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   1. BIAB competition success

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      by Beachbum, 13 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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      I don't normally blow my own trumpet - in this case I'm blowing it for BIAB and to encourage those new to the method who may perhaps harbour some niggling doubts about whether BIAB is 'second best' or some sort of soft option.
      
      Anyway this year, as announced tonight at the awards night, the Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers Competition yielded these Results for my BIAB beers:
      
      1st - Pale Ales and Bitters - Special Bitter 42 points (out of 50)and Silver
      1st - Stouts and Porters - Dry Stout - 44...

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      @shetc ,
      
      I meant to communicate “good job” on this. It means you have your “process” down where you are getting consistently good beer. And that is important!
      
      Congratulations! And good job.
      
      Scott
      
      Thanks, Scott!
      219 Replies
      230250 Views
      shetc
      4 years ago
   2. A Guide to Bottling.

      by Beachbum, 14 years ago in Bottling

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      A Guide to Bottling
      
      By Michael Gardner (Beachbum)
      
      Most brewers’ introduction to bottling consists of instructions on a kit “Add a teaspoon of sugar to a large sterilised bottle or half a teaspoon to a small one, fill with beer, cap and leave for n weeks till mature”. However there’s a wealth of interesting background issues.
      
      The majority of home brewers start their career with bottling, and many do not go on to kegging. As a kegger myself I nevertheless have a few bottles left over from...

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      I have never used carb drops personally, but you want to be careful not to overcarb. At least using PET you won't get glass grenades.
      
      I would think your questions would really depend on the size of the bottle, and the recommended volume for the carb drops. If you really want to dial in your carbonation levels, there are priming calculators that can help you use the correct amount of sugar for the volume you are carbing, at the temp you are carbing.
      
      I personally prefer to batch prime with...
      8 Replies
      20167 Views
      goulaigan
      8 years ago
   3. Freezing test tubes of yeast

      by Beachbum, 13 years ago in Yeasts

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      A lot of brewers do yeast slants in test tubes of a medium like gelatine or agar agar where they culture up yeast and store the tubes in the fridge for future use. I was interested in slanting, to keep a constant supply of yeast and to keep examples of yeast that is often unavailable, for example Wyeast West Yorkshire 1469 that they only release every two years.
      
      Whilst researching slanting, I was presented with the other popular method, actually freezing the yeast and keeping it in the...

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      I would think these are a better option.
      21 Replies
      43307 Views
      Lumpy5oh
      8 years ago
   4. You can't brew a decent lager using BIAB

      by Beachbum, 10 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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      Or so the expert doubters said when the great BIAB debate was on in earnest two or three years ago. This even included a Sydney commercial brewer who is on a certain forum, and a major local retailer who is very knowledgeable on all things brewing. The argument went that lagers have to be recirculated or at least Vorlaufed so BIAB was out, sorry.
      
      Anyway my Standard Australian Lager just took out second place in the Pale Lagers at the Australian Amateur Brewing Championships in Canberra judged...

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      My next brew, thanks!
      
      Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
      14 Replies
      17571 Views
      rocketman
      10 years ago
   5. One BIAB brew, two different worts

      by Beachbum, 10 years ago in BIABrewer Old Hands

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      I've been exploring around the idea of Parti Gyle brewing and currently mashing a Fullers style English ESB.
      
      The idea of Parti Gyle is to get two worts out of one grain bill, a strong one (first runnings) and a weaker one (second runnings)
      
      Occurs to me that another neat thing you could do with BIAB is to produce two worts with quite different characteristics, but recombine them in the boil.
      
      Why?
      
      I'm intrigued by the idea of doing a high mash above 70 degrees in Alpha Amylase territory and...

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      It's a 40L electric urn. I don't bottle any more so I do a 23 litre total batch in the boiler, 27 litre initial boil, of which about 21 goes into the fermenter plus maybe a litre if I'm lucky that I salvage for doing yeast starters. I eventually end up with a Cornie sized batch on kegging day with a half pint sneaky taster :drink: .
      
      I've ended up with an OG of 1055 and very keen indeed to see what the FG is going to end up at.
      
      If I was just doing a normal mash, using Wyeast Irish Ale yeast...
      3 Replies
      6699 Views
      Beachbum
      10 years ago
   6. Two brewing books

      by Beachbum, 10 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      I expect a few members will already have Chris White's book Yeast .. It's pretty much my Bible and I have learned just about everything I know about yeast from that book, and a Whitelabs presentation a few years ago at a brewing conference.
      
      When this book was published in 2010 it was clear that it was the first in a series, and in fact the next book was published last year and slipped right under my radar. Ordered today. For the Love of Hops ..
      
      As it's from last year I expect it will...

