Hi guys, so I've been tweaking my modified BIAB process a bit after reading up on a lot of threads and listening to you more experienced folks. I was hoping I could get a little feedback on my overall process and see if there's anything glaring that y'all think I could improve upon. I'm new to BIAB (and I realize my method isn't standard BIAB, I use the cooler to maintain mash temps and it seems to work pretty well) so be gentle. I appreciate any feedback I receive. Thank you!
Pre-Brewing Procedure
1. Build/Find a Recipe
2. Buy Ingredients and water treatment (if needed)
3. Use a brew calculator(s) to estimate OG, FG, gallons of water needed, yeast pitch rate, mineral additions to water, mash temp, strike water temp, sparge water temp
(optional, if sparging)
4. 24-36 hours before brewing, make a starter of the correct size (use Mr. Yeasty calculator) and store it at the same temperature that the beer will ferment at
Brew Day
1. Sanitize equipment: fermenter, transfer tubing, hydrometer, hydrometer tube, funnels, strainers, anything else that will contact cool wort and set it on a clean surface to dry
2. Add mineral salts for Pullman water: calculated amounts of CaCl, and CaSO, and 1/5 of a Campden tablet (crush and dissolve tablet into a known quantity of water and pour in
1/5 of liquid) and boil brew water+2 extra gallons for 15 minutes to reduce carbonates
3. Install grain bag in mash cooler
4. Siphon or decant boiled water into mash tun before it cools and dump the last 2 gallons in the brew pot, these contain precipitated carbonates
5. Rinse the brew pot
6. Return ¼ of the water to the brew pot and allow it to cool
7. Allow water to cool in mash tun to strike water temp, add ice to speed this process
8. Put ~2 gallons of extra water on to boil in a separate pot in case mash needs to be heated
9. Dough in grain and stir inside bag to ensure no hot/cold spots
10. Dial in temperature to mash temp using ice or hot water from step 8
11. Measure pH of room temperature mash, it must be between 5.2 and 5.4. If it is high, add lactic acid or sauermalz, stir and wait 20 minutes to lower pH to proper range. Add
CaO (lime) if the pH is too low (highly unlikely with Pullman water)
12. Put the lid on the cooler and check temp every 15 minutes and stir to ensure even conversion
13. Mash for 60-90 minutes, conversion can be checked by putting 2 drops of iodine in a few mL of wort. It will turn black if conversion is not complete, and turn brown or red if
complete
14. Raise grain out of water and rinse with the cooled and treated water remaining in the brew pot.
15. Squeeze the bag like it owes you money
16. Measure your pre-boil specific gravity
17. Transfer the wort back to the brew pot and bring up to a boil
18. Boil for 60 minutes with hop additions as prescribed in the recipe
19. 15 minutes before the boil ends, place the wort chiller in the boiling pot to sanitize it
20. At the end of the boil begin running water through the wort chiller and cool the wort until its temp is ~65F
21. Transfer wort to fermenter and top-up the water with bottled water or boiled tap water to reach 5 gallons if necessary
22. Measure the OG
23. Pitch the yeast from the starter
24. Place fermenter in 6-8 inches of cool water in the bath tub with a wet t-shirt over it and a fan blowing on it. This should maintain the temperature between 10-20 degrees
below ambient temperature
25. Behold…. Beeeeeer
Pre-Brewing Procedure
1. Build/Find a Recipe
2. Buy Ingredients and water treatment (if needed)
3. Use a brew calculator(s) to estimate OG, FG, gallons of water needed, yeast pitch rate, mineral additions to water, mash temp, strike water temp, sparge water temp
(optional, if sparging)
4. 24-36 hours before brewing, make a starter of the correct size (use Mr. Yeasty calculator) and store it at the same temperature that the beer will ferment at
Brew Day
1. Sanitize equipment: fermenter, transfer tubing, hydrometer, hydrometer tube, funnels, strainers, anything else that will contact cool wort and set it on a clean surface to dry
2. Add mineral salts for Pullman water: calculated amounts of CaCl, and CaSO, and 1/5 of a Campden tablet (crush and dissolve tablet into a known quantity of water and pour in
1/5 of liquid) and boil brew water+2 extra gallons for 15 minutes to reduce carbonates
3. Install grain bag in mash cooler
4. Siphon or decant boiled water into mash tun before it cools and dump the last 2 gallons in the brew pot, these contain precipitated carbonates
5. Rinse the brew pot
6. Return ¼ of the water to the brew pot and allow it to cool
7. Allow water to cool in mash tun to strike water temp, add ice to speed this process
8. Put ~2 gallons of extra water on to boil in a separate pot in case mash needs to be heated
9. Dough in grain and stir inside bag to ensure no hot/cold spots
10. Dial in temperature to mash temp using ice or hot water from step 8
11. Measure pH of room temperature mash, it must be between 5.2 and 5.4. If it is high, add lactic acid or sauermalz, stir and wait 20 minutes to lower pH to proper range. Add
CaO (lime) if the pH is too low (highly unlikely with Pullman water)
12. Put the lid on the cooler and check temp every 15 minutes and stir to ensure even conversion
13. Mash for 60-90 minutes, conversion can be checked by putting 2 drops of iodine in a few mL of wort. It will turn black if conversion is not complete, and turn brown or red if
complete
14. Raise grain out of water and rinse with the cooled and treated water remaining in the brew pot.
15. Squeeze the bag like it owes you money
16. Measure your pre-boil specific gravity
17. Transfer the wort back to the brew pot and bring up to a boil
18. Boil for 60 minutes with hop additions as prescribed in the recipe
19. 15 minutes before the boil ends, place the wort chiller in the boiling pot to sanitize it
20. At the end of the boil begin running water through the wort chiller and cool the wort until its temp is ~65F
21. Transfer wort to fermenter and top-up the water with bottled water or boiled tap water to reach 5 gallons if necessary
22. Measure the OG
23. Pitch the yeast from the starter
24. Place fermenter in 6-8 inches of cool water in the bath tub with a wet t-shirt over it and a fan blowing on it. This should maintain the temperature between 10-20 degrees
below ambient temperature
25. Behold…. Beeeeeer
D) article on BIAB in my signature which may be of use to you.
