BIAB Notes

[sweetcell]

Man this site is the bomb, alot of the recipes here are cool, like this on https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/orange-american-wheat-191944/

However this is 5 gal if my batch size is 2 gal and my boil size is 3, would I cut all the main ingredients by half?

cut not by half (50%), but by 60% - you need to look at the final volumes. your projected final is 2 gallons, which is 40% of 5 gallons. so you'd need 40% of the ingredients (same thing as saying a 60% reduction).

for example, if the recipe called for 10 lbs of DME, you would use 4 lbs. if you needed 5 ounces of sugar, you would use 2 oz. if the recipe calls for 2 oz of hops, you would use 0.8 oz.

if you boil 3 gallons, i don't think you'll get down to 2... at least not in 60 minutes. i'm thinking you might lost half a gallon. can someone with more experience comment on this?

 

[DewGun316]

Well now Im a little confused, if I use 3 gal to handle the grain shouldn't I lose some volume in the end of that phase, after I pull the bag out and squeeze what I can out? Then boil the wort add the hops and whatever else. I feel like im stupid or something. Should I just make it easier on myself and do 5 gal batches and save/give away amounts I dont need.

I figured if I use a 5 gal pot, grains the recipe calls for (or like what was mentioned cut the ingredients by 60%) I should be able to use what, 3 to 4 gal to soak the grain remove grain and maybe I lose 1 to 1 and a half gal to the process.

Im trying to figure this out and simplify it so I can accurately process the information into a easy to understand format for my notes. I read the hell out of wiki but I feel like im still out of the loop. I really dont want to keep pushing the issue I just want to brew some good beer and enjoy what you guys get to enjoy even if I cant drink alot. I know what a sparge is, I know what some of the other terms are and I read alot of the all grain stickies and some of the other things. I just want to be absolutely sure I get the right about of water and fermentables correct so I dont totally mess up a brew day and waste good ingredients. if its off a little but still taste decent I'm fine with that ya know?

 

[djfriesen]

I just want to be absolutely sure I get the right about of water and fermentables correct so I dont totally mess up a brew day and waste good ingredients. if its off a little but still taste decent I'm fine with that ya know?

The bolded portion is a great goal. However, overthinking it will be counter productive. A lot of this process is trial-and-error. If you are going to start with AG, I would cut a normal 5 or 5.5 gallon recipe exactly in half, brew it, and take good notes. With the exception of a lapse in sanitation or temperature controls on fermentation, you will end up with good beer.

The better notes you take on your recipe, your preparation, water volumes, brewday processes, etc., the better feedback and advice we can give you. Unfortunately, every brewer and every setup is slightly different, so no matter what we tell you, it won't work out exactly that way on your first try.

Some general concepts to think about:
1) Mash thickness for BIAB doesn't really matter here. Mash with all your water, plus approximately .3 qts/lb of grain, that you will lose to absorption. This number may not be exact, but it's what I typically get, and if you take good notes, you can fine-tune it for your setup for next time.

2) Your boiloff rate will be a function of your equipment and atmospheric conditions in your location (relative humidity, temperature, etc.). When I was doing small batch stovetop AG brewing, I would lose about a qt every hour of boil, maybe a little more. But I was using a much smaller pot for a 1 gallon batch. If I were you, I'd start with something simple, like 3 gallons for a preboil volume, brew with it, and see where you are volume-wise afterwards. This will tell you your boiloff rate, and you can tune this next time, as well.

3) Beer is resilient. I don't want to give you a false sense of security, but it is harder to mess up than you might think. The difficulty comes with the desire for repeatability. The only way to manage that is to take good notes, so you can alter variables, one at a time, to perfect your process. For your first few batches, don't worry too much about getting everything exactly right, but make sure you note everything for future reference.

4) If you're still a little hazy on what the process is going to look like, check out some videos on Youtube. Here is a pretty good one from the guys at Northern Brewer.



Hope this helps! Just keep in mind that his process (volumes, grain amounts, etc.) will be slightly different than yours.

 

[DewGun316]

I'm going to get beer smith, this video was awsome. 8 gal pot, 5 gal strike water full volume.

