New to BIAB

[msmith92]

I finally got an 8 gallon kettle (tall boy). and a dark star burner.

I want to try to do NB British Bitter in a BIAB.

Will my setup work (size) for 5 gallon batch?

Here's the recipe:
O.G: 1035 READY: 4 WEEKS
Suggested fermentation schedule:
-- 1 week primary; 1 week secondary;
2 weeks bottle conditioning
MASH INGREDIENTS
-- 6 lbs. English Maris Otter
-- 0.75 lbs. Simpsons CaraMalt
MASH SCHEDULE: SINGLE INFUSION
Sacch’ Rest: 153° F for 60 minutes
Mashout: 170° F for 10 minutes
BOIL ADDITIONS & TIMES
1 oz. UK Kent Goldings (60 min)
0.5 oz UK Kent Goldings (15 min)
0.5 oz. UK Kent Goldings (1 min)
YEAST
DRY YEAST (DEFAULT):
Danstar Windsor Ale Yeast.
Optimum temp: 64°–70° F.
LIQUID YEAST OPTION:
Wyeast 1945 NB NeoBritannia.
Flocculation: Medium-high. Attenuation: 72–77%.
Temperature Range: 66–74 F.
BRITISH BITTER (All Grain)
BOIL ADDITIONS & TIMES
-- 1 oz. UK Kent Goldings (60 min)
-- 0.5 oz UK Kent Goldings (15 min)
-- 0.5 oz. UK Kent Goldings (1 min)

 

[jCOSbrew]

Should work fine. I would heat about 6 gallons of strike water, mash for 60 min, remove and squeeze bag, than top off kettle to 6.5 gallons preboil. A boil off rate of 1.5 gallons per hour would be a good guess. Check your volume after 30 minutes and adjust the heat.

If you check your preboil gravity and volume you will be able to calculate brewhouse efficiency

 

[RM-MN]

A mash out isn't necessary for BIAB. In fact, only those who fly sparge need to worry about mash out.

This beer, and indeed most beers, doesn't need a secondary. Leave it in the primary until it is done. Take a hydrometer sample at day 10 or 11 and a second at day 14 or later. If they match, you can bottle.

Sometimes 2 weeks in the bottle aren't enough. A lot depends on the recipe, the yeast, and the temperature. 3 weeks is often recommended.

 

[C-Rider]

Change instructions to read 3 weeks in primary then 3 weeks in bottle. Good luck. No need to secondary unless you are adding something like fruit, or it's something big like a barley wine or you just have one fermenter and you NEED to brew another batch. It the last is your reason, just go buy another fermenter. LOL

 

[msmith92]

So I should bring 6.5 gallons to the 153º temp and add the grains for 60 minutes.

Then remove? and start the boil?

I've read that double mill is important with BIAB. Should I make sure to do that too?

Thanks! So new to this.

 

[RM-MN]

The temperature that you heat the water to, called the strike temperature, depends on the temperature you wish to mash at, the temperature of the grains, the amount of water, and the amount of grains. This is the calculator I like to use for that. http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/infusion.html

I would guess that your strike temp would be about 158 to 160. The grains will bring down the temperature of the water so you have to allow for that by having the water temp higher than what you want to mash at.

 

[warner85]

So I should bring 6.5 gallons to the 153º temp and add the grains for 60 minutes.

Then remove? and start the boil?

I've read that double mill is important with BIAB. Should I make sure to do that too?

Thanks! So new to this.

I would double mill, or at minimum close the mill gap. I've got a couple of BIAB batches under my belt, and I got 10 points higher and was at 70% efficiency when I had my LHBS just close the gap. Just got a grain mill and am double milling my grains this weekend... looking forward to seeing the effect on efficiency! Have fun!

 

[RM-MN]

I'm a little bummed today. I put a pound of unmalted rye into my 2 1/2 gallon batch of robust porter and only got 80% brewhouse efficiency. That rye was some of the toughest grain I have ever put through my Corona, and I put it through twice to try to raise my efficiency. The barley was a real treat to mill after that mess. I nearly had a boil-over at hot break too. I blame that on the rye because the last batch where I had even more rye did boil over, the first time it has happened to me.

 

[msmith92]

OK. I'm still confused on how much strike water to use for 6.75 lbs of grain.

Here are the steps I'm thinking of:

1. Heat 6.5 gallons of water to 160
2. Add grains and let steep for 60 minutes (hoping to maintain 153º).
3. strain the grains (squeeze out as much as possible)
4. proceed as normal with recipe

 

[wilserbrewer]

OK. I'm still confused on how much strike water to use for 6.75 lbs of grain.

Here are the steps I'm thinking of:

1. Heat 6.5 gallons of water to 160
2. Add grains and let steep for 60 minutes (hoping to maintain 153º).
3. strain the grains (squeeze out as much as possible)
4. proceed as normal with recipe

That will likely work, you could consider sparging another 1/2 gallon over the bag after it is removed to generate another 1/2 gallon of wort. Depending on how hard you boil, you might be short if you boil off too much.

