First AG BIAB

[JDGator]

Well i did a brown ale for my first attempt at BIAB. I had issues with my mash temp because my thermometers (i had 3 different ones) were all completely different. I mashed it at around 172f and over the 90min mash i went down to 150f with no lid on and a ton of stirring.

Then i did my boil for 90 min and ended up with 4.5 gallons of wort when i was shootingfor 5 gallons. I always go for 5 so i can fill my keg right up and not have any left over beer that needs to be bottled.

All in all it went pretty good

 

[smyrnaquince]

Please tell me that 172 was a typo. Mash temps are usually in the low 150's. 172 would denature the enzymes and also extract tannins.

 

[JDGator]

i mashed in that high but it dropped from my constant stirring and keeping the lid off. the thermometer i had used seemed to be way off, needle would stick. i had a IR thermometer in the garage and used it quickly and the ready was completely different. i grabbed a digital one after a few minutes of mad stirring and it showed 165F

Mash out is 168F so would 172F be the end of the world?

 

[dstranger99]

^

That's still pretty high, a mash should be around 152 or 150 for 60 or 90 minutes, depends on the recipe I guess.........

 

[JDGator]

i do agree. it was higher then what i wanted!!

 

[wilserbrewer]

Yes, as you are now aware...172 is too high for your strike water for a full volume BIAB. 8-10 degrees above mash temp seems to be the norm around here...say 158 - 165 MAX, w/ 162 being a nice safe mid point.

 

[JDGator]

when i put the wort into the bucket it smelt pretty good. so i'm hoping that the beer turns out ok and atleast good enough to drink.

if not, well it was another learning experience!!

 

[SteveLikesBeer]

when i put the wort into the bucket it smelt pretty good. so i'm hoping that the beer turns out ok and atleast good enough to drink.

if not, well it was another learning experience!!

Exactly. I had a similar experience with my partial mash and was able to avoid the same problem on my first AG BIAB.

 

[MaxStout]

I had troubles with thermometers, and learned that it's wise to invest in a good one. The floating thermometer I had previously used was so slow (big mass of lead shot surrounding the bulb and then encased in another layer of glass). With that lag time, it was impossible for me to know what the actual temp was. Thermoworks makes some very accurate and fast-reading thermometers, starting at around $20. I bought one and have been very satisfied.

I hope your batch turns out OK. Keep us posted!

 

[JDGator]

We have a restaurant supply store in town and ordered a new long probe digital thermometer.

It was my screw up and its a lesson learned.