Going to do my 1st BIAB brew this coming weekend. I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl on promnight. So far, I have made mead, kombucha and have done a few extract brews. I have taken a liking to "Milkshake IPAs" as of late so I picked up a lactose based recipe kit from Greater Fermentations. I have a dry hop to do with the recipe, and I plan on adding some mango at that time, but how much fruit do I add to 5 gallons of beer?
My 1st BIAB, need a little advice...
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No idea. Never added fruit to beer. But welcome to the world of BIAB. I hope you take to it like I have.
At least 1 lb/gal, or 5 lb. And 10 would be better... if you want to be able to taste it at all behind all your hops.
Transamguy77
Well-Known Member
As already stated rule of thumb is 1lb per gallon but mango doesn't come through as well so you might need to add more right before bottling, also adding fruit soaks up some of your beer so you will end up with less than 5 gallons.
You could also juice the mango and just add the juice then take the pulp and soak that in vodka then if the mango doesn't come though enough you can add that to taste, I've done that with good results.
You could also juice the mango and just add the juice then take the pulp and soak that in vodka then if the mango doesn't come though enough you can add that to taste, I've done that with good results.
deadwolfbones
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I'd say 2lb/gal for mango.
Just my opinion but to me Citra as a dry hop seems to be a mango taste. It might help bring out the mango flavor for your beer.
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Morrey
Well-Known Member
You are asking for suggestions for "fruiting" a beer. While this is typically considered a somewhat advanced process, it can easily be done with a bit of thought upfront.
Option 1 - Add fresh or frozen mango chunks in a muslin baggie into secondary for infusion. This can be expensive, and unless you have some experience, the amount of mango {fruit} to use can be tricky. Pulp can also be messy and cause you to lose beer when racking off. Frozen bags of fruit at larger stores can be your best price point.
Option 2 - Make a tincture. Pouring vodka or a neutral spirit over fruit draws out the flavors so you'll end up with a nicely flavored tincture to add to your finished beer before kegging or bottling. You can add to taste so you wont make mistakes and have a keg or batch of bottles of beer you wish had more or less flavor. I personally really like tinctures plus its not messy and full of pulp like option 1 since you'll strain the tincture thru a coffee filter or cheesecloth.
Option 3 - Flavorings/Extract. YUCKKKK.
Not really. Some of the cheaper imitation flavorings are bad and have given this option a terrible name. However, good ones exist, yet they are more of a concentrated natural flavor vs an imitation version. Silver Cloud/Apex is hugely popular natural brand and I have also used Monin which is nice. Another option is NOT to use a flavor for the entire keg at which time you are stuck with a whole keg of XXX flavored beer. Rather, I'll have several flavors like raspberry and peach too, then you can add a pump to your pint and have good varieties.
Option 4 - Make your own flavor concentrate. I use this technique to make a watermelon concentrate to add into Gose styles in the summer, but most any fruit will work like this. Juice a watermelon and collect 1/2 gallon of juice in a clean milk jug. Freeze solid, take lid off jug and let sit upside down on an open 1 quart mason jar. The flavors thaw first and drip into the jar - then stop collecting when you have a full quart. Discard the semi-clear ice block that remains in the milk jug. Freeze that quart of newly collected concentrate in a clean milk jug and again turn upside down on a pint mason jar, then collect until you have 1 pint of concentrate. This is super flavorful concentrate and 1 pint will nicely flavor a 5G batch of beer.
Hope you're not asleep by now. Enjoy
Option 1 - Add fresh or frozen mango chunks in a muslin baggie into secondary for infusion. This can be expensive, and unless you have some experience, the amount of mango {fruit} to use can be tricky. Pulp can also be messy and cause you to lose beer when racking off. Frozen bags of fruit at larger stores can be your best price point.
Option 2 - Make a tincture. Pouring vodka or a neutral spirit over fruit draws out the flavors so you'll end up with a nicely flavored tincture to add to your finished beer before kegging or bottling. You can add to taste so you wont make mistakes and have a keg or batch of bottles of beer you wish had more or less flavor. I personally really like tinctures plus its not messy and full of pulp like option 1 since you'll strain the tincture thru a coffee filter or cheesecloth.
Option 3 - Flavorings/Extract. YUCKKKK.
