Well, I'm Officially An Ag'er

[hosko11]

Well done on your first BIAB - you ended up with beer regardless, that's all the matters plus you learnt a few things along the way :beer:
I just did my first BIAB, but only a partial in a 20lt pot on an electric stove so feel free to disregard my suggestions if they don't suit your situation

Try and insulate the pot with a towel or the like (or maybe one of those fire blankets) for both the mash and boil if you're using an electric stove - big fire hazard if using gas. And I wouldn't do it if either of the 2 elements were exposed. This will help maintain the mash temp and also with getting and maintaining the boil - it takes about 60mins to get 15ltrs boiling without any insulation. On a side note, the missus just made oven mitts the other week which used a special thermal wadding/padding. I'm going to try and sweet talk her into making a jacket to wrap around the pot out of the stuff using some heat resistant material.

After the first squeeze of the bag put it in a sanitised 10ltr washing tub or similar (make sure the grain can't escape), let it sit for a while and give it another good squeeze, then chuck the runoff in the pot - you could even poor some hot water over it to rinse the grain a bit. Sorta defeats the 1 vessel principal some believe BIAB should be but I find it makes life easier. Reduces holding x kg's of hot grain and wort above a pot on the stove and at the same time 'attempting' to squeeze it - it's far easier and more manageable to do the squeezing on the bench.

Cheers,
hosko

 

[technocat]

My first attempts at AG brewing were the stove top method juggling hot water and pots of all sizes. At the end of the day the kitchen looked like a battle zone. But amazingly some good beer came out of the chaos. Wife was not impressed so gear improved and operations were moved to the workshop and peace reigns happily thereafter. A typical story of most of us getting into AG brewing.

 

[Steve]

You have no Hydrometer and you're Ag'ing ??????

Screwy

I dont either, fell down the back of the fridge months ago with a little sound of tinckling broken glass. h34r:
When the wort on top is clear they go into the keg
Cheers
Steve

 

[Jakechan]

Good one you for getting into it mate.

Good advice aplenty already given. But I would certainly echo the suggestion of an esky as mash tun. Dead simple, and no more bag worries. I was going to go BIAB but a wise man on here talked me out of it, and Im so glad he did.

Is there any reason why you seem reluctant to whack a tap on your kettle?

Cheers,
Jake

 

[troublebrewing]

I wouldn't say I'm reluctant to, just havn't done it as yet. Also, I don't really know how to. Are there ones that you attach with a nut, or is it going to have to be welded?

 

[Sully]

I wouldn't say I'm reluctant to, just havn't done it as yet. Also, I don't really know how to. Are there ones that you attach with a nut, or is it going to have to be welded?

You can do weldless easy enough. Get some 15mm(1/2") allthread, a 1/2" BSPF compression fitting (if you are putting some sort of pickup tube in, if not double qty on the locknuts), some silicone baking tray (or at HOUSE retail shop they have silicone pot holders that are approx 3mm thick which is even better but can only get 4-5 gaskets out of them because they are embossed with logos) to cut some gaskets, SS 20mm washers (make sure they are an oversize 20mm), a ball valve and a locknut (or 2).

Line them up as:

INSIDE OF POT - comp fitting - allthread - ss washer - gasket - OUTSIDE POT - gasket - ss washer - locknut - ball valve

If you need a couple of pics to follow that, hopefully will have some up in the next day or 3.

Cheers

Sully

EDIT: you will also need a 13/16 (21mm) holesaw
EDIT 2: If you have access to a drillpress it makes life so much easier in drilling holes in metal. Bunnings sell all of the aforementioned items you need

 

[dpadden]

absolutely...look for a 'weldless' fitting (bulkhead) at BeerBelly or one of the other sponsors. All you will need to do is drill an appropriate hole and screw the fitting on. Also makes things easy to clean after brewing....

(Edit) Sully beat me to it (Edit)

 

[Jakechan]

I wouldn't say I'm reluctant to, just havn't done it as yet. Also, I don't really know how to. Are there ones that you attach with a nut, or is it going to have to be welded?

I just went to bunnings and found the bits that went together. Silicon washers is probably a good idea, but I just used the red fibre washers that come in a pack of 10, in the aisle right next to the tap and the threaded rod.

Also got some food grade silicon in a tube and smeared that around, and used a shower head backing plate to tidy up the outside.

Cheers,
Jake

 

[real_beer]

I just went to bunnings and found the bits that went together. Silicon washers is probably a good idea, but I just used the red fibre washers that come in a pack of 10, in the aisle right next to the tap and the threaded rod.

Also got some food grade silicon in a tube and smeared that around, and used a shower head backing plate to tidy up the outside.

Cheers,
Jake

You can buy silicon bake ware cheap from places like Crazy Clarks if you ever need to make your own washers, definitely worth having some around.

