Finally brewed my first BIAB. Some of my first brew takeaways

[JaviBrewski]

I got home from work Saturday night and decided i was going to finally brew, time be damned. I went with a simple Single Malt and Single Hop recipe (2-Row and Citra) and fermented it with Lutra Kveik from Omega Yeast.
Here's some takeaways from my brew night.

• Thought 4gal was too much when i added my grain bill. After mash and boiling the wort it was just right.
• OG was 1.050 which was just .001 according to the recipe.
• Dont know if my wort will clear up during fermenter but i definitely getting an amber ale kind of look.
• Hops definitely "stunk" up the house. Wife was not too pleased.
• Strike temp was 160. After adding grains dropped to about 150-152. Was to be expected.
• Definitely need to cool the worth a faster way. Immersion chiller will definitely be the next purchase i make if i continue with the hobby.
• Need to plan my brew day better. Started around 8pm, didnt finish until well after midnight.
• Pitched the Kveik Lutra yeast at 85 degrees. Was hoping to see some action right away but guess it didnt start. Hoping to see some activity when i get home tonight.
• Definitely need a bigger funnel to transfer to my 5gal fermenter.
• The hop spider was a godsend. Barely had any trub. And I mean barely any.
• Gonna need to buy a bottling bucket in the next few days along with a racking cane.

 

[hottpeper13]

Lutra will clear rite up,I don't even use gelatin with that yeast. Welcome to ouir obsession.
One more thing I waited until I had to use my plastic racking cane on a bret barrel beer before i got the stainless one. If you can go stainless first.

 

[JaviBrewski]

Lutra will clear rite up,I don't even use gelatin with that yeast. Welcome to ouir obsession.
One more thing I waited until I had to use my plastic racking cane on a bret barrel beer before i got the stainless one. If you can go stainless first.

i'll look into it. saturday on my way home i picked up two buckets and spigots to make bottling easier. switching my fermenter to the bucket with a spigot as well so i can transfer to the bottling one without having to use the racking cane.

father in law went on a mead kick 2 years ago so he had an extra racking cane and fermenter (which I kindly declined. one batch at a time for simplicity sake)

 

[wsmith1625]

Sounds like you did your research because your initial all grain batch seems to have gone very well. Congrats!

 

[JaviBrewski]

Sounds like you did your research because your initial all grain batch seems to have gone very well. Congrats!

entirely too much research lol. i spent weeks reading and watching videos before i jumped in.

jumped head first into all grain rather than extract

 

[CascadesBrewer]

• Dont know if my wort will clear up during fermenter but i definitely getting an amber ale kind of look.

Beers tend to look much darker in the fermenter than in a glass. Given your simple grain bill I would expect this one to be a rather pale golden color.

Was this a 2.5 gallon batch? Looks like you are using a 5 gallon kettle doing BIAB. I am a huge fan of that size batch. Sometimes a good batch goes fast, but I find it much easier to fit in a stove top batch than a 5-gallon batch on my back patio.

 

[hotbeer]

Definitely need a bigger funnel to transfer to my 5gal fermenter.

Or just siphon. A boil kettle with a ball valve at the bottom makes things very easy.

Need to plan my brew day better. Started around 8pm, didnt finish until well after midnight.

You probably planned it well enough. You just need to brew some more so you refine your procedures and eliminate the stuff that really isn't necessary for the way you brew.

Hops definitely "stunk" up the house. Wife was not too pleased.

I like the hop smell that fills my house. My wife doesn't notice the hop smell. It really surprises me as she smells everything else. So I at least have one advantage on you!

 

[JaviBrewski]

Beers tend to look much darker in the fermenter than in a glass. Given your simple grain bill I would expect this one to be a rather pale golden color.

Was this a 2.5 gallon batch? Looks like you are using a 5 gallon kettle doing BIAB. I am a huge fan of that size batch. Sometimes a good batch goes fast, but I find it much easier to fit in a stove top batch than a 5-gallon batch on my back patio.

Yea i brewed in a 5gal stock pot but only used about 4galsnof water. I wont know how much was actually left after i transfer it to my bottling bucket, which has gallon lines. Im gonna assume its between 2.5-3gal batch

 

[JaviBrewski]

Or just siphon. A boil kettle with a ball valve at the bottom makes things very easy.

You probably planned it well enough. You just need to brew some more so you refine your procedures and eliminate the stuff that really isn't necessary for the way you brew.

I like the hop smell that fills my house. My wife doesn't notice the hop smell. It really surprises me as she smells everything else. So I at least have one advantage on you!

Yea i bought a bucket and plan on adding a spigot to it in the next few days to make transferring from pot to fermenter easier. Not really worried about trub as i had really minimal trub left because if the hop spider. As for planning, an hour to bring 4gal to strike temperature was the real kicker, and thats even with me using fast boil setting on my induction stove

 

[hottpeper13]

Two layers of reflectix will help speed the heating. My HLT is on an 1800 watt and I can get 5 gal to 190* in 1 hour.

 

[JaviBrewski]

Two layers of reflectix will help speed the heating. My HLT is on an 1800 watt and I can get 5 gal to 190* in 1 hour.

funny you mention this. i have reflective insulation i bought to wrap my kettle with i just didnt use it the first time as I wanted to make like a removeable one with velcro

 

[AZ Maverick]

funny you mention this. i have reflective insulation i bought to wrap my kettle with i just didnt use it the first time as I wanted to make like a removeable one with velcro

I made a double wrap Reflectix fit for my 10 gallon brew kettle that I just simply tape together with blue painters tape.

 

[hottpeper13]

Mines permanent on the HLT and removable on the BK.

 

[JaviBrewski]

first batch in the book. beer is bottling but you know i had to get an obligatory picture of my first beer before the cold and carb lol