First Time BIAB

[yipp]

Im about to attempt my first BIAB... actually it's my first attempt at any kind of AG. This recipe is for a 3.5 gal mini-BIAB that Ill be making in my 5gal pot.

I understand the basics of how BIAB works but Im not fully understanding everything in the brewing steps from BeerSmith (mash in/mash out/fly sparge?).

Can anyone help me out and explain the first few brewing steps from the recipe I've attached? Once I have the wort, I get it from there since it's basically the same as when I was using extract.

Appreciate any help or advice.

 

[dstranger99]

If your doing BIAB, use this thread, It's how I learned.....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/

 

[JDGator]

i don't think you have your mash profile set at BIAB. look at the bottom on the design page, there should be a profile for mash and you can select options. that will eliminate the sparge.

 

[yipp]

I should have mentioned I'm also new to BeerSmith so that may be the case. I'll check the mash profile and that may make things a little clearer for me. Thank you for the advice!

 

[Oginme]

If this is your first brew using beersmith, I recommend writing down every step, taking careful measurements of temperatures, volumes and specific gravity, and then recording the temperatures as you go through the brew day. Then set up an equipment profile and mash profile which matches the basic steps and equipment you used. reenter the recipe using the new profile and make adjustments to the profile to get the specific gravity readings, temperatures and volumes you hit. This will set you up for your next brew day with a more accurate estimation of what you should expect.

 

[1MadScientist]

Im about to attempt my first BIAB... actually it's my first attempt at any kind of AG. This recipe is for a 3.5 gal mini-BIAB that Ill be making in my 5gal pot.

I understand the basics of how BIAB works but Im not fully understanding everything in the brewing steps from BeerSmith (mash in/mash out/fly sparge?).


Appreciate any help or advice.

I would mash in with 4 gallons, that would give you a nice 4.42 gallons of mash volume and a 2.83 qt/lb liquor to grain ratio, and following the link in post #2 above (deathbrewer), use a second pot with 1 gallon for sparging, not going over the 170 F he stated.

 

[wilserbrewer]

With a 3.5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon pot, you could simply mash in with 4 gallons, after the mash add hot water to fill the pot near the rim and stir and rest a few minutes, remove the bag and hold it over the pot in a colander or whatever you can rig, a couple long kitchen utensils would even work to support the bag over the kettle.

Then gently pour the sparge water over and through the bag to fill the pot...say 4.5 gallons and boil.

You can make it simple without measuring volumes if you want to keep it simple...I doesn't have to be difficult to get good results.

 

[yipp]

I updated BeerSmith so the mash profile is set to BIAB - Full body and what to clarify if I am reading the brewing steps correctly?

I will be adding 4.71 gal of water and heating it to 161.1 F. Once it reaches that temp I add the grains. By adding the grains it will drop the temperature and I want to keep it at 156 F for 60 mins. After 60 mins at 156 F I add heat to bring it to 168F for 10 mins. At this point I remove the grain bag and will let it steep out and then add additional water to bring it back to 4.31 gal in the pot.

I then bring the wort to a boil. 15 mins after the boil starts I add the Chinook hops. Then 25 mins later add the Perle hops and finishing boiling for 20 more minutes.

For the final hops, I will add the cascade hops when I transfer to a secondary.

 

[wilserbrewer]

You have maxed out your kettle for the mash with that much strike water, mixing the grain in with that much strike water will be difficult without spilling,,,that reflects the resultant volume, not the volume as you are mixing it in will be over 5 gal.

This is why I suggested mashing with 4 gallons and maxing out the kettle after the mash...

Rather than adding additional water to the kettle after removing the bag, I would try a sparge...up to you.

 

[RM-MN]

I updated BeerSmith so the mash profile is set to BIAB - Full body and what to clarify if I am reading the brewing steps correctly?

I will be adding 4.71 gal of water and heating it to 161.1 F. Once it reaches that temp I add the grains. By adding the grains it will drop the temperature and I want to keep it at 156 F for 60 mins. After 60 mins at 156 F I add heat to bring it to 168F for 10 mins. At this point I remove the grain bag and will let it steep out and then add additional water to bring it back to 4.31 gal in the pot.

I then bring the wort to a boil. 15 mins after the boil starts I add the Chinook hops. Then 25 mins later add the Perle hops and finishing boiling for 20 more minutes.

For the final hops, I will add the cascade hops when I transfer to a secondary.

Quoting someone else on HBT, KISS. Keep it stupid simple. You are making beer, not a soufle. Heat the water somewhere between 158 and 162. I never could make the heat quit to get my strike temp to 161.1, my thermometer won't even read that close and I can really only measure the amount of water between 4 1/2 and 4 3/4. OH, by the way, if your pot is 5 gallons and you put in 4 1/2 gallons of water and add the grains, it will run over. Reduce your recipe size to 2 1/2 gallons and it will work out.

Stir in the grains, I mean really stir them in so you don't have any clumps. If your grain is crushed really fine, you don't need 60 minutes to mash, I've been giving mine 30 with good results but for this time the 60 would be good. Mash out? Why? You pull the bag of grains out when the mash is done and turn the heat back on. Your wort will reach mashout temp in minutes and continue on to boil. The enzymes will give up way before the boil.

