First Brew day (BIAB)

[dstockwell]

Everything seemed to go smooth, hit all the timers. Now for the bad, efficiency was terrible what should have been 1.057, ended up 1.042. I contemplated grinding a little finer in the food processor before hand, but since this was my first brew decided not to.

My little corner in the garage.

Misc pics

Whirlfloc doing it's job ?

Looks pretty clear to me, just low O.G.

 

[enkamania]

I keep this link handy (along with some DME) in case I need to raise my gravity

http://merrycuss.com/calc/gravityadjustmentextract.html

 

[GearDaddys]

Did you double crush your grains? When I switched over to BIAB I went ahead and got a small grain mill, and tightened up the rollers.. I'd do another brew with double crushed grains (or do it yourself very with a very fine crush).. Then start working your effiency numbers with something like beersmith if you aren't using it.. After a few brews, you'll be nailing your numbers..

 

[Anmetcalf]

I recently switched over to biab and my first one was low, my cure was to add a pound of corn sugar to the fermenter. Worked for me that time.

Now I double mill my grain and add 10% to the grain bill.

 

[dstockwell]

Thanks all.. I plan on using the food processor on the remaining 20lbs of pre crushed i have for the next one. I have beersmith, just need to get in there and double check equipment etc.

 

[Gavin C]

Congrats on a successful first brew and welcome to the forum.

Looks like you've put a great deal of thought into things.

I really enjoy the BIAB method. Love the results. No doubt you will too.

 

[casualbrewer]

Yep probably need to double crush. Have done 4 biab beers and my first one was a double crush and got 75%. My other 3 have been in the 60's
....

 

[dstockwell]

Looks like you've put a great deal of thought into things.

Thanks.. read lots of posts, watched tons of videos, and read some of a couple books...

 

[RM-MN]

Thanks all.. I plan on using the food processor on the remaining 20lbs of pre crushed i have for the next one. I have beersmith, just need to get in there and double check equipment etc.

Now might be the time to invest in a mill designed for milling grain before you burn out the motor on the food processor. I use a cheap Corona style mill and get great efficiency. I'll assume that you will continue to brew and might want to cut the cost some by buying uncrushed grain in bulk.

 

[eadavis80]

Yup - double or extra fine crush will help. I also, personally, have found better efficiencies with my BIAB when I squeezed the bag moderately at the end and after a dunk sparge. Also, I used PH stabilizer, which some say is pointless, or even bad, but IME, all these things helped me.

 

[cannman]

I hitting mid 60s Biab until I started to recirculate. Jumped right up between 73~78% when trying for 74%. Give it a shot!!

 

[dstockwell]

I will definitely have to find another way than re-circulation - at least right now, more equipment not an option. Unless there is a manual way to recirculate. Will work on finer crush and squeezing the bag more than I did on the first brew. Also did not do a mashout first time, will likely do that on the next. I drain my bag into the same bucket my grains were in so i could dunk sparge a little if needed.

 

[jmpreiks]

I will definitely have to find another way than re-circulation - at least right now, more equipment not an option. Will work on finer crush and squeezing the bag more than I did on the first brew. Also did not do a mashout first time, will likely do that on the next. I drain my bag into the same bucket my grains were in so i could dunk sparge a little if needed.

Double crushing the grains makes a big difference for me. Another thing is that I put the bag on a strainer and let it drain for a while into a bucket that I pour back into the kettle. I squeeze it a little at that point but nothing excessive.

With this no frills method, BrewersFriend.com tells me I get up to ~88% conversion efficiency, ~70% ending kettle efficiency, and ~67% brew house (into the fermenter) efficiency, which accounts for various volume losses in my process.

No need to get fancy if you don't want to, just get a repeatable process down and you can adjust your recipes easily for whatever efficiency you end up with.

