First BIAB batch, need some pointers

[BreachHeaven]

So I'm doing my first BIAB and have 8 pounds of malt (grain) for my pale ale for a three gallon batch. Starting small due to not knowing the age on the 2 row I have, I got it from a buddy that had it in his garage for awhile. I downloaded BEerSmith to make the recipe were I believe it should be. I see on BEerSmith where it says the est pre-boil at 6.30 for 3 gallons. Is this the amount of water I should be using prior to dropping my grains, or after I've already lifted them out and start my boil? I'm using my 10 gal kettle, have a bag, hop spider, and pulley system ready to go.

 

[wilserbrewer]

6.3 gallons pre boil seems very high for a 3 gallon batch!!!

I would guess you need about 5 gallons total water, the grain will absorb about a gallon and you will boil off about a gallon, leaving you close to 3 gallons. Round numbers....

 

[dkevinb]

It depends on what your boil-off rate, grain absorption and trub loss are. On my system I figure I boil off about 1.5 gallons per hour, I lose 0.08 - 0.1 gallons per pound of grain to absorption, and I lose maybe 0.25 - 0.5 gallons to trub for a 5 gallon batch. I start with about 8.5 gallons of strike water.

That 6.3 gallon figure looks like strike water volume to me, but it does seem high.

 

[Barley_Bob]

The 2-row should be okay... Assuming bugs and rodents haven't gotten to it. A lot of folks report no issues using un-crushed grain that's been stored for quite some time, as long as it's been kept cool and dry and out of the reach of hungry animals.

I don't use BeerSmith, but 6.3gal sounds like too much. It's definitely too much for the mash. A good rule of thumb is 1 to 1.25 quarts of water per pound of grain for the mash. I usually use 1.25, which would mean 2.5gal of water for your mash.

For the boil, a good rule of thumb is a boil off rate of 1gal per hour. That's about my boil off rate too. So, for a 3 gallon batch, I would start with 4gal in the kettle. You can always boil some extra top off water on the side.

It sounds like you need to adjust BeerSwmith and input your system's settings to make the numbers work.

 

[dkevinb]

The 2-row should be okay... Assuming bugs and rodents haven't gotten to it. A lot of folks report no issues using un-crushed grain that's been stored for quite some time, as long as it's been kept cool and dry and out of the reach of hungry animals.

I don't use BeerSmith, but 6.3gal sounds like too much. It's definitely too much for the mash. A good rule of thumb is 1 to 1.25 quarts of water per pound of grain for the mash. I usually use 1.25, which would mean 2.5gal of water for your mash.

For the boil, a good rule of thumb is a boil off rate of 1gal per hour. That's about my boil off rate too. So, for a 3 gallon batch, I would start with 4gal in the kettle. You can always boil some extra top off water on the side.

It sounds like you need to adjust BeerSwmith and input your system's settings to make the numbers work.

He's doing no-sparge BIAB so his mash is going to be much thinner than what it would be for traditional 3-vessel systems. You just put all the water in the kettle at once.

 

[m00ps]

I do 5 gallon batches full volume, no sparge BIAB and I usually start out with ~8gallons. The grains will soak up some and the boil off takes out the rest, but I agree with the others. If you use over 6 gallons, you're going to end up with like 4.5 gallons of some watery beer. I usually end up adding maybe 1/4 gallon more or so when I try to rinse the grains a bit

 

[BreachHeaven]

I appreciate it guys. Definitely gonna look into my beer smith and see if I can adjust a few things and lower the pre boil volume for best efficiency.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Entered 8 lb grain, 1 oz, amd 1 gal/hr into my calculator at pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc and it says you should start with 5.08G.

Set variables to absorption rate of 0.08 g/lb and .2 loss to trub in brew kettle loss.

Play with my calculator if you want to check it. It'll agree with beersmith after lots of fiddling in beersmith but it's much easier to use.