Small batch BIAB questions

[Chookers]

Stewy, I would just carry them out in the carton, probably just shove the carton into the fridge.. you got me worrying now..

and I was already planning my next BIAB..

Was reading about doing step mashs in my book.. and heard they're good for wheat beers which Im planning on doing.. I was thinking to use Summer hops in it and do it 2:1 Wheat and Pilsner.. was looking at the yeast and have 3 in mind that I don't know much about but sound interesting WLP380, Safbrew WB-06 and US05..

Im after fruity (not so much Banana as is) the WLP380 stood out to me because the description mentioned apricot flavours.. has anyone used this?

 

[Nizmoose]

Nizmoose would you recommend them over plain old crown seals?.. Ive seen the brown swing tops for sale in the homebrewing shops.

I would say they are definitely easier but given how many bottles I have at the moment I can't imagine wanting to have to pay for all of them. I get a heap of normal bottles for free from mates and that makes it much cheaper, a bench capper and normal caps work a treat and are great its just one little added bit in the bottling process. If I had an infinite supply of any bottle I wanted? Flip tops for sure, in reality? way to expensive for me. Hope that helps!

 

[Chookers]

yeh Im the same, got a lot to the brown longnecks. I saw the brown flip tops in the home brew shop and they were more double the price of the crown.

 

[Chookers]

how do you calculate the attenuation of the yeast, is there some formula?

 

[antiphile]

Yeah, Chook. It's a pretty simple formula of:
Attenuation (in %) = ((OG - FG) times 100) divided by OG

You should be pretty right though. Good luck mate.

PS. I once did something stupid by either bottling too early or over priming, and was scared sheetless when I saw what an exploding bottle can do. Without a word of a lie, a large very pointy shard of glass from a tall Coopers bottle hit a wall about 20 feet away with a lot of force. If in doubt,please wear safety glasses.

 

[Kingy]

Most of the yeast packets have an attenuation guide on them, but it comes down to ingredients and mash temperatures and yeast health and ferment temp etc.
there are calculaters online that work the attenuation out for you after the beer is finished.
I've only read a few posts through this thread but it seems like you didn't pitch enough yeast if it stalled at 1.020 the yeast might have died out. When I first started brewing many years ago all my beers finished with a high gravity as I was underpitching and my thermometer was out a few degrees to.

 

[stux]

mashed at 67 for 90mins.

Will try the gelatine. Then after 2 days rack onto the priming sugar?

I have been considering sanitising with Milton http://www.miltonbaby.com.au/our-products/antibacterial-solution-1l-2/

anyone used this before for homebrew, 1L is on at Coles for $5.50 which makes a total of 80L of sanitising solution... should I sanitise the crown seals too?

Back in the mid 90s I used Milton. Before one shot, iodophor or starsan existed...

You need to thoroughly rinse the baby bleach off your bottles, which makes it not no rinse

Suggest you use iodophor or starsan.

 

[stux]

1.020 is quite high. Possible if your mash thermometer was out a few degrees you could've been mashing high.

I'd leave the fermenter for an extra week personally.

 

[Chookers]

its too late stux, they are in the bottles already.. my thermometer could be out by 4 degrees.. I just checked it.. damn.. well that's what I get.. I will use a different thermometer next time.. I have a digital probe thermometer my brother used to use in air conditioning, its range is -50 to 260 looks like this http://www.actrol.com.au/Products/Tools/Test--Measurement/Thermometers/Actrol-DigiTemps/

would this be sufficient.. its the only one I have.. apparently its very accurate but I have never used it. I was worried about infecting my beer.

 

[Chookers]

I was just thinking.. since I do so small batches.. is it really necessary for me to mash in the bag.. I put the whole 15L pot in the heated oven keep temp stable and I have a 19L stock pot (that wont fit in the oven).. could I not line the 19L pot and pour the mash into it. This would lessen the chances of scorching the bag.. I was considering doing a step mash with the wheat beer.

Im getting

2kg Wheat Malt
1kg Pilsner
I have Summer hop pellets..
us05 yeast, or S05.. or T58 which I think could be dead
I have Whirlfloc tablets but no idea how to use them.. I know you put them in 10 from the end of boil..and that's all I know.

I was following Zwickel's Weizen recipe for instruction and grain ratio (kinda), but tried to adapt it to my size.
My intent was to make 11-12L of beer and put about 4L on some fruit (sample batch) and bottle the rest.

What can I do with this list.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Do a search for my 2pot stovetop method with ghetto lauter. It's not the best method by any stretch, but it'll give you an idea of what can be done with existing equipment on the stove. I've cranked 38L out of it one brew, and 2 award winning high grav beers at the same time.

It's a case if necessity being the mother of invention.

 

[wynnum1]

No need for the bag to mash easier to stir without bag i put the bag in the second pot and cup into the bag with a red Decor Microsafe Soup Mug 450 ml Woolworths have had on special a couple of dollars not effected by heat .The digital probe is safe to use for mash as the wort is going to be boiled killing all possibility of infection.

 

[TheBlackAdder]

Just remember a half batch will have a lot more evaporation on the same set up, and trub losses etc. will hurt you more

The first half batch I did I forgot to compensate and ended up with about 5.5L out of a planned 11.5

Decided to top up with water cos 5L was too depressing and ended up well under target gravity (in-promptu light beer)

 

[Chookers]

BlackAdder, that's exactly what I did.. only I wasn't off by 5L more like 2L off the mark.. I'll add more for the future.. or reduce boil time.. I have just been reading that if you use hop pellets that after 30mins you got all the bitters your going to get anyway.. so what if I just reduce boil time instead of adding extra water? would this do the trick or would I be compromising flavour?

 

[wynnum1]

Work out what quanity is needed to do the whole brew and use in the mash or some to sparge the grain just adding boiling water later is a waste after the first draining the grain there will be goodness in the grain.
If the pot you use for the boil is too small put some of the wort in a second pot and boil seperatly and pour in after enouugh has evaporated.

 

[Barge]

Plenty of benefits to a long, vigorous boil. From memory, a longer boil helps drive off DMS precursors (compound responsible for cooked corn flavour) as well as coagulating some unwanted proteins (I think).

MHB posted a good article on it but I'm on my phone so couldn't be bothered searching for it. I'll try later if I think of it.

 

[stux]

its too late stux, they are in the bottles already.. my thermometer could be out by 4 degrees.. I just checked it.. damn.. well that's what I get.. I will use a different thermometer next time.. I have a digital probe thermometer my brother used to use in air conditioning, its range is -50 to 260 looks like this http://www.actrol.com.au/Products/Tools/Test--Measurement/Thermometers/Actrol-DigiTemps/

would this be sufficient.. its the only one I have.. apparently its very accurate but I have never used it. I was worried about infecting my beer.

Mashing at 71C instead of 67C could definitely explain your 1.020 FG. Especially if you add a point or two for poor yeast health, lack of oxygen, etc.

You can use your current thermometer, you just need to know how out it is and then adjust it.

 

[wynnum1]

Dgital probe thermometer works well and if heating on stove top the temperature can be hard to workout if the mash is thick needs good mixing.

 

[Chookers]

Im going to test my thermometers together and see just how out it was.. Im so glad we're working through all these problems, it will help me when I do my next one.. 2:1
Pilsner:Wheat.

it is:
2kg Pilsner
1kg Wheat

Really wanted to do a step mash, how much water should I use for this amount of grain? Can I do a step mash if I am BIAB, or will I have to do single infusion?

 

[Reman]

For a step mash I just make sure the bag is off the bottom of the pot and turn the burner on and heat the mash until I hit the desired temperature. Very good for a 78c mash out.