Diving into BIAB

[FatCat11cz]

About to dive in !! NB has a sale on a kettle I have been wanting for a while now, and it is the perfect opportunity to get my BIAB set-up rolling.

15gal MegaPot with thermo and ball-valve, titan false bottom, edelmetal burner with extensions. I already have a silver serpent wort chiller. Want to add SS spoon, hop spider, and some other goodies next payday. Am I on the right track ? It's going down tonight, if I can just manage to pull the trigger !

 

[Biscuits]

Do iiiittttt!

 

[ol-hazza]

That sound flash as, and if it's on sale you are actively saving money!!

 

[FatCat11cz]

Do iiiittttt!

calm down shia lebouf

 

[tmendick]

I prefer a long whisk over a spoon.

 

[FatCat11cz]

going with maple paddle

 

[FatCat11cz]

Well just got back from my buddy's house next door. I was over there doing a FG test on a american wheat ale I helped him brew as his first batch. I told him I was thinking about a new brew system, and how I might not get it it, because I only have two kegs, and nowhere to put 5-10gal batches as i don't have a way to store it because I hate bottling. He asked me how much kegs cost, and I told him. he gave me a hundred bucks on the spot. Told me he probably drank twice that of my homebrew the last six months.

Now my mind is made up. Ordering tonight !!

 

[Cider123]

That's one nice looking kettle. Congrats.

 

[Iseneye]

Well just got back from my buddy's house next door. I was over there doing a FG test on a american wheat ale I helped him brew as his first batch. I told him I was thinking about a new brew system, and how I might not get it it, because I only have two kegs, and nowhere to put 5-10gal batches as i don't have a way to store it because I hate bottling. He asked me how much kegs cost, and I told him. he gave me a hundred bucks on the spot. Told me he probably drank twice that of my homebrew the last six months.

Now my mind is made up. Ordering tonight !!

Having read previous threads about bludging mates it's good to read a positive story He sounds like a good mate.

 

[FatCat11cz]

he is for sure. Right now I am smoking some sausage and he invited a bunch of people to help me kick a keg of apple/blueberry cider to make room for the Am Wheat Ale. Hehe. good times !

 

[1MadScientist]

I would go with the 20gal undrilled and no false bottom.

 

[Biscuits]

I would go with the 20gal undrilled and no false bottom.

Why undrilled?

 

[FatCat11cz]

I went all out on this set-up because I someday might want to do a 3-kettle set-up. single tier or gravity, I dunno, but this allows for more possibilities. Besides, it should reduce my hop residue and grain left when transfering to the fermentor. the result being a cleaner/clearer brew from the start. If I were all about saving money, i would remain extract brewing on my stove in a 4gal kettle, and keep caramelizing my blonde belgians. I love gadgets and toys and shiny stuff. Plus the wife said yes.

but then again, she veto'd the blingman kettle.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I prefer a hand held digital thermometer for BIAB. Allows checking temp at various locations in the mash, accurate and quick reading, and as a bonus, will not snag the bag like a kettle mount thermo...jmo.

 

[FatCat11cz]

Oh boy. Felt like such a long wait.

 

[FatCat11cz]

Tomorrow will test gas line connections and calculate boil off rate.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

And the Beer Gods are smiling upon you.

 

[FatCat11cz]

So after putting everything together yesterday and testing the gas connections to make sure I was safe, and knew how the burner operated; I decided to do some testing.

The goal is to come up with some timings and volume measurements to enter into Beersmith.

First I measured the temp of my starting water from the hose in the backyard. then I timed how long to get to a mash-in temp of 162* then I timed how long to get to the mash out temp of 170* from the mash temp of 152* . Then I timed how long to get from 170* to boiling ( both with lid on and lid off ) I am now boiling ten gallons of water to measure the boil-off rate.

I will post my findings later tonight when I have the boil-off numbers.

Of course I know these may change when grains are used in stead of just plain water, but I figure this will give me a baseline to make rough estimates of time/resources used.

If there is something that I missed in my initial testing please let me know.

I will also be posting a review of the Edelmetall Burner soon as well. I will probably do the same for the MP 1.2 and titan false bottom after the first brew.

