following.

Be strict on your timing.

1. Time how long it takes to get to 68o for 30l. This will be handy in managing your time. It will vary with different volumes but most will be similar.
2. Measure how much temp drop from 68o over an hour. Just in case you need to improve your insulation. Hopefully its negligible.
3. Time How long it takes to get from 66o-68o to boiling. This also will be handy in managing your time.
4. Measure the volume of water, once cooled.
5. Record volume over time rate against your equipment in BeerSmith. Also keep this info handy eleswhere.
6. I would do this for any new kettle you upgrade to.

And once you know the Volume over time rate you can use BeerSmith to calculate your starting volume for any recipe.

Like I said before I've only done 3 BIAB's but this is fresh in my head and reiterating to you reinforces my own new knowledge. If you want I'd be happy to go over it over the phone, especially the BeerSmith setup. Because once you've got that going you'll have a eureka moment and then you'll be obliged to ramp up production.

 

[Droopy Brew]

I plugged my situation into brew mate . It accounts for shrinkage and suggests I get a life.

Situation- now there is a pecker name. Does brewmate come with a special port to plug into?

 

[CosmicBertie]

You can plug all the numbers into brewing software and tweak, switch, modify, lie to yourself, cry, and be really anal about figures, or, you can make some beer.

The best way is to have a basic plan and follow that. Take readings/measurements all the way through and note everything down. I did that for my first 10 brews or so, but now i follow the same, brain-ingrained brew plan.

I know that if I start with 35L of water, then I'll end up with 23L into the fermenter. Sometimes I'll have a bit more, but thats when the beer-gods have smiled on me.

I've found that, contrary to common knowledge, my strike water only dropped 2C after adding the grain. All the other documentation I'd read suggests 5-8C.

Also, get a stick/mash paddle, whatever, and add water to your keggle 5L at a time. After each addition mark the level on your dipper. This will allow you to have an understanding of the level of liquid once you've pulled out the bag.

So, really, if you want a basic starting point, for full volume BIAB (for an ale), WITH an immersion chiller:

35L of water in your kettle. Heat it to 70C.

Add bag, add grain, stir and pump to break up any lumps. Record the temp.

After 60 mins, record the temp.

Pull bag and drain. I used to use a gigantic catering colander. Now I suspend it from a block and tackle.

Record gravity. This is pre-boil gravity. Record liquid volume.

Boil for 60 mins. Add hops at appropriate time. Make a note when you did.

Immersion chiller add at 15mins, make a note you did.

Brewbrite/Irish moss, add at 15mins, make a note you did.

at 60mins boil, turn of heat. Let it rest for 10 mins. Once cool, record the gravity. This is post-boil, gravity, also known as OG (Original Gravity).

Then into the fermenter and into the fermenting fridge.



That works for me. You'll have to tweak it to meet your needs.

I'm up in Gisborne, if you like green fields, then you're more than welcome to hang out on a brew day.

 

[New_guy]

Gentlemen - I take my hat off to all of you
Hope to have a crack at next brew on Sunday
Director of social occasions has booked us out tomorrow
Damn, Manticle and Cosmic Bertie thanks for the hot tips makes much more sense now
Currently at Mrs Parmas - just had a pint of killer spr

 

[New_guy]

Gentlemen - I take my hat off to all of you
Hope to have a crack at next brew on Sunday
Director of social occasions has booked us out tomorrow
Damn, Manticle and Cosmic Bertie thanks for the hot tips makes much more sense now
Currently at Mrse Parmas - just had a pint of killer sprocket amber ale now on a pint of grizz
Nice Parma n off to the footy

 

[Spiesy]

Only you can answer that but if it helps you will boil off the same volume in the same amount of time. For example, on a 4 ring burner, med pressure reg and keggle I will lose around 10 litres in 60 mins. If I started with 40, I would end up with 30. If I started with 30, I would end up with 20.

All systems are different and need to be calculated on an individual basis.
Boil some water or just wing a brew and measure the loss for next time. You will also lose some to trub and to grain absorption.

10 litres? Wow. That's a pretty heavy loss for 60mins. You boil hard?

 

[manticle]

The boil is visibly moving throughout.
I mostly use an immersion element these days so the evaporation is lower - about 10 L total loss over 90 mins so that's evap and trub loss. I usually recover 2-3 litres from the settled trub the next day for use as a starter. With a burner though 8- 10 per hour + trub loss so a 20 L batch starts at 32-34 litres.

My measurements are rough though - 22 L to me is 'yep, cube's full'. 10L is what I allow in recipe design and I get consistent results which is my main concern.

 

[New_guy]

How does everyone define a boil?

I have re-read the all the posts -
Once the grain bag is removed does everyone then raise the temp to 100 degrees celsius for the boil?
Do you calculate that start of your boil time from the point of removing the bag or when the wort hits 100 deg?

I removed the bag and then increased the heat waited for the wort to get to 100 deg and then boiled for 60 mins adding hops at the right intervals.

 

[Midnight Brew]

You're after a rolling boil and you wont need a thermometer to know. Once you get a rolling boil start your timer. Also seen a lot of brewers get it to a rolling boil, boil vigrously for 15 minutes then start the timer so a 75min boil. It all comes down to preference. Depending on how your system is it might take anywhere from 10-30mins to get it to a boil but just be patient, pour a beer, clean your grain bag and keep an eye on the kettle.

 

[New_guy]

You're after a rolling boil and you wont need a thermometer to know. Once you get a rolling boil start your timer. Also seen a lot of brewers get it to a rolling boil, boil vigrously for 15 minutes then start the timer so a 75min boil. It all comes down to preference. Depending on how your system is it might take anywhere from 10-30mins to get it to a boil but just be patient, pour a beer, clean your grain bag and keep an eye on the kettle.

Hi Midnight Brew,
Ok it sounds like I clearly attempted to boil way to hard boiled off most of my wort!
cheers

 

[brente1982]

Would you define a rolling boil as a vigorous simmer?

 

[New_guy]

Test boil completed:

30 lts @ 13 deg added to keggle

Reached 68 deg at 35 mins (to test time to reach strike)

Reached boil @ 55mins

Rolling Boil (104 deg) for 60 mins

Volume at end of boil : 24lt (total volume of keggle)

Presuming 2 lts for trub and ?1lt for grain

End volume accounting for trub and grain : 21lt

Does this sound right?