This simple recipe for my first BIAB?

[spindlehead]

Hello Homebrewtalk,

I have been an on-again/off-again extract brewer for a long time. I am soon to attempt by first all-grain batch of any kind and will be employing BIAB. My instinct is to keep things very simple for this first try. After a ton of reading here and elsewhere, here is the plan. I would welcome any comments, advice or criticism. I am a few weeks from brew day and have plenty of time to change things up (both fermenters are working on what might be the last of my extract brews.

3-gallon batch of vaguely blonde ale:
7.5 lb American 2-row, milled by vendor
0.5 oz Amarillo pellets, 60 min
0.5 oz Amarillo pellets, 5 min
Safale S-05

The plan is to start with 4.5 gallons of strike water at 158-160F,
- rest at 152 +/-2 for 75 min
- mash out at 170 for 10 min
- boil for 60 min with hop schedule above
- chill, transfer, aerate and pitch

Should make an inoffensive all-grain blondish ale, right? I just want something basic that I can taste and judge my results without being confused by including specialty malts or adjuncts in the grist. Again, comments are welcome.

Thanks-- Spindle

 

[ericbw]

I usually use about 5-6 lbs in a 3 gallon batch. Unless you know your efficiency will be really low (55%?), this could end up being around 6.5% ABV. Is that what you are expecting?

(I think of a simple blonde as being 4.5-5%)

My other suggestion is your strike temp. It usually drops about 12-13 degrees for me. So you might want to start above 162 so you don't drop too low when you start. It's easy enough to raise the temp if you're doing it in a pot, but if you can get as close as possible, it's better.

Otherwise, it looks good and simple.

 

[TopherM]

My first all grain was a SMASH, which is about as simple as you can get. This recipe turned out great (5 gallons):

9.5 lbs Two-Row
0.75 oz Nelson Sauvin @ 60
0.5 oz Nelson Sauvin @ 15
0.5 oz Nelson Sauvin @ 5
S-05 Yeast

Makes a great beer! Scaled for 3 gallons:

5.7 lbs Two-Row
0.45 oz Nelson Sauvin @ 60
0.3 oz Nelson Sauvin @ 15
0.3 oz Nelson Sauvin @ 5
S-05 Yeast

 

[spindlehead]

Thanks a bunch for the feedback and advice guys. I did indeed turn the brewhouse efficiency down to 60% when sizing the grain bill. That was based on advice that my early attempts would be lower efficiency and that the vendor milled grain might be coarser than what people usually use for BIAB. If 70%-ish efficiency is easily attainable then I will reduce the grain by a pound or so. Not that I have anything against a boozy blonde...

Also, thanks very much for the advice about the strike water temp. Some online calculator gave me the 158`F. I will bump up a couple of degrees. I'd rather err towards starting a little low than high because it's easier to add heat than remove it.

 

[phyllobeddo]

FWIW, here's my first AG/BIAB/no sparge batch from three weeks ago.

Cream of 3 Crops / 2.5 gallon recipe

3.5lb 2-row
1lb Flaked Maize
4oz Flaked Rice
.25oz Willamette
.25oz Crystal

4.25 gallons water heated to 162/163 degrees F
Hit 154 with no adjustments
Mashed for 90 minutes in Rubbermaid cooler using voile curtain
No mash out
No sparge
Boiled 90 minutes
Cooled to 80 or so and then put the primary in the wine fridge to keep cooling to around 60
Pitched US-05 the next day.

Brewersfriend showed 77% efficiency. http://www.brewersfriend.com/brewhouse-efficiency/

OG was 1047 and FG was 1010

 

[dkevinb]

I did my first BIAB the weekend before last:

6 lbs 2-row
0.5 lbs Crystal 60
All Cascade
US-05

I started with 5.5 gallons of water. I lost 1/2 gallon to the grain, boiled off 1.5 gallons during a 1 hour boil, and left about 1/2 gallon in the kettle with the trub, putting 3 gallons into the fermenter. I got 57% brewhouse efficiency with the default grain mill at the LHBS.


Sunday I did my 2nd BIAB:

8 lbs. 2-row
1.25 lbs Crystal 20
Magnum for bittering, Citra for flavor and aroma
US-05

I started with 6.5 gallons of water. I lost 1 gallon to the grain, boiled off 1 gallon during a 1 hour boil, and just dumped the 4.5 gallons into the fermenter. I got 76% brewhouse efficiency with double-milled grain.

