first full sized BIAB

So I finally got some nice weather here in Nova Scotia to break out the new propane burner I bought to do my beer outside instead of in the kitchen on my stovetop.

I filled by 9gallon turkey frier with 7 gallons of water, heated to 163 then started adding my 14.5 pounds of grain for an IPA. Turns out 7 gallons of water and 14.5 pounds of grain is way too much for a 9 gallon pot, and I ended up with about 1 pound of grains left in my crush bucket... no problem whats a little water going down the pot right..?

So I kept losing my flame because of the water spilling out of the pot, which means i kept losing my heat. I turned up the flame and ended up overshooting my mash temp for the last 20 minutes because I wasn't watching it close enough. I ended up with 173 degrees, which most of you probably strike at that, but I didn't have a consistent temp for the 45 minutes until I lost control of the temp.

My pot ended up with lots of floaties, which I assume will settle out during primary and secondary. the boil went perfectly fine of course (there is no way I could screw that up...)

I ended up with a OG of 1.060 and i was hoping for about 1.068 but I will take it. I had a 60% efficiency after all is said and done, and currently is bubbling along nicely in my fermenter bucket.

My brew day started at 7:30 and was finished and cleaned up by 12.

the few questions I have are: IF I get a Coleman cooler, can I BIAB inside the cooler for better temperature regulation? second question is why bother going through all the mess of all-grain when you could just use the extract (it costs a bit more I know) and just steep the grains.

Mark

bowserm said:

the few questions I have are: IF I get a Coleman cooler, can I BIAB inside the cooler for better temperature regulation? second question is why bother going through all the mess of all-grain when you could just use the extract (it costs a bit more I know) and just steep the grains.

Mark

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I don't see why you could not use a bag in a cooler

I have a 74 quart cooler I use instead a bag I just have a piece of the fabric they make the bags out of to line it

you can make good beer with extract and steeped grain

I brew all grain because for me it is easier to buy bulk grain at a good price compared to bulk extract

all the best

S_M

I would stick with BIAB. Just mash with smaller amounts of water and top up before the boil to the proper amount or add the extra water directly to the fermenter at initial transfer.

Simple, easy, no extra equipment.

>.the few questions I have are: IF I get a Coleman cooler, can I BIAB inside the cooler for better temperature regulation?


Why bother? You are just adding time consuming steps.
Just cover your pot with a couple of blankets. Maybe stir after 15,30 minutes to redistribute the heat.

I mash in my pot. If I miss the temperature I can add more heat.



>>second question is why bother going through all the mess of all-grain when you could just use the extract (it costs a bit more I know) and just steep the grains.

In the old days the extract didn't taste as good as it may have been stale. Today you can make good beer with extract.
Its much faster, but costs a little more.

If I was brewing indoors I'd consider extract brewing rather than stove top BIAB.

All grain gives you more control - you can mash hotter or cooler for different effects.

I do BIAB with the same sized pot...9 gallons and have really gotten comfortable with my process over the last few brews. You just need to start with a little less water. I usually start with 6-6.5 gallons of water heated to 160ish. After the mash, I rinse the grains with room temperature water to get to my preboil volume of 6.5 gallons.....no issues to report thus far.

I just priced a full bag of 2-row, and it is $54.00 for 55lbs. which I see why now people all-grain. way cheaper than buying extract.

So I don't need to heat extra water for the sparge? I can just use room temp water? maybe that is what I will try for my next batch.

What thermostats do you use? i have a digital one, I am wondering if I should pickup one that plugs in to the base, and the other end can go into the pot while the mash is happening.

I also biab in a 9 gallon. Cut your strike water to a bare minimum. Try 1.5 qt/lb. Mash in at 170, if you over shoot your temp add cold water to compensate. Better to over shoot for a few minutes than have it bottom out on you and over attenuate.

bowserm said:

I just priced a full bag of 2-row, and it is $54.00 for 55lbs. which I see why now people all-grain. way cheaper than buying extract.

So I don't need to heat extra water for the sparge? I can just use room temp water? maybe that is what I will try for my next batch.

What thermostats do you use? i have a digital one, I am wondering if I should pickup one that plugs in to the base, and the other end can go into the pot while the mash is happening.

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I did a lot of research on here about rinsing with room temperature water enough to be convinced to give it a try. I've tried for the last 5 or so batches and havent noticed any drops in efficiency. Big time saver too as I'm not having to fire up the burner again to heat up the sparge water. I'm usually rinsing with a 1-1.5 gallons of water.
I just use a digital thermometer that I stick in the water - nothing fancy - picked it up at Walmart (see link)....

http://www.walmart.com/ip/17785567?...45609952&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78310881632&veh=sem

bowserm said:

So I don't need to heat extra water for the sparge? I can just use room temp water? maybe that is what I will try for my next batch.

What thermostats do you use? i have a digital one, I am wondering if I should pickup one that plugs in to the base, and the other end can go into the pot while the mash is happening.

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I have found that where I live, I can get away with using a food grade hose connected directly from the faucet without contamination. HOWEVER, I must recommend you either boil a pot of water beforehand and keep it on standby or just buy sealed gallons of water (I use distilled).


