BIAB newb...strike one?

[storytyme]

Here is the summary:

12.75 lb grain
7.5 gal turkey fryer
3 gal batch
4.8 gal water for mash

Temps weren't as steady as I would of liked (150-155). Used blanket to wrap kettle. My thermo probe was in the middle of the mash in the bag, but towards the end I moved it to in between the bag and kettle and the temp rose to 162 (not even sure if I had the correct temp for the whole mash. I did this at 55 min so I just kept it there for 10 min and did my mash out.

First time doing the BIAB. Gravity reading before boil was about 1.078. Is that good? Not even sure how to find the efficiency?

Anyways the beer is fermenting and I guess the worse case scenario is I will end up with beer.......hopefully great beer.

Thoughts much appreciated

 

[Ogri]

I reckon you'll probably find everything worked out fine

Pre-boil gravity of 1.078 is certainly going to turn into quite a big beer. Post boil OG of about 1.094?? What type of beer were you aiming for? What was your recipe, target gravities and how close/much over did you end up?

How thoroughly did you squeeze the grain bag at the end and did you dunk sparge a few times?? Seems like quite a large grain bill you used and I'm betting you could get higher efficiency out of that amount of grain, somehow.


Managed to end up with minimal grain absorption and somewhere around 85%(I think?) efficiency on my most recent, 2nd attempt at BIAB. First time to use my new corona mill to crack the grains. Stirred everything around repeatedly and quite energetically during the mash, then tried getting every last possible drop squeezed out of the grain bag, after dunk sparging/squeezing three times. Funnily enough ended up with 1.078 too, except that was my Post Boil OG. Pre-boil was 1.058. It was a 2.6ish gallon batch into the fermenter, started with 3 and a 1/2 gallons to mash, probably close to 3 and a 1/4 gallons pre-boil volume. Grain bill was around 6 and a 1/2lbs, including a lb of Lyle's golden syrup.

Previous batch, my first attempt at BIAB and AG, has been tasting really good so I have high hopes for this latest one.:fro:

 

[storytyme]

Update: after 3 days fermentation stopped. Gravity reading on fourth day is 1.024. Recipe says FG should be 1.023. I'm planning on letting it sit for another couple weeks, but this is a bit new to me. Normal? First "all grain" BIAB batch.....thoughts??

 

[Ogri]

If the recipe estimates an FG of 1.023 and you're at 1.024 after four days I'd say you nailed it. It might even drop a few more gravity points. A couple of weeks to let, the yeast do some clean up, the batch mature a little and allow some of the particulate to settle out is always a good thing.

Nothing to do but wait, bottle, wait some more and then drink it. Then you'll know.:fro:

Looks like it could be round about a 7% to 7.2% brew

 

[randmc]

I reckon you'll probably find everything worked out fine

Pre-boil gravity of 1.078 is certainly going to turn into quite a big beer. Post boil OG of about 1.094?? What type of beer were you aiming for? What was your recipe, target gravities and how close/much over did you end up?

How thoroughly did you squeeze the grain bag at the end and did you dunk sparge a few times?? Seems like quite a large grain bill you used and I'm betting you could get higher efficiency out of that amount of grain, somehow.:

Are you supposed to squeeze the bag? I thought that was a no no

 

[mb82]

Are you supposed to squeeze the bag? I thought that was a no no

It is a myth that has been debunked. I do it all the time with my BIAB brewing.

 

[randmc]

It is a myth that has been debunked. I do it all the time with my BIAB brewing.

Well that is good to know. Was there some definitive test that proved this or is it just general consensus?

 

[RM-MN]

Well that is good to know. Was there some definitive test that proved this or is it just general consensus?

Usually when this is brought up it is with reference to extracting tannins but that has nothing to do with squeezing as it requires a high pH and high temperatures.