Brew Day Stories and/or Pics

1. First AG didn't go as smoothly as hoped...

   8 Replies 9643 Views

   First post by bensville, 8 years ago

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   I attempted my first AG brew last night and it was not without incident...
   
   I followed the BIABacus for NRBs All Amarillo APA recipe aiming for 20l into the FV using my new 40l Buffalo urn. I heated the strike water up to 68c and doughed in. After a good stir for a minute or two I took the temperature with my electronic meat thermometer - 64c. I should have waited longer I think, but instead I turned on the heat and stirred for a few minutes until the temp was back up to 67c. All good I...

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   Hey bensville, just to give you some feeling of comfort I had a very similar experience with my first brew over the weekend.
   
   It's all a learning process and I certainly picked up a few pointers on the first brew.
   
   The great thing is, as pointed out by thughes, that it does seem difficult to totally mess up your beer. The sample I have tasted of my first AG effort is far superior to anything I have done in the past.
   
   Looking forward to the next one...need to create some keg space!
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   Last post by Goodtime
   8 years ago
2. First Biab

   3 Replies 5125 Views

   First post by Duffer, 8 years ago

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   First AG brew day today with 40L electric boiler.
   
   Chuffed to get a strong rolling boil without boiler mods and ended up with OG close to target, although ended up with much more wort volume than expected.
   
   Looking forward to waking up to (hopefully) lots of FV bubbles o. The morning, but for now, a well earned beer!
   
   Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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   Ha! Especially on the 3 hour front! My wife knows that if in brewing it's for the day and any timeline I give her around a brewing related thing is out by at least a few hours.
   
   Also doing a bit of gardening, mowing, playing with the kids during the mash can add a few brownie points! Another good reason for a 90 minute mash!
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   Last post by Contrarian
   8 years ago
3. First brew

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   First post by Esquid, 8 years ago

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   Just drank a bottle of my first AG, which was a SMaSH MO with amarillo hop (think that's the correct spelling). Since it was the first AG I had done and because I'm doing stovetop BIAB, I'm only brewing in small quantities (about 2 gallons), and with the first effort I reckon mash temps were all over the place, I got the hopping wrong (though not drastically), and forgot the whilfloc thingy, but I thought, 2 demijohns, what the hell, ferment it out anyway. I did one gallon with US yeast, and...

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   I started my Biab career late last year doing smaller batches; try to scale up a little is my advice as the grief and rage of loss to trub, bottling fails, etc can leave you with very little beer if things go against you. The smallest batch I do nowadays is 12.5L
   
   GLHF
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   Last post by Inconceivable
   8 years ago
4. Wheat ale - German and American

   7 Replies 7865 Views

   First post by Brew4me, 8 years ago

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   I bottled little over 4 gallons of wheat ale today :clap: - little surprised not closer to 5 gallons. I packed 5 gallons into the fermentors - split the batch to two carboys (2.5 gal each) - used Wyeast 1010 American Wheat which gave me a dry, slightly tart, crisp beer, and WLP036 Dusseldorf Alt - which produced slightly sweet,fruity brew (very pleasant- just enough fruit smell). while still need to bottle condition, I think the overall winner will be the Dusseldorf alt yeast :champ: - not that...

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   As always great advice and lots of info - greatly appreciated.
   
   I wouldn't use the word confusing more like diverse perspectives or opportunities . I am reading For the Love of Hops by Stan Hieronymus and came across the line The rules for making hops additions during the boil are about as well defined as those for a knife fight. I am beginning to understand...
   
   The conversation from this post is an example of why I enjoy brewing - continuous experimenting and learning, oh yeah and the...
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   Last post by Brew4me
   8 years ago
5. First BIAB - APA Amarillo - Final gravity after 8 days

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   First post by Agdigger, 8 years ago

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   Hi All,
   
   Firstly, congrats to all of you on such a fantastic forum full of brilliant contributions and a good culture.
   
   I had my first crack at BIAB 8 days ago. I used Ralph's Mini-BIAB guide and the APA Amarillo recipe along with the BIABicus. Being a newbie I missed a couple of gravity and volume readings but all in all it seemed to go pretty well. I decided to take a gravity reading this morning to see if I was on track to hit my target FG of 1.015.
   
   My reading is approximately 1.014. I'm...

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   Lol Agdigger :lol:, and, thanks a heap for letting us know it turned out great. Bloody nice beer that when using amarillo hops from a good season. I think there's been only one dodgy amarillo season, it's the one where I bought a kilo (2.2 pounds) of the stuff. Loser :)).
   
   Sounds like you have none left now :shock:.
   
