First BIAB all-grain brew

[Nash91]

Today I have finally taken the plunge and ordered 10kg of grains to make some beer.

The equipment I have is a ~100L stainless brew kettle (this will only be a 40L batch) and 2x 20L fermenters. I shall be using ice (home made) thrown into the kettle to cool the wort.

I am aware of the risks of contamination from the ice etc but I am curious as to what you guys make of the actual grain to liquid ratio? (As it’s first time I have no idea what my boil off will be like plus absorbtion by the grain) and would like a rough idea how much over the 40L i should go to actually get a full 40L by the end.

 

[TechFanMD]

I hope you'll sterilize the water before freezing and put it into sanitized containers. You're going to need (back of napkin calculation) ~6L of water depending on your post boil volume and what temp/final volume you're shooting for. Hitting temp and desired OG (within some timeframe) will take some calculating.

An ice bath would be a lot safer - though it is slow and you have to be careful.

While your idea will work - there's a reason people do ice baths instead (and note that both require ice). It may even be safer to just put it in the fermenter and pitch the next day once the temp is down.

 

[Nash91]

I was going to go with bottled water as i’ve read a lot about it being very low risk and one i’m willing to take.

I wanted to use an ice bath unfortunately my kettle is too wide to fit in anything and the handles are not strong enough to support the weight for transporting from stove top.

The non-chilling method is the one that would suit me both but I have read a lot about it making such a difference if you can’t get the container air free while it cools. Is it really much of a concern?

Thankyou for your reply

 

[WBB]

Have you tried one of the many calculators online?

https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash/

 

[Nash91]

Have you tried one of the many calculators online?

https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash/

Have you tried one of the many calculators online?

https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash/

This looks helpful, upon trying though it seems i can’t just put in the volume of strike water without it erroring telling me i need to put in the grain / volume ratio. (My maths isn’t good enough to work that out)

 

[Iseneye]

That is a big batch to start with. 40 litres of beer is a lot to drink if things don't quite go right. You've already bought the grains but would you consider doing a smaller batch since it's your first all grain brew?

Any reason why you're not splashing out on an immersion chiller or similar?

 

[Nash91]

If it goes bad i like sours but yeah if it goes wrong it’s going to be a lot of waste however I believe in myself enough to think it will be drinkable.

I was going to do a smaller batch initially but that would mean getting a smaller brew kettle and money is tight same reason i haven’t hotten a wort chiller it was buy the parts and wait a couple of months or brew now (i potentially have my visa being accepted in those two months and shipping all the equip to the US means i’d just leave lots of equip. Behind)

 

[Nash91]

Update

Beer has been fermenting for few days now (died down a couple of days ago however has been intensely bubbling again this morning)

It’s tasting great and has a great colour on it. No off flavours or smells currently.

Now up to 8% ABV.

 

[Nash91]

Is my hydrometer junk or could this be legit results?

OG read as 1.072 FG is currently at 1.006

(Both numbers temperature corrected)

FG is still dropping yet no signs of infection in taste, smell or appearance.

According to Brewlog my mash efficiency was only 39%....

 

[madscientist451]

What yeast are you using?

 

[Nash91]

What yeast are you using?

WLP001