BIAB results

Because we can never have too many right? Just thought I would post my results for everyone to learn from.

The recipe
7.5 lbs marris otter
1oz. Fuggles (60min)
.5oz Fuggles (20min)
.5oz Fuggles (0min)

Mash temp of 155 deg. knowing that it would drop fairly quickly in my cold garage, had to play with the temp a couple times.

This was intended to be a 4 gal. since it can sometimes take me a while to finish a full 5 gal keg by (mostly) myself and I want to brew more. I used the iBrewmaster application to work up the recipe and do some of the calculations.

est OG 1.042 at an estimated 70% efficiency

Although I had planned to account for grain absorbtion and thought i had done the math right, as I typed it all out I discovered I did not. After rinsing my grains with water and realising the volume didnt look right, I added about 1 to 1.5 gal. of water to bring the volume up and gravily down. Not sure how that will affect the beer.

my post boil OG was 1.051 instead

Overall I thought it went pretty well, and I had a lot of fun using my new toys on this brew.

 

the mash in "action".

 

I'm interested in moving from kit & kilo to BIAB. Keep us posted...

 

I have moved to BIAB myself. Having fun with it. Let us know how it tastes.

What do you have your kettle wrapped in? Is that a water heater blanket?

Thanks.

 

It is some water heater insulation I picked up at menards. It was standard fiberglass insulation on one side so I folded it over on itself and taped it with aluminum tape on the edges. If anyone plans to use that method make sure you have at least gloves. It is nasty stuff. I should have known better from my construction days but I didn't wear any and could feel it stuck in my hands three days after. shower after too, and throw the cloths directly in the wash.

 

That's a cool idea.

 

Your beer must be rubbish if your mates don't come round every other night to guzzle it....

 

Rather puzzled by this also. Most of the people I know aren't a fan of full flavored beers, or have an hour commute to my kegerator. Since I have started kegging I have noticed an increase in quality in my beer, not that it was bad before, but I think those pain in the ass bottling wands oxidize the beer.

Anyways, along with all the other variables in this batch, I added another one by trying to turn it over quickly. After the beer finished fermenting at 1.013, after a week I racked it to the keg and carbed it. Today was two weeks from brew day so I filled a taster.

The color looked great, pale yellow but hazy. Have never been able to achieve that color with extract. I hope it clears up as it sits.
Very little hop aroma with some grain mash smell, not malt aroma it seems.
The taste is hard to explain. Seems like there is a great, light feeling drinkable beer under a mask of a raw grain flavor on the finish. Almost tastes like the mash smelled.

I am thinking that I had too many tannins in the boil due to the amount of "sparging" I did, and the fact that it was a BIAB with he coarse bag from northern brewer. Any input is appreciated!

Brew on brothers

 

I have this same problem, my two best friends are beer geeks also, but I live like an hour from them too. I see you live in mn, where do you live, I'll help you finish those kegs!

 

Not really sure if the tannin flavor your noticing is due to the coarse bag, but the recomended material for BIAB is polysester voile, a very fine durable mesh that the Aussies began using for BIAB.

 

Here's your big problem, your beer wasn't done fermenting when you kegged it. Fermentation isn't over so quickly and just because you are at FG doesn't mean it is done either. You've rushed your beer and now you suffer the consequences.

 

Please post a sample so we can all taste it

 

RM-MN, I realized this could be an issue before brewing the batch, but I wanted to see how it would turn out considering all my other beers didn't get such urgent attention. Is it a conditioning issue? Curious as to how an unfinished fermentation could lead to a mashy grainy finish. This was a very experimental batch in all areas. Too experimental maybe.

Wilser, I'm sure a quick net search would answer this, but where do you get them and what is their intended purpose? Are those the paint straining bags?

Chad, I'm in the south suburbs apple valley area. Always willing to share a brew or five with a fellow brewer!

 

I need one of the BIAB polyester bags Wilserbrewer is selling. If I can't find any in Canada then I will order a couple. The bag makes a big difference (no homo) from what I have read so far.

 

My girlfriend bought a yard of the voile material at JoAnn Fabrics (in Woodbury, actually) and used nylon thread to sew a bag for me. The material was $5 and it has worked great.

 

For the grain absorption, try the Calculator here.

If your sparge was under 175 and your pH was OK, the tannins should have been OK.

 

During the first 2 or 3 days the yeast are eating sugars and excreting CO2 and alcohol but those aren't the only things they put out. One that I hear about is acetaldehyde, one of the precursors to ethanol that takes the yeast a bit longer to break down. I'm sure there are a bunch more compounds that are flavorful (not necessarily in a good way) that the yeast also produce and given time they will break them down too. Not fully understood but it seems like that big cake of yeast on the bottom of the fermenter has something to do with it too. Lots of reading to do to find it all out, maybe a lot more research too.

 

True, but if my bag wasn't fine enough the grain husks and small matter will slip past into the boil. I didn't check the ph, just used the 5.2 buffer and crossed my fingers

RM, I don't think I reported my fermentation issues but you called it. The day after I pitched it the yeast had exploded and the fermometer read 74. The yeast cake was the biggest I have seen and I took a picture.

 

ThatOneGuy,

Just my opinion, but this beer is only two weeks old and I would guess it needs at least another week or two of aging until you attempt to evaluate faults. It is likely your beer is fine, but just a bit green. As they say, RDWHAHB, let the beer clear for another week or three and report back. I'm guessing you will be pleasantly surprised. Thanks and nice write up on the process!

 

I ordered from here http://custombiab.blogspot.com/ and turnaround was super quick. Bag is awesome. Just give her the dimensions of your vessel and she'll sew it to fit snug.

 

I agree completely. My intent was to give an update and get my experience and thoughts down in text but I tend to over think things. I'll let you guys know how it goes in a couple weeks!

 

In regards to the OP's insulation, your mash will hold a more constant temp if you also insulate the the top. You really want to make a sort of tea cozy or an over sized Toque.

 

It's hard to see in the pic because of the bag, but I cut a disk shaped piece for the top and even cut a slit for the handle. However I might redo it since the seams of the lid are fairly open. Maybe I will make it wrap around some. I saved the extra insulation.