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      Picked a heck of a day to cut back on my spending :lol:
      2 Replies
      4712 Views
      Beachbum
      10 years ago
   7. German Mashing Technique: Hochkurz

      by Beachbum, 13 years ago in BIABrewer Old Hands

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      I've been frustrated with my German Style beers and the last one (Pils) turned out more like Tooheys New. For non Australian Members that's like saying you succeeded in making a bad copy of Miller or Carling. :?
      
      So I've been doing some studying up and found a great site Braukaiser
      I've found that the most popular mash used by German breweries today is the Hochkurz (high-short) mashing schedule.
      It's an infusion mash and instead of just mashing at some mid range such as 65 degrees celsius,...

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      going to try this tomorrow morning. will be brewing my double batch Helles bock / Belgian strong - two beers in one brew recipe.
      i hope i remember to post back here in a couple of months with tasting notes.
      15 Replies
      18264 Views
      shibolet
      11 years ago
   8. Moby Wheat (American Wheat)

      by Beachbum, 12 years ago in BIAB Recipes

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      Quick one if you need some beer over the holidays.
      I always thought wheat beers were supposed to taste like the toilet blocks in men's rooms (especially the purple ones) :? - until I had a few Murrays Whale Ales on holiday. Hence the whale connection.
      
      Lovely easy drinking beer with a fresh bread taste and satisfying mouthfeel - I made mine on San Diego Super Yeast from Whitelabs (WLP090) but any American Ale yeast would work perfectly, plus any high alpha hop for a bittering addition only...

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      I agree squared, It's a very sessionable beer especially on a warm day. The peach sounds interesting :think: Not really my cup of tea, but that's the beauty of this recipie in that you can treat it like a bit of a blank canvas due to the low IBUs and that clean malt flavour. :peace:
      24 Replies
      21221 Views
      Hippy
      12 years ago
   9. Piggy back brew day, one bag, one boiler makes two beers.

      by Beachbum, 12 years ago in BIABrewer Old Hands

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      I was in Aldi the other day and they were clearing a pallet of 36L picnic coolers for $19.95 and in an instant it occurred to me that for very little extra outlay $$ I could do two brews in far less time than two separate BIAB brews end to end, by piggy backing a mash tun onto a standard full volume BIAB mash.
      
      Batch #1 is a Malt Bomb Vienna ale with Vienna, Munich, Melanoidin, NZ Hallertau and US-05
      Batch #2 is a Pom with Halcyon, Crystal, the usual suspects hops and Wy 1768
      
      Equipment: one...

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      Update from the peanut gallery:
      
      This is one malty 'sumbitch, that's for sure but I'm happy because I really like the taste of Vienna malt (and I love the color Vienna gives). Really chewy too (agreed about the melanoidin). The sample I'm drinking is my first taste so it's only been in the bottle for 2 weeks. Next time around I might go with half as much melanoidin, mash a bit lower (I mashed at 153F) and add some wheat for head retention......or just skip the wheat and melanoidin entirely and...
      22 Replies
      22688 Views
      thughes
      12 years ago
   10. Just a stir

       by Beachbum, 12 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       Not denigrating the enthusiasm and dedication of home brewers of the complex technical geek persuasion - it stops them hanging around street corners in Kings Cross ... but I still can't understand a word of this post on another forum :cool: - it's somehow related to making beer.
       
       Aren't we lucky that here on this forum we just make beer???? :thumbs:
       
       Steve,
       Looking at your schematic, I see you have pull up resistors on the buttons. Is there any reason why you did this instead of using the...

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       You guys are too much! I had a lovely time in the kings cross area (visiting churches) and admiring the architecture. You presume that as a Vietnam solider on leave I was up to no good? ....Oh?, Yeah, now I remember? I guess your right? I was up to no good! narrow street of terrace houses I do remember something like that? Funny that I actually remember more about spending a week (Down-Under) than a year in the jungle? I must be selective or why I drink?
       7 Replies
       8403 Views
       BobBrews
       12 years ago
   11. American Malt Liquor

       by Beachbum, 13 years ago in BIAB Recipes

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       American members can now leave the room to collect their pitchforks and flaming torches :lol:
       
       I'm fascinated by the idea of malt liquors, (the alcohol of choice of the homeless and unemployed in the USA - not sneering, we have cask wine in Australia :? ) we don't have them in Australia and can't get the USA ones so I've made my own. I reckon this would go brilliantly with US 6-row , which we don't get here :(
       This recipe calls for a high level of adjuncts which I prepare using a cereal mash...