   Keep your gear clean and the world's your oyster, or bar, or something - can't remember :scratch:.
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   Last post by PistolPatch
   8 years ago
6. First Batch 13,2G/50liters E-biab Rig - Galaxy American IPA

   6 Replies 8739 Views

   First post by blitz, 8 years ago

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   Hi guys,
   first batch on new rig, E-biab setup with 4kw elements, automatic mash stirrer, everything wireless controlled via web, thanks to a Raspberry PI with StrangeBrew Elsinore Software (Credits to Doug for this!, Great piece of software!)
   
   Started Saturday morning with lot of doubts, will the wiper motor's stirrer overheat? May i have efficiency problem? Is the recipe good?
   
   However let's start, recipe developed with Biabacus :thumbs:, 19,3g / 73,2 liters of water for the mash, heated at...

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   One rule i learn the hard way...start to drink after pitching and closing the fermenter, one time we get drunk during brew day and made a mess :lol: :lol: !
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   Last post by blitz
   8 years ago
7. My Keezer Build

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   First post by mally, 8 years ago

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   Yep, another one of those millions of other documented keezer builds!
   
   I pondered over various designs, but eventually opted for the lid hinges on collar version instead of collar & lid hinges on freezer .
   Designs for these tend to fall into either sitting the collar on top of the fridge so it sits flush to edges (but can move around),
   or creating a similar collar but then fixing a larger piece of timber over it so that you create a ledge/step that fixes over the
   freezer outer edges (prevents...

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   to check for leaks in the gas lines after a major set-up, charge the beer and gas lines up with gas but don't have them connected to the kegs. Leave overnight and then loosen one of the joins. There should be a good escape of gas. This checks for all leaks except leaks.
   
   Top tip that Pat, cheers.
   Checked after 48 hours and still held pressure so looks good so far.
   
   Will check the keg welds, but from memory they are fine. The first one I bought about 2 years ago and have not had any problems...
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   Last post by mally
   8 years ago
8. First brew day & pics - APA with NZ Cascade

   9 Replies 10152 Views

   First post by daveshep, 8 years ago

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   Hi folks, well my very first BIAB is in the fermenter. What an awesome feeling and busy day I've had.
   I took loads of pics and have uploaded a few for your enjoyment/comment.
   It took about 5 hrs in all but I expect I'll be able to do things a bit quicker next time around.
   
   Mashing
   One problem I noticed before starting was a small 1.5cm split in my new grain bag. Didn't have time to organise a replacement so pressed on. Filled kettle from cold tap to avoid risk of garden hose flavor (as...

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   Great post and pic Dave! Thanks for letting us know how you went.
   
   Posts like that make us all drool :lol:. Top job :thumbs:.
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   Last post by PistolPatch
   8 years ago
9. First BIAB: Citrus IPA with pics

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   First post by chlehb, 8 years ago

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   So, today marks my first BIAB batch. Since I like reading other brew stories, here's mine.
   
   Here's my thread asking for recipe feedback from earlier this week. After investing in a 25.7L pot this week and building my dual immersion chiller yesterday, I just had to brew today. The brew was a Citrus IPA featuring Maris Otter, Pale Ale, Caramünich I and Wheat Malt. Hops were Cascade@60 and Cascade/Citra/Northern Brewer 90/Amarillo @ 5.
   
   Building the immersion chiller
   
   Final result in pictures...

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   I'll have to check the manual of my thermometer, didn't know that!
   Will be floating it next time then.
   
   Thanks again!
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   Last post by chlehb
   8 years ago
10. First brew pre-pitching question

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    First post by Ninkas1, 8 years ago

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    Greetings,
    
    Just finished my first all grain BIAB brew day. I used the Amarillo recipe on this site as recommended in the guide. I think everything went well. I did 90 minute mash with mash out, 90 minute boil, and then used a plate chiller to bring back to room temp.
    
    The question is: I now have the wort sitting in a glass carboy and after only an hour I notice at least an inch of trub. It's the same amount of trub I had after my last extract beer after fermentation was complete! Should I...

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    I took everyone's advice and pitched yesterday. I already have vigorous activity so all looks well.
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    Last post by Ninkas1
    8 years ago
11. She was a pale blonde

    7 Replies 10996 Views

    First post by Brew4me, 8 years ago

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    Thought I would share a recent brew - I combined a Pale Ale and a Blonde Ale to get this brew. I call it She Was A Pale Blonde - you remember her, right? :dream:
    
    Anyway - all went well, easy drinking beer, went fast and heard no complaints.
    B4M

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    nice! - cant argue with that...
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    Last post by Brew4me
    8 years ago
12. First ever Brew Day

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    First post by hojt, 8 years ago

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    So yesterday I did my very first brew day ever :argh: , assisted by a curious friend!
    
