Tonights Brew Plans

[vicelore]

Hey guys

Well after messing around with a Hoegaarden knock off here is my plans for a brew tonight.

This is my 1st mini mash style beer. So please be nice hehe.

So my ingredents are.

1kg Bairds Torrefied Wheat
1kg weyermann Pilsner
2 cans LME Light coopers 1.5kg
2 cans LME Wheat coopers 1.5kg
60g Fuggles ( 60 mins )

So i am going to go buy a BIAB style full volume mash around 45 L ( i did read about using a water to grain ratio of 2.5L/1kg but wasnt sure if thats done for BIAB.)

at around 66-67 for 90 mins then do a full boil after adding the hops.

Chill and pitch some WYeast

I will add the Coriander and orange zest in the fementer after a week of Fementation.

I havnt figured any OG calcs or anything as i got the reciepe made up by my LHBS.

Any opions on my thaughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[buttersd70]

off top of my head, looks like it should come in somewhere in the low 1050's...
I would be adding a 15min addition as well, say 1g/L. Personally I would use fuggle, but you might prefer ekg, or styrian. Either or. The only other thing I would suggest is to check the IBU that the fuggle will give....current crop is pretty low in AA, 60g may not be enough.

 

[bconnery]

Have a look in the style of the week thread on wit, if you haven't already, loads of great info there to help you round out your plan.
I believe it is traditional to add the coriander and orange to the boil in the case of wits. Not saying it won't work though.

If you are only doing 2kgs of grain you can get away with a decent sized saucepan and keep it in a very low oven.
Strain into your boil pot and away you go...
This is what I used to do with my mini-mashes of up to 2kgs.
Just another option...

 

[vicelore]

Thats always a idea .. tho i do like lighting up the nasa....

Is the water to grain ratio important in this situation guys ?

One more question too guys..

I read that the Tortified weat has lots of starch but no enzimes in the grain to convert to sugar. I was advised to add in some base malt ( the pilsner malt ).

Now im wondering after reading more about the grain itself on howtobrew , Will the enzimes from the pilsner weat go onto the Wheat grains and convert the starch from the wheat grain ?

Cheers guys

 

[Bizier]

Now im wondering after reading more about the grain itself on howtobrew , Will the enzimes from the pilsner weat go onto the Wheat grains and convert the starch from the wheat grain ?

That is the idea.

I have been thinking I will be getting Galaxy Pilsner for my mini mashes, because apparently it can convert something like it's own weight in adjuncts.

 

[vicelore]

Correction

"Now im wondering after reading more about the grain itself on howtobrew , Will the enzimes from the pilsner MALT go onto the Wheat grains and convert the starch from the wheat grain ? "

 

[Stuster]

Yes, there'll be enough enzymes in the pilsner malt to convert the unmalted wheat you have there.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

probably too late now vic, but you are trying to combine two methods there - partial and full volume BIAB and there is a reasonable possibility that you might be pushing things a bit far.

You are going to mash 2kg of grain in 45L of water --- thats a really really really super high L:G ratio. Now normal BIAB works OK with L:G ratios of say 6-8:1, but that level is controversially high ... what you are planning is an L:G ratio of 22.5:1 ... and I have a strong suspicion that that is going to be pushing things a fair bit too far.

Now I am a firm believer that brewing is a very forgiving process, but if you are going to take standard brewing techniques like partial mashing or the not even standard in itself BIAB .. and then try and squash the techniques into another shape, you really do need to have a pretty good understanding of what it is thats happening in a mash, so you know in what areas you are testing the limits - and when you have some pretty obvious gaps in your understanding of how enzymes work in brewing, I think that you would be far better served by just following someones "this is how to do it.." instructions.

You should be mashing that 2kg of grain with somewhere between 4 and 15 litres of water... that is highly trodden ground and will work. Then top up to your 45L volume if thats how much you need. Your method might work... but there is a fair chance that it wont as well.

The 1kg of pilsner malt has plenty of enzymes to convert the starch in the 1kg of unmalted wheat - but that would normally happen in the 4-15L of water I mentioned. The trouble in the 45L you plan, is that the enzymes are going to be so dilute and the starches so spread out, that it might take a very long time for the enzymes to do the job, and the enzymes are being killed off all the time at a temperature of 66-67... so they might all bite the bullet before they get the job done.

Anyway, you have probably done it by now. So its too late. It wont be a tragedy because the worst that will happen is a lower efficiency and a nasty starch haze... you can live with a lower alcohol beer and you wont notice a starch haze in a Hoegarden clone. So your beer will be drinkable. It could be a horrible bloody mess if you were trying to make a lager or something clean and clear though.

Oh and I know it sounds like a silly question... but your pilsner malt is crushed isn't it? You referred to "grains" quite a few times and it sounded like a possibility that the malt might still be whole. The torrified wheat will just kind of dissolve, so it doesn't need crushing.

Sorry to have to put the dampers on your technique again, but I'd rather be a party pooper than let you run with a process that is pretty far from the accepted path.

TB

 

[vicelore]

Hey TB..

i appreciate the post mate..

I did have concerns about the water/grain ratio as outlined in this post. it just didnt get answered so i took the BIAB method..

I thaught even if i came away with a crappy efficiency ( which i couldnt test as a mate smashed my hydro half way through ) that i would have anough extract in there to bring it up.

My last brew had 4 cans and 45 L and worked out ok.

I just thuahgt i might get some added flavour to the brew like this.

Just to let you know I wont be using Extract again. Ill be going a full BIAB method untill i get the cash for a mash tun / HLT.

I only went half way as i had Ordered and recieved the extract and some grain.

And yes the Grain appeared to be crushed.

Any thaughts are appreciated TB.

PS i know my knolege is limited but its getting there. Cant believe how much iv learned in 3 brews.