1st BIAB brew in fermenter

[mishadude]

Well after reading this site and others for a few months I took the plunge and my first AG brew is fermenting away. It's a Sam Adams clone I found online and adjusted with a BIAB program.

My brew day was Sunday and everything went right on schedule. The only thing I missed was overshooting my gravity. I didn't think to weigh my grain after I got it from a lhbs. I think the dude there might have been generous since it was my first visit. The grind from the mil was pretty fine, which I've read helps with BIAB efficiency. Oh well, won't complain about 1.060 instead of 1.056!

BIAB rocks! I'll let you know how it turns out in a few weeks.

 

[RM-MN]

Many that use a conventional mash tun think that BIAB is less efficient in extracting the sugars but really it is the other way around. I usually hit about 85% brewhouse efficiency and most recipes are expecting closer to 70 so without adjusting the amount of grains I always overshoot the OG. It took me about 3 batches to learn to adjust the grains and while the first batches tasted fine, they did make me tipsy a little sooner.

 

[Brew_G]

Awesome. My first BIAB is fermenting, too.

For my batch, I was shooting for 75% efficiency, and I thought I came in a little low (expected OG was 1.057, and I measured 1.055). However, I just "recalibrated" my hydrometer and it looks like it runs about .002-.003 low, so I hit it pretty much spot on. Great feeling!

It's such a simple process. My wife wouldn't be thrilled to have all kinds of brewing contraptions around the house, nor do I really want to spend the money for them. I just want to make a good beer every month or two, so BIAB makes AG brewing so much more accessible for people like me.

 

[mishadude]

I definitely like that BIAB uses less equipment. One thing I realized during brew day was that I could use a better thermometer. The one that came with my turkey fryer fogged up pretty bad when heating up my strike water. No worries on this first batch, but going forward I'll probably want something better. Anyone have recommendations for a good thermometer?

 

[RM-MN]

I definitely like that BIAB uses less equipment. One thing I realized during brew day was that I could use a better thermometer. The one that came with my turkey fryer fogged up pretty bad when heating up my strike water. No worries on this first batch, but going forward I'll probably want something better. Anyone have recommendations for a good thermometer?

The turkey fryer thermometers are notorious for being inaccurate. I bought a Taylor digital and it is much closer. I also bought a glass lab grade thermometer to check it against. I don't like using a glass thermometer so I only bring it out to verify that the digital is accurate at strike temp. Thermapens are reported to be the best but I prefer to spend the money on grains.:rockin:

 

[Seven]

I definitely like that BIAB uses less equipment. One thing I realized during brew day was that I could use a better thermometer. The one that came with my turkey fryer fogged up pretty bad when heating up my strike water. No worries on this first batch, but going forward I'll probably want something better. Anyone have recommendations for a good thermometer?

I've been using one of these lately and have been very happy with it. It comes from the same company that makes the more expensive Thermapens...

 

[Brew_G]

I definitely like that BIAB uses less equipment. One thing I realized during brew day was that I could use a better thermometer. The one that came with my turkey fryer fogged up pretty bad when heating up my strike water. No worries on this first batch, but going forward I'll probably want something better. Anyone have recommendations for a good thermometer?

I use a digital candy thermometer. I also have a digital Weber "pen" thermometer, but it's been acting up, so I've shelved it for now. The candy thermometer takes only a few seconds to get a good reading, and I checked the accuracy against my boiling temps - perfect.

 

[mishadude]

Looks like my thermometer let me down. My beer had been in the primary for two weeks and it's only down to 1.032. Must have overshot temps and got a lot of unfermentables. I swirled my carboy a couple times and even pitched a second pack of US05. Oh well, it's now a good tasting session brew.