    The aim was a 5L batch size, to fit a regularly available 5L plastic drinking-water can.
    
    My reasoning behind the tiny batch size is to promote experimentation and learning the brew craft and process (and admittedly also inspired by Swedish web shop Det Lilla Köksbryggeriet that sell extract/partial mash recipes to absolute beginner brewers).
    
    I wanted to pitch a BIAB SMaSH APA (powered by BIABacus) against...

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    Lol Todd :).
    
    Great job hojt :thumbs:. The BIABacus defaults are aimed at getting you on the safe side of things which means you'll hopefully end up with a bit more than you expect. Being within two gravity points is great and you should not expect to hit your exact gravity on a brew day. Why?...
    
    Evaporation, for example, can change radically from brew day to brew day, especially if you brew outdoors. So if you brew on a still, cool, humid day your evap will be lower and so your OG will be...
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    Last post by PistolPatch
    8 years ago
13. My brewing "log".

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    First post by DavidI, 9 years ago

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    Hoy,
    
    Thought I should post my first brew since I joined up on this forum. A split batch single hopped low ABV APA.
    
    The grain bill is a downgraded version of my favorite norwegian APA, Voss Oregonian.
    
    Pale Ale Malt 92%
    Vienna 4%
    Munich 4%
    
    I'm aiming at 3,6 % ABV. Fermenting both with WLP028, since Voss Oregonian is most probably fermented with that yeast, or something similar. I've made a clone with that yeast before, and I love it. I find that it gives some fruity esthers, similar to other...

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    Let us know how that coconut porter turns out, I've never tried one but perhaps I will brew one someday...
    
    My Coconut Porter is long gone now. IMO it could've had loads more coconut flavour in it. Some ppl noticed the taste at once, others never found the flavour. But when you say it is a porter, everyone thinks about what is probably the norm, robust porter. So I got a lot of comments like it's not sweet enough, it doesn't have long enough aftertaste, even if it's a maxed out brown porter....
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    Last post by DavidI
    8 years ago
14. BIAB#8 NZ Pale Ale

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    First post by windrider, 8 years ago

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    Brewed this last Sunday for my Christmas beer (not very traditional I know). Fancied trying my hand at making a NZ pale ale…
    
    The brew went very smoothly and with the clocks going back, meant I was up early and finished by 12 o’clock. My first foray into water treatment and my mash PH was exactly where it should be. It’ll be interesting to see if this makes any difference to the beer. I’ve also got a brew fridge setup so excited to be able to control the fermenting schedule.
    
    Going to dry hop...

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    That sounds dam tastey. Maybe you should try some Gladfeild malt next time. That is really clear wort too.
    
    Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
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    Last post by nosco
    8 years ago
15. Overshot OG ... Can I add boiled water after fermentation?

    1 Replies 4523 Views

    First post by rvoith, 8 years ago

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    In my latest brew I overshot the OG pretty much (target OG 1.056, my OG was 1.085 :-)). Lots of reasons for this, ha ha, but mostly to the fact that I am still a noob-brewer :-)! The estimated VIF was 17,5 liters, but I ended up with 15 liters.
    
    Has anybody any experience in diluting the beer after 14-day fermentation? I imagine the water need to be boiled (of course), and when I create my sugar syrup for bottle carbonation, I usually use approx 300 ml for a 25 liter batch. What if I use much...

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    You can dilute after fermentation and my understanding is that this is common practice in commercial brewing. I've done it a few times with good results when I have overshot my gravity.
    
    There's a simple formula that will let you know how much water to add to hit a target gravity. For the gravity numbers just use the number after the decimal point.
    
    G1xV1=G2xV2
    85x15=56xV2
    V2=85x15/56
    V2=22.77
    
    So you could actually add 7 or 8 litres and be back at your target gravity.
    
    You do need to...
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    Last post by Contrarian
    8 years ago
16. My First BIAB - APA Amarillo - End of boil Gravity is low

    3 Replies 5535 Views

    First post by chesl73, 8 years ago

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    I did my first ever all-grain BIAB brew today. I'd had it all planned out and it went really well thanks to the BIABacus and a checklist (and this forum of course).
    
    My brew length was set for a small 6L using a mini-BIAB using a cheap 19L stock pot. I followed Ralph's BIAB guide with the Amarillo APA.
    
    I even added a mash out for ten minutes at 78 degrees thanks to my novel lifting of the bag on the cupboard door!
    
    mash_out.jpg
    
    My evaporation was less than I and the BIABacus estimated and...

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    Not a Dumb Question.
    