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       Wow I've just fallen in love :argh:
       24 Replies
       24304 Views
       Beachbum
       12 years ago
   12. A man's life was really hard in the 1950s

       by Beachbum, 12 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       How is it possible for so many types of creatures to eat, or attempt to eat, one man? And why no drop bears? And didn't women wear anything other than red dresses? My Mum used to, back then :lol:

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       LOL... After the first issue, that guy should have put on a leather jacket or something and stayed out of the water.
       1 Replies
       3913 Views
       Ziggybrew
       12 years ago
   13. Brew in a solid "bag"

       by Beachbum, 12 years ago in BIABrewer Old Hands

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       Reason I haven't been posting here recently is because I have gone all heretical and gone in a slightly different direction.
       I found with full volume BIAB I was getting a lot of trub and wasting ingredients due to cloudy wort into the kettle that was ending up with up to 3L of cloudy gunk per brew. Note I say into the kettle, not out of it, as the wort out of the kettle after a good boil and a floc can be as clear with BIAB as any other system. However clearer wort into the kettle (i.e....

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       I've just done a BIAB Extra Special (Strong) Bitter for a comp in January - sort of along the lines of a Fullers ESB and easily hit the expected 1060 with 80% efficiency so well pleased. I find that a good mashout at 78 degrees while agitating the mash, and a good squeeze seems to yield good results. I've also gone up from 60 min mash and 60 min boil to 75 mins for each step and that seems to tweak things slightly for the better. I adjust the initial strike liquor a tad upwards to take the...
       15 Replies
       16370 Views
       Beachbum
       12 years ago
   14. Excellent BIAB Video

       by Beachbum, 12 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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       I don't frequent YouTube much but came across this lady's excellent pair of videos. It's refreshing to see different brewers' takes on BIAB and what really got me excited was the use of a SS rack and colander for draining, as opposed to a skyhook and draining the bag - I think I'll try this out, it looks so easy and logical.
       
       Recommended viewing:

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       Sorry to hear about your new kegs PP, what a PITA.
       
       Have you considered getting a cooper to make you some nice oak barrels? LOL! Fingers crossed they get this sorted quickly - took them eight weeks to give me the replacements :roll:.
       16 Replies
       18069 Views
       PistolPatch
       12 years ago
   15. Another way to add late hops to No-Chills.

       by Beachbum, 13 years ago in Hopping

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       I no chill in a cube - one disadvantage is that late hop additions can end up a bit muted as the wort temperature can remain very hot for a lot longer. So what I have started to do is (thanks to argon on AHB forum:)
       
       Nochill as usual but do not do any 10 minute or flame out additions.
       Chill the cube down to really cold in the fridge (I do it in two stages - overnight on the floor then into the fridge the next morning to avoid the fridge going WTF - no way dude
       Pour three litres of wort into...

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       i've created a guide here for anyone that's interested in this method.
       cheers
       :)
       5 Replies
       11043 Views
       argon5000
       12 years ago
   16. Kegging for Beginners

       by Beachbum, 14 years ago in Kegging

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       Basic Kegging
       
       By Michael Gardner (Beachbum)
       
       Introduction
       
       There’s nothing like striding up to your own tap and pouring a pint of your best. However kegging can be very confusing for the beginner as there are so many possible setups, from the simple private setup in the brew shed which could just be a small fridge, one keg and a plastic tap to the fully fledged bar with a row of frozen fonts that could take pride of place in any pub.
       This is a basic introduction and is not intended to...

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       BeachBum,
       
       Great job. Very informative. I wish I could have read this before I set up my rig. If you need help about balancing a system I can help.......... steer you to some information
       
       I have to this date not really balanced my system. Some days the pour is perfect some days I get a lot of foam? I am the last person in the world give advice and the first person to need it! Thanks for all the hard work done and yet to come!
       
       P.S. In the US we have been seeing more of these for...
       4 Replies
       16315 Views
       BobBrews
       12 years ago
   17. Guinness, Quarter of a Millenium

       by Beachbum, 13 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

       

       I've just read the book Guinness, The 250-Year Quest For The Perfect Pint by Bill Yenne. He obviously isn't a beer geek and a lot of the material was probably pumped into him by the Guinness PR department and it shows. For example when they decided to brew a lager and came up with the name Harp, they converted one of their breweries into a state of the art lager brewery and started brewing an authentic Bavarian Reinheitsgebot lager ..... erm hang on we're talking about bloody Harp Lager in the...
       0 Replies
       9646 Views
       Beachbum
       13 years ago
   18. New twin Urn System

       by Beachbum, 13 years ago in Electric BIAB

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       Urnest and Urnold do Wort
       
       I was fed up with spending five or six hours and only getting a cornie plus 4 bottles out of it, so I bought a second electric urn (and bag and hopsock) to do double batches (or two different batches) in little extra time, by slightly staggering or offsetting the two brews. Instead of sitting around waiting for the next stage, I was running around like a blue arsed fly for a few hours. Great fun.
       
       First sea-trials today for the new system. Two 40 litre urns...

