First BIAB done today. Seemed like it went well.

[Kob]

Hi guys, I've been doing extract brews for quite a while and today I did my first all grain.

I went with a hefeweissen with a good amount of citrus zest at the end. All in all the brew went ok. I have a couple different kettles and went with a 7.5 gal due to the width. I have the recipe below for critiques and I also have a couple questions. I used a brew bag from the LHBS and it burned in two spots causing the bag to have two holes in it. They weren't too bad so I was able to finish the brew. First thing I'll be doing is putting a false bottom or something to keep this from happening again.

Here is the recipe and my major question is regarding the pitch temp and fermentation temp.

6# German Wheat
7# German Pilsner
1# Vienna

1 oz Hallertauer
1 oz Spalt

Used 320 for the yeast and then added a cup of zest from a few citrus.

I pitched at about 80* and I got an OG of 1.040
It should ferment at about 65 once it was moved to the basement.

My question and I guess biggest issue at this point is the OG and the temp. Will that reading be off due to the temp of the wort when I pitched the yeast?

How should I calculate for the increased temp?

I'm wondering if the temp I've been fermenting my beers in the coat closet(75-80) is doind bad things to me beers. They all taste great but I'm wondering about lowering the temp from here on out.

Thanks and sorry for the long post.

I've been brewing extract for about 6-7 years and went with the all grain after my last boil over on the kitchen stove to a turkey fried outside.

Mike

 

[Doed]

I pitched at about 80* and I got an OG of 1.040
It should ferment at about 65 once it was moved to the basement.

My question and I guess biggest issue at this point is the OG and the temp. Will that reading be off due to the temp of the wort when I pitched the yeast?

How should I calculate for the increased temp?

I'm wondering if the temp I've been fermenting my beers in the coat closet(75-80) is doind bad things to me beers. They all taste great but I'm wondering about lowering the temp from here on out.

Take your OG reading before pitching yeast. Maybe you are and I just read that wrong. I would say that fermenting that high 75-80° is contributing to some off flavors. Why not put your wort in the basement and let it cool down to 65° overnight, then pitch your yeast? As long as your sanitation is good, this should not be a problem.

Your hydrometer should have a correction scale for wort temperature. Using mine, 80° wort would need to have 2 points added, so your OG would be 1.042.

 

[Kob]

Ok I'll try that next time. Just seems like it was so much easier before I started making recipes and tracking gravity ha ha.

 

[bxtzd3]

i am just getting into the biab and have a 35 qt pot. did you reduce the recipe to accomidate the size of the pot, making it a 5 gallon batch , or did you add extract. don

 

[Kob]

i am just getting into the biab and have a 35 qt pot. did you reduce the recipe to accomidate the size of the pot, making it a 5 gallon batch , or did you add extract. don

I have a 30 qt pot that I was doing it in and was able to do the whole grain bill with room to spare.

On a side note I did another brew yesterday. Just a more simple wheat with the real goal of having another BIAB under my belt. Over all it went more smooth but I did burn the bag on the bottom again. Looks like I need a false bottom.

3 days after the initial Hefe brew and the whole basement closet smells amazing. Lots of citrus smells with a little yeast in there. It's gonna be good.

 

[seckert]

I have a 30 qt pot that I was doing it in and was able to do the whole grain bill with room to spare.

On a side note I did another brew yesterday. Just a more simple wheat with the real goal of having another BIAB under my belt. Over all it went more smooth but I did burn the bag on the bottom again. Looks like I need a false bottom.

3 days after the initial Hefe brew and the whole basement closet smells amazing. Lots of citrus smells with a little yeast in there. It's gonna be good.

i have a metal basket that goes inside my pot and therefore my grains are about 4 inches above the bottom of the pot. most turkey fryers come with these and if they dont you can get one to fit for relatively cheap. only reason you would ever burn it though is when bringing up to your sac rest temp. i never turn heat on once grains are in. I have an old sleeping bag i put over the whole pot and it seems to insulate it well enough. I take it off to stir and check temp every 15 min and i dont think i have ever had to turn heat on.

 

[Kob]

The turkey fryer i have is too narrow to move the grains around. Sounds like i'll keep the heat off.

How long are you guys leaving the grains in? The guys at the LHBS are indifferent and say one does 15 min the other an hour. Does the length effect the amount of sugars present?

 

[JPicasso]

With turkey frier bring water up about 6-8 deg over desired mash temp, then add the grain. Stir until temp is down enough. Then cover with an old blanket.

Most grain bills will convert after an hour. Some may need 90 mins. 15 sounds like not long enough.

 

[Foosier]

Just a note to save you from burned bags. The key is to stir when you have the heat on. I have never burned a bag with this method. Additionally , I limit the amount of heat I add while the bag is in. I do heat the bag during mash out though which takes about 15 minutes to get up to temp. The only thing that causes burns is leaving the bag in contact with the bottom without moving the liquid.

 

[seckert]

The turkey fryer i have is too narrow to move the grains around. Sounds like i'll keep the heat off.

How long are you guys leaving the grains in? The guys at the LHBS are indifferent and say one does 15 min the other an hour. Does the length effect the amount of sugars present?

15 minutes is not enough time...that is about how long you want to leave specialty grains in for an extract kit. maybe he was confused as to what you were doing.

 

[Kob]

Ok i'll do an hour next time. Sometimes it takes me twice to learn the hard way.