Yet another first BIAB

[contrarian]

Finally did my first all grain BIAB yesterday afternoon and must admit it was easier than I could have possibly imagined.

I decided I didn't want to worry too much about complicated recipes so was aiming for a 23l batch of a Maris Otter Ale and Amarillo SMASH.

Mashed at 66 degrees for an hour an lost 2 degrees over the hour. Didn't have a way of keeping the bag off the bottom of the pot so didn't mash out but ended with a gravity of 1040.

A one hour boil with 15g FWH and 30g at 15 minutes. Got a decent whirlpool going and one chock full 17l cube of delicious wort.

Lost a bit more to evaporation than I expected and definitely need to set up a hoist system to pull the bag, especially for double batches but with a gravity of 1055 into the cube I'm pretty happy with the first effort and should have some good info to help dial in my rig.

This site has been a wealth of information which I'm sure contributed to a very relaxed brew day. Can't wait to get this into the fermenter and into a glass!

 

[Midnight Brew]

Congratulations! You're on a steep delishious path now.

What kind of setup/equipment do you have?

Where abouts in the country are you located?

Here's a link with some pictures of Stux's BIAB pulley with parts sourced from BCF and bunnings thats a 2:1 ratio and may even be worth looking into setting it up as 4:1 if you want to do doubles.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/gallery/album/950-biab-pulley-21/

 

[contrarian]

Thanks! I have a 70 litre pot from craftbrewer with a ball valve and an Omac mammut burner with an adjustable high flow reg. Bag is also from craftbrewer. (No affiliation)

I'm down in Callala Bay, it was another poster from this site, monkey business, who introduced me to the idea of all grain and he's been a big help in getting set up.

Thanks for the pulley link, I certainly think it will help with draining the bag being able to suspend it above the pot for a while, I was surprised by how heavy it was an how much fluid it retained even after some time in a separate bucket and a good squeeze.

 

[Diesel80]

Contrarian,
firstly congrats!
Secondly never mind the increase boil off, you can top it up in the fermenter with boiled then cooled water.

I have the same problem with single batches in my 80L pot. Boil off is massive. I set brewmate software to about 22% boil off when I do a single batch. It is the huge surface area of the wort that causes this. Plenty of ways to reduce the boil off, but it is just as easy to add a little more water to begin with

1.040 after the mash is not bad mate (although I am not sure of the receipe / planned efficiency at this point).

You are on the slippery slope now mate, You won't be able to clamber back up the mountain no matter how hard you try. Throw out that can opener! (unless it is the Mrs's).

Cheers,
D80

 

[contrarian]

Thanks diesel, for some reason my wife is incredibly supportive of this hobby! And now I've got the rig the only way to pay it off is by making more beer! Slippery slope indeed!

To be honest I didn't use any brewing software for this brew so didn't have specific targets but took measurements along the way so I can use them in the future.

I wanted to keep it simple so I could get a feel for the process so just had a 60 minute mash and 60 minute boil. Started with 5kg of MO ale in about 33 litres of water. There was about 21-22 litres after the boil and then I lost 2-3 litres to trub.

My plan is to keep going with a few more SMASH recipes to help understand base malts and hop additions before making things more complex.

I can already see that the possibilities are endless here and am looking forward to joining the very friendly and supportive community of brewers around the place!

 

[QldKev]

Once you are in this hobby, like all hobbies you keep adding to it. But unlike a lot of hobbies over the years you can actually save money. Bet you can;t wait to sit back and crack open the first one.

 

[contrarian]

That's one of the big attractions Kev, especially with nice beer getting more expensive by the minute!

On another note my replacement stc-1000 arrived on Friday and is running perfectly. Thanks for your help on that one! Be nice to be able to control temp for my first AG ferment.

 

[contrarian]

One thing I did notice is that I seemed to have a lot I trub left in the pot. The pot was pre drilled and fitted with a weldless bulkhead from craftbrewer. It sounds like a pick up tube would help with that. Any suggestions on the best way to install one on that set up?