Just finished a 1 gallon BIAB - Zombie Dust IPA

[tjs3]

After a few weeks of nonstop reading and watching youtube videos I took on my first BIAB. The process was pretty straight forward. It was a mostly smooth ride and very enjoyable. The one gallon batch size made it very manageable for one person. Definitely looking forward to doing it again.

I created a gallery of pictures with some comments. Not sure if I should embed directly into this post or if the link to the imgur gallery is ok? But..here's the link: http://imgur.com/a/NdbSg

The only thing that did not go as planned (aside from breaking my hydrometer sample tube) was the amount of sludge I siphoned over. When I've done 5 gallon brews(extract) I don't remember bringing that much over to the carboy.

I wasn't going to rack this to a secondary because of the batch size..but maybe I should?

What effect could this have on the beer?

 

[RM-MN]

That sludge is break material, proteins that dropped out. You probably got more this time because with the small batch size your wort cooled fast and the fact that you had previously been doing extract which has much less break material. The yeast will use some of the break and the rest will settle out so you shouldn't need to rack to secondary.

 

[aeviaanah]

Not a scientific study but Ive noticed my beers with more trub are better than those with less.

 

[FatsSchindee]

I too, just did my first BIAB (3 gal batch), and noticed the exact same thing - lots more trub than from the PM or extract batches I'd done before. This pic is from right after I transferred to the fermentor, but before I decanted and pitched my starter. You can see it all in there settling.

As far as secondary, I was wondering the same thing. Once you rack off the trub you'll have less volume, and therefore more headspace, in the secondary... And you'll lose the protective layer of CO2 once it's done fermenting and transferred as well. Unless you have a 1/2 gal demijohn/ growler/bottle, if that's how much beer you end up with after the trub, I'd just keep it in the primary...

I'm in the same boat - that's about 3 1/8 gal in a 5 gal carboy, and I do have a 3 gal carboy that I was planning on dry hopping in... But, depending on how thick that trub ends up being, I may just consider dry hopping in the primary for the same reason (although, I guess if i disturb the CO2 layer some when I add the hops - though I know it's heavier than air - I may just transfer anyway to reduce the headspace).

 

[RM-MN]

You'll be surprised by how thin that layer of trub becomes once the fermentation is over and the yeast settle out. I'd expect about 1/2 inch.

 

[tjs3]

Thanks guys. I won't worry about the break...I'll stick to the plan and not bother with the secondary.

Lots of activity in the fermentor this morning. yay, beer!

 

[NTexBrewer]

Hey tjs3,

Can you explain a little more how you maintained your mash temperature?

I'm getting ready to do a 1 gallon BIAB recipe this Friday.

Also, regarding about the break. Sometimes it sticks to the curved part of the bottle or carboy making it look like a thick layer when it is just very thin along the surface.

 

[tjs3]

Hey tjs3,

Can you explain a little more how you maintained your mash temperature?

I'm getting ready to do a 1 gallon BIAB recipe this Friday.

Also, regarding about the break. Sometimes it sticks to the curved part of the bottle or carboy making it look like a thick layer when it is just very thin along the surface.

Once I was done stirring it in, and it had hit the mash temp, I put the lid on and draped a towel over it. After 12 minutes it dropped down 4 degrees..but I got it back up with a little low heat and stirring...At that point it held for the remainder of the mash.

 

[HopSong]

You'll be surprised by how thin that layer of trub becomes once the fermentation is over and the yeast settle out. I'd expect about 1/2 inch.

Thusfar, I've only done one 1g batch. It was one of the Brooklyn Everyday IPA's that came with the kit. I had the same issue as the OP. Left it 10 days after ferment was complete and the level of the trub didn't drip 1/4". I did siphon to a secondary and filled the jug to the bottom of the neck using sanitized glass marbles. Worked fine.. tastes fine.. but, I'm truly at a loss about that amount of trub. I don't get that much brewing a 5g batch.. Well, maybe.. the trub in a 5g batch has more room to spread out.

 

[NivekD]

Here's what I like to do with small batch BIAB. I scale my recipe to end up with about 1.5 galllons of final wort. Then I tranfer that into two 1 gallon jugs (about 3/4 full) and pitch the same amout of yeast in each one. When fermentation is complete, I wait about a week and then rack both to a 4 liter jug as far as I can fill it. I let that sit for a week, then cold crash and bottle. I end up with about 12 12oz bottles and the beer is very clear.

