new to biab equipment question

[breuller]

Giving biab a try after a few years of extract. Bought a 14gal Brewmaster kettle w/ short probe thermometer from morebeer and wilser brewbags/pulley. I brew outdoor on camp chef burner. I plan on getting grains from morebeer is a mill necessary? Something to keep grains of bottom? I've used beersmith for extract, any suggestions with that software or others? Any thing else I need to know or have? Thanks in advance!!

 

[EDF713]

Welcome to BIAB! A mill isn't necessary if you can buy grains milled, I don't have one. Others swear by having a mill to have more control on how fine the grain is milled, but I wouldn't say that is absolutely necessary if you're starting out. The bag should keep the grains off the bottom, but be careful to stir constantly if you ever heat the pot with the bag and grains in it. In fact I just don't ever do it. Beersmith works great, you'll need to adjust the profile settings after each batch for boil-off, etc. The only other thing I would add is to take care of your water, at least follow the baseline in the first post on this discussion - https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/a-brewing-water-chemistry-primer.198460/ , you can always get into it more later. Let us know how it goes!

 

[bigdawg86]

BIAB is kinda fun. That's my current go to until / if I decide to get 3 vessel system. Your LBS will have a mill, so unless you plan to buy in bulk and store the uncrushed grains, then no mill is needed. I don't have a false bottom, but for BIAB I use a stainless mesh tube to prevent clogging or slowdowns as I recirculate with RIMS. Beersmith is worth the subscription cost!

 

[Oginme]

Things to note:

You will need to take care with your bag and the thermometer so that you don't poke a hole or rip it when removing the bag of grains.

If you do not have a mill, get your grains crushed by the supplier. Order what you need for the recipe since crushed grains do not store well.

BeerSmith has some BIAB profiles (both equipment and mash) which you can rewrite to fit your process as you develop it and come up with better numbers than the defaults in the program.

Take readings on everything! Volume in, after removing the bag and allowing to drip or squeezing to remove as much wort as you can, post boil, volume into fermenter, trub loss, etc. Gravity readings post mash and post boil. All of these will help you refine your profiles in the software to make it resemble how your process works.

If you are going to heat the kettle with the bag in it, you will need a false bottom or something to keep the bag away from the heat source. I just heat up the water to my strike temperature and then cut the heat, add the bag and then stir in the grains, so I have no need for the false bottom.

Most of all, don't sweat the numbers the first time you brew. Make it a fairly simple recipe and you can use it to figure out your settings and efficiency, and you will still end up with beer in the end.

 

[balrog]

Getting the volumes right is really helpful to getting the OG, and it will take a time or 3 to figure what the absorption rate (l/kg, gal/pound) is for you, the way *YOU* do it. Try the Priceless calc, it's awesome. Notes and readings all along the way. Things that went well or poorly. There is no better way to become repeatable, helping with knowing your percentage efficiencies so you come to expect what the OG will be and the volumes you'll have going into the fermenter. And notes help with *NOT* repeating the undesirable things (dropping reading glasses into your "20/20 Oatmeal Stout") or whatnot.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Giving biab a try after a few years of extract. Bought a 14gal Brewmaster kettle w/ short probe thermometer from morebeer and wilser brewbags/pulley. I brew outdoor on camp chef burner. I plan on getting grains from morebeer is a mill necessary? Something to keep grains of bottom? I've used beersmith for extract, any suggestions with that software or others? Any thing else I need to know or have? Thanks in advance!!

I use Brewer's Friend because it is free and accurate in my experience. I should really buy a subscription . . .

If you buy your grains pre-milled, you don't need to buy a mill. However, pre-milled grains have a pretty coarse crush, which isn't great for BIAB, so your efficiency may suffer. Efficiency is the amount of potential sugar in the grain that you actually get. You may need to order an extra pound of base malt to hit your gravity (in a 5g batch). The software programs have an "efficiency" option; I would set it to 65% for your first run using online-purchased pre-milled grains.

Also, RDWHAHB. Enjoy the process and learn as you go along.

 

[balrog]

FWIW I could get all my grains for recipes, found on here & the net, at Ritebrew, and Neil has a "double crush" option. Even with shipping to new england it was cheaper than getting something local, if I got two recipes at a time.

I eventually moved to getting a $30 Corona mill and do my own now. You could think about that in the future, but I suggest making a few batches to get the system procedures down first.

 

[breuller]

I should've noted I live in the hills of CA's north coast...no LHBS within 2hrs. Efficiency was my concern but if all I need is another lb of grain that's more cost efficient at least for a while.

I was worried about water too as we do ph pretty high in the summer...never tested water in winter. I'll check out that link thanks!

I appreciate all the help!!

 

[Oginme]

One more comment: Make yourself a ruler of volume versus depth for your kettle. Put in water a gallon or half gallon at a time and measure the depth at each step. If your kettle comes with premarked volume indicators, make a ruler anyway. Most pre-stamped markings are based upon the engineering drawing and not actual measurements on your kettle.

 

[EDF713]

One more comment on water, you can try filtered tap with a half a campden tablet (to knock out any chlorine or chloramines), but the bulk water dispensers in parking lots and grocery stores actually work well. I get reverse osmosis filtered water from a watermill express in the parking lot at my LHBS. The tap water where I live sucks, and I was surprised at how big a difference using RO water made when I switched to BIAB from extract.

 

[tennesseean_87]

+1 to using RO water from a dispenser and adding in CaCl and Gypsum according to the water primer. I use Bru'nwater now, but I made good beer for a while using the primer.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I don’t feel you NEED something to keep the bag and grain off the bottom of your kettle...if you need to add a little heat just do so gently and stir constantly while applying heat.

Any mash can scorch when direct heating, the key is to stir constantly.

No different than heating a thick sauce or soup in a pan, if you put the heat on high and walk away it will scorch. BIAB is no different, use sound judgement and proceed w/ caution and you’ll be fine.

 

[breuller]

Thanks again for all the replies!! I will definitely run RO water then, I can get that in town. I was curious if anyone knows much about this kettle and losing temp during mash, it seems pretty thin. Maybe I'll just throw a sleeping bag on it and be done w/ it...