A few weeks ago I started brewing with my first extract brew. It was a brown ale that is currently conditioning in bottles and it turned out great. So I figured I would take a stab at the BIAB technique. I followed a recipe for a weihenstephaner dunkel clone I found here on this site (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=42549). I started with about 6 gallons of water heated to about 160. I stirred the grains into my bag (5 gallon paint strainer) and took the kettle inside and wrapped it in an electric blanket followed by a hoodie. The kettle dropped from about 156 to 153 over 70 minutes. I then proceeded to pour some hot water over the bag after it had been dripping and squeezed the bag to get all I could out. I tasted the wort to confirm its sweetness and even did an iodine test to make sure most of the starches had been converted. After that it was boiled for 60 minutes and cooled to about 68 and the yeast was pitched. I stuck a 1.25" OD blowoff tube into the top of the carboy because I have read that the wyeast 3068 can get pretty wild. It is currently fermenting at about 62 degrees and hopefully in a few weeks I will have some great beer! Cheers to all the great resources that this forum has provided me on brewing techniques and know how!
My first go at BIAB
- Thread starter RedMonte
- Start date
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Thanks, It was really easy to do. Basically took 70 minutes longer than an extract brew would. The only differences I can see now is that it takes a little longer and it was about 10 bucks cheaper than the brown ale extract I did. 5 gallon paint strainer worked flawlessly, they even have elastic along the top to hold it onto the kettle, managed to hold 11lbs of grain with no problems. They cost like 3-4bucks at the store.
The OG on the beer was at about 1.061-062.
The OG on the beer was at about 1.061-062.
You'll never get closer than tomorrow unless you start today. It's an easy process and it really doesn't add 70 minutes to what an extract would if you use steeping grains. It's probably an extra 30 minutes if you normally would steep the grains for 30 minutes and if your grains are milled finely for BIAB it might not even take that long. Heat the water, put the bag into the pot, stir in the grains, put the lid on and insulate it and go do something else for 30 to 90 minutes. (30 will get your grains converted if milled finely, 90 will work fine if your grains are not milled well, somewhere in between will work with most milling) Pull the bag out and let it drain then dunk it in water or pour some water over it and catch the wort that comes out and add that to the pot and start the boil as you would if you use extract.
tempestam83
Well-Known Member
I just started BIAB too. Have done three batches so far and am doing my fourth this weekend. I've mostly been sticking to 3-gallon recipes since I only have a 5-gallon kettle. Got a birthday coming up so hoping the wife will splurge on a 10-gallon MegaPot.
Definitely love the ease of BIAB. Not quite yet ready to make the jump to mashtuns and HLTs.
Definitely love the ease of BIAB. Not quite yet ready to make the jump to mashtuns and HLTs.
carloscede2
Well-Known Member
Ive been all extract for 6 months now and I already ordered the grains and bag for my next batch, its gonna be all grain using the biab method. Any advices? Id appreciate it cause i dont wanna end up with a bad batch. Its also gonna be 3 gallos as I only have a 5 gallons kettle. The recipe is this
6 lbs of vienna malt
1 lb of Munich malt
0.5 lbs of carapils
0.5 oz of northern brewer at 60 and 1 oz of saaz at 15.
What do you think? I was planning to boil 4 gallons to end up with 3. The og is probably like 1.062
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slym2none
"Lazy extract brewer."
I'll be making my 1st AG BIAB batch of beer either tomorrow night or Saturday night, but I've done a few 2-3 pound of grain mini-mashes, so I feel like I have a handle on the process. It should be fun!
I am with OP on saying thanks for all the info this forum has provided.
I am with OP on saying thanks for all the info this forum has provided.
tempestam83
Well-Known Member
Looks pretty good to me. The batch I'm doing this weekend I'm using 7 lb 2-row, 1/2 lb each of munich and caramel and 1 lb wheat.
I've pretty much experimenting with different grain bills the last couple of weeks.
Just make sure you stir the grains into the mash and keep the kettle nice and insulated for the hour. Some people like to stir a few times during the mash, I haven't done that. My last batch had 68% efficiency which I guess isn't terrible.
I don't have enough experience yet to design my own recipes so I can't comment on yours but what I can say is that there is absolutely no reason to be intimidated by using all grain vs extract. If you end up having too much water preboil because you over sparged or overestimated your needs, just boil off the excess. For now, I will be sticking to trying recipes that others have had success with to build my experience with different grains, yeasts and the flavors that they contribute. Once I get a hundred or so gallons of brewed beer under my belt, I will have more confidence in designing my own recipes. 15 Gallons brewed thus far since I started at the end of January.