My experience is that your numbers are going to be all over the place for a couple of brews until you get your process dialed in. I like the idea of keeping the ingredients simple and concentrating on the actual brewing. Good luck!

 

[spindlehead]

Thanks for the data! This is all super helpful.

 

[WouldBeBrewmaster]

Try not to be like me obsessing about the temperature, and constantly tinkering with the stove-top burner, ice cubes, and cold water. Try to set it and forget it. If you're shooting for 150F, and your mash starts at 154F and finishes at 148F, RDWHAHB.

If you purchased your grains at a LHBS where you use their mill, make sure you get an extra-fine crush to help your efficiency. Unlike a traditional all-grain brew a stuck sparge isn't a concern.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[spindlehead]

I don't know if anyone uses morebeer (exclamation point). They are only like 60 miles from me so I order from them whenever I need enough stuff to get over the free shipping threshold. Anyway, that's where I got my grain, so it will be milled however they mill it.

I don't believe I am going to be able to wait to do this thing. I'm gonna have to cold crash and keg my OSHA extract ale in the 5 gal carboy to make room for the blond. OSHA = Old SH** Ale because I was using some seriously dated but well stored old ingredients.

 

[bbycrts]

My first BIAB I hit 87.5% efficiency...the OG was 1.074, FG 1.010. I think that came to an 8.6% ish ABV. Don't underestimate yourself too much - you'll end up with an alcohol fest.

(Mine was an ESB...but with the extra alcohol I've had to dub it an EESB)

 

[wilserbrewer]

I'd rather err towards starting a little low than high because it's easier to add heat than remove it.

Actually I have found lowering a couple degrees to be easier than adding heat by the addition of several ice cubes. If you do need to add a little heat, be patient, heat on low/medium and STiR constantly so as to not scorch the bag or the grain.

Also after mixing the grain in really well, let the mash sit a couple minutes and stir again, then take your temperature. If you stir in the grain quickly, then take the temp it will be artificially high because the grain has not absorbed all the heat yet, it takes a few minutes with a fair amount of stirring to reach a stable temp. This will also avoid see sawing, as in OMG too high, now OMG now I'm too low....a little patience goes a long way.

Cheers! Enjoy, it really is very simple, and gets simpler with a little practice.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[spindlehead]

Sooooo, I gave this a shot on Sunday. It was a definitely a learning experience. First thing I learned was, get a bigger kettle. Second was, get a propane burner. Third, get a finer crush (the 2-row was supposed to come milled but sure looked like a lot of intact grains). Fourth, was RDWHAHB etc, several times...

My kettle is a straight up 5 gallon pot (about 2"/gal). I couldn't bring myself to fill it to within an inch of the top before adding the grist so I chickened out and used less strike water. When I added the 6.5-lb grist it it didn't raise the level nearly as much as I thought it could so I added hot water to raise it to what the calculated strike volume should have been. I still hit the 152-ish target mash temperature pretty much dead on and had an easy time keeping it there for the whole rest. I mashed out at 170 then lifted the bag on to a strainer plate on top of the kettle. I could see immediately that the pre-boil volume was going to be lower than planned. It was about what the post-boil volume was supposed to be. I got as much sweet juice out of the grain bag as I could then took a sample out of the kettle, chilled and took a hydrometer reading -- It was 1.040. I decided to just go on and boil from there and see where it got me. I couldn't get a vigorous boil going uncovered. It was boiling, but barely, so I boiled for an extra 30 minutes.

In the end, I ended up with about 2 gallons of post boil wort. I was able to chill down to just under 80`F with my immersion chiller but couldn't get any lower. The sample that I took at that point said it was 1.050. So, I figured that was good enough for a first try and transferred to the primary, aerated, pitched S-05 yeast, air locked and called it a night. Strange thing was that the same sample was reading 1.055 this morning. I think my thermometer must be suspect because the wort must have been much warmer to read 1.050 last night then 1.055 this morning at about 65`F.

Anyway the little batch is happily fermenting right now and 1.055 sounds like a nice OG, about what I wanted... albeit a gallon short. I was a little disappointed in my conversion efficiency but I think it was partly because I need a finer crush on the grain and perhaps the thermometer is suspect. I definitely need more heat than my gas stove top can provide so a propane burner is in my future. I'm looking forward to seeing how this batch develops. I used whirfloc for the first time and saw all kinds of stuff coagulate. I've never made very clear beer so maybe this stuff will help.