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   1. Off flavor after fermentation but not before

      by opalko, 10 years ago in BIABrewer.info and BIAB for New Members

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      Very frustrated! I can't seem to avoid a grainy/corny flavor that happens after fermentation. I was meticulous in my brewing but when I went to check final gravity yesterday before bottling, ugh. The bad thing is before pitching yeast when I check the OG the stuff tasted great..malty, slight hops - wonderful!
      My recipe (ordinary bitter - 2.5 gallons BIAB): (US units)
      3 lbs Maris Otter
      3 oz 40L crystal
      1/2 oz EKG 60 mins
      1/4 oz Fuggles 15
      1/4 oz EKG 5
      1/4 tablet Whirlflock 5 mins
      4 gallons water...

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      Really annoying when this sort of stuff happens :(.
      
      There's a very good fault guide here . Check out the things the guys mentioned above. It also has Grainy there and you'll read things such as over-crushing (don't do that!) and incorrect pH (get a roll of pH paper as currently pictured at the bottom of BIABrewer pages).
      
      I'd also be upping boil time to 90 minutes as this will fix some water problems. Try and read up to see if there are any water problems in your area.
      
      Check how your home...
      5 Replies
      7954 Views
      PistolPatch
      10 years ago
   2. How do I salvage these grains?

      by opalko, 12 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      I went to my local shop today where I have bought many times before. I wanted 6 pounds of Maris Otter and .5 pound of roasted barley. I only make 1/2 size batches - 2.5 gallons BIAB because it's just easier and I like to do it inside and that's the most I can make at one time.
      
      In any case before I know it the guy goes in the back and starts milling the grain. Whoa - I didn't need it milled and prefer it not be milled as I like to do it myself and I've bought plenty there before unmilled. Too...

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      you should have made the guy make your order the right way. no reason to pay for something you don't want/didn't ask for. At my LHBS it is self-service with the grain and milling, which is awesome!
      
      if you mix up the grain long enough, they should be mixed evenly. not sure how long you'd have to mix it though...
      4 Replies
      7447 Views
      Three3Beer
      12 years ago
   3. Back to BIAB - is this kettle too small?

      by opalko, 13 years ago in Stove-top BIAB (also known as Mini-BIAB)

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      I'm just getting back to BIAB - and mini-BIAB in particular after falling back to the 3-tier system I've had for years.
      
      This past weekend I bought a 5.5 gal pot to brew 2.5 gal to 3 gal batches with. However, after doing some numbers on the Calculator, I am thinking I should have bought a larger size??
      
      What I was going to start with was a 3 gallon batch of English Bitter with a OG of around 1.037. According to the calculator I will need a mash volume of 7.22 gal !? Maybe I missed something...

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      Hi there Opalko and welcome back to BIAB :peace:,
      
      There's been a few developments here recently. For example, The Calculator has been replaced with a pre-release version of the BIABacus. The general principles of the Calculator remain the same however the BIABacus is far more powerful and will in fact do lots of stuff that no other software can do. I have put your recipe into the BIABacus here. BIABacus PR1.3A - English BItter Opalko.xls Before you do anything...
      
      In your calculator file you...
      2 Replies
      6722 Views
      PistolPatch
      13 years ago
   4. 2nd BIAB, Terrible efficiency!

      by opalko, 15 years ago in BIABrewer.info and BIAB for New Members

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      Ok, this is my 2nd BIAB after brewing on a 3V system for a number of years. On my old set up with an EasyMasher (or homemade clone) I would normally get 75% efficiency - easily. My first BIAB I calculated the OG at around 1038 and ended up 1028-1030. This time I increased the grain bill and had an expected OG of 1050 (at 75% eff) and ended with a gravity of 1039 - 59% efficiency?!
      
      The recipe
      7 lb American 2 row malt
      1 lb Crystal 40L
      1 lb Amber malt
      4 oz Corn sugar
      
      .8 oz Goldings hops (5% AAU)...

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      Sorry to hear you had probs on your first one opalko :sad:. You are totally right though that there shouldn't be any major difference in efficiency between your 3V and BIAB. Most of us who have changed from 3V to BIAB have noticed a slight increase if anything.
      
      I wrote a post the other day here on 7 reasons for poor efficiency. I think you will find on your next brew that the problem has suddenly disappeared. If it hasn't that would be very strange and we'd have to narrow things down a bit.
      
      I...
      4 Replies
      6556 Views
      PistolPatch
      15 years ago
   5. Now that I BIAB, how do I sanitize CFC?

      by opalko, 15 years ago in Chilling

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      Before I was doing all grain brewing with a 3V system, and while the wort was boiling in the lowest kettle, I could get some boiling water out of the topmost kettle to sanitize my counter-flow chiller (25' of 3/8 copper tubing inside a garden hose).
      
      Now that I am going to BIAB, I won't have that top kettle anymore - so what is the best way to sanitize the chiller prior to using it? I don't have a food grade pump (though I might be able to get my hands on a garden fountain pump).
      
      Any ideas?...

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      I watched the video...I think that will work great, recirculating the iodophor through the copper...excellent, thanks!
      8 Replies
      10247 Views
      opalko
      15 years ago
   6. Winpak heat resistance?

      by opalko, 15 years ago in Chilling

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      Never tried no-chill (yet), but I've been following the posts here with keen interest. I'm curious, however, about the Winpak that is referred to regularly ( ) on the USPlastics site. I wrote the USPlastics company and asked about it's heat resistance and received this reply:
      Hello
      
      The maximum temperature that those are recommended for is 190°F.
      
      Please feel free to contact us Mon-Fri 8:00 am - 5:00 pm EST, with any further questions or concerns.
      
      Thank you,
      
      Berta Thaman
      United States...

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      HDPE has little branching, giving it stronger intermolecular forces and tensile strength than lower-density polyethylene. The difference in strength exceeds the difference in density, giving HDPE a higher specific strength. It is also harder and more opaque and can withstand somewhat higher temperatures (120 °C/ 248 °F for short periods, 110 °C /230 °F continuously). High-density polyethylene, unlike polypropylene, cannot withstand normally-required autoclaving conditions.
      
      From wikipedia
      3 Replies
      6688 Views
      stux
      15 years ago
   7. My 1st BIAB!

      by opalko, 15 years ago in Gas-Fired BIAB

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      Well I've been brewing all grain for a while (10 years!) with a 3 tier system and I have just been fascinated with this BIAB technique. I am a firm believer in simpler is better and couldn't wait to try it.
      
      I seem to have read so much on BIAB that I didn't retain a bit of it and just decided to plow through it with my own experimentation! So yesterday I decided to establish a baseline of how well this will work. My recipe for an english bitter:
      
      5 lbs 2 Row Malt
      1 lbs 40 Crystal
      8 oz corn...

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      Well done opalko and welcome to the world of BIAB. Looks like you've got yourself a nice session beer there. :drink: :drink:
      
      From the look of your photo you live about half way between the uk and Aus' :lol:
      
      Yeasty
      5 Replies
      7668 Views
      Yeasty
      15 years ago

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