First BIAB recipe, help needed

[jimmyjusa]

I'm looking to do a dunkelweizen recipe, thinking about adding blackberries to it as well but not sure if it will mesh well or not.

Looking to have a 5 gallon batch as a fall beer to enjoy. I've never done a biab so I'm not sure of what my efficiency will be and only my second brew.

Rough idea for recipe:
6 pounds wheat
3 pounds of a base malt
2 pounds Munich
Maybe some special b or caramel 80/90
The yeast i have is mj m20

 

[MX1]

I would split the malt, 1/2 wheat and 1/2 Munich, 6 oz of any speciality malt you like, just make it a German malt.

Hops can be almost any German hop to about 15-20 IBU.

2nd brew, I would skip the fruit
YMMV

T

 

[wilserbrewer]

Just make sure to crush wheat adequately....wheat is a small and hard kernel and often under crushed, the issue amplifies w a large present whet.

 

[jimmyjusa]

Thank you, so don't worry about adding a pale base and just go with Munich? I'm thinking 12 pounds overall should give me a decent gravity and cover up a lower efficiency since i don't know what I'll be pulling yet. My thought on the fruit was due to having a free supply of it coming up.
Would melanoidin be beneficial or would the Munich be enough of that malt profile?

I would split the malt, 1/2 wheat and 1/2 Munich, 6 oz of any speciality malt you like, just make it a German malt.

Hops can be almost any German hop to about 15-20 IBU.

2nd brew, I would skip the fruit
YMMV

T

 

[jimmyjusa]

Just make sure to crush wheat adequately....wheat is a small and hard kernel and often under crushed, the issue amplifies w a large present whet.

Thank you i still do that when i go get the grains

 

[MX1]

IMO, wheat and Munich is all you need

 

[jimmyjusa]

Thank you again, that definitely helps keep it simple.

 

[jimmyjusa]

With this being my first batch I'm not sure what my efficiency will be, so I'm thinking 12 pounds, 6 wheat 6 Munich, should give me a decent gravity for a 5 gallon batch. Now with this should i just get the lighter grains or get the darker? I'm also thinking of doing an open fermentation to get more of the esters since it's supposed to help with regular hefeweizen beers. Lhbs wasn't very helpful and tried changing my bill to 8 lb 2-row, 3 pounds wheat, then a half pound each of caramel 60 and a roast malt. He said half and half wouldn't work at all, so i said thank you and I'll be going to the other lhbs for my grains.

 

[MX1]

I would go with
6 wheat
6 Munich
4-6 oz of crystal 40-60 your call
2 oz of a darker malt...120 or maybe special B

 

[jimmyjusa]

Thank you, that looks good. Guy at the shop also told me i have the wrong yeast type (mj m20 which says it's for hefe and wheat styles) and that it would be better in a wheat beer... i thought to myself, that's what I'm planning to brew, just a darker, maltier wheat beer.

 

[MX1]

never go back to the LHBS....lol

 

[jimmyjusa]

never go back to the LHBS....lol

Haha, well that one was a few minutes from my house. The other one is just a half hour away and it's ran by some really nice people who have been helpful before so I'll be going there once I'm ready to brew and I'll get my grains there.

 

[jimmyjusa]

Picked up grains today, changed my plan a little bit.
7 lbs white wheat
7 lbs 20L Munich
Going to do a 6 gallon batch split into 2 3 gallon buckets and using fermentis wb-06 with one and mangrove jack m20 in the other. I figure this will be the easiest way to test out a couple yeasts at once.

My plan is a mash at 153, unsure on how much water i should be using for the mash and boil volumes, I'm thinking 6 gallons for the mash, either dunk or batch sparging in 2 gallons of water, and boiling for 90 minutes.

My kettle is 10 gallons and is about 16" wide and 16"deep. I don't know what my boil off rate is going to be, or if there is a way to calculate this.

 

[jtratcliff]

Use this to figure out volumes, strike temps, etc:
https://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/#Advanced

Edit to add:

for a 10G pot, 16" wide, it estimates you'll need 7.4 gal for a 5.5 gal batch w/ a 1.47 gal/hr boil off rate...

