BeardedIdiot
Well-Known Member
So last Sunday morning I finally got to use my new keggle (BIAB) and propane burner for the first time. I decided that for my first few all-grain batches, I'm going to keep things simple. I'm going to do SMaSH recipes to keep the process easy while I'm learning how to do all-grain.
Anyways, here's the recipe I brewed, and a short synopsis of the brew day:
Cascade SMaSH Pale Ale (BIAB)
Boil Time: 60 minutes
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons
Boil Size: ~7.5 gallons
Predicted Efficiency: 75%
Predicted OG: 1.043
Predicted FG: 1.012
ABV: 4.05%
IBU: 15.6
SRM: 3.01
8.5lbs Pale 2-Row
0.5oz Cascade Pellet (4.6% AA)60 min
0.5oz Cascade Pellet (4.6% AA) 20 min
0.5oz Cascade Pellet (4.6% AA) 5 min
1oz Cascade Pellet (4.6% AA) FO
Mash Temp: 153F for 60 minutes, full volume BIAB (no sparge)
Mashout: 170F for 10 minutes
Yeast: Safale US-05, 1 packet re-hydrated in 2 cups 70F (preboiled) water
Fermentation: carried out in brand new DIY fermentation cabinet at 66F.
When I cut my keg, I decided to cut the entire top off of it, rather than just cut a 12" hold in the top. While this does get rid of the built in handles, it also drops the weight considerably, as well as gives great access inside the keggle. I use a 16" steel pizza pan as a lid. It fits the top of the keggle almost perfectly. Eventually I'll add a handle.
I used 4gal of bottled spring water and ~4.66 of tap water for the mash. I heated the strike water up to 158F (per Brewer's Friend calculator) to get a mash temp of 153F for the mash. I mashed for an hour, with the lid on the keggle and a heavy duty moving blanket wrapped around the keggle. I stirred the heck out of the mash when I first added it until I got the temp right. Then I covered and left for 30 minutes. I took the top off and stirred really well again, then covered it back up till mashout.
At mashout, I took the blanket off and started heating, checking temp every couple of minutes until it hit 170F. I held it there for 10 minutes, and then pulled the grains and squeezed the heck out of the bag. Setting it aside, I bumped the heat up to bring the wort to a boil.
Once it reached boiling, I put the first hop addition in a paint strainer bag and hung it in the center of the keggle. I also added 2 drops per gallon of Fermcap-S after it got to a good rolling boil. I didn't have any threat of a boilover.
At 10 minutes left in the boil, I dropped my sanitized (paranoid) immersion chiller into the wort.
At flame out, I added the last hop addition, added a 20lb bag of ice to my chilling bucket (30gal blue plastic drum) and started pumping through the chiller. I ended up having to use a second 20lb bag of ice to finish chilling.
Once I got the wort down to ~70F, I pulled the chiller and hops out of the keggle. I attempted to do this without disturbing the trub sediment too badly. I used a 5/8" autosiphon to transfer to my sanitized 6gal Better Bottle. I then shook it vigorously for about 2 minutes to aerate, and then pitched my rehydrated US-05 and put it in my new fermentation chamber.
Lastly I cleaned up, put the keggle and chiller to soak in oxi-clean, and then went to a basketball game.
Over the span of the hour mash, my temp dropped from 153.9F to 151.3F. A little more than I'd hoped for, but not bad considering the ghetto attempt I tried. I will try to get a better insulation setup soon.
I managed to chill from boiling to 66F in about 40 minutes using just icewater. I may start with tap water next time and finish with icewater to save a bag of ice.
My pre-boil gravity for ~7.5-8gal was 1.033.
My post-boil gravity for ~5.5gal was 1.043.
The calculators say that's good for 75.2% efficiency. Not bad for my first BIAB. I also milled the grains myself with my ghetto Corona Mill setup. Almost burnt my power drill out doing 8.5lbs. I'll have to get a better one...
So, as of today my Cascade SMaSH pale ale is happily fermenting away at 66F in my wonderful ferm chamber. I am hoping to brew again Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, or possibly all 3 if I can.