Right now there are 2 things standing in my way: lack of time with 2 small kids and my pot is only 4 gallons. The latter should be resolved soon as I think I'm getting a 40 qt pot next weekend. And I think that if I can shift my brews indoors and to evening, where I start the mash after dinner and let it sit while I help put the kids to bed, it should actually help to reduce the total time away from the family throughout the day. Or at least that's how I'm going to try selling it to my wife...
carloscede2
Well-Known Member
Is that your final fravity? Seems a bit high
It most likely will be. Starting gravity on mine was a little higher than the recipe called for but I ferment these beers at pretty cool temperatures so I think this will be as low as it goes. Maybe I will warm it up for a day or two and see if it does anything but I am actually pretty satisfied with where it is at.
wilserbrewer
BIAB Expert Tailor
Something I have realized over the years that may be of help. IMHO brewing does not need to be a continuos process, but can be broken into several steps to suit your schedule.
You can mash in and extend your mash rest, say overnight. You can simply "no chill" in your boil kettle merely leaving the lid on overnight or all day as well.
I have found that "neglecting" your beer is not really detrimental.
When I first started, I felt a sense of urgency with every step of the process that it HAD to be done on a rigid schedule, cause that was the instructions. Now I realize there can be much more flexibility.
Example, years ago I mistakenly thought I had to pitch yeast ASAP because my beer was exposed and vulnerable to contamination. While this may be true in theory, in reality it is always better IMHO to relax and be sure to pitch at the proper cool temp then rush and pitch warm.
Rdwhahb cheers
McKnuckle
Well-Known Member
+1 on what Wilser says. If you can get both your mash and your boil to be largely independent, then you can multitask on the domestic necessities during brew day. It doesn't have to be a constant vigil over the pot.
An insulated mash tun will hold temp well enough for an hour, regardless of how much brewers generally obsess about it. And a boil has only 3 or 4 points at which you must be there, but only for a moment except at the beginning and end. Obviously at the very beginning you need to be present to avoid a boil over, start the timer, and add your first hops. After that, it should be set and forget until the next addition - 45 minutes later in many cases.
At the end of the boil, you'll need to be back on duty for any hopstand activities and of course, chilling. You can also leave many clean up tasks for later, even the next day. The point is to manage the situation so SWMBO doesn't view Brew Day as "You Day" and resent you for it.
An insulated mash tun will hold temp well enough for an hour, regardless of how much brewers generally obsess about it. And a boil has only 3 or 4 points at which you must be there, but only for a moment except at the beginning and end. Obviously at the very beginning you need to be present to avoid a boil over, start the timer, and add your first hops. After that, it should be set and forget until the next addition - 45 minutes later in many cases.
At the end of the boil, you'll need to be back on duty for any hopstand activities and of course, chilling. You can also leave many clean up tasks for later, even the next day. The point is to manage the situation so SWMBO doesn't view Brew Day as "You Day" and resent you for it.
That's great advice, thanks guys! So, when you let the mash sit overnight you basically just mash and sparge (if you elect to sparge) like normal, then put a lid on the pot and let it sit overnight on the counter? Then start the boil the next day like normal?
wilserbrewer
BIAB Expert Tailor
While that works, you're trying to decouple the mash wait time from your brewing.
I would suggest mashing in and going to bed and keeping your wife company, now that's multitasking!
Following morning remove grain, sparge if you want or need to then heat to 180 or so to pasteurize....at this point you can continue to boil or lid the kettle and let it sit until you have time....24 or even perhaps 48 hours should be ok as you have pasteurized it at this point.
Boil and let cool with the lid off for an hour or two, add your late hops when the temp gets to 160-170 and lid the kettle and let it chill to pitching temps, pitch yeast within 25 hours.
I can't recall what small brewery it was, but due to storm and power outage had a mash sit in the tub 3-4 days....
They didn't throw it out, they boiled it and sold it as a limited edition hurricane funk beer lol
Even if you intentionally infect your mash it takes several days to get ripe...rdwhahb
My thought was that I could mash in right after dinner so the mash would sit while we put the kids to bed, and sit down to relax for a bit (90 minute mash) then sparge which should only take a few minutes. And then let it sit overnight and boil and finish the next day.
