New to BIAB, looking for an easy recipe

[mr_pablo]

Hi folks,

I am totally new to BIAB and I'm looking for some help.

I have done a few extract brews, but after I got hold of a 30 litre tea urn, I want to move to all grain.

I've read that people use tea urns so I'm hoping this one will work out for me. I understand the capacity isn't the best but I don't mind doing smaller batches then usual.

So, I measured the tea urn and it looks to be able to hold 26 litres comfortably.

With that in mind, can anyone help me with a recipe? I'd like to aim for 12 litres in the fermenter (so 3 gallons?).

Just need to know the kind of numbers for the amount of grain and water needed.

Hope you can help!

 

[BrewinBromanite]

Beersmith or other software is a good place to start. You plug in your equipment profile, play around with adding grains, hops & yeast, and it estimates all the numbers for you. It also lets you take recipes from others (typically 5 gallons) and "scale down" to whatever you need to, such as 3 gallons, and will give you a 3 gal version of the recipe. I'm not sure about the others, but Beersmith has a free trial you can download, and there's recipes loaded into it (not to mention the recipe section on this forum).

What style(s) are you interested in brewing?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[cannman]

Hi folks,

I am totally new to BIAB and I'm looking for some help.

I have done a few extract brews, but after I got hold of a 30 litre tea urn, I want to move to all grain.

I've read that people use tea urns so I'm hoping this one will work out for me. I understand the capacity isn't the best but I don't mind doing smaller batches then usual.

So, I measured the tea urn and it looks to be able to hold 26 litres comfortably.

With that in mind, can anyone help me with a recipe? I'd like to aim for 12 litres in the fermenter (so 3 gallons?).

Just need to know the kind of numbers for the amount of grain and water needed.

Hope you can help!

Tell me what type of beer you want to brew (be as specific as possible), and I will design a bill in beersmith for you to test out your equipment, but you should eventually get a beersmith to make all your urn dreams come true

 

[mr_pablo]

I'll definitely look into beersmith.

I've heard about a BIAB Excel Spreadsheet, have you tried that and is it any good?

As for my first biab recipe, I'd like to try a stout I think, or something similar / Christmas themed.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

I agree with the previous posts. I'd also suggest a session IPA or a low alcohol brew to keep the amount of grains you have to deal with low on you first run.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

I'll definitely look into beersmith.

I've heard about a BIAB Excel Spreadsheet, have you tried that and is it any good?

As for my first biab recipe, I'd like to try a stout I think, or something similar / Christmas themed.

I used the biab excel spreadsheet originally, and have sense expanded on it and made my own biab web based calculator after wanting a few more features. Link in the sig.

As far as recipes, I really enjoyed yoopers oatmeal stout in the recipe section. I think next time I'd like to up the roastiness and add some chocolate.

 

[jtratcliff]

the open source software Brewtarget is worth a look too. The developers are on HBT. I've been using it for awhile and am quite happy with it.

It's multiplatform. I keep my recipe database on Dropbox and can access from work or home...

 

[jtratcliff]

Also... I vote for either Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde or Yooper's Haus Ale as good first AG recipes.

Take a 5G recipe and scale all ingredients by 3/5 for a 3G version (maybe check IBUs of hops to be sure)

 

[DigB]

I'll definitely look into beersmith.

I've heard about a BIAB Excel Spreadsheet, have you tried that and is it any good?

As for my first biab recipe, I'd like to try a stout I think, or something similar / Christmas themed.

The software you are thinking of is called BIABacus and you can find it on the web site BIABrewer.info
I use it all the time and have had moderately good results. I'm thinking of moving to Brewers Friend as it has a BIAB option in it. Only problem is its $20/year for a subscription.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

The software you are thinking of is called BIABacus and you can find it on the web site BIABrewer.info
I use it all the time and have had moderately good results. I'm thinking of moving to Brewers Friend as it has a BIAB option in it. Only problem is its $20/year for a subscription.

Just curious for my own selfish reasons, what are you looking for that biabacus(or my calculator if you've looked at it) doesn't do that brewers friend does?

