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1. Topics

   1. Fine vs Coarse mesh for bag - Revisit topic.

      by kzimmer0817, 13 years ago in BIABrewer.info and BIAB for New Members

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      My reason for revisiting the question about mesh is to provide an easy-to-find thread for other new BIABers to find the answer to how important it might be to use a fine mesh bag vs a coarser one. (I decided to ask my question first followed by all my rambling justifications for those who prefer to cut to the chase).
      
      I remember over a year ago reading some justifications for why it was important to use the voile as opposed to the coarser paint strainer bags. I just re-read the following...

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      PP,
      He actually wanted to be a heart surgeon but wasn't tall enough
      
      You are reaching with that one.
      7 Replies
      12085 Views
      BobBrews
      13 years ago
   2. Mash Temperature & Volume adjustments for 3 Vessel to BIAB

      by kzimmer0817, 13 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      I apologize for the length of this, but I feel like I need to explain the background for my question. Prior to performing my first BIAB, I posed the question about possible grain bill adjustments when brewing a typical beer recipe by BIAB as opposed to traditional 3-vessel. That question was based upon rumors that BIAB was less efficient than 3V. The consensus was that this was false and that no adjustments are necessary.
      
      I'm adding another layer to the complexity - doctors like to do that -...

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      kzimmer0817,
      
      Again, I might be over-thinking this. :idiot:
      
      Yes! You are over thinking this! Any recipe you want to try does not need to be converted to BIAB. You just brew the recipe as is to respect the brewers work and trust in his or (her's) taste buds. But...... Try a 90 minute mash instead. It doesn't hurt their recipe it just takes 30 minutes more.
      
      Don't worry about enzymes density or any of that just put 8.5 gallons of water in a pot. Bring it up to a few degrees hotter than the...
      6 Replies
      8693 Views
      BobBrews
      13 years ago
   3. My first all-grain, BIAB, and no-chill

      by kzimmer0817, 13 years ago in Gas-Fired BIAB

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      Now 5 months after I bottled my 4th brew - the Smashing Pumpkin Ale kit from Northern Brewer, I finally brewed and decided to go all out:
      
      1. I brewed Reno eNVy's Punkin ale found on the following Homebrewtalk thread. It's not a beginner recipe:
      
      2. It was my first brew on the keggle I made:
      
      onclick= window.open(this.href);return false; ... le-353760/
      
      3. It was my first all-grain
      
      4. It was my first BIAB
      
      5. I no-chilled
      
      Here are the details of my brew, the original recipe can be found...

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      oxygen bottles are not readily available here.i would have to buy hospital grade oxygen and that would be very very expensive.
      so what i do is to pour about 4-5 liters out of the cube into a small fermenter, recap the cube and shake the crap out of it. here's a pic of my last brew. i brewed a double batch of saison wort, filled two 23 L cubes and fermented the three portions with three different yeast strains.
      19 Replies
      32932 Views
      shibolet
      13 years ago
   4. No-Chill Hop Schedule

      by kzimmer0817, 13 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      As I mentioned on another thread, I hope to do my first BIAB brew within the next 2 weeks. I plan to go all out and brew a Pumpkin Ale recipe I found on the HBT Forum: .
      
      There has been a good bit of discussion of No-Chill on the HBT Forum, and a suggested change to the hop schedule was posted - it seemed that hops were delayed about 20 minutes with the last addition going into the cube.
      
      Anyway, I would greatly appreciate it if you could explain how you change your hop additions when you're...

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      Hey Keith,
      
      You've probably just found the best advice there is:
      Make it and see how it turns out!
      I NC (in a cube) and when I brew a beer for the first time, I make no changes to the grain or hop schedule other than scaling the recipe to my batch size. When I try the beer, I then decide if I want to make any changes pending on how it turned out.
      At the end of the day, you'll make beer so it's all good :P
      
      HC
      15 Replies
      30322 Views
      housecat
      13 years ago
   5. Strike Water Temperature

      by kzimmer0817, 13 years ago in From Mash to Lauter (Water to Sweet Liquor)

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      I'm hoping to do my first BIAB within the next week or two. I plan to do a Pumpkin Ale from the HBT Forum:
      .
      
      I remember many months ago while studying about BIAB that there was a formula for calculating the temp of the strike water that was dependent upon the volume of water and the amount of grain. I guess it also depended upon the ambient temp.
      
      I've plugged numbers into the Biab calculator (actually, the Maxi-BIAB calculator I got from this forum), and I don't see anything about temps....

