First All Grain Brew Tomorrow Morning

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JankoDawg86

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I decided to take the plunge into all grain brewing (BIAB), and will have my first go at it tomorrow morning. Just got done crushing 28 lbs. of grain on my corona mill by hand. It was a bit more of an undertaking that I had anticipated, but I managed to get through it without to much difficulty. Hopefully I have enough energy to brew in the morning though! Anyway, with that said, here is where I need some last minute advice. I have a 20.5 gallon, Bayou Classic brew pot, and have a 28lb grain bill for a 10 gallon (final volume) recipe. Any reason to worry about too much mash volume or too much boil volume? I'm a little apprehensive that I'm going to be cutting it close and am hoping for some reassurance.

Btw, I wouldn't even try to attempt this feat without all of the information on this forum and for that I'm very grateful! Cheers! :mug:
 
wow, your first BIAB is a 10gallon batch with 28lbs of grain...you are ambitious sir...good luck and have fun. make sure you have plenty of brew on hand.

i am doing my first partial mash right now and again tomorrow morning and an all grain sunday morning.
 
I have a 72 quart cooler I mash in and 34 lbs in it today no problem. Never done BIAB, but I think you're good.
 
wow, your first BIAB is a 10gallon batch with 28lbs of grain...you are ambitious sir...good luck and have fun. make sure you have plenty of brew on hand.

i am doing my first partial mash right now and again tomorrow morning and an all grain sunday morning.

Haha I'm not sure if I'm ambitious or crazy, but either way I'm planning on it being a good learning experience. Hopefully, I'll be rewarded w/ a great brew in the end.

Good luck on your brewing adventures too!
 
My thoughts exactly HEAVY GRAIN! Hope you have a strong bag and a pulley, or lots of friends with thick rubber gloves.

Have fun and report back. Whatever happens you should end up with BEER.
 
wow. damn. 28lbs, that's a hell of a grain bill. Or are you making scotch?

I kid, I kid. you should have enough for everyone, whether it's enough beer to go around, or one very high-test beer for everyone. either way, you should have enough. lol
 
Sorry for not reporting back sooner guys. After brewing yesterday my wife and I went out on the boat and I haven't had a chance to get online. I would say that overall my first all grain experience was a success! No boil overs or any other issues. And I hit 70% efficiency! Didn't think that was too bad for my first time. I ended up brewing a 11 gallon batch of two-hearted ale clone. I know it's not a true summer beer, but it's one of my all time favorites, and I made a pretty good extract version a few months ago so thought it would be a good comparison brew. I think overall I had about 5.5 hours into it, including clean up. The grain was extremely heavy though. I held it above the brew pot as long as I could. When my arms were about to give up I rigged it up on my pulley system over a 6 gallon bucket and let it drain for about 15 min. before I squeezed it (w/ gloves on b/c it was still pretty hot). I thoroughly enjoyed this new aspect of brewing and can't wait until my next go-round. Happy brewing!
 
Sounds like you did great for the size of the grain bill. On big beers, which is what I usually brew (but 5 gal at a time), I usually get about 70%. Up to 80 with a 5% brew. The bag must have been amazingly heavy. I just did a 23 lb grain bill in a Russian Imperial Stout, that's for 5 gallons. Got 68% efficiency and hit about 10% ABV. But I split it into two bags in my keggle and then drained each separately. That lightens the load :mug: Something to think about. Did the same thing a week later but with 10 gallons of IPA that hit 8.8%.

Enjoy. Sounds like you are on your way with BIAB.
 
Congratulations on your first all grain brew session!!! I dig your choice in brews... Bell's 2Hearted is one of my favorite IPAs. I've never done the BIAB, but 70% sounds pretty good!
Brew on!
:mug:
 
Sorry for not reporting back sooner guys. After brewing yesterday my wife and I went out on the boat and I haven't had a chance to get online. I would say that overall my first all grain experience was a success! No boil overs or any other issues. And I hit 70% efficiency! Didn't think that was too bad for my first time. I ended up brewing a 11 gallon batch of two-hearted ale clone. I know it's not a true summer beer, but it's one of my all time favorites, and I made a pretty good extract version a few months ago so thought it would be a good comparison brew. I think overall I had about 5.5 hours into it, including clean up. The grain was extremely heavy though. I held it above the brew pot as long as I could. When my arms were about to give up I rigged it up on my pulley system over a 6 gallon bucket and let it drain for about 15 min. before I squeezed it (w/ gloves on b/c it was still pretty hot). I thoroughly enjoyed this new aspect of brewing and can't wait until my next go-round. Happy brewing!

