BIAB SmaSh

[rcreamer0713]

So my first brew in a bag after 4 years of extract and specialty graining brewing will be a smash recipe.

5 gallons

11lbs of 2 row.
1oz kent goldings 60m
1oz kent 15
1oz kent 5m
Whirloc tab 5m

Mash in 155 for 60m.


Just wanna run this past the more experienced biab guys before i wreck this brew. I chose a smash recipe because i gt ti test out kent goldings in beer. And keep complications down for my first allgrain beer.

 

[wilserbrewer]

What yeast? I'm no recipe guru by any means, but perhaps a pale malt or even better a marris otter malt, if you have the 2 row well then go for it by all means.

 

[rcreamer0713]

White labs 001 california ale.

 

[NSMikeD]

Your pot will need to hold about 9.5 gallons of mash volume

You may want to kick up the bittering - compared to a pale ale in beersmith, I'm coming up with 28 IBUS, that's below the 30 - 50 range for a pale ale. I presume you would prefer the beer feature the hops but no be over powering. That's why I compared it to a pale ale style

Strike temp looks right, 154.2 in beersmith for a target mash temp of 147.9

If you don't mind it, the color will look more like a light lager.

 

[rcreamer0713]

I expected the light lagger color. I have only 3 oz so maybe ill boost 60m to 1.5 oz for 60m 1oz at 15. .5 oz at 5.

 

[rcreamer0713]

Why 9.5 gallons? Couldnt i make it bout 7. If i sparge with 2.5 3 gallons?

I have a turkey frier hold 7.5gallons water. Was hoping to use this.

 

[McKnuckle]

I couldn't grasp the 9.5 estimate either. You'll need enough room for your mash water plus 0.88 gallons for the displacement of the grain (0.08 x lbs).

Assuming the grain absorbs 0.1 gal/lb* and you boil off 1 gallon, that's 2.1 additional gallons above your target batch size of 5 gallons, or 7.1 gallons total. Increase that to 7.35 gallons to cover a quart of fermenter loss if you like (for kegging) or not (for bottling).

*less if you squeeze

 

[NSMikeD]

Why 9.5 gallons? Couldnt i make it bout 7. If i sparge with 2.5 3 gallons?

I have a turkey frier hold 7.5gallons water. Was hoping to use this.

mash volume = water volume + mash displacement.


I ran it through beersmith but not biabacus targeting a 5 gal net batch using the default BIAB settings for a full volume mash with a 60 minute boil (grain absorption, evaporation rate, boil kettle loss, fermentor loss etc).


Use software/calculators and run the calculations yourself and use numbers specific to your equipment. There are a number of free online calculators in addition to the for purchase software. If you find that the full water volume exceeds or is too close to the limits of your brew kettle, by all means there are a number of ways to fix that - using sparge water, topping off the boil kettle, adding water to the fermentor, not upping the water to account for kettle and fermentor loss (just end up with slightly less than 5 gals bottled/keg) etc.


I use a 5 gal pot for 2.5 gallon batches. I target for 2.5 gallons in the keg, so I am really brewing more like 2.75 - 3.0 gallons. No problem for session or lighter beers, but when I start getting close to 1.050 OG and bigger beers, i need to hold back water and not do full volume mashes.

 

[NSMikeD]

I couldn't grasp the 9.5 estimate either. You'll need enough room for your mash water plus 0.88 gallons for the displacement of the grain (0.08 x lbs).

Assuming the grain absorbs 0.1 gal/lb* and you boil off 1 gallon, that's 2.1 additional gallons above your target batch size of 5 gallons, or 7.1 gallons total. Increase that to 7.35 gallons to cover a quart of fermenter loss if you like (for kegging) or not (for bottling).

*less if you squeeze

^good points

I just checked the beer smith default numbers of the BIAB pot big enough for a 5 gal brew - these are high:

1.01 gallon for trub and chiller loss
.45 gallons for fermentor loss
1.42 gallons for evaporation

I don't know what they use for grain absorption, but I concur that squeezing the bag will throw their numbers off.


Nevertheless, IMO, a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer will be tight for an 11lb grain bill. I think I was coming up with an OG of 1.050 which would put the abv on the high side even for a basic pale ale

for a SMaSH beer using no specialty malts 8 - 10lbs of malt will yield a very nice beer. The OP may wish to consider this to provide some leeway and keep this simple so that he can determine his own averages.

Once the OP has a few full volume brews under his belt and has an idea of his efficiencies and boil rates, he can more easily start to do bigger beers and add steps (like holding back sparge water etc ) when a full volume mash exceeds the turkey fryer volume.

 

[Shawn3997]

Also note that if you are assuming your hops are 5.5% or so and you end up with, say 4.5% hops from the LHBS, that you'll need to account for that difference if you want to stay true to the recipe. I always forget to do this until brew day.

 

[rcreamer0713]

Ok so. Im going to do 7.5 gallon mash. Ill heat up am extra 2.5 gallons of sparge water in case.

I dod 11 gallons just cause im unsure my efficiencies atm. The extra lb is just basically my own comfort.

This is a trial run for my gear. Hence i stuck to a simple smash recipe figure worst that happens is i gt a drinkable beer. And learn from it

Also thanks for all the input. Put my mind at ease. Ill keep an update let ya know how it went.

 

[McKnuckle]

Just remember, the 7.5 gallons is an estimate of the total water for a full volume mash. If you sparge as well, you will produce more beer at a lower gravity. It's your call - just make sure you understand the ramifications of the choice.

 

[rcreamer0713]

I understand. Im going to mash. Drain the grains. And if im short my usual 6.5ish gallons i boil with ill sparge to top off.

 

[RM-MN]

Ok so. Im going to do 7.5 gallon mash. Ill heat up am extra 2.5 gallons of sparge water in case.

I dod 11 gallons just cause im unsure my efficiencies atm. The extra lb is just basically my own comfort.

This is a trial run for my gear. Hence i stuck to a simple smash recipe figure worst that happens is i gt a drinkable beer. And learn from it

Also thanks for all the input. Put my mind at ease. Ill keep an update let ya know how it went.

If you don't want the bother of heating the sparge water that you may or may not use, cold water gets you nearly the same amount of sugars extracted from the grains. It also cools the mass of grain making squeezing a little easier on the hands.

I usually plan to sparge to volume so I don't have to calculate the exact amount of water for the full volume mash and so I can leave a little room above the mash in the pot.

 

[NSMikeD]

main thing is to keep notes, note your volumes and gravities. Consistency, IMO, is a better goal than efficiency,

enjoy and let us know how it came out