Here's a Citra Hop Bomb (from recipe section) I just did and it's almost ready to rack from the 1 gallon jugs to the 4 liter jug. The trub layer was almost half of the volume when I first tranfered them. There're different colors because of the background, they really are the same beer.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that this one gets dry hopped with 6 grams of Citra in secondary so I'll rack on top of that then cold crash. Mmmmm...Citra.

Here's the 4 liter jug.

Cheers...

 

[tjs3]

Here's what I like to do with small batch BIAB. I scale my recipe to end up with about 1.5 galllons of final wort. Then I tranfer that into two 1 gallon jugs (about 3/4 full) and pitch the same amout of yeast in each one. When fermentation is complete, I wait about a week and then rack both to a 4 liter jug as far as I can fill it. I let that sit for a week, then cold crash and bottle. I end up with about 12 12oz bottles and the beer is very clear.

Here's a Citra Hop Bomb (from recipe section) I just did and it's almost ready to rack from the 1 gallon jugs to the 4 liter jug. The trub layer was almost half of the volume when I first tranfered them. There're different colors because of the background, they really are the same beer.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that this one gets dry hopped with 6 grams of Citra in secondary so I'll rack on top of that then cold crash. Mmmmm...Citra.

Here's the 4 liter jug.

Cheers...

Interesting...This sounds like a pretty good process. Do you rack to the 4 gallon to get a clearer beer?

I might have to try this method out!

edit: is this the recipe you used? https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/all-grain-hop-bomb-ipa-375281/

 

[tjs3]

A few observations after 6 days of fermentation.

1. On day 3 I noticed that there was a considerable amount of yeast stuck to the neck of the fermentor. Hopefully this isnt an issue, although I will say it seems fermentation has slowed..havent taken a gravity reading yet.

2. Ambient temp has been around 61. I'm hoping that should put the wort temp aorund 65-66 which seems like a good temp.

3. Waiting stinks... so it's time to go brew some more...

 

[RM-MN]

A few observations after 6 days of fermentation.

1. On day 3 I noticed that there was a considerable amount of yeast stuck to the neck of the fermentor. Hopefully this isnt an issue, although I will say it seems fermentation has slowed..havent taken a gravity reading yet.

2. Ambient temp has been around 61. I'm hoping that should put the wort temp aorund 65-66 which seems like a good temp.

3. Waiting stinks... so it's time to go brew some more...

What is stuck to the neck of the fermenter is dried krausen. Not a problem. Your fermentation should have slowed by now as the yeast consume the malt sugars rather quickly and then slow to digest the byproducts. It will take some time for that and for the dormant yeast to settle out.

My experience is that if the ambient temperature is that low, the yeast don't get as active and don't generate as much heat. I'd be surprised if your beer is more than about 63 degrees. That should be fine for now but in a couple days you'll want to warm it up a bit to help the yeast clean up.

You won't need to take a gravity reading for another 10 days at least. Watch for the beer to change to a darker color indicating that the yeast have settled out.

Waiting does stink and I like to get another beer going so I have something to take my mind off the one that has slowed. I have 2 in fermenters now and hope to do another tomorrow.

 

[tjs3]

What is stuck to the neck of the fermenter is dried krausen. Not a problem. Your fermentation should have slowed by now as the yeast consume the malt sugars rather quickly and then slow to digest the byproducts. It will take some time for that and for the dormant yeast to settle out.

My experience is that if the ambient temperature is that low, the yeast don't get as active and don't generate as much heat. I'd be surprised if your beer is more than about 63 degrees. That should be fine for now but in a couple days you'll want to warm it up a bit to help the yeast clean up.

You won't need to take a gravity reading for another 10 days at least. Watch for the beer to change to a darker color indicating that the yeast have settled out.

Waiting does stink and I like to get another beer going so I have something to take my mind off the one that has slowed. I have 2 in fermenters now and hope to do another tomorrow.

Moved the fermentor to a room where the ambient temp is around 66. Will leave it there until it looks like its done.

To ease my impatience I took an extract kit and some 2-row I had sitting around and did a partial mash....and now we wait some more!