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       i waited for one of my brewing mates to try it first. it works great. balls are in-tacked.
       no modification required.
       15 Replies
       17788 Views
       shibolet
       13 years ago
   19. New Full Size BIAB bag, commercially made, Australia

       by Beachbum, 13 years ago in Bags, Mashers, Thermometers, Kettles etc.

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       :champ: :champ:
       
       Craftbrewer (no affiliation) also post worldwide, Ross was saying postage to the UK for example would be possible a couple of quid.

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       I'm intrigued by the food grade fabric that they tout, I mean my research suggests that voile is food grade, but not certified as such anywhere.
       1 Replies
       4429 Views
       EoinMag
       13 years ago
   20. The Double Drop - traditional British method.

       by Beachbum, 13 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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       This used to be a very common method of brewing in the UK, Fullers did it until they got their new vessels a couple of decades ago, and some still do it such as Brakspear (at Wychwood). The idea is to start the fermentation in an upper vessel then, after 16 hours drop the fermenting wort into a lower vessel, leaving behind unwanted proteins, hop materials etc and also give the wort a good second aeration to promote a healthy fermentation. I read about this also in the new Jamil and White yeast...

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       Brew is finally ready to drink. The fermentation went quite quickly - in the past I have gone for about 8 to 10 days with most yeasts and always get a bit paranoid when I read on UK brewers websites primary fermentation is for three days then we rack to conditioning tanks for a further few days, cask and send out to the trade :scratch: etc. However on this occasion it was all over in about 6 days and I kegged / bottled straight out of primary.
       
       It's ended up as a really typical UK ESB with a...
       5 Replies
       7100 Views
       Beachbum
       13 years ago
   21. Cold break experiment

       by Beachbum, 13 years ago in BIABrewer Old Hands

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       Cold break is good, cold break is bad, I wish I had a hundred dollars for every time this discussion pops up on forums. My experiment today, with my double urn setup, is to do two identical brews then no chill them overnight. Tomorrow I'll pour the top half of each cube into a fermenter and the rest into the other fermenter.
       So one will get little or no CB, the other will get all of it.
       
       4000g Galaxy Pale Pilsener
       1000g Rice
       330g Carapils
       
       20g Northern Brewer 60 mins
       30g Saaz 10 mins
       
       S-189...

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       Explains why my beers have such good mouth feel, all the cold break goes into the fermenter :)
       8 Replies
       10406 Views
       hashie
       13 years ago
   22. Pimping up a kit with a BIAB-produced enhancer

       by Beachbum, 13 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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       BIAB Micro Mash Heresy - a partial
       
       So I've got this tin of Coopers Mexican Cerveza kit. A keg of Corona style beer over the holidays impresses the relatives and drop-ins and isn't a bad lawnmower beer, but I decided that rather than do an all grain I would pimp up the can.
       
       In the kit world you would add a kilo of Brew Enhancer or something but I decided to do my own enhancer to add some authenticity to the brew with a cereal mash, as well as adding some Galena hops and using a lager yeast to...

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       Looks like a lawnmower, tastes like a lawnmower :thumbs:
       No complaints really, this has turned out not unlike one of those ubiquitous dry lo carb concoctions but surprisingly doesn't have a kit twang, and there is some nice grain in the aftertaste. The bittering hops combined with good carbonation and icy coldness give a refreshing bite.
       APA or Yorkshire bitter she ain't but I'll consider this one again as a quick quaffing lager. :salute:
       4 Replies
       7654 Views
       Beachbum
       13 years ago
   23. What are You Drinking?

       by Beachbum, 14 years ago in General Chit-Chat, Nonsense & Rambles

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       American Cream Ale - kilo of maize, Galena hops and Wyeast American Ale 1056. Take me to the ball game....... :D

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       Oh man, I am in brewing heaven. I have been brewing like mad for competitions and family events, so recently, the list has been;
       
       English Mild 3.5%
       Ordinary Bitter 3.4%
       ESB 5.5%
       All POR IPA 7.5%
       West Coast Blaster (Jamil's Book) 6.5%
       Oatmeal Stout 5.0%
       
       currently brewing Jamil's Black Forest Stout 6.5%
       
       Just had a few milds today while gardening, life is good!
       
       Matt
       2 Replies
       3998 Views
       crundle
       14 years ago
   24. A Guide to Electric BIAB using an Urn

       by Beachbum, 14 years ago in Electric BIAB

       

       BIABrewer Note: All brewers, new and experienced are encouraged to start new topics in this section provided they have read the below.
       
       A Basic Guide to BIAB using an Urn
       
       By Michael Gardner (Beachbum)
       
       Introduction
       
       For a comprehensive guide to BIAB, see the Master Guide on this forum. This article is in two sections, a general discussion followed by a 'how to'.
       
       There is a more detailed introduction to BIAB in the main Guide on this forum. However as a refresher:
       The entire water...
       0 Replies
       45060 Views
       Beachbum
       14 years ago

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