Beginner going to BIAB from Extract

[jcarey88]

Hi all! I believe this is my first post on the forums. So a little background about me. I started cooking when I was about 7 years old, and I went to culinary school. After which I worked in the industry for a few years and decided to pursue other things. So I know my way around the kitchen, and sanitation, and mass production of consumable goods, blah blah blah.

I have wanted to brew beer for a loooong time. I didn't have the room in my old house(rental) for any of the equipment. I know people brew in small NY apartments and make due with what they have(props and respect), but I seriously had nowhere to store my fermenting beer(s).

Fast forward until 7 days ago. I did an all grain brew session with my friend from work. My brewing set was shipped and on the way, and it was his first all grain, doing a mash in an igloo water cooler. When I got home, my equipment was on the doorstep, and we happened to have a snow day the day after. What better to do than brew a beer!?

So I brewed my Northern Brewer Caribou Slobber extract w/ specialty malts and pitched the yeast. It's now sitting in a closet and will remain there for at least another 3 weeks. I juggled the idea of racking to a secondary. I thought about the time I could save from just buying a kegging system now, rather than bottle conditioning. I already have the mini fridge from my college days, might as well.

I'm the type of person who researches something for days and weeks and months before committing to it. It took me two years to buy a TV. A TV!!! So I've read all of the articles. I've watched all of the videos. I think I understand the concept enough. Mash it right, boil it right, pitch it right, and sanitize everything. Got it.

I don't want to invest in the equipment to go all grain, or really I can't afford it just yet. BIAB seems like a great middle ground. Being a cook, I like to be experimental, and cook from scratch, and show my personality through cooking. I understand foods. I see those benefits from all grain. It really interests me to pick out the malts, and hops, and use my local conditions, using what I have...etc.

Recently, I am becoming really interested in the Belgian styles. Belgian Browns, Saisons, Dubbels, etc. I like the Pale Ales, but I have a passion for Porters and Stout. I visit the local breweries as often as possible. I buy the build your own 6 packs just to try new stuff. I'm becoming a beer nerd.

But let's get to the point. How can I increase my success rate going STRAIGHT to all grain BIAG? Should I just make other people's recipes and see what happens? The way I see it, 500 years ago, brewers didn't have the resources I do. So what's a little experimenting going to hurt?

I might be rambling. I've had a few craft brews...

 

[fuzzy2133]

Many will recomend a good book for brewing like learn to brew.

Take good notes of your brew day especially volume losses and where they occur. I think it is worth wild brewing a couple recipes here to get a idea the ingredients flavors. If you like experiments might want to look at the 1 gal thread (less to dump if somethig goes really wrong).

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[flars]

My advice would be to purchase a BIAB kit of an average OG of a style you enjoy. Brew it up. If you feel your methdology was good and the finished product is good, do it again and tweak it. To make it better is the second learning curve.

 

[C-Rider]

I say jump into the BIAB method and do small 2 gallon batches. Gives U 3 six packs and lots of choise when you open your fridge on what to drink. Here is a short video oh my method. It's a bit old and I may have made a few modifications but shoots, BIAB is BIAB and is so simple. I also make up my own recipes.

 

[jcarey88]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll look in to getting a book, fuzzy! And I do like taking notes and saving records, so I'll keep up with that.

Any reason to start out with an AVG OG brew, first? You talking 1.040-1.060 range?

Thanks for the video C-Rider. That's an interesting set up you have there with the 2? gallon batches. Not at all jealous of your view. Sarcasm...

Sent from my IdeaTab S6000-F using Home Brew mobile app

 

[CUrchin]

It sounds like you have researched the process,so BIAB should be fairly simple. Remember, BIAB is all grain brewing- you're just moving around grains rather than water/wort. Once you get past that concept the fun begins. Cheers.

 

[brewguyver]

I'm the type of person who researches something for days and weeks and months before committing to it. It took me two years to buy a TV. A TV!!!

Same boat - I bout a 42 about 4 years ago and I still haven't upgraded.

So I've read all of the articles. I've watched all of the videos. I think I understand the concept enough. Mash it right, boil it right, pitch it right, and sanitize everything. Got it.

I don't want to invest in the equipment to go all grain, or really I can't afford it just yet. BIAB seems like a great middle ground. Being a cook, I like to be experimental, and cook from scratch, and show my personality through cooking. I understand foods. I see those benefits from all grain. It really interests me to pick out the malts, and hops, and use my local conditions, using what I have...etc.

It's not that hard. I'd recommend investing the $ in brewing software like Beersmith. It does a lot of the calculations for you, and makes it easier to play with recipes to dial in what you're looking for. Add your grains, malt, hops, etc and it'll tell you where you are vs. style guidelines.

Other than that you just need a good bag, and *eventually* a grain mill - you can crush much finer with a good BIAB bag than in normal all grain, so it'd be good to be able to do your own crush

But let's get to the point. How can I increase my success rate going STRAIGHT to all grain BIAG? Should I just make other people's recipes and see what happens? The way I see it, 500 years ago, brewers didn't have the resources I do. So what's a little experimenting going to hurt?

I might be rambling. I've had a few craft brews...

I'd go off other people's recipes or clones of your favorite craft beers (check out the Jamil show podcasts) at first so you have something to gauge against. Going with BIAB specific recipes is better, but not required. Otherwise it's like making a pasta dish with random ingredients when you've never made pasta before. That way you get a feel for temps, etc.

Before you jump to full equipment (if it's even needed), lock down a good core recipe set, and use that dorm fridge of yours for temperature control. If it fits a soda keg, it'll probably fit 1-2 3 gallon better bottles, which are plenty big enough to do 2 gallon batches in.

Temp control is the single biggest impact to brewing after sanitation and good basic brewing practices, especially with the belgians you love. Many times you want to start them lower to get the good clove flavors (65ish depending on yeast) then ramp them up slowly into the 70's or even 80's ... you just don't want to do that too early or you'll get hangover inducing biproducts (more than usual).

Small batch stuff is pretty cheap, heats and cools quickly, and gives you lots of room to experiment. Get that nailed down, then jump to bigger batches, kegging, etc. once you know what you're looking to do.

 

[flars]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll look in to getting a book, fuzzy! And I do like taking notes and saving records, so I'll keep up with that.

Any reason to start out with an AVG OG brew, first? You talking 1.040-1.060 range?

Thanks for the video C-Rider. That's an interesting set up you have there with the 2? gallon batches. Not at all jealous of your view. Sarcasm...

Sent from my IdeaTab S6000-F using Home Brew mobile app

I suggest an average gravity brew so one 11 gram pack of dry yeast or on the lighter OG side one liquid pack will do the job.
Eliminates problems with the final product that could have bearing on under pitching the yeast or a problem with a yeast starter.
Starters are not difficult or problematic, but for the first one keep it simple.