For a thermostat, I use the STC-1000. $15 on amazon + wiring. Functions like a $150 thermostat.

@1977Brewer isn't overshooting temperature creating less fermentable wort? or you shoot high, then it will go down eventually anyways?

@Nummey I am going to try that next batch, and start out with less in the pot. I really don't want to buy anymore equipment if I don't have to..

@cannman I always use bottled water when I do my beer. I don't trust the municipal water enough to know what is and isn't in it.

It seems as though a hobby to start out as saving money from store bought beer has turned into the opposite; larger pots, propane burners, soon Ill end up buying a 500 gallon tank and brew full sized

bowserm said:

@1977Brewer isn't overshooting temperature creating less fermentable wort? or you shoot high, then it will go down eventually anyways?

@Nummey I am going to try that next batch, and start out with less in the pot. I really don't want to buy anymore equipment if I don't have to..

@cannman I always use bottled water when I do my beer. I don't trust the municipal water enough to know what is and isn't in it.

It seems as though a hobby to start out as saving money from store bought beer has turned into the opposite; larger pots, propane burners, soon Ill end up buying a 500 gallon tank and brew full sized

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The lower you go, the more fermentable it becomes. By starting high, the alpha amylase enzymes will break down the starch into unfermentable sugars, which will then be broken down by the beta amylase enzymes at the lower end. I shoot for 152, but I don't cry if it goes lower.

Here's the wiki page on starch conversion and mashing. It's smarter than me.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Enzymes

This is great information. Thank you @1977Brewer. I need to do a few more to get the hang of it, then I'll be able to nail down my numbers the way I want. but knowing I can aim high and let it go a bit lower is great to know.

I do full suze BIAB and to "sparge" I basically lift up the grain bag, squeeze it out, then set it in a pot and run cold water over it a few times and squeeze to rinse out the sugars leftover in the grains

I think there are many advantages to all-grain over extract. Cost definitely, but also you have much more control over your final product's fermentability. To me, that's key to really nailing the type of beer you want to end up with. Mash high for a solid body like stouts. Mash low for crisp IPAs and Belgians. Plus it really feels more like you are making beer rather than mixing a bunch of packets together. Much more rewarding IMO

Good info from the other guys.

To reiterate, yes you can mash in a bag in a cooler if you want but I also use a 9gallon pot. For bigger brews sometimes I have to sparge with a gallon or so of water which is not a huge deal.

To better manage your temp loss, throw a sleeping bag or some blankets over the pot after you mash in. I typically lose 1-2 degrees when I brew outside in the summer, which is no worries at all.

For managing your mash volume, and making sure you end up on the right final volume take a look at my calculator at pricelessbrewing.github.io/biabcalc

For getting better effeciency, all I can really suggest is using the right amount of water, squeezing your bag of grains after the mash, and crushing the grains as fine as possible. I get about 64% with the lhbs standard crush, but they let me adjust the mill gap so I tighten it all the way and run it through twice and get about 76%.

For squeezing, I pull the bag of grains and place it in two buckets. The top bucket (picked them up from a local bakery for free) has holes drilled in the bottom, which allows the grains to drain, then theres another bucket below to capture the wort. If you have a turkey fryer strainer pot that will work as well but sometimes is slightly too small. Once the grain is done draining, and the brew kettle is approaching boil I take a pot lid and press down on the bag of grains which generally gives me another quart or so. If I let it drain throughout the boil it'll give a similar amount of wort up but it takes a bit of time so I speed things up with the pot lid. Also this makes it easy to dispense with the grains as I can either scoop the grains from the bag or wrapped the bag around the bucket and tipped it over to dump the grains.

Also...never include your equipment costs in your cost per beer. The equipment is a hobby, the beer is a product. You're upgrading your hobby! It's like new skis, or fishing tackle, or ammo, or...I dunno, yarn. Ingredient cost is your only real variable, unless you buy a new kettle once a year. I didn't even buy my kettle, it's on permanent loan from my FIL.

I think I've compared brewing to knitting like five times on this forum in the five months i've been here.

I was hoping for a nice crisp IPA, but I will see how I end up once the fermentation is complete. That is one of the main reasons I wanted to get away from extract brewing. I found that I can never hit my FG as it normally stalled at 1.020 no matter what the OG was.

Thank you @pricelessbrewing, I will be having a look around your website and checking the calculators for sure.

@1977Brewer That cost statement was more of a joke, but I do always seem to be buying more stuff for said hobby.

bowserm said:

It seems as though a hobby to start out as saving money from store bought beer has turned into the opposite

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Oh this isn't a hobby to save money... not a chance. It is a labor of love which may yield quality beyond what you can purchase.

Yeah, if this was a hobby, I would stick to the extract kits I have been used to for the last year. I am sure I am way past hobby at this point.

Just start with a gallon less water. Make the same recipe when you can and remember where you had problems. You can only heat a cooler by adding more hot water plus now you have more equipment to buy and store. Practice practice practice. Check the mash temp after 10-15 minutes then stir it up real good and let it sit another 10-15 and repeat. You'll see if the temps are dropping much sooner and you'll be surprised how much a mash continues to heat up after you start applying heat.