 

[cannman]

Ok. With Biab (and especially wislerbrewer bags). You can pretty much grind to a meal. Crushing the husks is not a great thing, but we make compromises to get good beer with what we have. What I would do is hold back about a gallon of your mashing water and when you raise your bag, rinse it before you squeeze. You might also try and dunk your bag like you said, and I would invest in a cheapo ph meter and some adjuncts to get into the sweet spot (about $20 should set you up). It's also okay to stir your mash!

 

[jmpreiks]

Ok. With Biab (and especially wislerbrewer bags). You can pretty much grind to a meal. Crushing the husks is not a great thing, but we make compromises to get good beer with what we have. What I would do is hold back about a gallon of your mashing water and when you raise your bag, rinse it before you squeeze. You might also try and dunk your bag like you said, and I would invest in a cheapo ph meter and some adjuncts to get into the sweet spot (about $20 should set you up). It's also okay to stir your mash!

Good point on the water pH. I don't have a pH meter (yet) but I started making water adjustments using the Bru'n Water spreadsheet. I have to add about 5mL of 88% lactic acid to bring my (calculated) pH down. I have read that BIAB mashes tend to need more pH adjustment than regular mashes due to the added volume, but I don't know enough about it to speak with authority on the subject... all I know is proper water adjustments make better beer.

But seriously, you REALLY don't need to worry about all this on your first few batches. Just relax and get the basics figured out first. Your beer will still be good. Don't need to overwhelm yourself with a million details right off the bat.

 

[dstockwell]

I was stirring about every 15 minutes on a 60 min mash. Maybe stir more often and mash for 75 minutes.

 

[cannman]

I was stirring about every 15 minutes on a 60 min mash. Maybe stir more often and mash for 75 minutes.

Nah that sounds good.

Just one last note, 60% eff mashes should taste great! There's a point of diminishing returns especially in terms of flavor as you get higher and higher. Just compensate with more grain. I can't speak for any other software other than Beersmith, but BS will appropriately scale a recipe if you are hitting low efficiency but have a recipe that was set for 75

 

[Gavin C]

I'm a proponent of maximizing the efficiency in your system through what ever means are feasible. Making sure your doing this equates to better consistency in my setup. That's the key point with targeting better efficiency.

The bigest factor is controlling the crush. Get a mill, it doesn't need to be fancy.

Crush fine to get the benefit of the unblockable manifold (bag)

I put together a couple of walkthroughs in my sig. You might find somethings may be helpful (or not).

 

[RM-MN]

I was stirring about every 15 minutes on a 60 min mash. Maybe stir more often and mash for 75 minutes.

I only stir the grains to add them to the bag that is submerged in the water already and I get 80% or more efficiency with a 20 minute mash but I mill my grains really well. If you get better efficiency from a 75 minute mash than you do a 60, it tells me that your grain milling isn't fine enough.

 

[dstockwell]

Thanks everyone, will definitely work on the crush first thing..

 

[dstockwell]

So my first brew has been in the fermentor for 7 days, I have not taken an FG reading but I wanted to check and see if all was well. After a quick open and a pic, back into the mini fridge for two more weeks.

 

[Gavin C]

Looks like it's pretty much done fermenting. You now have no protective CO2 in the FV so your beer is a little at risk. I would plan on packaging the beer a lot sooner than 2 weeks time. I wouldn't be surprised if you're at your FG already in which case it's ready to package. Nothing to be gained by waiting. It may be harmful in this case.

Take a gravity reading tonight. Take another in 2 days. I bet you the readings will be identical. Package the beer.

(Make sure both readings are taken on samples at the same temperature otherwise you may see a difference based solely on measurement error, albeit a very small one)

 

[dstockwell]

OK, now I am so confused. Should I have not opened it if to leave in the fermentor for yeast to clean up (3 weeks total). I only base this on so many threads about leaving it for that period of time...

 

[Gavin C]

Yeah, opening is not a good idea. If you can avoid it avoid it.

3 weeks is a good rule of thumb that in most cases will see you right.

You will likely be OK if you want to wait but I would not wait. Looks like it's done. Take a gravity reading now that you've opened it.