    2 ways if you Clothes dry has A high setting, the +200F will sanitize in 20-30 minutes,
    or drop the Cloth In Sanitizer and wring the Cloth out and hang until dry, or use a dryer.
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    Last post by joshua
    8 years ago
17. Second BIAB, first Saison ever.

    13 Replies 13621 Views

    First post by soccerfan, 8 years ago

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    I learned a bit on my first BIAB, so thought I'd try something more suited to the
    beastly hot Texas summer, and bought an AG Saison kit from my local guy.
    
    I've learned that their printed instructions are the same for whatever you buy, so
    I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and say that only beginners actually
    read their instructions. Regardless.
    
    So I decided that I'd try a step mash that I found somewhere, and really all that did
    was turn my 90 minute step mash into a 120 minute...

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    Hi Dad !
    
    The Saison was a success. I kept it in the fermenter for two weeks, then bottled and let it go
    two weeks before tasting. I've about half of it left, after four weeks, so it is unlikely, given
    the gatherings I have at my house in the next few weeks, that any will survive until the two
    month mark. (Maybe I should hide a bottle or two just for arguments sake, to see what happens?)
    
    Just to recap, it fully fermented in a week using the Belle Saison yeast at 75 degrees in the
    fermenter....
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    Last post by soccerfan
    8 years ago
18. First time BiaB- two mini batches in one day

    4 Replies 6789 Views

    First post by Inconceivable, 8 years ago

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    Hello to all
    
    Below I'll paste my brew notes for each batch I did today; my first day of ever doing BiaB. My approach was to do two small (MiniBiab) batches to get used to it and try before I buy the recipes; i.e. only do 4L (1 gallon) batches so if they taste crap I don't have to throw out as much.
    
    It all took longer than expected, my oven and electric stove top definitely add to the duration and stress of a brew day.
    
    All in all a good day; I think I'll have one decent beer and most likely...

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    Wow Inconceivable, that is very ambitious for a first brew day, good on you. Very detailed brew logs too, this will serve you well as you progress, especially with such small batch sizes, and a couple laughs to boot. Sounds like everything went extraordinarily well for your first time around. I look forward to hearing how these turn out!
    
    Everything pretty much went badly from here on, but it's all a learning experience. At least my 'dud' batches were small.
    
    Read on to get the next...
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    Last post by Inconceivable
    8 years ago
19. Apple recipes

    4 Replies 6002 Views

    First post by Brew4me, 8 years ago

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    It's Apple season in upstate NY - wondering if anyone has any tried and true beer recipes with Apples or if I dare say a hard cider recipe? Not sure if talking hard cider is sacrilege on this great beer site? :peace:

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    So did some more research into the Apple Beer recipe idea. Funny about inspirations - they have a short half-life. After giving it more thought and realizing that apples are pretty mild - if I was going to be successful it was either cider in the fementor or a lot of apple pulp (if that would even work).
    
    Then I had an epiphany :pray: - or maybe it was just the porter I was drinking. :party:
    The best apple beer recipe is to take the apples make a pie, take the grains and brew a Cinnamon...
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    Last post by Brew4me
    8 years ago
20. 1st BIAB Brew - Getbrewed - Hoppy APA

    3 Replies 6109 Views

    First post by mozzaUK, 8 years ago

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    So the day finally came...
    
    After purchasing a kit from Getbrewed with the PECO boiler / mash tun, realising on receipt it came without a controller for the boiler - I purchased one from PECO themselves. I had looked at making one (plenty of online guides), but for the sake of £40 I took the hit. I only wanted to lower the 2.4kw element boil power, as the I believed I could stabilise the Mash temp.
    
    So
    
    13.00ish - trip to Asda. I live in the south east UK, and the water here is always loaded...

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    Hi mozzaUK, great write up BTW, for your mashout question, usually you will want to bring the temp up to 76-78C, I believe 70 is a bit low. Never used citrus fruit in any of my brews so far so can't help you there, I just add more hops when I want citrus :)
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    Last post by goulaigan
    8 years ago
21. First BIAB - Witbier

    14 Replies 14033 Views

    First post by soccerfan, 8 years ago

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    Have six extract brews under my belt, and yesterday I tried my first BIAB all grain.
    
    My LHBS sells kits for all grains as well as extracts, so I tried an all grain version
    of a Wit that I had previously brewed as an extract.
    
    Purchased a 10 gallon aluminum pot, Friday night I boiled water for an hour to both calculate my
    boiloff rate and season the pot for Saturday. I used a calculator I found on the internet to calculate
    the mash volume, temp and whatnot, and tried to keep an open mind,...

