cincydave
Well-Known Member
After brewing nine extract batches, took the leap to BIAB, after reading all about it on HBT. Its an Irish Blonde ale. We were already using a turkey fryer set up, so the only thing we needed to buy was the bag. Got the large paint strainer bag (2 for $5 at Home Depot). Couple of issues.
First was the grain crush. It was terrible from the LHBS. Lots of totally uncrushed grain. Hit it with a food processor which helped quite a bit, but still not what I would call a good crush. May have to try to make one of those pasta maker grain mills.
Second issue, we ended up mashing too high. Set the strike water a little low intentionally, then brought it up, while stirring vigorously to what we thought was 152F. It was chilly outside, so we took it in and wrapped in a blanket. Stirred after about 20 minutes and took the temp again and it was at 156F. Guess the bottom of the mash was hotter than the top (where we measured) and after it all kind of evened out we overshot out mash temp. Oh well, live and learn. Total mash time was a little over an hour. Set bag on grate on top of kettle. Squeezed real good and ladled 180F water through grain bag, squeezing a few more times in the process. Boiled it down to 5 Gal, cooled and pitched.
OG was 1.055. Calculated the efficiency at 66%, which, while not great, wasnt too bad for first attempt, especially considering we didnt have the best crush. Calculated efficiency manually as we dont have brewing software.
Even though we didnt do everything perfectly, it was a lot of fun. Now the waiting to see how it turns out. Tom Petty is right, the waiting really is the hardest part!
First was the grain crush. It was terrible from the LHBS. Lots of totally uncrushed grain. Hit it with a food processor which helped quite a bit, but still not what I would call a good crush. May have to try to make one of those pasta maker grain mills.
Second issue, we ended up mashing too high. Set the strike water a little low intentionally, then brought it up, while stirring vigorously to what we thought was 152F. It was chilly outside, so we took it in and wrapped in a blanket. Stirred after about 20 minutes and took the temp again and it was at 156F. Guess the bottom of the mash was hotter than the top (where we measured) and after it all kind of evened out we overshot out mash temp. Oh well, live and learn. Total mash time was a little over an hour. Set bag on grate on top of kettle. Squeezed real good and ladled 180F water through grain bag, squeezing a few more times in the process. Boiled it down to 5 Gal, cooled and pitched.
OG was 1.055. Calculated the efficiency at 66%, which, while not great, wasnt too bad for first attempt, especially considering we didnt have the best crush. Calculated efficiency manually as we dont have brewing software.
Even though we didnt do everything perfectly, it was a lot of fun. Now the waiting to see how it turns out. Tom Petty is right, the waiting really is the hardest part!