Do the same in 2 days

 

[Iseneye]

My reply was longer than anticipated but....

-your lower than anticipated gravity can be attributed to a number of factors - not just mash efficiency which people are commenting on. The two I ended up resolving were boil off rate and grain absorption. I was only boiling 4.5 litres per hour instead of the 6 that I put in beersmith. I also find that I get a ridiculously small grain absorption factor so had to alter my Beersmith absorbtion rate. The above two factors resulted in my wort having an extra two litres of liquid into the fermenter and affecting the OG.

-how did you determine your theoretical OG? Is it through software or based on someone's recipe? Software is only influenced by the data you put in so that needs to be correct. If it's someone else's recipe they normally state their brewhouse efficiency.

-pH meters. Do not waste money on a cheap meter and do not use pH stabilizer. I'd rather you spend that money on grain or save up for something decent. I too bought a cheapish meter when I didn't know better and wish I had known in advance! Go to the brew science forum if you want to read more.

-5ml of lactic acid into your brews (assuming 5 gallons) is at the higher end of adjustments. If you're not measuring your pH with a good meter then who knows where that 5ml is taking you. I assume you know your water profile because you are using Brun water. If you don't know your water profile then the lactic acid adjustment may be miles off.

-Your photo shows an open vessel in sun. I'm sure it was only briefly but fermented beer and sun are a bad combination. Also avoid having the lid entirely off during the process because baddies can get in there.

 

[dstockwell]

-how did you determine your theoretical OG? Is it through software or based on someone's recipe? Software is only influenced by the data you put in so that needs to be correct. If it's someone else's recipe they normally state their brewhouse efficiency.

Through software based on 75%, I could change those numbers if needed. I will first work on a finer crush before adding more grains.

-Your photo shows an open vessel in sun. I'm sure it was only briefly but fermented beer and sun are a bad combination. Also avoid having the lid entirely off during the process because baddies can get in there.

The last picture showing the fermented beer is in a garage, light is on. The brewing pictures, since it's my back porch will have sun, depending on time of day.

 

[dstockwell]

Yeah, opening is not a good idea. If you can avoid it avoid it.

3 weeks is a good rule of thumb that in most cases will see you right.

You will likely be OK if you want to wait but I would not wait. Looks like it's done. Take a gravity reading now that you've opened it.

Do the same in 2 days

Not sure how quickly (days wise) I can bottle, but I do have a 3 gallon carboy I could transfer. Yea I know, no need for a secondary unless adding items, just a thought.

 

[IowaHomeBrewer]

My biggest mistake when switching to single vessel BIAB after a 3 tier system was not adjusting for grain absorption. I had way too much water and it was diluting my wort and the OG was low.

I adjusted my numbers after some advice from people on this forum and actually hit 78% efficiency on my batch yesterday.

I lowered absorption calculations to .08 gallons per lb of grain. I ended up at .05, so I could have gotten even higher efficiency.

 

[Gavin C]

Not sure how quickly (days wise) I can bottle, but I do have a 3 gallon carboy I could transfer. Yea I know, no need for a secondary unless adding items, just a thought.

Nah, I wouldn't bother. Just close it up and bottle it when you can. Next weekend if you have time would be fine, (the beer will be 2 weeks in the FV at that stage)

Don't worry about it too much. I'm not trying to be the harbinger of doom and gloom. You haven't killed your beer by taking off the lid. There is likely still some C02 in suspension which will increase the partial CO2 pressure in the headspace once the lid goes back on.

I would not open it again until your bottling. Take a gravity reading when you are bottling.The FV is open then anyway.Multiple readings are not going to be needed here.

*Many will say this is dicing with disaster as you don't know fermentation has ceased, I would disagree and don't take multiple readings before packaging.

A good bottling thread is here. Well worth a read in addition to what you've already covered.

 

[dstockwell]

And the waiting begins.

 

[dstockwell]

OK like all new brewers I had to find out. After eight days in the bottle - not ready. Crappy phone pics...