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    FINALLY this turned into something drinkable. Sept 13th I chilled a bomber, opened it up,
    and was rewarded with a Wit without any sulphur taste/smell. three and a half weeks
    in the bottle at room temp worked all the kinks out.
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    Last post by soccerfan
    8 years ago
22. My first allgrain BIAB and first experience with BIABacus.

    17 Replies 21134 Views

    First post by rvoith, 9 years ago

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    First of all. I have read many posts on this forum and I am truly amazed about all the knowledgeable people and the willingness to share knowledge and tips! Very valuable indeed!
    
    Yesterday I brewed my first allgrain BIAB brew with full volume and no sparging. Here is my short write-up.
    My equipment consist of a 50-liter kettle, a stainless steel grain basket and a plate chiller.
    
    The brew was an 25 liter IPA allgrain set - with a fixed grain bill, pre-weighted hops, and a pack of Safale...

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    Thanks Mad Scientist, I figured that was and old photo. It's an awesome one though! The no-chill process seems pretty simple since you can pour clear wort out of the cube after everything settles. I'll probably have to try the voile bag eventually after I put some more wear on this one (bought it on the internet, and it has nice hoisting handles and stitching).
    
    Time for me to stop worrying about the huge trub cake. It just looks messy going into the ferementer. The flavor is great and a...
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    Last post by CaliBrewer
    8 years ago
23. First BIAB Brew - Pale Ale

    3 Replies 5466 Views

    First post by mnemtsas, 8 years ago

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    I've done half a dozen extract brews and decided to give BIAB a try. I've got a 15L pot I use on my stove top and aim for 12.5L batches. This meant I needed to sparge the grains to get my boil volume. Any feedback or suggestions for improvements would be appreciated.
    
    The process I followed is found below. I managed an efficiency of 70% which isn't too bad I guess for a first try and also given that the grains were not particularly finely crushed. The beer is actively fermenting in my temp...

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    Nice work- hope you don't get too frustrated with that pot size.
    
    Yeah, I think I'd like to upgrade to a 20L pot which would do my 12.5L batches nicely. Gotta talk the better half into it though :)
    
    I liked your idea of using the wire tray to strain the bag; my oven trays are way too grubby to do that though myself.
    
    Thanks, that part worked really well.
    
    Nice work- hope you don't get too frustrated with that pot size.
    How long did it take you to chill your wort?
    
    I do it in the sink with...
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    Last post by mnemtsas
    8 years ago
24. Oops - double the hops

    20 Replies 17412 Views

    First post by obrienk, 10 years ago

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    Hi guys,
    
    I brewed my first batch using the BIABacus & the Amarillo APA recipe. It went really well and is bubbling away in the cupboard as I speak. Thanks for all the hard work you guys put into those!
    
    However, I've just noticed that I accidentally used double the amount of hops suggested by the BIABacus.
    
    Since I haven't done this before, can you tell me what sort of an effect this will have on the end beer? The suggested Tinseth bitterness is 36.2, so I guess I'm looking at double that -...

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    Well I think both of the fresh hop APAs are going to be a success. Was busy picking the hops off the bines (took an hour or so...between 9 and 10pm) and did that while mashing. Left it at 151 deg F and was 143 def F when I came back to it. Ooops. Was supposed to be mashed at 152 deg. And OG wound up being low. 1.047. Was shooting for 1.054. Not sure why so low...
    
    Big batch, max I could do in my 15 gallon pot without holding back water, when finished split into two 4.5 gallon batches into...
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    Last post by Scott
    8 years ago
25. First Ever Brew and First BIAB - Amarillo APA

    1 Replies 3793 Views

    First post by staite, 8 years ago

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    Hi guys,
    
    First EVER brew tonight and obviously first ever BIAB. What an experience! I haven't even tasted the fruits of my labour but i'm already hooked.
    
    I'm just using a cheap 19L stock pot but held up well. I followed Ralph's awesome BIAB guide with the Amarillo APA and couldn't have gone smoother. I added 3L of water into the pot after mashing just to top up the volume. Got a really good rolling boil going and the house smelt fantastic...lucky the wife is away!
    
    The cooling of the wort was...

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    Staite, If you keep a towel, or another Cover on the Kettle, you can let it sit after boiling, Overnight to get to pitching temperatures.
    
    Then aerate the wort, as you drain the wort in to your fermenter, and pitch.
    
    This is a short term NO-Chill technique.
    
    The trub and wort can be strained thru a Large Fine screen Strainer. You will recover a large amount of wort, and a fist size glop of trub. Clean and sanitize the strainer if you No-Chill.
    
    The best time for ME, is add dry hops AFTER the...
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    Last post by joshua
    8 years ago