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      Keith,Todd is right on with his approach to reaching mash temp.
      Don't sweat hitting the exact mash temps too much,it will drive you crazy.Focus on the process and sanitation.Keep track of the temp that you actually did hit,this info may prove useful in further brews.
      It is very hard to attribute any paticular taste or trait of your beer to any definite part of the process. Yeast,fermentation temps,carbonation etc can all have a great bearing on the final outcome of your beer..Have fun,good luck...
      3 Replies
      7426 Views
      Lylo
      13 years ago
   6. Converter Question

      by kzimmer0817, 14 years ago in BIABrewer.info and BIAB for New Members

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      For some reason, I can no longer get the Units Converter to work. I remember reading about it after first joining, and was using it so that I could follow many of the volume discussions in quarts/gallons/etc. I think I was using Mozilla Firefox as my browser at the time. I've used McAfee Internet Security for several years.
      
      Anyway, I can't seem to get it to work on biabrewer regardless of whether I view the pages using Firefox or Internet Explorer. I have the latest versions of each, and I'm...

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      Thanks for replying. I had been wondering if I had made changes in my computer that were interfering with it.
      2 Replies
      4562 Views
      kzimmer0817
      14 years ago
   7. Calculator Question

      by kzimmer0817, 14 years ago in BIABrewer.info and BIAB for New Members

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      I hope to brew my first BIAB (after 4 extract + steeping grains) brews - I know, I said that about a year ago when I first joined this forum. Things have been busy and hectic. The weather should cool down a bit pretty soon.
      
      Someone, I belive Stux, put an incredible amount of energy into developing the calculator.
      
      I want to update my Calculator . At the moment, I have a calculator on my computer that, I believe, is the Maxi-BIAB Calculator Jun29. I just saw where a next generation of Maxi-BIAB...

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      Welcome back kz :salute:,
      
      Have to race but #2891 here has some info on the full-volume bit and #2789 here has a small update on the calculator.
      
      If you need a hand on scaling or anything, let us know.
      
      :peace:
      PP
      1 Replies
      3815 Views
      PistolPatch
      14 years ago
   8. Electric Stirrer to Maintain Mash Temps

      by kzimmer0817, 14 years ago in Bags, Mashers, Thermometers, Kettles etc.

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      I'm in the process of planning my BIAB build - the E-Kettle and the Controller. I have 2 more extract + specialty grain kits to brew before I move to AG - I know, I've been saying that for 2 months, now, but my schedule will be more open after January.
      
      I want to be able to maintain mash temps. Perhaps the simplest is to wrap a quilt around the e-kettle. I have planned on adding a pump and recirculate liquid from under the false-bottom near the element back to the top. I have had second...

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      coordinating manual stirring with cycling of the element
      
      Do this for your first batch at least :)
      
      Build your e-kettle... how many watts are you going for and what boiling volume?
      
      perhaps put a drain port in
      
      but do at least one batch with the manual way before you try pumps and other things ;)
      
      After that, go for your life ;)
      8 Replies
      11456 Views
      stux
      14 years ago
   9. Simpler Weldless Heating Element Installation

      by kzimmer0817, 14 years ago in Electric BIAB

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      I am anticipating converting to electric BIAB. I confess that I have not done a BIAB yet, so will probably use propane for a couple of brews first.
      
      I am fascinated with the build by thughes as well as a few others on this and the HBT forum. Most are patterned after Kal's from The Electric Brewery.
      
      I'm having a little difficulty understanding all the details regarding the way Kal attaches the element to the kettle. I'm not asking for a detailed explanation about that right now. I really liked...

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      The short answer: There is no problem using those 2 pieces and doing it the way you describe.
      
      ;)
      
      The long answer:
      
      I am using that same weldless install kit. Kal uses the o-ring and a washer between the box and the kettle with the 1 lock nut on the inside of the kettle, I simply used the above kit and eliminated the o-ring and washer between the box and kettle. Works fine!
      
      As to the second part of your question, that heating element kit is simply the element with a ground strap and some...
      1 Replies
      6143 Views
      thughes
      14 years ago
   10. BIAB with All-Grain Kits

       by kzimmer0817, 14 years ago in BIABrewer.info and BIAB for New Members

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       I'm posting this here as I have not yet BIABd - though I've been reading thru the forums here as well as in MoreBeer chat. I'm probably being much too anal about a lot of this.
       
       I've brewed 2 beer kits from Northern Brewer: The Nut Brown Ale and the American Wheat. The NBA was extract with specialty grains. I have two more extract w/specialty grain kits to brew (MoreBeer's B3 Stout and NB's Smashin' Pumpkin Ale) before I move into all-grain.
       
       My understanding - after reading on this forum - is...

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       I will be bottling my first all grain this weekend (NB Dunkelweizen). I just took my first gravity sample after two weeks and all is well. The beer tastes fantastic (sipping the sample as I type, very different then what I usually brew/drink). Bottling is definitely easier with two people involved... I have been very close to my OG with both BIABs I have done with out changing the recipe. I think you will be fine to order the kits as they are. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.
       8 Replies
       11137 Views
       Rifester
       14 years ago

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