2nd BIAB

Crap! This brew day was going great... brewing Bee Cave Haus Ale. Mash went flawless... then I wasn't paying attention and 20 minutes into the boil I realized... holy sh_t... the grains are still in there!!! Talk about an amateur mistake... I will never make that mistake again. So what do you guys think? Can I salvage this beer or am I going to have tannins and whatever else in this concoction? Thanks fellas...

You mashed then went to boil without removing the bag of grains? Over 170 degrees and you most assuredly will have tannins.

Yep... it's embarrassing! It was a double take... like is the bag really in there?

Anyway, I tasted a sample of the beer at that point... there was some bitterness to it and it was sweet. I figured what the hell... went ahead and finished the batch... it's in the fermenter right now. OG came out at 1.048. I don't know... we'll see how it turns out. Talk about having your head up your _ss! Jeesh!

Just wanted to chime in about the great brew day I WAS having before the stupidity set it. I made a chamber from 1/2" thick styrofoam that is big enough for an Ale Pail or my 30 qt aluminum mash tun/brew pot. For BIAB's like me, this works great. I reached my desired mash temp, placed the pot in the box. The temp was very stable over the course of 1 hr... I lost 2 degrees during the whole process. If you are a BIAB brewer and have trouble holding your temp during the mash, this might help you out like it has me!

kellynm, I'm glad that everything worked out in the end.

The insulation chamber sounds interesting. Did you by chance take any photos?

I bought a 5 gallon Rubbermaid / Home Depot water cooler this weekend. It was discounted to $8.97 - couldn't pass it by.

While this does deviate from the standard BIAB process, it should improve efficiency and make a better beer. It's all about deviating from the norm ...

ultravista said:

kellynm, I'm glad that everything worked out in the end.

The insulation chamber sounds interesting. Did you by chance take any photos?

I bought a 5 gallon Rubbermaid / Home Depot water cooler this weekend. It was discounted to $8.97 - couldn't pass it by.

While this does deviate from the standard BIAB process, it should improve efficiency and make a better beer. It's all about deviating from the norm ...

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Thanks Ultra... I hope it works out. The airlock was bubbling this morning which is a good sign. I don't expect this beer to taste very good, but I'm going to take it to bottling and who knows... maybe it will make it. I'll be very surprised though.

As far as the insulation chamber, I don't have a picture. I'll try to get one tonight, but it's really simple... I just measured the diameter of my brew pot and added 2 inches so I could drop the thing in there without hitting the sides. As far as the height of the box, I measured my ale pale and added 4 inches for the airlock. So the chamber is dual purpose... I use it for the mash and for fermentation... I think I'm heading in the right direction!

Here's the pics of my insulated chamber. Don't laugh... it's a prototype! Besides duct tape looks cool!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kellydcurtin/BrewStuff#5568524741046385330

http://picasaweb.google.com/kellydcurtin/BrewStuff#5568524738262282018

Did you lose 2C or 2F during the mash time?

I wrapped my 32 quart aluminum pot in some reflective insulation before brewing last weekend. Lost all of about 6-8F during the entire 90 minute mash time. That doesn't include time removing dough balls where the lid was off. I'm planning on doing the same thing with my next pot, so that I lose less heat during the mash. Thinking about also insulating the lid to help keep heat in during the mash.

Of course, I do need to get a propane burner before I brew again. Too difficult to get over 6 gallons to boil in a single pot on my stove.

Golddiggie said:

Did you lose 2C or 2F during the mash time?

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Good question... 2F!

kellynm said:

Good question... 2F!

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I only asked due to it not being sure what the display was showing when I looked at the picture the first few times.

Since I usually mash with 1.5-2 quarts per pound of grain, moving the BIAB mash pot around isn't going to happen (at least not by myself).

I might have to see if I can get the brew pot to span two burners for the next brew-day... Or get a good thickness hunk of aluminum to span the two and place the pot onto that.

Just need more grain in order to brew another batch...

Looking to get some entire sacks 'o Maris Otter...

Ok how did this beer turn out????? I am left hanging here