First BIAB, photos...brew notes...why did I not do this earlier...

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iamwhatiseem

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So that was awesome...entire brew day 2 hours 45 min!! Holy...

Brew Notes...two unknowns going into this that had me nervous was how much water to start with because BIAB calculators on the net are all over the place. And what kind of temperature loss will I have not using the pre-heated 10 gal cooler I have been using all along.

Temperature loss...I wrapped the kettle/top with the foil heat shields...

2hx2dd3.jpg


Temperature loss was much less than I anticipated.
I heated the water to 163.4 degrees.
After putting in the grains and stirring...temp was 160.3. Too hot. Added a little water and got to 156. I'm good, I am expecting heat loss..so I figure 156 is fine. After 10 minutes, I opened the top/stirred and temp was 154.6...20 minutes later...153.5 Holy cow. After the full 75 minutes temp was 150.2.
VOLUMES:
So with 9lbs. of grain I basically averaged out what the calculators were telling me and started with 6.8 gallons.
Perfect. After squeezing the grains (below) I ended up with right at 6.2 gallons. :rockin:

2moxjmb.jpg


Gravity Readings
Brewers Friend Efficiency Calculator for the grains I used -
100% - 10.56
75% - 10.42
I measured 10.44...so my efficiency was 79.4%...thinking pretty good for first BIAB. :mug:


SHOUTOUT to Wilserbrewer... LOVED the bag and pully setup..great job. The pulley works great and made squeezing draining really easy...everyone should get one of these.

Comparing with the "generic" bag I have been using forever (after numerous stuck sparges I started using a bag as the filter in the mash tun..never had a stuck sparge again.

35i3y2x.jpg


The Wislerbrewer "condom shaped" :) bag is waaay better than the square bottom generic. Obvious reason being of course the wort drains from the middle only instead of some middle/some leaking everywhere out of the corners.

BUY ONE!

The only bad thing...I need a 10 gal pot.
The 8 gallon pot with the 9 lbs grain definitely maxed out the pot...I was very close to the brim.
I love my MegaPot!!!...I feel like getting a larger pot is somehow abandoning an old friend. :(
 
Great job! I just use my water cooler as a mash tun by heating the water and adding cold as necessary. I think during a 90 min satch rest, I may lose .9 degrees.
 
BIAB is the wave of the future.Less cost,easy brew day,consistently great beer and easy storage.
I don't focus much on strike water volumes,I get close always on the low side and sparge through the bag while its hanging to get to pre boil levels.
 
How badly was your grain milled that you needed a 75 minute mash? I've cut mine down to 30 minutes but you might want to go at least 45 unless you do your own milling.
 
Brew Notes...two unknowns going into this that had me nervous was how much water to start with because BIAB calculators on the net are all over the place. And what kind of temperature loss will I have not using the pre-heated 10 gal cooler I have been using all along.

Use mine, everyone else is either ignoring variables and making assumptions. Yes, even beersmith has variables missing (hop absorption and thermal expansion being two of them). Brewtarget comes the closest.

Temperature loss...I wrapped the kettle/top with the foil heat shields...

Temperature loss was much less than I anticipated.
I heated the water to 163.4 degrees.
After putting in the grains and stirring...temp was 160.3. Too hot. Added a little water and got to 156. I'm good, I am expecting heat loss..so I figure 156 is fine. After 10 minutes, I opened the top/stirred and temp was 154.6...20 minutes later...153.5 Holy cow. After the full 75 minutes temp was 150.2.

Yup an insulated kettle like the on you have I would expect 2-3 degree loss over an hour. Your strike temp should be adjusted and re-calculated for the mash thickness and lack of needing to preheat the "mashtun"

VOLUMES:
So with 9lbs. of grain I basically averaged out what the calculators were telling me and started with 6.8 gallons.
Perfect. After squeezing the grains (below) I ended up with right at 6.2 gallons. :rockin:

See above.

Gravity Readings
Brewers Friend Efficiency Calculator for the grains I used -
100% - 10.56
75% - 10.42
I measured 10.44...so my efficiency was 79.4%...thinking pretty good for first BIAB. :mug:

I'm not sure about this, as brewers friend has some inaccuracy in it's calculation. It's always a couple % higher than mine, or beersmiths. IDK what's going on there.


Congrats, and welcome to the BIAB side!

How badly was your grain milled that you needed a 75 minute mash? I've cut mine down to 30 minutes but you might want to go at least 45 unless you do your own milling.

Don't do this without monitoring your gravity throughout the mash. Do this a couple times, and figure out where yours maxes out. It will be dependent on the grain bills diastic power, mash thickness, and grain crush. Mine plateus at ~35 minutes-40, so I mash for 45 to make sure it's complete.
 
Use mine, everyone else is either ignoring variables and making assumptions. Yes, even beersmith has variables missing (hop absorption and thermal expansion being two of them). Brewtarget comes the closest.

Question, for a 5 gallon batch I usually ferment 5.25 gallons, so in the batch size what do I put on your calculator?
 
Also another question. You mentioned a pulley system from WilsnerBrewer. Got a link to his set up?
 
Batch size is defined as the volume into fermenter.

On mobile, so can't link, but just @Wilserbrewer should have a link in his sig, or Google his name and it should come up.
 
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