 

[jimmyjusa]

Use this to figure out volumes, strike temps, etc:
https://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/#Advanced

Edit to add:

for a 10G pot, 16" wide, it estimates you'll need 7.4 gal for a 5.5 gal batch w/ a 1.47 gal/hr boil off rate...

If I'm doing the numbers correctly I'll need 8.9 gallons for a 6 gallon batch if i do 90 minute or 8.5 for a 60 minute boil. I tried sparge and no sparge for both times and the end total volume is the same. Is there a way to calculate the volume of grains? I'm thinking I'll have to sparge to avoid overflowing. Looking at 6.125gal mash volume and 2.22gal to sparge with.

 

[jtratcliff]

Is there a way to calculate the volume of grains?

Look all the way to the right, under "Water Volumes and Heights" for "Volume of Mash with Grains"... You can also double check with GreenBay Rackers Mash Calculator...
https://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml ... scroll down to "Can I Mash It?"

 

[jimmyjusa]

Thanks again, since I'm looking to do a split batch ending with 6 gallons end product, i adjusted to 6.5gal batch. with this I'll be doing a 6.75gal strike volume which will get me just over 8 gallons after adding the grains. Then I'll be doing a 2 gallon sparge to rinse the grains and get up to my pre-boil volume of just over 8 gallons total. My plan was to do this on Saturday but there may be a delay due to family stuff, i guess I'll be able to do something late at night if needed be.

 

[jimmyjusa]

Sorry for the jumble to follow, notes written as i went along today:
163 strike 6.75 gallons
14 lbs grain i hit 155.5 at dough in
153 at 30 minutes
150 at 60 minutes and 90
Sparge 2 gallons at 170
Stir grains then squeeze bag
.5 gallon loss to grains
1.046 preboil gravity 8.25 gallons
Mash for 90 minutes, stirring on the half hour
1 oz hallertau 60
.5 oz hallertau at 15 with wort chiller
Ended up at 7.5 gallons in the kettle so i boiled off .75 gallons during the boil
1.054 at 77* adjust to calibration it's 1.056 starting gravity.
I ended up with around 3.5 gallons in each fermenter, one pitched with mangrove jack m20, one with safale wb-06. Lids are on loosely to hopefully get more esters to be produced and fermenting upstairs which fluctuates between 73 and 76 instead of basement that sits at 68, also to increase ester production.

 

[jimmyjusa]

Pretty good beer, not what i had pictured or planned as it has a tartness to it more than maltiness but still quite drinkable. Happy that it still came out decent for my first all grain batch. I don't notice any banana in either one so I'll have to try this one again after some adjustments

 

[MX1]

Looks good!!

Keep your notes and make one change at a time

 

[brew703]

If you like wheat beer, try Mosaic Honey wheat.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/mosaic-honey-wheat.470698/
I changed the hop additions some.
.25 oz Mosaic & warrior FWH
.75 oz mosaic @ 15
1.25 oz mosaic @FO
3 oz Mosaic DH for 4 days
It didn't have a huge wheat taste but the honey flavor was there and made this beer.

 

[jimmyjusa]

Looks good!!

Keep your notes and make one change at a time

Thank you, not sure what i should change first but thinking malt bill may be best. Perhaps going to a maris otter base plus dark munich for 70% of the grain then add wheat for the other 30%. Other thought would be a touch of crystal malt to give it a malty sweetness perhaps in the darker realm to get it a but darker as well

 

[jimmyjusa]

If you like wheat beer, try Mosaic Honey wheat.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/mosaic-honey-wheat.470698/
I changed the hop additions some.
.25 oz Mosaic & warrior FWH
.75 oz mosaic @ 15
1.25 oz mosaic @FO
3 oz Mosaic DH for 4 days
It didn't have a huge wheat taste but the honey flavor was there and made this beer.

That does look pretty good, mosaic based on its profile would probably be awesome. There are a few other nz hops that i think would be nice as well. Pacific gem and rakau seem interesting to go with the wheat beer general profile.