 

[TexasWine]

Just curious for my own selfish reasons, what are you looking for that biabacus(or my calculator if you've looked at it) doesn't do that brewers friend does?

I know this question was not directed to me, so I hope you don't mind me chiming in here.

For me, I wanted a Web based solution for storing all my recipes and brew log. Those are really the two reasons I chose to go with BF. Well, that and I found Beersmith to be overly complicated.

However, I always refer to external calculators made specifically for BIAB, such as yours, when figuring my volumes. I find they do a much better job on estimating my water needs.

 

[mr_pablo]

Tell me what type of beer you want to brew (be as specific as possible), and I will design a bill in beersmith for you to test out your equipment, but you should eventually get a beersmith to make all your urn dreams come true

Thank you very much for the offer!

I'd be looking at either an APA or IPA to begin with. Possibly a SMaSH brew?

The main worry I think for me, is the water volumes. I need to find the right tools that will help me understand easily.

I've had a look at a few and if I'm ready everything correctly, I should be able to do 3 gal (US) (~12ltrs) batches easily in my tea urn (looking at a grain bill of 3-4kg)

 

[m00ps]

Try this Gumball Head clone. This was one of the first brews I did that really turned out nicely. Its not too much more complicated than a SMaSH. I scaled it to 3gal for ya.

OG/FG: 1.060 / 1.015
4 lb 2row
4 lb red wheat
0.5 lb Caravienna


Mash at 152 for 60 min,
optional mashout at 168 for 10 min

Hops:
@60: 1/2 oz Amarillo
@10: 1 oz Amarillo
@0:2 oz Amarillo
*steep for ~15min before chilling*
@dry:1 oz Amarillo
Yeast: Wyeast 1028 / Wyeast 1318
Ferment ~2wks at 66-68 deg


You can sub regular wheat for the red, it will only change the final color. I also had to sub the Caravienna for half crystal40 half vienna the first time I made it.

Oh and US-05 dry yeast works fine here too. I just know that FFF uses an English House yeast

 

[mr_pablo]

Thanks for the recipe, I'll put that in the pile with the others

I'm limited by what my LHBS stock, which isn't a massive selection, but I should be able to do this, with substituting the red wheat and Caravienna like you did

 

[Tegra]

I have to echo the suggestion of Centennial Blonde!

I tried something more complex the first time and was almost overwhelmed.

Have made 30 gallons so far and will just keep repeating.

Tom

 

[Siberian]

Also... I vote for either Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde or Yooper's Haus Ale as good first AG recipes.

Take a 5G recipe and scale all ingredients by 3/5 for a 3G version (maybe check IBUs of hops to be sure)

If darker stuff is your thing I'd throw in doing a batch of Biermuncher's Ode To Arthur. Only has about 16lbs of grain, simple malt bill (4 grains and the acid malt to be honest is a matter of taste) in a 5G batch, low OG, so it's pretty manageable as a first BIAB.

 

[T-Wayne]

Yeah make sure that whatever program you use, if its not designed with BIAB in mind, you account for the fact that BIAB is a different animal then 3 vessel brewing.

 

[BrewinBromanite]

Yeah make sure that whatever program you use, if its not designed with BIAB in mind, you account for the fact that BIAB is a different animal then 3 vessel brewing.

Agreed, my first AG BIAB - I ended up with way more pre-boil volume than expected (only had about 1/4 gal grain absorption from mash with a 12 lb grain bill, after squeezing the bag), and still overshot expected OG quite a bit.

Used Beersmith to calculate volumes and efficiency (assumed 75% efficiency), and the software estimated it to be about 5.5% ABV, and ended up with close to 6.5%, despite the unintended extra water in the boil.

Although, some will say you may get lower efficiency with BIAB - so I guess it all depends on your setup and process.

FWIW - I mash about 1.25 qts per lb, stir like crazy, then drain and squeeze the bag; followed by an additional batch/dunk sparge with 170 deg water (enough to reach pre-boil target volume) for 10-15 mins, stir, drain & squeeze. I can't comment on efficiency if your doing a full volume BIAB, since I've never done that.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew