First time BIAB recipe help

[Brinck17]

I have been brewing 3 gallon extract batches in a mr beer and it just wasn't enough beer to share. So I just ordered the Bayou Clasic 800-416 the 16 gallon kettle. I want to do a 10 gallon batch. Not sure about how the efficiency will be but I'm going to assume 70%. aiming for 6% around 40-50ibu
1) how does this recipe look? 2) will if fit okay in the kettle? 3) do I need to make a starter for yeast I've always just pitched 1 packet? 4) I'm thinking some sort of English ale yeast. any suggestions?

Malt
2 row 13 lbs
Crystal 60L 5 lbs
Munich 3 lbs
Carapils 2 lbs

Hops
Bravo 1oz 90min
Crystal 1oz 60min
Crystal 1oz 15min
Crystal 1oz 3min

 

[jjw5015]

1) That's ALOT of crystal. Use maybe half of that

2) That's cutting it pretty close for kettle size. Probably can't do full volume mash.

3) Definitely need more yeast. If liquid, you would need 3-4 packs depending on O.G.

 

[Bauzer]

What are you trying to make? Red Ale?

I was under the impression that most of the liquid yeasts you can get, you can get away with pitching straight in if you are doing 5 gal batches (though a starter is encouraged). So you will definitely need more yeast, be it a starter, or a second vial. Maybe get two vials and do a starter with both.

Do you not have BeerSmith? I'd highly suggest it, or BrewTarget and enter in your Tun info and recipe. It will give you a better idea with what you are working with.

 

[Sadu]

I have just started BIAB brewing and Beersmith has been great for this sort of thing. Ultimately there are plenty of great recipes out there but you have to adapt them for what's available at your suppliers, and adjust for your batch size and setup. I found Beersmith makes it a lot easier to plan out recipes based on what's available.

And I'm no expert but that does seem like a lot of crystal malt.

 

[dstockwell]

Not sure I would use that crystal hop @ 60. Low AA will just be obliterated at 60 min. Plugged this into Brewers Friend.

 

[Brinck17]

thanks for the replies.

I just want to make a good old pub ale, not too hoppy, nice body, a little malty, something that would go great with a burger and fries.

totally decided to make a starter now. haven't used BeerSmith I did download the free trial but it was kind of confusing.

 

[brew703]

If you can get some Maris Otter I would use that as well as the 2 Row. 5 lbs of crystal seems way too much.
Maybe you should try a proven recipe, like D A Yoopers Pale ale,https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=100304 . Not too hoppy and is an all around good brew.

 

[brew703]

You might also want to check out Priceless Brewing, http://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/. Enter in the info and it will give you the amount of water needed and if you will be able to do a 10 gallon batch in a 16 gallon kettle. I doubt you will be able to do a full volume mash. If you cant, maybe cut back to 7 or 8 gallon batch.

 

[Aristotelian]

Way way way way way waaaaaay too much crystal/carapils. 1 lb total would be a good amount.

 

[chickypad]

Way way way way way waaaaaay too much crystal/carapils. 1 lb total would be a good amount.

Wow, agreed. At 7 lbs total you are at 30%. You shouldn't need the carapils at all and as mentioned something more like a 1lb of the 60 is better. If you want something a little malty try some vienna or munich instead. Or just brew Yooper's house pale linked above (you could just use 1 lb of 60 and skip the 20 if you want to only buy one crystal malt).

Edit: remembered this is a 10 gal batch. So in the neighborhood of 2 lbs crystal would be fine, be about 9%.

 

[TheHopfather]

Agree with what has been said above, that much crystal is too much. You'll end up with a cloyingly sweet beer with 30% crystal. Looks like a British beer so some crystal is acceptable, keep it below 10%. Carapils and crystal are redundant, you can drop the carapils and you won't notice.

Your 60 min addition of Crystal hops you can also dump. Just get any missing IBU's back by increasing the Bravo addition. You won't taste that Crystal at 60 so you are just wasting hops, use the high AA stuff for bitter and save the low AA stuff for flavor/aroma additions.

You'll need more yeast. Think 1 packet (dry) or 1 smackpack (liquid) per 5 gal. If you aren't making starters yet I would suggest buying 2 packs of yeast, one for each carboy.

If you are worried about volume you can always reserve some water from the mash, dunk or pour over sparge when the mash is complete and add that water back into the boil kettle for the boil. Why the 90 min boil? Seems like you are just increasing the length of your brew day and the amount of water needed. You can make this beer perfectly fine with a 60 min boil.

 

[Bauzer]

Beersmith can definitely be kind of confusing for sure, but play around with it. I'm still pretty new at it, and still trying to dial in my efficiency. you'll want to add your equipment to the options. on the left side is a tree of options, one is equipment, once you click on there I think you get a list of the kettle options, and near the top you can create your own..
then after that, just try and toss in what you know as best you can.. and you'll pick up more an more as you use it.

 

[ed007]

If I were you I would do a 5-gallon batch with the new setup to see where your efficiency numbers are before attempting a a bigger batch. When I started BIAB in my 16-gallon Bayou, I made a 5-gallon recipe assuming 72% default efficiency from Beersmith. My OG was much higher that I had to dilute the wort. It turns out my efficiency was in the 80's with BIAB. If you mill the grains fine or double mill, you will hit 80's easily. As for the recipe, stay away from a lot of Crystal. Rule is 5-10% depending on the beer you make.