 

[wilserbrewer]

All this testing testing....your not diving in, more like dipping a toe and testing the water

Just kidding, I admire your attention to detail, after a real brew session I think your gonna realize it's not that difficult. Your doin well!!!!
Cheers

 

[FatCat11cz]

i love testing and figuring out how things work and why. I keeps me from having to ask the same questions that others keep asking. I was a tv salesman a long time ago. I ordered a nametag for work that had the letters RTFM on it. some customers who knew what it ment got a kick out of seeing it.

Anyway I might try a Cream Ale 10 Gallon batch on sunday if I can figure out Beersmith.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

As an alternative, check out my biab calculator to determine your mash water requirements (volumes, temps, etc).

Also make sure you compare pre boil volume and post boil volume at the same temp, or let me know what they were and I can do the thermal expansion calculation for you to see what you actually boiled off.

Getting a RTFM name tag would've been great.

 

[FatCat11cz]

Starting water-10gal

Starting Water Temp-75*

1st Target Temp-162* (mash in)
Time to 1st Target Temp-23 mins

2nd Target Temp-170* (mash out) after mash temp of 152* reached
Time to 2nd Target Temp-7 mins

3rd Target Temp-212* (boiling)
Time to Target Temp-20 mins (lid off) / 15 mins (lid on)

Pre-boil Volume-9.75 gal (maybe a little more)

Boil for 1hr w/ lid off

Post-boil Volume- 8.75 (maybe a little more)

Calculated Boil-off 1 gal/hr = 10% / hr

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Boil off isn't a percentage, it's pretty much a flat rate. If you started out around 6 gallons and boiled for an hour you'd even up around the same rate pending similar heat output, the same pot, and similar humidity.


I measure volumes using a stainless ruler to determine the height of water then calculate the volume based on the diameter of the pot.

 

[OlDirtyJohn]

Nice setup! I'm looking at picking up almost the same things. Same burner and MP 1.2 20gal. Let us know how it goes.

 

[FatCat11cz]

Brewing an 8 gal batch of NB Caribou Slobber. Went to my lhbs for grains and hops. Price was only 2 dollars more than what Beersmith calculated. They double crushed my 2 grains for free. I will post numbers later, but I think it's going well. Following Beersmith to a tee resulted in 1.051 pre boil, and pre boil volume hit the mark. Pre boil gravity was supposed to be only 1.046 . I squeezed my bag for all it was worth. I hope this doesn't affect beer to much. I entered 72% efficiency in Beersmith.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Sounds good. How did you measure your volume btw? Eyeballing is guess work so I use a stainless ruler.

Sounds like you need to adjust the effeciency slightly, maybe 75%, but I would probably leave it alone will you do a couple more just to confirm that it's consistent.

 

[FatCat11cz]

I've got gallon marks on the kettle. Verified accuracy by using a know gallon container and water. Ended up 7.75 volume post boil and 1.062 . Added .75 gallons boiled and cooled water to bring og to 1.056 chilling now. Going to put 4 gallons in two fermenter with wipe British ale. One vial each.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Good work, I would suggest saving a few jars of yeast slurry, so you needn't spend $15 bucks for yeast on your next batch.

 

[FatCat11cz]

I have a stir plate, and even bought some light dme with the thought of making a starter, but it was kinda last minute decision to brew today due to possible rain. so instead, I used two vials as it wasn't due to rain till this afternoon.


Just finished the batch, ended up with 7.5gal into the fermenter . .5gal less than calculated.

gonna due some math now, and I will be back later with the numbers, after I finish this beer or two.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Boil off isn't a percentage, it's pretty much a flat rate. If you started out around 6 gallons and boiled for an hour you'd even up around the same rate pending similar heat output, the same pot, and similar humidity.


I measure volumes using a stainless ruler to determine the height of water then calculate the volume based on the diameter of the pot.

Agree. Assuming identical boil vigor, boiloff only varies due to change in surface area (diameter of the pot) I know a few of the online calculators that mistakenly use percentage. My pot boils off 1 gallon per hour, whether i'm doing 5 or 10 gallon batches.