 

[troublebrewing]

This batch was the first time I've ever played with liquid yeasts, and I find myself a little perplexed. I pitched the yeast on Sunday morning, it's now Wednesday evening, and there's no signs of life. And the SG's gone up, to 1.051... Is the Wyeast 2042 Danish Lager particularly slow to get going? I'm also wondering if it might be something to do with the temperature, I'm using a Fridgemate set to 11 at the moment, but the yeast's preferred range is allegedly 8-13... Does anyone have any suggestions? I've got a pack of S-04 in the fridge, would it be an issue bringing the wort up to ale temps, in case the lager yeast kicks back in?

Edit: To clarify, by signs of life I mean there's no Krausen, there's no layer of scum around the inside, there's no bubbles through the airlock (yeah I know), the wort hasn't changed colour, and the SG's gone up. I think I can fairly safely say there's nothing alive in there eating at this wort, be it yeast or otherwise.

Edit the 2nd: Actually, just checked my readings correcting for temperature, and they both come out to 1.050. One mystery solved.

 

[chappo1970]

Smack packs can be natoriously slow to kick at times. 3 days is'nt uncommon from experience and what I have read. The most important thing in the viability of the yeasties in there. Did the pack you have blow up like a balloon after the smack? Was the little sachet inside popped?

 

[troublebrewing]

The little sachet's definitely popped, still had the empty packet so just performed micro-surgery to find out for sure. The pack itself did swell up a little bit, but since then I've seen pictures of fully swollen packs, which mine got no-where near. I left it for 3 hours after smacking it, as per the directions, but I think next time I'll smack it the night before...

 

[chappo1970]

You may have a problem but I can't be sure?

This is what mine looked like after 3hrs

Then 12hrs

I don't want to panick ya but maybe rehydrate the spare you have as a back up? If it hasn't kicked by tomorrow then I guess you might need to callit DOA. Does the pack have a date?

 

[troublebrewing]

Yep, the pack was manufactured 9/02/09, so definitely within time. Only possible problem was it sat at room temperatures at work for 3 days before someone alerted me that my package had arrived... Definitely didn't swell to even as close as your first piccy. I think it's DOA.

If it hasn't started doing anything by tomorrow, I'll throw in the S-04 and see what happens. If the lager takes off, I can find out what seriously over-temped lager yeast tastes like!

 

[clean brewer]

I think the Smack packs are best left overnight to work there magic and while I havnt made a proper Lager yet(winter), I understand that they need all the help they can get.. Like a well oxygenated wort and a nice strong starter(2ltr?) or 2 packs of yeast, depending on pitching temps..

A more of a pro could elaborate more...

 

[chappo1970]

:lol: ! You,ll have to name it DOA Lager!



OT: Just realised your for FNQ Cairns. 36C Amb might not have done it any favours? I was up there this time last year building a house for my uncle at Aeroglen. Never sweated like that ever FULL STOP! It was that humid you had to back stroke around the joint.

 

[troublebrewing]

Yep, 36 at the moment, love it when the summers are nice and cold like this... But yeah, I think the yeast just didn't survive before I got it into a nice comfortable fridge. Next time I'll purchase extra ice-packs and make sure I grab it the moment it comes in. And get express shipping (which it turns out I didn't, thought I had but didn't tick the box).

I just wish there were a nice variety of dried yeasts, it looks like people have heaps of fun with the different strains of liquid!

 

[chappo1970]

TB I fly up once or twice a year to visit said uncle. If you want next time I do I will PM ya and bring up some well handled LY's and some dried for you to play with. I live 10mins from craftbrewers and can assure you that they handle thier yeast like gold.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I hate (well really dont) to be a little negative about it, but well...

you seem to have had a whole bunch of problems you could have avoided by ignoring the "just get into AG its not hard" crowd, and maybe by actually reading some of the advice people have to give about how to do this stuff.

I can see virtually nothing you did, that matches with any of the advice that anyone with experience on this forum gives, on how to brew an AG beer. Not the BIABers, nor the guys who hate it, Nothing!

You followed nobody's advice, and it was pretty hard... sorry to say I am not all that surprised.

Perhaps try following someone's method on your first few trys. All those people who post about how they have tried, failed, re-tried; and finally succeeded.... those guys have done the hard yards for you. It seems a shame to waste their effort.

Luckily for you brewing is almost foolproof - don't screw up the fermentation and the beer will almost certainly be good enough to justify a further attempt.

Good on you for having a go... but this is a great example of why just jumping in at the deep end occasionally result in a drowning. Grab a swimming teacher, grab some floaties and have another crack.

 

[troublebrewing]

Good point, Thirsty, I should just brew FWK's and leave real brewing to the big boys. Sorry to have dared to only spend 6 months reading up on AG before making the plunge, and making some minor errors. And then having the audacity to report on my brewing experience on a homebrew forum? Terrible form.

I made some minor mistakes, which were compounded by using a stove (and who would use a stove? Hmm, did I see a picture guide to BIAB done on a stove? Uh... Yes, yes I did. Worked well for him). I will improve from here. Get over it.

To everyone else, thanks again for the assistance and encouragement. It'll only get better from here.

Back to Thirsty, sorry if I come off a little defensive, but you're coming off a touch elitist at the moment.