Not really. Some of the cheaper imitation flavorings are bad and have given this option a terrible name. However, good ones exist, yet they are more of a concentrated natural flavor vs an imitation version. Silver Cloud/Apex is hugely popular natural brand and I have also used Monin which is nice. Another option is NOT to use a flavor for the entire keg at which time you are stuck with a whole keg of XXX flavored beer. Rather, I'll have several flavors like raspberry and peach too, then you can add a pump to your pint and have good varieties.Option 4 - Make your own flavor concentrate. I use this technique to make a watermelon concentrate to add into Gose styles in the summer, but most any fruit will work like this. Juice a watermelon and collect 1/2 gallon of juice in a clean milk jug. Freeze solid, take lid off jug and let sit upside down on an open 1 quart mason jar. The flavors thaw first and drip into the jar - then stop collecting when you have a full quart. Discard the semi-clear ice block that remains in the milk jug. Freeze that quart of newly collected concentrate in a clean milk jug and again turn upside down on a pint mason jar, then collect until you have 1 pint of concentrate. This is super flavorful concentrate and 1 pint will nicely flavor a 5G batch of beer.
Hope you're not asleep by now. Enjoy
Thank you all the input.... I am still learning. I apoligize for the not so quick responses, I am mostly a "lurker" around the forums, just didn't want to post up a bunch of questions without a little searching first. I am excited to get away from the extracts, but may still do it from time to time. Luckily most of the equiptment I had from extract brewing is still usuable. I did have to buy a bigger pot because I was unsure of the water to grist ratio, I didn't know that BIAB brewing required the full amount of water in the boil of the wort. I did did find a grain to water ratio calculator online and it seems that according to that I will need a little over 7 gallons for 12.5 pounds of grain. Does that sound about right? I plan on brewing this Sunday after the Brew at the Zoo West Palm Brewfest, what better way to deal with the aftermath of that?! Right?!
BIAB does not require full volume but it makes it easier. I usually use a smaller volume and then do a double sparge to get to my pre boil volume. You can also simply make a more concentrated wort and dilute it with water to get the volume you want but you will take a hit on brewhouse efficiency with this method.
The 12.5 pounds of grain is what is needed if you have the same mash efficiency as the recipe creator. I would probably only need about 8.5 pounds because I know my system and have my own mill so I can grind the grain really fine which then gets me very high mash efficiency. You won't know your efficiency until you have brewed a few batches and if you get the grain milled at different places you may never be sure.
Well, beer is in the fermenter after a long day yesterday... my girlfriend and I also did a 1 gallon batch of Kombucha and pickled some carrots. I had an awesome brewday after a stressfull couple of weeks and thoroughly enjoyed it. A lttle more work than the extract brewing but really had fun. I know I wasn't hitting my efficiency like a veteran, but at least I got a crash course in it. The original gravity calls for in the recipe at 1.071 to be at 75% efficiency. I checked the OG at 65° with a hydrometer. I hit 1.075 pre boil and 1.064 post boil. Beer is in the fermentor at 65° right now, I threw in two packs of Saleale S-05 dry yeast in there and it is vigorously doing it's thing. I am going to make a tincture an add vanilla bean to it when I dry hop.
wilserbrewer
BIAB Expert Tailor
This is odd, boiling increases gravity, did you top up the fermenter or kettle with water after taking your pre boil gravity?
No sir, I did not top it off. I took the first reading right before I pulled the bag. I let it drain over the kettle and I did sparge it a little but not much, not even a half gallon, I was pretty happy with that first reading, figured I would let it before I screwed it up. I did add lactose at the end of the boil, would that skew the reading?
Lactose will Increase your specific gravity. Something weird going on there. Did you let your post boil sample cool, or at least correct for temperature?
Tarpon87
Well-Known Member
Maybe you wrote them backwards? 1.064 preboil, 1.075 post? If you didnt add volume then there is no way your gravity was lower post boil. That would mean you somehow lost sugars.....that didnt happen
wilserbrewer
BIAB Expert Tailor
He did add volume, he did a small pour over sparge that would lower the gravity he took prior to removing the bag.
Numbers still seem a bit questionable??? But without accurate data and details...anybody’s guess
Oh wow... sorry I didn't come back to this. I decided it is what it is and not to worry about anything. I went and talked to a local brewer in my area who has become known for this style for some advice. I dry hopped for 3 days and then I added 2 lbs of mango and 2 lbs of pineapple. I tasted it along the way an added things to the fermentor to make sure to keep the flavoring in check. I checked the gravity and confirmed that it was finished last weekend and bottled it. I opened 2 bottles and drank them last night to see how things were coming along and to make sure they were carbonating. Pretty darn happy!!! I think it came out around 5.5% , very hazy and the mosiac hops and fruit make it smell and taste very tropical. The only thing I am a little disapointed with is the vanilla. I don't think it came through very well. But all and all, I think for my first BIAB I am very happy with it!
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