Woo Hoo - First AG BIAB Done!

[manson81]

I know there's plenty of threads similar, but figured I'd still share my first AG experience today!

Brewed a golden ale, along the lines of Smurto's, but with a few differences.

I went with:
2.75kg Pilsener
1kg Wheat
500g Vienna
200g Caramalt

90 minute mash, no sparge.

20g Amarillo @ 60
15g Amarillo @ 10
15g Amarillo @ 15
15g Amarillo @ 0

Added 30L of water at the start, added grain at 70 degrees.

Things I've learned from today:
30L water probably wasn't quite enough. I will probably go 32 or 33L next brew. I only got about 20L of wort, rather than the 21 I normally brew.
It was a right pain in the arse brewing outside with the winds we had here in brisbane today. It was hard to keep a decent boil going and probably used half a bottle of gas trying! Need a wind shield on the burner...

Apart from that, everything went according to plan. The wort is in my brewery in a cube cooling down (no chill). I've put some photos below, do you think I've squeezed enough air out of the cube or should I go down and try and squeeze more out? I plan on transferring to FV and pitching the yeast tomorrow evening.

 

[The Village Idiot]

Looks like you made beer, great work. I usually start with 33-35 litres of water depending on boil time and grain bill. That would have filled the cube more. If you are pitching soon it shouldn't be a problem. It's all down hill from here mate. Peter

 

[Bribie G]

33L is about the sweet spot for a standard 4.5 - 5% brew. Also depends on your boil off rate of course.

 

[DAC]

6 brews in and happy with what I'm doing (BIAB)
Tried 4.6 kg last week 30lt, 10lt dunk sparge
Fill'd a cube, 4 lt trub loss. Do have a wide 50lt pot. Followed a recipe in a brew mag & hit targets.
Good luck on future brews, I find u learn more & more every brew & this site is a wealth of knowledge.

 

[citizensnips]

Congrats mate, It's so good seeing such a little set up (same as mine) that produces A grade all grain beer.

 

[acarey]

Nice work. Figure out your boil off rate and aim for a pre boil volume. In my system i aim for 27 litres pre boil (23 L batch). If I have more than that, I boil longer, less I sparge to make up the volume.

As others have said, 33 litres to begin with works well.

 

[Token]

So THAT's what you guys are referring to when you call your fermenter a "cube"! I'm from the States, and we use carboys.

I'm not a new brewer, but I am still happy you showed the pics. I learned something!

Looks like you have a decent BIAB set-up. All amarillo hops? Gonna be a goodie!

 

[philmud]

This is off-topic, but OP's pictures of his cube being filled reminds me of a question I've had re: no chill for ages. Obviously the burner is up on blocks and allows for gravity for the hot wort transfer to the cube. Do all NC brewers arrange things so their kettle is elevated for the boil? I'm curious because the prospect of lifting a kettle of boiling wort up onto the table I usually lift my chilled wort onto seems like a major OHS no-no. I wouldn't mind no chilling some brews, but haven't quite wrapped my head around the transfer. Even my siphon prefers some gravity.

 

[RdeVjun]

Nice job, well done on your maiden all grain.
I'd advise very stronly against opening up a sealed cube of no- chilled wort until ready to pitch, sure as eggs an infection taking hold will be the result. Some air left in the cube, i.e. 'headspace' is not a problem, should have no ill effects.

As you discovered, wind can upset the gas burner, its a real bugger when you run into problems only when too late to do anything much about it in terms of moving it, but constructing a shield is about all that can be done, along with learning an important lesson for next time.

PI, yeah, set up on a table or elevated platform some way to allow draining by gravity once the boil is complete, I have an old stainless bench from a butchery. Lugging a hot kettle around when its full of boiling wort is not for the feint- hearted. A skyhook or pulley for lifting the bag lifting is helpful too.

 

[mckenry]

So THAT's what you guys are referring to when you call your fermenter a "cube"! I'm from the States, and we use carboys.

I'm not a new brewer, but I am still happy you showed the pics. I learned something!

Looks like you have a decent BIAB set-up. All amarillo hops? Gonna be a goodie!

Hey Token,
No and Yes!
Fermenters are normally carboys, round, screw off lid, tap etc. Cubes are what you see in the picture. GENERALLY, guys that no-chill their brews, put hot wort into a cube and let it cool naturally, then pitch all the contents of a cube into a carboy fermenter.

BUT, some people do ferment in the cube for various reasons including, but not limited to: reduced infection chance, space, being able to seal it with the yeast in and shake like buggery to aerate, less to clean etc.

