First BIAB attempt, Weiss beer

[iBimmer]

This will be my first attempt to brew all-grain (BIAB), I've brewed a few of 5 gallon extract batches.
I'm totally lost and don't know where to start.
Since I couldn't find recipe online with the simple ingredients I already have for a 2.5Gal batch, I've created a basic recipe with BeerSmith and this is what I got:
Batch size 2.5Gal
Pre-boil size 3.24Gal
German Wheat Malt 2lbs 12.5oz (60%)
German Pilsner Malt 1lbs 13oz (40%)
Wyeast 3068 124ml
Hallertau Hops 0.34oz

BeerSmith gives me these estimates:
OG 1.050
IBUs 11.8
Color 3.4 SRM
ABV 5.1

Do these ingredients quantities make any sense?
I have no idea what I'm doing. Any help?

 

[LLBeanJ]

The recipe is fine. I wouldn't changa a thing. Mash on the higher end of the range, around 158 and ferment 60-62F.

 

[iBimmer]

How long does the mash process take?
Do I mash both malts together from beginning?
Do I add the hops at the end (60min)?

 

[LLBeanJ]

60 minute mash will do at that temp. Mash both grains together. Typical boil is 60 minutes, but could be longer. Just go with 60. Hops go in when wort gets up to boil and the 60 minute clock starts.

What are you using for water? Hefeweizens are typically brewed with soft water.

 

[iBimmer]

I'm using tap water filtrated by my house RO system. I'm not sure how I can take measurements of my water.

 

[LLBeanJ]

You should be okay with RO.

 

[iBimmer]

Thanks for all your suggestions and help.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Brew it. Looks ok. If you want American style wheat beer with a bit more clove/spice note, ferment it in the low 60's. If you want more of the authentic German/Bavarian Weiss with some banana notes, ferment it in the high 60's (i'm kinda partial to 70 for my weissbier using 3068 or WLP300).

 

[RM-MN]

When you brew all grain the efficiency of the conversion matters. Your recipe is created assuming a particular efficiency and your efficiency may not be the same. After a few brew sessions you can discover what your efficiency will likely be and adjust the recipe to account for that. Since you posted in the BIAB section I'll assume you are using a bag in the boil pot. Mill your grains fine if you have a mill or have your grains double milled if possible or you are likely to have a lower than expected OG on this beer. Wheat malt has smaller, harder kernels and often these are not milled well enough. For your first attempt with someone else milling the grain I might suggest a recipe that does not include wheat.

 

[iBimmer]

I'm confused about efficiency. I never had to pay attention to it, since always brewed extract, and followed the recipe.
If my OG is expected to be 1.050 and it turns out at the end of mashing to be, say 1.046, how do I fix this? And to ask same question the other way around is also interesting. How do I fix higher than expected OG?

 

[LLBeanJ]

I'm confused about efficiency. I never had to pay attention to it, since always brewed extract, and followed the recipe.
If my OG is expected to be 1.050 and it turns out at the end of mashing to be, say 1.046, how do I fix this? And to ask same question the other way around is also interesting. How do I fix higher than expected OG?

Once you input your final volume and OG into the recipe in BeerSmith, there's a field that will calculate your actual brewhouse efficiency. You can use this info to set your estimated efficiency moving forward and the recipe will adjust the expected OG accordingly. You'll find that the higher the OG, the lower your efficiency will typically be. Since this is your first BIAB brew, I'd target 70% BHE for this recipe and see where it comes out, then make adjustments for your next brew.

 

[balrog]

Further to all the good advice above, might I add that you really REALLY don't have to sweat 1046 if expecting 1050. But the milling of the wheat, diff size so mills typically less well so efficiency is a little less than with barley, is a real thing. You kinda have to expect a couple of your first batches with new process to be "exploratory" in nature as you figure out efficiency, boil off, grain absorption, and whatnot. It will be fine however. Really.

 

[iBimmer]

I had bought before a Cereal Killer mill and I unpacked it today, it has only 3 settings and I milled the Wheat Grains at 0.025. Is it too fine or it should do for BIAB?
Should I mill Pilsner 2row at that setting too?

NM questions above, I milled all grains @ 0.025 and mashing right now.
BeerSmith gives me 1) Carbonation Est 1.73 oz corn sugar and 2) Carbonation (from Meas Vol) 3.93 oz corn sugar.
Which one is the correct value?
Also, AFAIK weiss beers should have ~ 3.5 - 4.5 CO2, BeerSmith shows me CO2 2.3.
Can anyone explain the difference?

 

[iBimmer]

I'm boiling the wort now....
My SG came at 1.020, it is so low it's depressing. How could it come out so low, ~ 30 points below projected.
In a hurry, I added ~ 15 oz of LME. I will measure the OG after boil...what a bummer.
Here's all info for my brew, if anyone wants to take a hit at what could have gone wrong:
I added 3 gallons water for mashing.
I weighed German Wheat Malt 2lbs 12.5oz and German Pilsner Malt 1lbs 13oz on my digital kitchen scale. They came already milled from supplier, but I milled them myself at setting 0.025 (Cereal Killer), so the grains were finely milled (IMO).
I mashed at ~ 158F for 60 minutes. I pulled out the grain bag, let it drain for 6-7 minutes.
After mash, I added .24 gallons water and measured gravity 1.020 (30 points below). When I took the measurement the wort was approximately 110F
All these numbers came way off of my BeerSmith recipe.

 

[tripeland]

You are not as low in gravity as you think. If you take gravity measurements above room temperature you will need to adjust for temperature. An online calculator can do this for you. Also what you measured was the pre-boil gravity. As you boil the wort, water will evaporate and sugar concentration will increase, which will increase the gravity. Take another gravity sample after you finish the boil (allow the sample to cool to room temperature too!).

 

[iBimmer]

It came out at exactly 1.050 cooled post-boil, 2 gallons, considering I added the 15 oz of wheat LME.
I forgot to mention that my grains are Avangard Wheat Malt and Weyermann Pislner Malt.
I should have not added LME and taken measurement after-boil but I didn't want to waste my wort. Well, next time I'll know.
I'm still so lost though, by my calculation 15 oz of LME would have added enough sugars to bring the gravity to 1.050, and so it happened. But why taking a gravity measurement at higher temp seemed to be accurate in this case? The reason I posted the weight of each ingredient was to get an opinions if it sounded right or not. All of member who answered said it seemed alright.
Maybe the Pilsner batch I bought is not as potent or they didn't send me the right thing...

 

[balrog]

You are not too far off, and on the right track so don't despair.
quick calc: 2-12.5 + 1-13 = 3.59# at ~37pt/# =~= 133 points
add 15oz lme at ~35pt/# =~= 33 points
Total sugars ~= 166 points
If you mashed with 3gal, added .24gal, and if grain soaks up about 1/2gal (only you and your system can know this) then you (maybe) were boiling 3 gal? so preboil would have been ~1.050 but if you used a hydrometer and measured at 150° it would read maybe 1.030 so you maybe were only 10 pts low.

Several things going on here. 158° is kinda high for mash, but that will be seen in the final gravity number as higher mash will leave a less fermentable wort.
You have to correct hydrometer for temp (eg use this), you have to know your volumes & boil off rate (so you can use a calc like Priceless). Many buy a $20-$30 refractometer to be able to get a decent idea of preboil gravity using just a drop. But always check any measurement tool (refrac vs hydrometer, thermometer vs icebath/boiling).

But you're proly not far off. And the milling can literally be to dust if you are doing BIAB, plus you want to stir the mash well, sometimes half way through. But you're really doing ok.