Tried BIAB today (partial mash)...major issues...

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MonkeyWrench

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Republic of Cascadia
Background
So I'm still trying things out. 2 weeks ago, I brewed another of my Ambers that people just seem to love, had a lot of hot/cold break end up in the primary, everyone said no big deal. Last week I modified my method for a Tripel and after cooling, left my brew in the kettle for an hour to let everything settle, then racked into my bottling bucket, let that sit for 4 hours, then racked into the primary, there was almost nothing suspended in the primary when I pitched.

Brewday
I needed a nice light ale for my BMC family/friends. I decided to do the Cream of Three Crops, but with extract for 5 gallons. So I went with 5lbs Pilsen DME, 2lbs Flaked Corn, .5lb Flaked Rice. I read about 1.25q/lb of grain, and used that to dough in. I ended up with Malt-O-Meal. Had to heat more water and add to mash. Once I got all the lumps out, I let sit for 1hr and ended up at 150*. I spaged at 170* for 20 min. Once that was done, I removed the bag and set it in a colander to drain. I found I needed more water in my kettle and should have had more in my sparge water. So, I turned on my hot water and used my kitchen sprayer and sprayed into my grain bag sitting on the colander. I figured it wouldn't hurt to wash out more of those sugars. I dumped that in my kettle and started bring it up to temp. At about 210* I added my dissolved DME and got it back up to about 210*. I added my immersion chiller (cause if I add it at 15min my stove can't restore the boil for 10 min so I add it before 60 min).

I wanted a nice clean beer, so I boiled for 90 min total. I added my Irish Moss 10 min before end. At 0min, I removed from stove, hooked up my IC and cooled to 90*. My 50' IC chills from 212* to 90* in 6min. I let the kettle sit at an angle for 1 hour and started racking into my bottling bucket.

The issues
I noticed it didn't look very clear on top like usual and I could still see stuff suspended in the wort. While racking, it went slow, like it was thick. I saw hot/cold break, hop pieces, and Irish Moss going up my racking tube. So I thought after 4 or 5 hours it would be clear and settle out. Nope, everything in still in suspension and I've added my top up water, so I'm sitting at about my 5 gallon mark in my bottling bucket. Right now, it looks like I have about an inch of clear beer on top, and murky beer below.

Any advise on what I should do? Let it sit until tomorrow and then rack into primary if it's cleared up? There's so much 'stuff' I think I'm going to have to rack into the primary, let it sit, rack into the bottling bucket, let it sit, then finally rack back to the primary and pitch. It's about 50* here, so putting it in the garage won't do much, but it might help.

Thanks!
Steve
 
I'd pitch the yeast and let it do it's thing. You're more likely to do it harm with all the x-tra racking than the trub will do-. In fact, the trub won't hurt it anyway. Some people say that it actually helps with the yeast health.

Anyways, it will all settle out after after fermentation is finished. Don't worry- just pitch the yeast and let it ferment.
 
Even though it's not settled in 8 hours now?

I'm going to let it sit overnight and check it tomorrow. If nothing really changes, I'll just rack it into the carboy and pitch and hope for the best.
 
Even though it's not settled in 8 hours now?

Sure. Just leave it in the primary for 3-4 weeks. That's usually plenty of time for things to settle. If you're really worried, you can also cold crash for a few days before you bottle/keg. Or use gelatin (there are lots of threads around here about how to do that, though I've never personally used it).

I'd be far more worried about the risk of contamination from letting the wort sit all night than I'd be about having clear beer. People who do no-chill brewing usually put the wort into a sterilized, air-tight container, wait for it to cool, then pitch their yeast into that. All that racking and moving of wort would get me worried.

Just my $0.02.
 
So here's what I did...

After letting it sit about 24hrs. I found I had 2.5g of clear wort, and 2.5g of trub.

I decided I'd put my 5 gal paint strainer in my brew kettle and pour my wort back in. Then lift out my strainer to get the larger chunks like the hop bits and irish moss. I got quite a bit out, but it's not fine enough to get the hot/cold break.

Since I may have introduced contamination from messing with it, and it spent too much time in the "No Zone" (my 50* garage) I decided to boil it again to kill anything. So I boiled for 10min then added my sterilized IC and boiled another 10min. I chilled to 80* and transfered to my carboy. Checked OG and had 1.050. Puts my efficiency around 50%. I aerated and pitched my 1000ml Notty starter.

As of right now (another 24hrs later), I still have about a 50/50 mix of clear and murk. I have krausen flowing pretty well out my blow off tube and some pretty active fermentation going. I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best.

I will be using the gelatin trick on this beer and the two others I have fermenting, an amber and a tripel.

Look close, you can see trub line
P1120110.JPG
 
Wow, that's dedication to your hobby! Thanks for the incredible detail.

Now I'm not an all-grainer yet, but from what I've read and heard, the corn and rice won't convert on their own, which could explain the Malt-O-Meal texture in the mash. I believe I heard in a BrewStrong podcast recently that it's suggested to mix in some of your DME to assist in the starch conversion. This is definitely the case with flaked wheat, but other flaked grains should follow suit. If memory serves, it's because the flaked grains don't possess the enzymes required to self-convert. DME or other malted grains have those enzymes, so can be added to the mash to power-up the flakes.

And dang, that's some trub! :D
 
Wow, I somehow missed that he did a bunch of flaked adjuncts in an extract batch in the first post.:eek:

Hate to say it but this batch is in serious trouble. The only way to have converted the starches in the flaked corn and rice was with the enzymes available in an all grain mash. This means using 2-row or 6-row malt.
Those flakes don't belong in an extract batch. Even with the extract, they probably would not convert b/c the enzymes in extract have been denatured in the production process.

So... what you have is a ton of unconverted starch in your fermenter. This is likely to seriously affect the flavor, clarity, stability of this brew.
I really don't know what this batch will end up like, but you might as well let it run it's course since it's already fermenting. If it was mine I'd let it sit in primary 2-weeks, secondary 2 weeks, and if it tasted weird, or off, I wouldn't bottle it. Or bottle and drink it quickly.

I feel like I failed you on this one. I sincerely apologize for missing critical info in your first post.
 
Haha, no problem. Not really anything I could have done with it. It probably is a total loss. Oh well...live and learn; crash and burn.

I might let it go for a week and see what it tastes like. I have a Scottish on deck, I'll probably get the starter going now so it's ready to brew on Sunday.

Sounds like I'll be dumping my first batch.

The trub has settled a bit more. Probably 2/3 beer now. It is pretty murky beer though. Maybe it still has a chance?

Steve
 
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