Recent content by brew-bandit

Arclight, Beta doesn't denature till 160+ degrees. If it denatured as you say then you would have little to no fermentable sugars. Again, temp impacts which enzyme is dominant. Below 160 it can take up to an hour for beta to become completely non active. You can look it up on most brewing...

Arclight, I respectfully disagree and second Gavin's comments on evidence. Finer crush DOES not impact fermentability but TIME does. We control temperature and pH to adjust the activity of the alpha and beta. This is independent of available starch, or "raw materials." In other words I...

To the original poster. I have been doing BIAB for almost a year. I intended to transition to 3 vessel method but was new to the hobby and BIAB was an easy way to get into all grain. I see no CONs to BIAB. Though it is possible some folks with HERMS/RIMS and 3 vessel may make better beer...

I don't think this is correct based on my experience and measurements. If you increase the surface area and therefore the accessibility of starches and enzymes, it will scale linearly. So if your tight crush increases the conversion rate by 2X, it does so for both enzymes. In other words it...

You can mash longer or you can get a finer grind (single pass). My initial tests with a fine grind (mill set at .025") you can actually complete the mash in ~30min! So not only does you efficiency go up but you brew day gets shorter. Prior to grinding my own I would get the standard crush...

Yes dry hop. I think a SMASH benefits greatly from this.

OK I will measure once every 5 min. If the gravity stops changing significantly in 15-30 min that may have some interesting implications on impact of certain techniques. Anyone that does BIAB recirculation want to do the same measurements?

So here is my plan to turn this almost failure to a success. Redo the same recipe and method since I know the pre-boil gravity and the OG and will know the FG in a week or two. I will mash exactly the same (full 90 min) but take a refract reading every 15 minutes. This should help determine...

Priceless - you read my mind on testing during mash. I was thinking I would go for shorter mash times and measure while mashing. I am going to pick up a refractometer before my next batch.

Apology accepted! For BIAB crush really fine. I have my mill set to .025 and works wonders.

Could be similar Jwin. It looks very similar to one of the Bayou Classic High Pressure single burners. If you got one for $39 then kudos! This Concord model has exceeded my expectations. It is very sturdy and you can really get it cranking out the heat.

Good points Foosier. I have not been daring enough to try the 15-30 min mash but may soon. Here is an experiment on crush and BIAB that inspired me to start a more aggressive crush. http://brulosophy.com/2015/11/23/mind-the-gap-course-vs-fine-crush-exbeeriment-results/ IslandLizard - I...

Happy New Year all! I have been experimenting with milling and its impact on my beer and process. I have a Monster Mill 3 and set it up with a gap of .025in. I brewed and Irish Red yesterday with a 90 min mash at 147 degree F. Everything looked fantastic and Brewsmith predicted my OG as...

Well I used the burner yesterday and it works great. As far as the smell test there was some bad smells for about 10 minutes. The main culprit was a plastic label that I had not removed prior to use. After that was removed the smell was gone. Unfortunately my carboy broke as I was racking...

Here are some pics.