So after months of waiting I’ve finally brewed my first batch (a Kit amber ale) right after Christmas and my 2nd batch (a kit blonde ale) this past Saturday! I spent a lot of time researching the process and decided to jump in with an all grain BIAB, small batch (1 gal) setup.
Why BIAB small batch? Low initial investment and stove top friendly (for brewing AG). By brewing small batches my thought process was it would allow me to keep the mistakes small in that if I screw up a batch I’ve only lost a 1 gallon vs 5. The low investment ($50 for a Brewer’s Best Kit plus some extras) also means that if I decide brewing is not for me I’m not into the hobby for big bucks. Finally, if I decide to grow into bigger batches, the small batch kit gives me an easy capability to experiment or try out new recipes again without a long brew day or potentially wasting 5 or more gallons.
Why all grain vs extract ? I decided that if I do continue with the hobby that I knew I’d end up doing AG, so I saw no practical benefit to starting with extract and working my way to AG. Nothing wrong with extract, I just didn’t see the point based upon my own preferences and desires. One of the few benefits of having to waiting all this time to start is it gave me the opportunity to learn a lot about brewing before attempting my first batch, probably way more than the average beginner who gets a kit as a present and launches into to it solely based upon the kit’s instructions. First, I’ve spent quite a bit of time here and other places on the web soaking it all in plus I bought and read Palmers “How-To-Brew”. Second, I downloaded Bru-n-Water, got copies of my municipal water reports, and treated my tap water accordingly (admittedly on blind faith as I don’t have a pH meter). I’ve also been keeping a close eye on fermenter temps, cooling and occasionally heating as required using a heating pad and a dorm fridge both controlled by an Inkbird ITC-308.
Time will tell how well I’ve done as I had some issues:
1. I brewed the first batch as a full volume no sparge—hit my temps and volumes, but the OG came in waaaay low. Next batch I followed the recipe’s instructions and did a partial volume mash that I topped up to pre-boil volume with a sparge step. Again the OG came in way low (measured cooled samples both times by hydrometer and refractometer). However, on the 2nd batch I added some DME to correct the OG.
2. The 2 gallon bucket that came with my kit, one additional one that I bought online from where I got the kit, and one I got at Lowes are all crap. The lids for all of them don’t fit worth a damn. For my second batch I bought a couple of these 1.4 gal Little Big Mouth Bubbler glass fermenters and they are perfect!
I’m still trying to figure the whole low OG thing out. I’ve compared the water volumes using a couple of online BIAB calculators, Beer Smith, the kit’s recipe and my own stubby pencil calcs taking into account my equipment and losses (I ran tests and did measuring prior to the first batch using tap water) and they are all close. So assuming there’s no issues in my process (and there may yet be), I’m thinking that maybe the grain crush was too coarse. I have an IPA and a Pale Ale kit left to brew and I’m contemplating getting a mill to see if a finer crush will solve the problem.
More to follow in a few weeks once I get these batches bottled and conditioned.
Why BIAB small batch? Low initial investment and stove top friendly (for brewing AG). By brewing small batches my thought process was it would allow me to keep the mistakes small in that if I screw up a batch I’ve only lost a 1 gallon vs 5. The low investment ($50 for a Brewer’s Best Kit plus some extras) also means that if I decide brewing is not for me I’m not into the hobby for big bucks. Finally, if I decide to grow into bigger batches, the small batch kit gives me an easy capability to experiment or try out new recipes again without a long brew day or potentially wasting 5 or more gallons.
Why all grain vs extract ? I decided that if I do continue with the hobby that I knew I’d end up doing AG, so I saw no practical benefit to starting with extract and working my way to AG. Nothing wrong with extract, I just didn’t see the point based upon my own preferences and desires. One of the few benefits of having to waiting all this time to start is it gave me the opportunity to learn a lot about brewing before attempting my first batch, probably way more than the average beginner who gets a kit as a present and launches into to it solely based upon the kit’s instructions. First, I’ve spent quite a bit of time here and other places on the web soaking it all in plus I bought and read Palmers “How-To-Brew”. Second, I downloaded Bru-n-Water, got copies of my municipal water reports, and treated my tap water accordingly (admittedly on blind faith as I don’t have a pH meter). I’ve also been keeping a close eye on fermenter temps, cooling and occasionally heating as required using a heating pad and a dorm fridge both controlled by an Inkbird ITC-308.
Time will tell how well I’ve done as I had some issues:
1. I brewed the first batch as a full volume no sparge—hit my temps and volumes, but the OG came in waaaay low. Next batch I followed the recipe’s instructions and did a partial volume mash that I topped up to pre-boil volume with a sparge step. Again the OG came in way low (measured cooled samples both times by hydrometer and refractometer). However, on the 2nd batch I added some DME to correct the OG.
2. The 2 gallon bucket that came with my kit, one additional one that I bought online from where I got the kit, and one I got at Lowes are all crap. The lids for all of them don’t fit worth a damn. For my second batch I bought a couple of these 1.4 gal Little Big Mouth Bubbler glass fermenters and they are perfect!
I’m still trying to figure the whole low OG thing out. I’ve compared the water volumes using a couple of online BIAB calculators, Beer Smith, the kit’s recipe and my own stubby pencil calcs taking into account my equipment and losses (I ran tests and did measuring prior to the first batch using tap water) and they are all close. So assuming there’s no issues in my process (and there may yet be), I’m thinking that maybe the grain crush was too coarse. I have an IPA and a Pale Ale kit left to brew and I’m contemplating getting a mill to see if a finer crush will solve the problem.
More to follow in a few weeks once I get these batches bottled and conditioned.