First BIAB tomorrow..

[duck911]

I've been an extract brewer for 20 years but my nephew and I decided to try BIAB, so tomorrow is the day! I've been doing a ton of reading here, so feel somewhat prepared. I am CONFIDENT we will make beer.

Today we whacked the top off a spare keg, installed a sight glass, and did a test boil to get our boil-off rate (1.4 gal/h).

We're brewing a loose interpretation of O'dell Loose Leaf session ale. Basically, an extra pale ale.

7.5 lb 2-row
1.5 lb crystal 10
2 oz cascade (60 min)
1 oz cascade (1 min)
US-05

7.4 gal strike water at 160 degrees to hit 154 degrees for 60 min. 5 gallon total volume.

Other than our process (first BIAB), brew house efficiency is the big wild card, so we'll see. We have an extra pound of DME in case we need to adjust OG at the end.

Thanks all for contributing to this forum - I feel pretty prepared from all of the great expertise here.

--Duck911

 

[RM-MN]

I've been an extract brewer for 20 years but my nephew and I decided to try BIAB, so tomorrow is the day! I've been doing a ton of reading here, so feel somewhat prepared. I am CONFIDENT we will make beer.

Today we whacked the top off a spare keg, installed a sight glass, and did a test boil to get our boil-off rate (1.4 gal/h).

We're brewing a loose interpretation of O'dell Loose Leaf session ale. Basically, an extra pale ale.

7.5 lb 2-row
1.5 lb crystal 10
2 oz cascade (60 min)
1 oz cascade (1 min)
US-05

7.4 gal strike water at 160 degrees to hit 154 degrees for 60 min. 5 gallon total volume.

Other than our process (first BIAB), brew house efficiency is the big wild card, so we'll see. We have an extra pound of DME in case we need to adjust OG at the end.

Thanks all for contributing to this forum - I feel pretty prepared from all of the great expertise here.

--Duck911

I had trouble with brewhouse efficiency for my first few BIAB batches but a pound of DME wouldn't have helped. I overshot the expected OG by quite a bit. That comes mostly from the milling of the grain so if you mill extra fine, your DME won't be needed and instead you may have a high gravity brew.

 

[enkamania]

Double crush and stir the heck out of it would be my advice

 

[C-Rider]

Crush to powder and SQUEEZE as much as you can out of the bag.

 

[GearDaddys]

Good luck and have fun! Take lots of notes on your numbers as you go along.. Also, at this stage you may not know if you're going to be a 'squeeze' or a 'drip' guy.. But pick one and stick with it for a little bit.. You'll want to replicate your process as much as possible over several brews to see what your brewhouse efficiency truly is.. I squeezed my first batch.. then I found out that the software I'm using (brewsmith) accounts for draining the bag, not squeezing.. That goofed up my numbers.. I don't think it matters how you do some of this, as long as you do it the same way each time.. As far as being able to predictably hit your numbers down the road..

Cheers and have fun!!

 

[jump_xiii]

Good luck!
BIAB is an awesome technique- I'm glad I chose BIAB as my AG method rather than trying to cobble together a 3 vessel system with limited resources. Personally I see AG brewing as more of an art than a science, so I don't measure much and in 5 or 6 batches that I've done I've never calculated my efficiency. I just don't care, so long as my process is repeatable and produces beer that I enjoy.