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   1. How to maintain the mash temperature?

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

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      Hi all! Very much a newbie here. I just completed my second all grain BIAB and had a difficult time keeping the mash temperature anywhere near the desired 153F/67C. Any pointers, or just do not worry?
      
      - electric range
      - 4 gallons in a 30L pot.
      - wrapped with towels when it was off the heat
      - It dropped 10 degrees over 30 minutes.
      
      I put it back on the heat, it started to overshoot, I had to use the wort chiller to bring it down, undershot, added heat, repeat... The flippin' thing won't cool...

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      For my 15 gal pot, I used Reflectix - wrapped around about 3 times and then covered with 2 heavy wool blankets. Only lost 2 degrees over 60 mins. That was in summer...in winter I'll use more blankets and probably drag it inside.
      21 Replies
      27286 Views
      daveIT
      9 years ago
   2. Disasters averted

      by Epimetheus, 12 years ago in Brew Day Stories and/or Pics

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      Disaster #1:
      Brewed a smoked porter. I brew inside on the kitchen range and during the boil the ceiling usually gets wet. It went well except - two days later the kitchen still smelled like a campfire. Like smoke damage.
      
      Had to wipe down all the surfaces. It looked odd using a mop on the ceiling.
      
      Disaster #2
      Same smoked porter. I made a starter, pitched it, and 4 days later there was no fermentation. Instead, there were tiny islands of mold floating in the wort. My guess is the yeast was old...

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      Epi... this is pretty much the reason I got kicked oit of the kitchen... but mine was a boil over...:o
      2 Replies
      5300 Views
      safebrew222
      12 years ago
   3. Advice for strike temp problems?

      by Epimetheus, 12 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      How can I improve the technique for hitting the proper initial mash temp?
      
      It seems simple but the mash temperature always seems to start too low or high by 5C. I measure the grain temperature and weight, water temperature and volume, and use a strike temperature calculator. For example, the le strike water should be atest batch was planned for 20l. Mash conditions were
      
      5.06kg grain,
      20l water (the remainder reserved for dunk sparges),
      28l Al tamale pot,
      Insulation is 3 layers of...

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      ...That means people with equipment get all tied up in the equipment instead of paying attention to the product. Epi, I'm not sure if that is the best sentence I have seen written here or just one of the best. I'm thinking that it could be the best.
      
      Thanks for that absolute gold quote fella. I'm bookmarking it now :salute:.
      8 Replies
      11163 Views
      PistolPatch
      12 years ago
   4. What 5 hops should be on hand?

      by Epimetheus, 13 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      What is your preference for 5 base hops to have on hand? It could be 3 or 8 types; I am planning to buy hops in bulk and 5 lbs of hops would keep me busy for a year, with the occasional ounce of something different.
      
      I asked this question on a US forum . Overwhelmingly, US hops were suggested - the 3 C's, Amarillo, Citra, Willamette, and a smattering of others. This BIAB forum has a different audience and might suggest different groups.
      
      This asks for your preference, If you care, my...

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      I have regular brews of Ordinary Bitter, Porter & IPA, dabbling in any other ale style in-between.
      
      so EKG, Challenger, Galaxy, Magnum and Cascade are my core hops.
      
      I'm auditioning a couple of others for inclusion in my IPA : Ella, Moteuka, Nelson Sauvin and Mosaic. So one of these will step up...
      
      I LOVE the kiwi hops, but the reliability of supply sucks, otherwise I'd love to use huge amounts of Riwaka, just too hard to get at a good price, the NS and Motueka aren't so terrible though.
      16 Replies
      21315 Views
      LazyCatBrewing
      13 years ago
   5. Finally I understand why BIAB FULL volume is efficient

      by Epimetheus, 13 years ago in Measurement, Mathematics and Records

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      It finally clicked into place why BIAB full volume is only slightly lower efficiency than traditional part volume and sparge:
      - The same amount of sugars are present in the traditional high concentration wort as the low concentration BIAB full volume.
      - The sugars lost from BIAB are those not squeezed from the grain bag, but they are low concentration
      - The same sugars are mostly rinsed from the grain during traditional sparging
      - Therefore, you are losing something like 2 to 4 liters of low...

