Figuring out the procedure for my first all-grain brew. (BIAB)

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Yeast Farmer

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I'm trying to figure out the game plan for my first all-grain brew. It will be the first beer I've made since doing extract kits in 2013. I'm just waiting for some ingredients and paraphernalia to come in the mail. This is the recipe and procedure, as I've pieced it together so far. Let me know if I am on the right track. The water volumes are what I'm mostly concerned about.

The recipe is a basic cream ale, 5 gallon batch. Nothing fancy at all, just a starting point to see what I want to change in the future.
-8 pounds Viking pale ale malt
-2 pounds flaked corn
-.75 oz Helga hops, 60 mins
-.75 oz Helga hops, flameout (I chose Helga solely because I got a pound of it for $5.99, it's an Australian Hallertau descendant.)
-Nottingham ale yeast (Because I already have some, and it's almost lager-like, which should work well for a somewhat hybrid ale/lager style.)

This is the mash procedure as I've worked it out from reading and looking at some calculators. I have an 8.5 gallon kettle.
-3.5 gallons of strike water at 160 degrees, mash at about 153 degrees for 1 hour
-pull out and drain the grain bag, batch sparge in a bucket with another 3.5 gallons of water at 170 degrees for mash-out.

Theoretically, this gives me 6.5 gallons of pre-boil wort, and 5 gallons in the fermenter, according to BIAB Calculator.

I based my water volumes on BIAB Calculator recommending 6.95 gallons (I'll call it 7) of water, but apparently assuming no sparge. I'd like to try the batch sparge in a bucket, since it seems like an easy way to be a little more efficient. So I split the water in half, between the mash and sparge. That works out to 1.4 quarts of water per pound of grain for the mash.

Does that look about right?
 
You're on the right track. Just a few notes...

Volume lost to grain absorption will vary depending on a variety of factors. Whether you squeeze, grind size, etc, etc. I think the common default of .12gal/lb is too much. I let gravity do all of the work and see .085gal/lb.

Best efficiency will be found with both 1st and 2nd runnings being equal. Or in other words, putting all of your grain absorption into your strike volume. But there's very little difference between 50:50 and 60:40 or 40:60.

Room temp sparge is ok.

Here's a recent brew day of mine, very much the process you describe. Note the pulley.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/1914-courage-imperial-stout-which-one.693027/post-9121360
 
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If you're really interested in dialing in your volumes, there's no other way than to brew and take lots of accurate notes.

I use a stainless metric (it's just easier) ruler and measure my various volumes to the nearest millimeter. Plugged into the formula for the volume of a cylinder, it gives me the volume to the nearest ~1.25oz (.01G) in my 12" diameter pot.
 
I would err on the side of using a little less water until you have your numbers dialed in. It's a lot easier to top up your batch a little if it's low at the end of the boil than it is to have to boil off more wort or live with a lower gravity. I'd shoot to have more like 6 or 6.2 gallons going into the boil kettle, rather than 6.5. Then keep good notes on what your pre- and post-boil volumes are.

In terms of the mash/sparge split, that might not be enough water for your mash. I don't sparge, I do full volume mashes, so it's a bit different. But I use 3.5 gallons in my mash for a 2.5 gallon batch. So consider putting more water in your mash and less in the sparge.

If you want to do the sparge just to try it, go for it. That's part of the fun of homebrewing. But just for your reference, I routinely get mash efficiencies in the high 70s, even low 80s, doing a full volume mash without a sparge. After the mash, I let the bag sit in a colander and drain for a while, then press the water out of the grain and add that wort back into the kettle. It works very well for me!
 
Figuring a 6.5 preboil target, 50:50 runnings, .09gal/lb absorption.

4.15 strike, ~.9 lost to grain for 3.25 1st runnings

3.25 sparge for 3.25 2nd runnings

One good batch sparge will gain ~8% mash efficiency over full-volume. A good batch sparge requires the grain bed to be well drained and the sparge water to be fully incorporated, well mixed, before draining.

My typical 1.043 beer gets 90% mash efficiency. But I don't sparge for the efficiency, I do it for the increased output volume capacity: 3.75 into the fermenter out of a 5G pot.

On the right track. Brew and see. Brew again with educated adjustments. Repeat.

Edited to correct units.
 
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+1 on the no sparging, and I also regularly get efficiencies in the 75-80% range.

Additionally, maybe this is just me & my process but I typically see a greater temperature drop when mashing in than what you have. I've pretty consistently dropped 12 degrees between my strike temp & mash temp for awhile now i.e. if my mash target is 153, then I'm heating my strike water to 165.

Also just another random thought to consider, but if you're using an 8.5 gal kettle to mash just 3.5 gal is your brew bag deep enough that you're going to get all the grain fully submerged?

Cheers & good luck!

P.s.- definitely squeeze the bag!
 
Out of curiosity, what are you seeing for grain absorption ratios?
Lol if I told you I tracked mine I'd be lying 😅

I usually just run with the default assumption in Brewfather which is .359 qt/lb and that gets me close enough.
 