Can I use full vol on every batch? Or do some recipes absolutely need infusion? Then for grain combo just chop it in half and go from there correct?

 

[FrankieTwoTimes]

One thing I noticed in the file you posted was the hops weren't cut in half.
I agree with DJ, cut it in half adjust for a bit of loss of water in the grain and boil and rock-it-out. If you end up with a little extra that can be good for the losses that happen with transfers and bottling...and free beer makes for good friends.
I like round numbers because they help make measurement errors less likely.

 

[djfriesen]

I'm going to get beer smith, this video was awsome. 8 gal pot, 5 gal strike water full volume.

Can I use full vol on every batch? Or do some recipes absolutely need infusion? Then for grain combo just chop it in half and go from there correct?

If you're sticking to smaller batches, you should be able to do full volume every time. You'll be limited on "strength" of beer by the fact that you only have a certain size pot to get water and grains into. For example, you won't be able to mash a 15 lb grainbill in that pot because it, combined with the mash water, will take up too much space. But for any fairly standard recipes, you're equipment will be fine for full volume mashing.

Just keep it relatively simple to start with, and get more advanced as you go. If you lay a good foundation with your understanding of the process, your system, and good sanitation, you can build on it later to be able to do more complex, creative, and exciting beers.

On that recipe: If you do use the pH stabilizer, make sure to use it in the mash, not the boil. It won't do anything for you there. And, if I may be so bold, I would suggest finding something a little less complex for your first go. Or perhaps leave out some of the extraneous steps: 5.2, whirlfloc (which is only a clarifier and won't have any impact on the taste. Besides, it's a wheat beer, so it can be a little cloudy), and the yeast nutrient. I wouldn't think the nutrient is necessary as you'll be using a whole 11.5 g packet of S-05 on what is basically a half batch. You would even be able to get away with pitching half the yeast, sealing the rest of it up, and saving it for the next brew day, as long as you didn't wait too long.

You also won't need the rice hulls for BIAB. This is an addition that AG brewers make to prevent a stuck sparge, and they don't add any fermentables to the wort. It's a problem that you won't have because your bag will filter the grains when you pull it out no matter what.

 

[DewGun316]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the patience. My goal is to make it easy for myself but get good brews at the time, I was using that recipe as an example I know that's complicated lol I was confused. I really like the video that the northern brew guys did. Simple and easy to adjust. I will get a 8 g pot, mesh bag, therm, bag etc and make 3 g batches seems easy enough to implement for a ******* like me to do. Based on what you guys said just cut stuff down.

What recipes do you guys think are good for me to do?

Any good suggestions for pots? Is alum ok? Anything else you guys can give me would be great what to go for and what to stay away from

 

[DewGun316]

bump

 

[DewGun316]

with a 3 gal batch could I get away with just using between 2-4 pounds of grain with a generalized recipe? if I have to cut most recipes in half that seem to be over 8 or 9 pounds wouldnt make sense to use just that in all batches regardless?

 

[RM-MN]

With any beer you need fermentables to get the alcohol so yes, 2 to 4 pounds of pale malt or something similar would be really common. From there you add other kilned malt like caramel or chocolate or roasted to get the color and flavor you want. Most of these kilned malts will not add fermentable sugars.

 

[MeadLover]

One thing I might have missed in an earlier post on this topic and BeerSmith. You mentioned that you are planning to get BeerSmith to use. BeerSmith does a great job of scaling recipes. I've been doing a lot of 1.5 gallon all grain batches recently and using BeerSmith to come up with the recipe. If you put in the original 5 gallon recipe, then copy and paste to create a new one, then scale one of them to whatever batch size you want, it should be really close. Then you also have the original in there just in case you decide to start making 5 gallon batches in the future to share.

Also, BeerSmith does a great job of calculating the water needed at the start of the process to give you the bottled amount you want. After a few batches and measurements, it gets even better. The last batch I made I wanted 1.5 gallons into the fermenter and it told me to start with 2.75 gallons. After all told, I was just over 1.5 gallons into my bucket.

 

[DewGun316]

I downloaded the trail version to check it out, it's way cool. I tinkered with doing 2 row, mild malt combo with a bitter and aroma hop. I think I added a dark malt too. Eh it was still fun