RDWHAHB

cheers

 

[soccerdad]

Take good notes

Best Wishes !

 

[singybrue]

Something that I've found in my BIAB brewing is that I don't need to have the strike temp be too much above my mash temp. If you're shooting for 153 mash, try 155/156 strike. I think the higher volume of water moderates the temperature drop more.
If you drop below, just add a little heat. I think it's easier to heat it a little than cool it.

 

[msmith92]

My mash temp was set at 160 I wrapped it in a blanket and left for 60 minutes came back checked the temperature and it was still at 160 will there be a problem?

 

[pricelessbrewing]

From what I understand it'll yield a higher og, a thicker body, and probably some tannins from the high temp..
However I'm new and could be mistaken.

Edit: sorry, a higher FG not og. As the sugars produced are going to be more long chain unfermentable as RM-MN said below...

 

[msmith92]

Ok. Well, I hit my OG spot on.

Pretty excited. First time seems to be success.

Thanks all.

 

[RM-MN]

My mash temp was set at 160 I wrapped it in a blanket and left for 60 minutes came back checked the temperature and it was still at 160 will there be a problem?

The mash temperature determines the mix of sugars in your wort, low temp makes short chain sugars that ferment well, higher temps leave more long chain sugars (dextrines) that don't ferment out as well so they leave your beer more malty, more "chewy" almost. Your final gravity should be higher than you probably anticipated but....you made beer.

 

[msmith92]

Hmm. More malty might work in my favor for this style?

 

[1MadScientist]

Ok. Well, I hit my OG spot on.

Pretty excited. First time seems to be success.

Thanks all.

So, you hit your NB batch size too?

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[msmith92]

I ended up with 5 gallon batch. Is that what you meant?

 

[calvey]

mssmith92, please check out my new calculator at BIABCalculator.com - I think it might be some help.

Assuming: 6.75 lbs grain bill, grain temp 70 F, 5.25 final volume, mash temp 153, 60 minute boil, 8 gallon kettle that leaves behind .25 gallons trub after you transfer to the fermenter, boiloff 1.25 gal/hr and a standard grain absorption with minimal bag squeezing:

Total Water Needed - 7.05 Gallons
Strike Water Temp - 157 Fahrenheit
Total Mash Volume -7.59 Gallons (won't overflow your pot - but damn close)
PreBoil Wort - 6.75 Gallons
PostBoil Wort - 5.50 Gallons
Into Fermenter - 5.25 Gallons

 

[msmith92]

How do you determine grain temp.

 

[teddy4xp]

Stick a thermometer in the grain and see what the temp is

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

Stick a thermometer in the grain and see what the temp is

I bet msmith smacked his/her forehead after your comment.hehehe

 

[msmith92]

Why is grain temp a part of the calc.

 

[calvey]

You need to know the starting grain temperature (along with the mass of the grain and volume of mash water) to determine what temperature the strike water will be to reach your desired mash temperature. Your strike water value is higher since the grain cools it down a few degrees. The more water you use, the greater thermal mass, and therefore less offset you need to use. That is why often you will see strike water values in BIAB lower than traditional mashing.

 

[wilserbrewer]

How do you determine grain temp.

Typically the room temp that the grain is stored in...I believe most don't actually take a "grain temp" reading, but rather ball park a temp based on storage conditions of the grain.

 

[dobe12]

I've been BIAB'ing for a few years now and have my system down pretty well. Definitely set your mill gap a little tighter. That's one benefit of BIAB. No stuck mashes! Mash thin 1.75 - 2qt/lb. Batch sparge with roughly the same amount of water as what you get from your first runnings. And don't be afraid to squeeze the sack! For smaller beers like that I can usually hit around 85% efficiency.

Edited for hilarious typing mistakes.

 

[msmith92]

Took a one week gravity. It's only at 1.024. Typically with this beer in extract it's at 1.012 in a week.

 

[dobe12]

Took a one week gravity. It's only at 1.024. Typically with this beer in extract it's at 1.012 in a week.

From what I see you mashed at 160F, correct? That's your issue. You want to mash somewhere between 148 - 156F. 148-150F will give you a more fermentable wort, which will give you a lower final gravity and a thinner beer with less body. The average mash temp is right around 152F which is a good middle ground between a thinner beer and one with more body. Mashing higher, 156-158F range will give you a less fermentable wort. You'll still have lots of sugars which will lead to more body, but the sugars will not be highly fermentable, so your final gravity will be higher.

So mashing at 160F is leaving your final gravity high and will give you a sweeter, more malty wort. Not a lot you can do but live an learn.

Next time try mashing at 152F and see what you get.

 

[jjw5015]

My mash temp was set at 160 I wrapped it in a blanket and left for 60 minutes came back checked the temperature and it was still at 160 will there be a problem?

I would check your mash more often. Never a good idea to just leave it for an hour. If you would've seen after 15 minutes that you're temp was still high, you wouldve been able to add some water to cool it down. Then you can just boil longer to make up for the extra liquid.

 

[msmith92]

I never thought the heat would retain under a couple blankets. Next time I'll not get the strike water too far from the mash temp.


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