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- Feb 25, 2015
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Hi all,
I'm asking for any advice/critique on my process and any insight in how to take my beer up a notch. Unfortunately, there's no brew clubs around my area to critique my beers, so I figured with the vast experience of brewers on this site, it would be a great place to turn to. I will try to make this as detailed as I can (this will be a multi post as there is a lot).
*In my last 10 or so batches, I recently started using brewing salts with city water and notice my beer is tasting different and not as good. I used to use bottle water and that is described below. I'm not sure if that's what caused the recent beer to taste "different" and not as good as my first 40 batches. I realize it could be a combination of things, so I listed out my process below which has generally stayed the same.
I'm looking for:
1) What am I doing wrong in my process?
2) Any improvements to help my beer achieve better quality using BIAB techinques?
First a little background:
I have almost 50 BIAB batches done so far with good results, most of my family and friends love the beer. I have only done all grain BIAB, never traditional 3 vessel all grain, however I understand the methods associated. I taught myself how to brew mainly from this site and a few others. I have brewed a slew of different styles from recipes posted on this site and the Zymurgy mag (Biermuncher's Blonde Ale, Apfelwein, Zombie Dust, Pliny, Pale Ale, Kolsch, Lager, etc.). I find that I generally can repeat recipes batch after batch as my efficiency is constant and my fermentation is controlled in a chest freezer. I recently switched to city water instead of bottled, and my batches have started tasting different. I brew in my basement, single vessel, with an Avantco 3500 induction burner with my 15.5 gallon brew kettle.
Grain
I use a cereal killer grain mill and keep the crush constant. I believe its mill gap is set around 0.03" guessing by the printed measurements on the side (never measured it, however it is thinner than a credit card). I messed with it once after I read someone's post that their FG was too low after making their crush too fine, not sure if that's true? I have since stopped worrying about that and keep it constant. I generally buy grains before brew day and crush them right before I mash in. I don't keep grains for very long, usually less than a few months.
Mash
The brew kettle equipped with a false bottom that sits about 2.75" from the bottom, about 2 gallons of dead space below the false bottom. I use a Wilser bag which I have not found any issues with. The kettle has two layers of reflectix to maintain mash temperatures without applied heat. I find the two layers is enough for maintaining temperatures for 60 or more minutes. At one time, I was considering adding a pump, as my kettle is ported already (towards the top on the side), but I'm not sure how much that will improve my mashing.
I stir like crazy in the beginning with a large whisk to break up dough balls and try to even the water temperature throughout the grain. I will stir again about every 10-min or so just to check on temperature, or if I'm really paranoid I will monitor closely for the first half hour.
Brewing salts are added as the mash water is being heated. Mashing is either 60-min or 90-min depending on the recipe. I check pH during the mash to make sure I'm in the 5.2-5.6 range, and add lactic acid in 1 ml adjustments if necessary. I check pH by taking a sample out about 5-10 minutes into the mash, letting it cool to 70ish, and use my $15 dollar amazon meter. I only double calibrated it once with the provided solution, and always rinse it with distilled water before storage. Not too concerned with pH as long as my efficiency remains in the 80's.
Speaking of efficiency, it's generally in the mid to high 80's. I have been at a steady 86% for awhile with sparging.
Sparge
Before I add the grain, when strike temperature is achieved, I take out 0.5-1.0 gallons of water. This way, the brew salts are already in it and the temp is close to 120*F during sparging. To sparge, I have a large strainer that fits over the kettle and put the bag in and slowly dump the water over. It will free drain as the kettle is brought up to boiling temperature. I have squeezed the bag before, not squeezed, lightly squeezed, etc. and haven't noticed a difference in the final product (that I know of).
Boil
I use a stainless hop spider for my hop additions. Boil is usually 60-90 minutes for ales and IPA's and always 90-mins for lagers. I can produce a rolling boil with the induction plate and reflectix, and I'm calculating around 1.3 gallons per hour boil off. Since my kettle has a false bottom, I have two means of filtering, however I still have some hot break/trub entering my kettle with the nature of BIAB. I never boil with the lid on and have an exhaust hood which carries out all the steam, never have drip back into the kettle. I just started skimming the hot break foam right before boiling, about 1 quart worth, as to limit the amount of trub into the fermenter. Again, not sure if that helps or not.
Continued on next post ->
I'm asking for any advice/critique on my process and any insight in how to take my beer up a notch. Unfortunately, there's no brew clubs around my area to critique my beers, so I figured with the vast experience of brewers on this site, it would be a great place to turn to. I will try to make this as detailed as I can (this will be a multi post as there is a lot).
*In my last 10 or so batches, I recently started using brewing salts with city water and notice my beer is tasting different and not as good. I used to use bottle water and that is described below. I'm not sure if that's what caused the recent beer to taste "different" and not as good as my first 40 batches. I realize it could be a combination of things, so I listed out my process below which has generally stayed the same.
I'm looking for:
1) What am I doing wrong in my process?
2) Any improvements to help my beer achieve better quality using BIAB techinques?
First a little background:
I have almost 50 BIAB batches done so far with good results, most of my family and friends love the beer. I have only done all grain BIAB, never traditional 3 vessel all grain, however I understand the methods associated. I taught myself how to brew mainly from this site and a few others. I have brewed a slew of different styles from recipes posted on this site and the Zymurgy mag (Biermuncher's Blonde Ale, Apfelwein, Zombie Dust, Pliny, Pale Ale, Kolsch, Lager, etc.). I find that I generally can repeat recipes batch after batch as my efficiency is constant and my fermentation is controlled in a chest freezer. I recently switched to city water instead of bottled, and my batches have started tasting different. I brew in my basement, single vessel, with an Avantco 3500 induction burner with my 15.5 gallon brew kettle.
Grain
I use a cereal killer grain mill and keep the crush constant. I believe its mill gap is set around 0.03" guessing by the printed measurements on the side (never measured it, however it is thinner than a credit card). I messed with it once after I read someone's post that their FG was too low after making their crush too fine, not sure if that's true? I have since stopped worrying about that and keep it constant. I generally buy grains before brew day and crush them right before I mash in. I don't keep grains for very long, usually less than a few months.
Mash
The brew kettle equipped with a false bottom that sits about 2.75" from the bottom, about 2 gallons of dead space below the false bottom. I use a Wilser bag which I have not found any issues with. The kettle has two layers of reflectix to maintain mash temperatures without applied heat. I find the two layers is enough for maintaining temperatures for 60 or more minutes. At one time, I was considering adding a pump, as my kettle is ported already (towards the top on the side), but I'm not sure how much that will improve my mashing.
I stir like crazy in the beginning with a large whisk to break up dough balls and try to even the water temperature throughout the grain. I will stir again about every 10-min or so just to check on temperature, or if I'm really paranoid I will monitor closely for the first half hour.
Brewing salts are added as the mash water is being heated. Mashing is either 60-min or 90-min depending on the recipe. I check pH during the mash to make sure I'm in the 5.2-5.6 range, and add lactic acid in 1 ml adjustments if necessary. I check pH by taking a sample out about 5-10 minutes into the mash, letting it cool to 70ish, and use my $15 dollar amazon meter. I only double calibrated it once with the provided solution, and always rinse it with distilled water before storage. Not too concerned with pH as long as my efficiency remains in the 80's.
Speaking of efficiency, it's generally in the mid to high 80's. I have been at a steady 86% for awhile with sparging.
Sparge
Before I add the grain, when strike temperature is achieved, I take out 0.5-1.0 gallons of water. This way, the brew salts are already in it and the temp is close to 120*F during sparging. To sparge, I have a large strainer that fits over the kettle and put the bag in and slowly dump the water over. It will free drain as the kettle is brought up to boiling temperature. I have squeezed the bag before, not squeezed, lightly squeezed, etc. and haven't noticed a difference in the final product (that I know of).
Boil
I use a stainless hop spider for my hop additions. Boil is usually 60-90 minutes for ales and IPA's and always 90-mins for lagers. I can produce a rolling boil with the induction plate and reflectix, and I'm calculating around 1.3 gallons per hour boil off. Since my kettle has a false bottom, I have two means of filtering, however I still have some hot break/trub entering my kettle with the nature of BIAB. I never boil with the lid on and have an exhaust hood which carries out all the steam, never have drip back into the kettle. I just started skimming the hot break foam right before boiling, about 1 quart worth, as to limit the amount of trub into the fermenter. Again, not sure if that helps or not.
Continued on next post ->