So what do you guys think? I know this is a really long post, and kudo's to anyone who makes it this far ( ). Any questions, comments, concerns, praise?
BeardedIdiot
Anyways, here's the recipe I brewed, and a short synopsis of the brew day:
Cascade SMaSH Pale Ale (BIAB)
Boil Time: 60 minutes
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons
Boil Size: ~7.5 gallons
Predicted Efficiency: 75%
Predicted OG: 1.043
Predicted FG: 1.012
ABV: 4.05%
IBU: 15.6
SRM: 3.01
8.5lbs Pale 2-Row
0.5oz Cascade Pellet (4.6% AA)60 min
0.5oz Cascade Pellet (4.6% AA) 20 min
0.5oz Cascade Pellet (4.6% AA) 5 min
1oz Cascade Pellet (4.6% AA) FO
Mash Temp: 153F for 60 minutes, full volume BIAB (no sparge)
Mashout: 170F for 10 minutes
Yeast: Safale US-05, 1 packet re-hydrated in 2 cups 70F (preboiled) water
Fermentation: carried out in brand new DIY fermentation cabinet at 66F.
When I cut my keg, I decided to cut the entire top off of it, rather than just cut a 12" hold in the top. While this does get rid of the built in handles, it also drops the weight considerably, as well as gives great access inside the keggle. I use a 16" steel pizza pan as a lid. It fits the top of the keggle almost perfectly. Eventually I'll add a handle.
I used 4gal of bottled spring water and ~4.66 of tap water for the mash. I heated the strike water up to 158F (per Brewer's Friend calculator) to get a mash temp of 153F for the mash. I mashed for an hour, with the lid on the keggle and a heavy duty moving blanket wrapped around the keggle. I stirred the heck out of the mash when I first added it until I got the temp right. Then I covered and left for 30 minutes. I took the top off and stirred really well again, then covered it back up till mashout.
At mashout, I took the blanket off and started heating, checking temp every couple of minutes until it hit 170F. I held it there for 10 minutes, and then pulled the grains and squeezed the heck out of the bag. Setting it aside, I bumped the heat up to bring the wort to a boil.
Once it reached boiling, I put the first hop addition in a paint strainer bag and hung it in the center of the keggle. I also added 2 drops per gallon of Fermcap-S after it got to a good rolling boil. I didn't have any threat of a boilover.
At 10 minutes left in the boil, I dropped my sanitized (paranoid) immersion chiller into the wort.
At flame out, I added the last hop addition, added a 20lb bag of ice to my chilling bucket (30gal blue plastic drum) and started pumping through the chiller. I ended up having to use a second 20lb bag of ice to finish chilling.
Once I got the wort down to ~70F, I pulled the chiller and hops out of the keggle. I attempted to do this without disturbing the trub sediment too badly. I used a 5/8" autosiphon to transfer to my sanitized 6gal Better Bottle. I then shook it vigorously for about 2 minutes to aerate, and then pitched my rehydrated US-05 and put it in my new fermentation chamber.
Lastly I cleaned up, put the keggle and chiller to soak in oxi-clean, and then went to a basketball game.
Over the span of the hour mash, my temp dropped from 153.9F to 151.3F. A little more than I'd hoped for, but not bad considering the ghetto attempt I tried. I will try to get a better insulation setup soon.
I managed to chill from boiling to 66F in about 40 minutes using just icewater. I may start with tap water next time and finish with icewater to save a bag of ice.
My pre-boil gravity for ~7.5-8gal was 1.033.
My post-boil gravity for ~5.5gal was 1.043.
The calculators say that's good for 75.2% efficiency. Not bad for my first BIAB. I also milled the grains myself with my ghetto Corona Mill setup. Almost burnt my power drill out doing 8.5lbs. I'll have to get a better one...
So, as of today my Cascade SMaSH pale ale is happily fermenting away at 66F in my wonderful ferm chamber. I am hoping to brew again Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, or possibly all 3 if I can.
So what do you guys think? I know this is a really long post, and kudo's to anyone who makes it this far ( ). Any questions, comments, concerns, praise?
BeardedIdiot