The recipe is a basic cream ale, 5 gallon batch. Nothing fancy at all, just a starting point to see what I want to change in the future.
-8 pounds Viking pale ale malt
-2 pounds flaked corn

-3.5 gallons of strike water at 160 degrees, mash at about 153 degrees for 1 hour
-

Does that look about right?

I like to use some 6 row in the base malt when I'm using corn. Some brewers have reported that when using the Viking pale ale malt they don't hit their usual expected gravity, but I haven't had issues with it. So there may be some issues with that Viking malt converting the corn, but maybe not. Using a pound or two of 6 row helps with the conversion of adjuncts like corn, rice and unmalted wheat, but it also includes a malty flavor you may not be looking for.
I put my BIAB mash in and then go do yard work or something else and sometimes it goes for 2 hours or more. Extending mash times seems to help my efficiency numbers. I also do a dunk sparge in a second pot.
Don't guess on your strike water temperature, use an on-line strike water calculator.
At the end of the boil, pull a sample and chill it down and check your gravity. If its low you can add some DME or a little Sugar.
Use on-line recipe calculators to determine how much to add.
After you run several brews using the same method, you'll be able to determine how to tweak recipes to hit the numbers you want.
If your kettle doesn't have volume marks, make a volume stick. Use gallon jugs of tap water and make a mark on the stick for each gallon. At the end of the boil use the volume stick to see how much wort you have. I prefer to top up the volume while to wort is hot so the additional water gets sanitized.
 
Does that look about right?

Looks like you are on the right track. I shoot for 5.5 gallons into my fermenter (with a reasonable amount of trub) and for 10 lbs of grain and a 60 minute boil, I usually start with around 7.8 (edit: not 6.8) gallons of water. I use a pulley and let gravity do most of the work of draining, with just a light squeeze if I need a little more volume. I plan for a 1 gal per hour boil off rate.

Given your 8.5 gallon pot, a sparge step is a good option. I might shift more of the water to the main mash. The extra heat mass will help to hold mash temps better. Maybe just sparge with ~2 gallons.
 
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You're on the right track. Just a few notes...

Volume lost to grain absorption will vary depending on a variety of factors. Whether you squeeze, grind size, etc, etc. I think the common default of .12qt/lb is too much. I let gravity do all of the work and see .085qt/lb.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/1914-courage-imperial-stout-which-one.693027/post-9121360

Not to be too nitpicky here, but I think you mean GALLONS/LB and not QUARTS/LB. I also use 0.09 gal/lb and that is with a moderate squeeze. I first used around 0.05 per this calculator (Brew in a Bag (BIAB) Calculator ~) but found that way too low and had to squeeze the ever-living-$h!t outta the bag to get enough volume. After several brews, I relaxed that to the 0.09 figure now and am a much happier bag squeezer :) I found the Pricelessbrewing app more accurate, but have since landed on Brewcipher and have used it for several brews with very good results.
 
Not to be too nitpicky here, but I think you mean GALLONS/LB and not QUARTS/LB. I also use 0.09 gal/lb and that is with a moderate squeeze. I first used around 0.05 per this calculator (Brew in a Bag (BIAB) Calculator ~) but found that way too low and had to squeeze the ever-living-$h!t outta the bag to get enough volume. After several brews, I relaxed that to the 0.09 figure now and am a much happier bag squeezer :) I found the Pricelessbrewing app more accurate, but have since landed on Brewcipher and have used it for several brews with very good results.

Yes! Gal/lb! Edited above.

I use BrewCipher, too. Great software. I've been using it for the last couple dozen brews. Now that my numbers are very well dialed in, it makes for extremely accurate prediction. It's all in the brewhouse setup. Slop there gets magnified in the recipe prediction.
 
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If you're really interested in dialing in your volumes, there's no other way than to brew and take lots of accurate notes.

I use a stainless metric (it's just easier) ruler and measure my various volumes to the nearest millimeter. Plugged into the formula for the volume of a cylinder, it gives me the volume to the nearest ~1.25oz (.01G) in my 12" diameter pot.

I found that I also need to account for water expansion at various temps. At typical mash temps, water expands about 2% and 4% at boiling (though this is NOT a linear relationship). So when measuring volumes, make sure to take that into account or you will end up with less than you think you have. I made a spreadsheet using my kettle dimensions.
 
Not to be too nitpicky here, but I think you mean GALLONS/LB and not QUARTS/LB. I also use 0.09 gal/lb and that is with a moderate squeeze. I first used around 0.05 per this calculator (Brew in a Bag (BIAB) Calculator ~) but found that way too low and had to squeeze the ever-living-$h!t outta the bag to get enough volume. After several brews, I relaxed that to the 0.09 figure now and am a much happier bag squeezer :) I found the Pricelessbrewing app more accurate, but have since landed on Brewcipher and have used it for several brews with very good results.

Yeah, I really like the simplicity of that site, but the default grain absorption is too low (and the help text says that is for not squeezing) and the 1.25 gal/hr boil off rate is rather high.
 
I found that I also need to account for water expansion at various temps. At typical mash temps, water expands about 2% and 4% at boiling (though this is NOT a linear relationship). So when measuring volumes, make sure to take that into account or you will end up with less than you think you have. I made a spreadsheet using my kettle dimensions.