Great job on your first BIAB! If you're going to brew 10+ gallons on a regular basis you might want to consider making a MLT. Not that there is anything wrong with BIAB, but I think large batches would be easier in a mash tun. I still BIAB from time to time, but it's almost always for small batches (3-4 gallon). That's just a personal opinion, though. You should do what is best for you and what you prefer, by all means... :mug:
 
Sounds like you did great for the size of the grain bill. On big beers, which is what I usually brew (but 5 gal at a time), I usually get about 70%. Up to 80 with a 5% brew. The bag must have been amazingly heavy. I just did a 23 lb grain bill in a Russian Imperial Stout, that's for 5 gallons. Got 68% efficiency and hit about 10% ABV. But I split it into two bags in my keggle and then drained each separately. That lightens the load :mug: Something to think about. Did the same thing a week later but with 10 gallons of IPA that hit 8.8%.

Enjoy. Sounds like you are on your way with BIAB.

Thanks Brewitt! Good idea on the two bag system. How to you support them independently? It seems like it would be a bit of a hassle stirring the mash but I've never brewed in a keggle so I might be way off. It would certainly be easier on my arms tho!

dannedry said:
Congratulations on your first all grain brew session!!! I dig your choice in brews... Bell's 2Hearted is one of my favorite IPAs. I've never done the BIAB, but 70% sounds pretty good!
Brew on!

Thank you sir! Gotta love two-hearted ale!

Stauffbier said:
Great job on your first BIAB! If you're going to brew 10+ gallons on a regular basis you might want to consider making a MLT. Not that there is anything wrong with BIAB, but I think large batches would be easier in a mash tun. I still BIAB from time to time, but it's almost always for small batches (3-4 gallon). That's just a personal opinion, though. You should do what is best for you and what you prefer, by all means...

Thanks Stauffbier! I will definitely consider an MLT down the road. I want to get a few BIAB's under my belt before I look to make any changes. I would have probably done a few more stove top extracts but when we redid our kitchen and got a new stove, the btu's aren't enough to boil 3 gallons! Had we not have gotten a floor model for a pretty good deal I would have taken it back and gotten something better for brewing. Who need a stove for anything but brewing right? Too be SWMBO doesn't agree with that! Anyway, I'm glad that I jumped into all grain and look forward to the next brew day.


One more question for you gents...I'm using Notty yeast in one of my two fermenters and WLP 051 in the other. The Notty is took off like a rocket and is fermenting nicely, the 051 is stagnate. Is this typical w/ this yeast? So far I've only used WLP 001 and Notty prior to this brew session. Any reason to be alarmed or give it another day or so?
 
Wait another day and see if it picks up. If you don't see any activity, then check the gravity to see if it's fermenting...
 
You must look like this when you BIAB:

arnoldgrain-43697.png
 
My double BIAB is a bit more of a hassle I clip the bags onto the edge of the keggle with three binder clips, two in the middle and one at the side. That way both bags are open at the top but it is true that they each have to be stirred individually. Still, I only stir a couple times during a mash to keep the temperature equilibrated so it is not a lot of work. Makes the mash out a lot easier.
 
My double BIAB is a bit more of a hassle I clip the bags onto the edge of the keggle with three binder clips, two in the middle and one at the side. That way both bags are open at the top but it is true that they each have to be stirred individually. Still, I only stir a couple times during a mash to keep the temperature equilibrated so it is not a lot of work. Makes the mash out a lot easier.

Sounds like a pretty good system to me. I guess as long as you end up with beer that all that matters right?!
 
That is hilarious MetallHed! I hope you don't mind that I'm using it as my profile picture.

p.s. my physique isn't half of Arnold's, I'm just stubborn (or stupid) enough to muscle my way through things!

Lol. No I don't mind. I made that a while back when someone else was as ambitious as you were in trying a big BIAB.
 
MetallHed said:
Lol. No I don't mind. I made that a while back when someone else was as ambitious as you were in trying a big BIAB.

They probably learned their lesson tho...I'm going to keep muscling thru mine for awhile yet! Or until my arms can't handle the weight of a really hoppy ipa :)
 
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