 

[Kumamoto_Ken]

Do all NC brewers arrange things so their kettle is elevated for the boil? I'm curious because the prospect of lifting a kettle of boiling wort up onto the table I usually lift my chilled wort onto seems like a major OHS no-no. I wouldn't mind no chilling some brews, but haven't quite wrapped my head around the transfer. Even my siphon prefers some gravity.

I'm no expert, having only done it twice, but my urn sits on a crate under my pulley system in the garage. It's a good height for me, I can make additions agitate/stir/temp check without any dramas, and there's no need at all to try and move the urn. It drains happily into the jerrycan at the end.

 

[philmud]

I'm no expert, having only done it twice, but my urn sits on a crate under my pulley system in the garage. It's a good height for me, I can make additions agitate/stir/temp check without any dramas, and there's no need at all to try and move the urn. It drains happily into the jerrycan at the end.

Ah yeah, makes sense for an urn - a gas burner is a bit different though.

 

[Kumamoto_Ken]

PI. Yeah, sorry. I realised that after posting and was too lazy to edit.

 

[MCHammo]

This is off-topic, but OP's pictures of his cube being filled reminds me of a question I've had re: no chill for ages. Obviously the burner is up on blocks and allows for gravity for the hot wort transfer to the cube. Do all NC brewers arrange things so their kettle is elevated for the boil? I'm curious because the prospect of lifting a kettle of boiling wort up onto the table I usually lift my chilled wort onto seems like a major OHS no-no. I wouldn't mind no chilling some brews, but haven't quite wrapped my head around the transfer. Even my siphon prefers some gravity.

My backyard has a decent slope to it, and several levels and retaining walls. I set my burner and BIAB vessel up on one of the levels we have above a 1m high retaining wall. That way, when I'm siphoning out my hot wort, I get about a 1.2m head start, without having to move anything at all. It means that I'm jumping up and down a 1m wall all day, but so be it. I'm young, I can handle it.

 

[manson81]

Just got this into the fermenter and pitched the yeast. Seems my measurements on the side of the jerry can aren't overly accurate cos I only got 18L into the FV instead of the 20 I thought! I'll have to re measure them accurately.

The OG ended up at 1040, maybe 1041, which is pretty close to what I was looking for, but if it had have been the proper volume, that would be lower right?

Still, not a bad first effort and I'll still get a full keg out of it.

 

[boybrewer]

Congrats on your first brew . Yes you are correct with the OG more volume lower gravity . Two things you could do to get a higher gravity 1. Add DME or for the few extra cents increase your grain bill to about 5 to 5.5 kg

 

[Token]

Hey Token,
No and Yes!
Fermenters are normally carboys, round, screw off lid, tap etc. Cubes are what you see in the picture. GENERALLY, guys that no-chill their brews, put hot wort into a cube and let it cool naturally, then pitch all the contents of a cube into a carboy fermenter.

BUT, some people do ferment in the cube for various reasons including, but not limited to: reduced infection chance, space, being able to seal it with the yeast in and shake like buggery to aerate, less to clean etc.

Thanks!

After I looked around the forum a bit more, I realized my mistake. But I certainly appreciate having it explained to me. Slow learner here. :unsure:

 

[Spiesy]

Congrats on the debut brew!

When figuring out boil off rates, I find it much more logical to use l/hr based on a constant boil vigour, than percentage volume/hr.

I just don't see how percentage makes much of a difference as the surface area of the pot, where evaporation occurs, remains constant, regardless of the volume inside.

Good luck!

 

[Spiesy]

This is off-topic, but OP's pictures of his cube being filled reminds me of a question I've had re: no chill for ages. Obviously the burner is up on blocks and allows for gravity for the hot wort transfer to the cube. Do all NC brewers arrange things so their kettle is elevated for the boil? I'm curious because the prospect of lifting a kettle of boiling wort up onto the table I usually lift my chilled wort onto seems like a major OHS no-no. I wouldn't mind no chilling some brews, but haven't quite wrapped my head around the transfer. Even my siphon prefers some gravity.

Lifting a heavy pot full of boiling hot wort is certainly a recipe for disaster.

I had a metal working mate of mine knock up a brew stand for me, it even has a little guard around 3 sides to protect the flames from wind - top setup. Thankfully he did it for free, but I would imagine one could be made fairly cheaply.

 

[philmud]

Cheers for the respobses re: no chill, sounds like a stand is the way to go for me. And OP, welcome to all-grain!