Most definitely. I've found 2.7% at mash temp and 4% at boiling to be fairly accurate. BrewCipher's numbers are all at room temperature. I, too, have a self-made spreadsheet for the brew day that follows my procedure. It adjusts for temp and also predictions later in the day get adjusted for that day's actual experience earlier on.
 
Yeah, I really like the simplicity of that site, but the default grain absorption is too low (and the help text says that is for not squeezing) and the 1.25 gal/hr boil off rate is rather high.

I have found that my boil off rate is more like 1.33 gal/hr! I use a bayou-style propane burner and have difficulty getting consistent results. It's easy to over boil, after I first got it, I think my rate was like 1.75 gal/hr! I plan to move to an electric setup sometime to help alleviate that, along with the other various shortcomings of using a propane burner.
 
I found that I also need to account for water expansion at various temps. At typical mash temps, water expands about 2% and 4% at boiling (though this is NOT a linear relationship). So when measuring volumes, make sure to take that into account or you will end up with less than you think you have. I made a spreadsheet using my kettle dimensions.

I have not 100% figured out how BeerSmith accounts for water temps, but I do find that if I start my boil with 7 gallons of near boiling water and I will end my boil with around 6 gallons of near boiling water. I then account for 0.25 gallons of shrinkage and 0.25 gallons of trub loss, to get 5.5 gallons into my fermenter. I measure my strike water volume at cool temps and I am able to get my needed pre-boil volume.

I made the mistake in the past of measuring my post-boil volume while the wort was still boiling. Then after killing the heat, I was down about 0.25 gallons once the boiling stopped.

I have found that my boil off rate is more like 1.33 gal/hr!

A while back I replaced the gas line on my propane burner. The newer one seems to be a higher pressure and I need to keep an eye on it to keep it down to the 1 gal/hr boil off rate.
 
Theoretically, this gives me 6.5 gallons of pre-boil wort, and 5 gallons in the fermenter, according to BIAB Calculator.
Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but if you're pre-boil is 6.5 gallons and your kettle is 8.5 gals, you're going to have one heck of a time to make sure that thing isn't going to boil over. I use a 10gal kettle and my hot break is pushing the edge most of the time. Just keep that in mind when it's coming to a boil.
 
My pre-boil is ~4.6 in a 5gal kettle. I've gone as high as 4.8, but that was scary. Turn the gas down, keep an eye on it. An ounce of first wort hops help a ton. 1.5gal of head space should be plenty.

20210615_140651.jpg
 
I use BIAB, 10g pot, propane, garage, grind fine with Corona mill, get consistent absorption of 0.077875 gal/pound.

Approximately.:yes:

Online PricelessBrewing calc is great for volumes and other things, but I mostly use BrewersFriend.

You asked about temp drops, I use BFriend again for that and it gets me very close. Temp drop depends on grain amt and temp of course.

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I find it interesting that those of us letting gravity (and time) do all the work and those squeezing the bag all end up at about .09gal/lb.
I do both. I'll let the bag hang the entire boil. An occasional squeeze. and a solid squeeze near the end of boil right before I dump the bag in the compost heap.

Recently I started leaving the bag in the basket to drain and doing a fly sparge to my target starting volume. I figure then that the water that's let in the grain is just water since the remaining sugars have been pushed down and out by the sparge water from above.
 
What water are you using? Tapwater?
Well water. I was stressing out about water chemistry for a week, until I decided to wing it and see how it comes out. I ordered a GH and KH test kit, which I saw recommended as a low-budget way to test water, so I'll try that out and make any needed changes on my next batch.
 
Why confuse or cause your self worry with the indications test kits are going to give you. Just see if it taste good when it finishes.

If it's bad and you can't come up with other reasons for it being bad, then test it and change something with additions for the next batch if that's you. For me, I just buy water with an already known analysis.
 
While you can calculate all you want, a simple approach is to measure first runnings, then simply your sparge volume will be pre boil volume less first runnings.

I prefer to measure actual volume rather then pontificate about grain absorption LOL.

A simple mark or two on your mash paddle indicating pre and post boil is priceless :)

Measure twice, calculate less, or get your head over the kettle rather then in the brewing software LOL jmo cheers!
 
Figuring a 6.5 preboil target, 50:50 runnings, .09gal/lb absorption.

4.15 strike, ~.9 lost to grain for 3.25 1st runnings

3.25 sparge for 3.25 2nd runnings

This!

Up your initial volume.... Don't worry too much about grain absorbtion at first. Measure your volumes and you can figure it out after the fact and use that number next time....

You can always add more sparge water w/ a pour over if you end up short, or save some of the 2nd runnings for a Real Wort Starter (RWS) if you end up over...

You'll still have beer in the end :thumbsup:
 
I don’t think water ph has been mentioned but it’s huge if you don’t want astringency in your beer. get yourself a ward labs test kit. Send the sample off to know what your water makeup is. You can plug those numbers into brewing calculators to know how much lactic acid to add to the mash to get in the safe zone. A ph meter is helpful too.
 
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