Hey everyone. So last night I did my first BIAB and it was my first AG as well. I have done extract brewing so I am no stranger to brewing. I use a propane burner and a 9 gallon aluminum brew pot (turkey fryer kit). I brewed up a chocolate stout that I will later rack onto a few raspberry in secondary. The brew went pretty well overall but learned of a few critical points that I need to nail down a bit and some equipment upgrades. Number one upgrade is a new thermometer. I used an analog and a small kitchen digital and I found my temp accuracy was off, not to a point of a failed mash but enough to make me think “merr it’s not perfect”. Next upgrade to be made will be a bigger pot. Mine worked for a 5.5gallon final volume batch but I had to sparge as I could not fit a full volume no sparge. While not necessary it would make life so much easier.
Now the critical points I found. Strike temp using propane is a fickle thing, you think you hit it so you cut heat just to find 2 mins after it continued to raise 5-10 degrees above so now you have to stir and wait for it to drop. Mash temp actually came out pretty close but had to adjust a bit during as it’s a bit cold up in Canada right now. What went the most wrong for me is the mash out. My analog and digital thermometers have been matched the whole time so I opted to just throw the analog in to measure the mashout temp rise. Well after 8-10 mins with heat on and I did not see much of a temp raise I pulled the thermometer cleaned it and re inserted it only to find my temp was actually in the 190’s and it was supposed to be 170. So off the heat and in to a snowbank outside it went. After 5-8 mins out there temp was still in the 180’s so I pulled grain and sparged with 170 water. The rest of the boil went as usual except for the boil over as I was heating to get the initial boil (you think you can turn your back for 30 seconds to take a leak and the beer gods laugh lol).
Over all was a great experience and I learned a lot. I didn’t check my PH so I am hoping I am under 6 so that mashout overtemp won’t shoot my wort full of tannins but time will tell. Can’t wait to start my next one and try to nail down the process to a T........with a new thermometer haha. Cheers!
Now the critical points I found. Strike temp using propane is a fickle thing, you think you hit it so you cut heat just to find 2 mins after it continued to raise 5-10 degrees above so now you have to stir and wait for it to drop. Mash temp actually came out pretty close but had to adjust a bit during as it’s a bit cold up in Canada right now. What went the most wrong for me is the mash out. My analog and digital thermometers have been matched the whole time so I opted to just throw the analog in to measure the mashout temp rise. Well after 8-10 mins with heat on and I did not see much of a temp raise I pulled the thermometer cleaned it and re inserted it only to find my temp was actually in the 190’s and it was supposed to be 170. So off the heat and in to a snowbank outside it went. After 5-8 mins out there temp was still in the 180’s so I pulled grain and sparged with 170 water. The rest of the boil went as usual except for the boil over as I was heating to get the initial boil (you think you can turn your back for 30 seconds to take a leak and the beer gods laugh lol).
Over all was a great experience and I learned a lot. I didn’t check my PH so I am hoping I am under 6 so that mashout overtemp won’t shoot my wort full of tannins but time will tell. Can’t wait to start my next one and try to nail down the process to a T........with a new thermometer haha. Cheers!