Let your bag of grains drain and keep adding that liquid back to the boil pot. Squeeze it out, like really squeeze it out. It owes you. Now look at how much wort you have in the boil pot. Not enough? Add the amount you need to the bag of grains, stir it in a bit and squeeze it out again. 4.31 gallons? How about 3 1/2 to 4 gallons. Much easier to guess. It will still make beer and if you crushed you grains really fine and rinsed out as much sugar as you can, you will probably be pretty close to the predicted OG if you are at 4.

Watch the pot when it approaches boil, like really watch it with your right hand on the heat control and a spray bottle of water in the other and be ready to use both at once. If you have never done all grain before you will be shocked at how much hot break material you get and how quickly it will boil over.

Start now looking for a bigger pot than the 5 gallon one you have. Once you find out how simple BIAB really is you are going to want to do some 5 gallong batches too. I use a turkey fryer (7 1/2 gallons) but I have to watch my quantities carefully so I don't over flow it. Pretty hard to make a big beer in that size pot too so if you decide you want to try an imperial or barleywine, get the bigger pot. I'd suggest you look for a 10 gallon.:rockin:

 

[C-Rider]

For 5 lb of grain you should only loose about .25 gal to the grain if you squeeze the hell out of y our bag. I'm doing 2 gallon batches using 4-6 lbs of grain in a 5 gallon cooler to mash. I use any where from 2.7 to 2.9 gallons of water. Try somethng smaller to see what fits, then you can go up in size w/each brew til you hit your max. 2.9 gallons of strike water leaves me about 1.9 gallon of cool wort to ferment and about 1.8 g to bottle giving me about 18 bottles.

 

[Epimetheus]

BeerSmith was confusing to me when I first used it with BIAB. The software is designed for more conventional multi-vessel brewing and the sparging & stuff cannot be blanked out for BIAB. I learned to ignore the suggestions about sparging, mash in/out, etc. Then it made sense for BIAB.

The BS strike water calculator uses x gallons per lb for grain. This is distracting for BIAB. I use an online calculator to determine strike water temperature using ALL the water at once. I use BS to create the recipe and calculate the hops.

 

[yipp]

Quoting someone else on HBT, KISS. Keep it stupid simple. You are making beer, not a soufle. Heat the water somewhere between 158 and 162. I never could make the heat quit to get my strike temp to 161.1, my thermometer won't even read that close and I can really only measure the amount of water between 4 1/2 and 4 3/4. OH, by the way, if your pot is 5 gallons and you put in 4 1/2 gallons of water and add the grains, it will run over. Reduce your recipe size to 2 1/2 gallons and it will work out.

Stir in the grains, I mean really stir them in so you don't have any clumps. If your grain is crushed really fine, you don't need 60 minutes to mash, I've been giving mine 30 with good results but for this time the 60 would be good. Mash out? Why? You pull the bag of grains out when the mash is done and turn the heat back on. Your wort will reach mashout temp in minutes and continue on to boil. The enzymes will give up way before the boil.

Let your bag of grains drain and keep adding that liquid back to the boil pot. Squeeze it out, like really squeeze it out. It owes you. Now look at how much wort you have in the boil pot. Not enough? Add the amount you need to the bag of grains, stir it in a bit and squeeze it out again. 4.31 gallons? How about 3 1/2 to 4 gallons. Much easier to guess. It will still make beer and if you crushed you grains really fine and rinsed out as much sugar as you can, you will probably be pretty close to the predicted OG if you are at 4.

Watch the pot when it approaches boil, like really watch it with your right hand on the heat control and a spray bottle of water in the other and be ready to use both at once. If you have never done all grain before you will be shocked at how much hot break material you get and how quickly it will boil over.

Start now looking for a bigger pot than the 5 gallon one you have. Once you find out how simple BIAB really is you are going to want to do some 5 gallong batches too. I use a turkey fryer (7 1/2 gallons) but I have to watch my quantities carefully so I don't over flow it. Pretty hard to make a big beer in that size pot too so if you decide you want to try an imperial or barleywine, get the bigger pot. I'd suggest you look for a 10 gallon.:rockin:

This may be the best advice I have received on HBT "Keep it stupid simple. You are making beer, not a soufle". I read so many articles that talk about the science of brewing and it worries me. I think I need to step back and just have fun with it. I will stick to the recipe but if I'm a degree off on the temp or boil 4.2 gal rather then 4.3 gal, so be it. I'm sure I will still enjoy the fruits of my labor and I'll learn how to improve along the way. Thanks for the advice!!

 

[RM-MN]

I will stick to the recipe but if I'm a degree off on the temp or boil 4.2 gal rather then 4.3 gal, so be it. I'm sure I will still enjoy the fruits of my labor and I'll learn how to improve along the way.

I've been farther off than that and still made decent beer. The one in the fermenter now was supposed to be 5.25 gallons so I would get 2 cases of bottles and when I put the lid on the bucket I wondered where the krausen would fit. I must have over 6 gallons in there. Oops. It fermented very cool so it didn't raise a big krausen and the main part of the ferment is over so I'm sure it will be good beer.