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      Like the way you are thinking Epithemeus :salute:,
      
      As Todd mentioned, the truth is that you should actually get a higher Efficiency into Kettle (EIK) with BIAB than traditional. I don't like putting numbers out on the net unless they are well-researched but here's a few thoughts for you. When I moved to BIAB, my EIK on say a 1.050 brew went up by 5%. I did one side by side of BIAB and three-vessel and this also came up 5% higher.
      
      I actually don't think this is the question you are really...
      2 Replies
      6927 Views
      PistolPatch
      13 years ago
   6. Effects of insulation on mash temp - charts

      by Epimetheus, 13 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      The mash temp was dropping quite a bit so I tried towels, a blanket, and finally wrapped the 30L tamale pot with 2 layers of Reflectix, essentially 6mm thick bubble wrap with an aluminized surface. I obtained the data from a $10 USB temp probe from eBay and calibrated against a trusted alcohol thermometer. One of the Siberians shredded an arm of a winter coat, so instead of having 1 1/2 of a vest, I will use it to wrap the kettle. It is not obvious from the chart, but when I wrapped it further...

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      A better result with an actual mash on 2013.01.26. The mash was from 60 to 120 minutes on the chart. The overall temp was a bit high so I threw in some cold water at 80 minutes. Then again I was doing a porter which has a wide range of malt vs dry vs hops. We'll see if it survived. OG was a nice 1.046. It is fermenting madly with some harvested yeast.
      
      I wrapped it some of the time in a coat which did not make much diff in the temp loss. Instead of insulating the bottom I slid it onto a...
      3 Replies
      6088 Views
      Epimetheus
      13 years ago
   7. There is no bad batch

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

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      Been brewing all-grain BIAB for a grand total of 4 batches. As long as I remember to pitch the yeast and prime before bottling, the results have been eminently drinkable. Better than my Mr. Beer attempts, and much better than anything made by InBev. (4.8% ABV because of taxes? Why not switch to selling purified water ? Cheap Brazilians. Next thing they'll be selling the Clydesdales to the knackers.)
      
      Sometimes the mash temp has wobbled wildly. Sometimes I don't get the recipe right (too few...

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      it does seem to be a forgiving process... :peace:
      2 Replies
      4592 Views
      uk brewer
      13 years ago
   8. A blankie for my kettle

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

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      Several very helpful BIABaggers suggested wrapping the kettle in a duvet or an old coat to maintain the mash temp. I cut up an old comforter, doubled it over, and sewed a wrap and cap. It looks a bit silly but it really contains the heat. The water also heats up much faster from 20 C to 68 C. Next attempt will be neater.

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      Gorgeous rig as far as I am concerned too! Remember, Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder .
      
      --Todd
      2 Replies
      5058 Views
      thughes
      13 years ago
   9. What about this sparge method?

      by Epimetheus, 13 years ago in Full-Volume Variations - FVV (diluting and/or sparging)

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      What if I did a partial sparge through the brew kettle?
      
      The efficiency is not what I would like, it is near 50%. The mash is probably too thick at 1.5 qt/lb.
      
      The limitation is a 32qt / 30l pot, and a desire to create 5 gal batches.
      
      Add a spigot to the kettle
      Add a grid to keep the bag out of the spigot
      mash at 2 qt/lb
      drain into the bottling bucket (which has a spigot for return)
      batch sparge right through the kettle with 2 gallons of make-up water to 6 gallons
      remove bag, return wort...

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      Todd I'm still using the same scale that I bought in 1971! :blush:
      10 Replies
      21194 Views
      Lylo
      13 years ago

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