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There's a pretty limited range of commercially available BIAB bags over here in the UK, so mine has a fine mesh on the sides with a coarser grade on the bottom to aid with drainage. I don't have the facility to mill my own grain so I buy it crushed from the HBS so it's not too fine. The culprit...

It's BIAB, so it's all the same vessel. I'll see how bad it is after the mash tomorrow and if it looks worth it I'll try doing it like that. I figured hot side aeration would be difficult to do anyway, but as this beer is going to need to condition for a while, I didn't want to introduce...

Well in addition to the coagulated proteins formed during the hot and cold break, there is a significant amount of particulate matter left over from the mashing phase. I guess if I was using a mashtun this would naturally get filtered out during sparging but as it's BIAB it's all in the same...

I'm brewing a Belgian Tripel tomorrow but always end up with a lot of break material at the end of the boil. I know its not going to harm the beer, but I want to try and filter some of this out at the end of the mash to try and limit losses before everything gets transferred to the FV. If I...

Yeah I'm sure it's not infected, I just wasn't sure if it was worth removing any dead yeast from the starter before adding it to the brew. I've heard conflicting stuff about dead yeast, such that it acts as a source of nutrients for growing yeast, but that you shouldn't leave beer on a yeast...

Hi all, I brewed a Belgian Dubbel for xmas and was planning to do a tripel at the same time as I could use Wyeast 3787 for both of them. I made a starter and then split it and then stepped them both up ready for use aiming for around 500billion cells a-piece. However, the dubbel was a pretty...

Thanks for the advice. What's the ideal cold crash temperature for a beer like this? I have a temperature controller, but if fridge temperatures are ok then I'll leave out the extra complication. I can rack to secondary tomorrow and whack the whole thing in the fridge for a couple of weeks...

Hi all, I've never been too concerened with beer clarity, but as a recent convert to BIAB I've been surprised by the amount of crap that gets from the kettle to the fermenter and to the glass. I used Irish Moss for the first time in a batch for xmas, but still ended up taking a lot of sludge...

Yeah I've never tried GLCA being from the UK, so I was just using it as a frame of reference for a spiced christmassy ale. As I had a big Belgian starter made up, I figured I'd go down that route. The caramel amber ale sounds great, that's the kind of character that I want in this batch, so...

Sounds good to me, just hope it'll all be ready in time! James

I couldn't decide whether to add the candi sugar to the boil or the fermenter as both are common. In the end, I split the difference and made a 500g batch for the boil and will probably make another 500g in a day or two. I made it according to the details of that thread, but I'm a scientist so I...

Also, does anyone know if there are more unfermentables in caramel or candi syrup? I don't want this brew finishing too dry, so am tempted to make a caramel for the addition to the fermenter. Have I got that the right way round? James

Cheers for the help gang, I put this into primary last night and it took off immediately and smelt pretty good at this stage. I made 500g of a dark amber candi sugar and added it near the end of the boil and I'll add another 500g to the fermenter in a couple of days. Is it better to add the...

My reasoning was that a lighter coloured beer may be ready to drink sooner, but if that's nonsense, then I'm all for a darker beer. I fell in love with Belgian beer after driving to Spa-Francorchamps for the Formula 1, and love the darker styles. I'd read about the Belgian Strong Darks, but all...

Hi all, I'm fairly new to all-grain, but I wan't to brew a spiced ale to give away at xmas. I like the sound of a Great Lakes christmas ale clone I read about on here, but have a big starter of Wyeast 3787 ready for a Tripel I'm brewing this week and thought I'd give it a Belgian twist. I...

Hi all, I'm brewing a batch of Christmas ale next week, but I'm not sure which yeast to go with. It'll be based on the Great Lakes Christmas Ale clone recipe, which has an OG of around 1.08 and includes some spice in the form of cinnamon and ginger. I made a starter of 3787 for a Belgian...