First biab in process

[DSP-brasseur]

First off, thanks for all of the info you have all provided. I have been silently reading for a few weeks and after 1 extract i jumped into biab.

I am using a heat stick and I think it caused pockets of hot water. My temp was reading really nicely perfectly at 150 during my mash (currently 25 minutes into it) and after stirring it has dropped to 144 on my electric thermostat and 140 on the front one.

Will this be horrible? Can I mash for 90 minutes instead of 60 and get similar results? It smells so darn good by the way. I can't wait to get it boiling, but I am wondering if I should remove the bag, heat up the water with the stick and then put the bag back in or just let it sit for longer than intended...

 

[EJay]

RDWHAHB you'll be fine. Most conversion happens in the first few minutes. I'd just stir it occasionally.

How big of a batch? if its small enough, you can preheat your oven and put the whole kettle in there (oven OFF at this point) to hold temp.

 

[DSP-brasseur]

Ok thanks. She's a bit big to go in the oven. I wrapped some ski pants around her though. It is at 50 minutes and 142 nowView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482276705.355811.jpg

 

[BeardedBrews]

Lifting the bag and adding more heat is more trouble than it's worth at this point. Just let it rock for 60 minutes, pull the bag out, and see how your gravity turned out.

If you're not taking gravity measurements, then you have even less to worry about



For future brews, using an old quilt, or sleeping bag, or both can really help. The biggest source for heat loss I've found is the open space in the top of the kettle. If I do a full kettle batch I lose very little temp, with a half empty kettle I lose a ton.

Either way, 10F isn't going to hurt you.
http://brulosophy.com/2015/10/12/the-mash-high-vs-low-temperature-exbeeriment-results/

 

[DSP-brasseur]

Thanks, I will attempt a reading at the end of this just so I can get better at taking them. Thank you for the link. I used some old ski pants but I think I'll keep at eye for something a bit bigger. This is a big kettle so there is a lot of empty space up top.

The 5500w stick got it to a boil in no time and has it roaring. This smells delicious.

Thanks for the tips and keeping me calm through this.

 

[Morrey]

RDWHAHB you'll be fine. Most conversion happens in the first few minutes. I'd just stir it occasionally.

How big of a batch? if its small enough, you can preheat your oven and put the whole kettle in there (oven OFF at this point) to hold temp.

plus 1^. I have seen some pretty convincing evidence that most if not all of your conversion is done within a few short minutes of mash in. Once that critical time is over, the remaining mash period is basically extracting flavor from your grains. I think you are golden!

 

[DSP-brasseur]

Great, thank you for taking the time to address my concern. Glad to have my first full brew session under my belt.

 

[BeardedBrews]

Great, thank you for taking the time to address my concern. Glad to have my first full brew session under my belt.

Now it's time to take notes of what to tweak for next time!

Enjoy learning, when in doubt brew more.

 

[BongoYodeler]

Well, I have to ask - what did you brew?

Like you, now that I have a couple extract sessions under my belt, I'll be moving to BIAB. Picked up a 15g Spike kettle and a Blichmann burner and I'm moving my operation outdoors.

 

[RM-MN]

RDWHAHB you'll be fine. Most conversion happens in the first few minutes. I'd just stir it occasionally.

How big of a batch? if its small enough, you can preheat your oven and put the whole kettle in there (oven OFF at this point) to hold temp.

Conversion does happen much quicker than I had been led to believe but that conversion time is limited by how long it takes to gelatinize the starches in the grain particles. If you milled the grain very fine, conversion will happen within just a few minutes but larger particles can take a lot more time, up to 90 minutes or more if the milling job was poor.

 

[DSP-brasseur]

I brewed a west coast ipa recipe. 12# 2-row, 1# victory malt and 1# carafoam. The hops were 1oz centennial at 60 and 2oz citra and 2oz simcoe at 5min. The yeast has yet to start but I am going to relax and go to work and hope that tonight I see some bubble action on it.

I started with some good detailed notes, but as I got further in the process they got less frequent I'll go through them and see where I can improve. Looking forward to the next batch.

 

[DSP-brasseur]

Got home and it is doing well and looking healthy in the chamber. I was hit with a nice wall of hops when I opened the lid.


View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1482367492.592051.jpg