Just making sure.

First post by Brew4me, 11 years ago

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Hi all, I am new to BIAB and I am about to try the LloydieP Kolsch recipe.
First off I have spent a good bit of time reading around the internet. With little knowledge, I was fooled into thinking it would be easy to jump right in. Wrong - the English brown ale recipe I tried (before I found this site) while one could say became beer - is more a stout. Drinkable thou, and more importantly I refuse to give up.
So then I found your site. freaking impressive - I like the keep it simple, and fact...

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Thought I would close out this post with an update on the Kolsch.
After fermentation was complete measured a FG of 1.008 (for what its worth). Tasted good (a second opinion agreed). :thumbs:
Bottled and patiently waiting. :whistle:
Maybe on the weaker side but should be and easy drink when not looking for something heavy.
Will brew this again in the future (without measure errors :roll: ).

Picked up two scales, for grains and to calculate volume, since I like the idea of brewing smaller...

Canadian 2 row

First post by OILGUY, 11 years ago

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Hi all,
So far I have only done 3 batches,all lme kits, I have purchased a sack of 2 row Canadian , the last time is was in the city, I am 3 hours away from a large centre that has home brew ingredients, what recipe do you suggest for a first timer with limited supplies,

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The NRB All Amarillo is a good recipe to start with, and comes pre entered in BIABacus form. You can substitute your Canadian 2 row for the pale malt and it will still make an excellent pale ale...

BIABacus - gallons?!

First post by newbiabd00d, 11 years ago

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Hello all,

I posted a few things in the introduction thread but didn't want to clog it up any further.

Long story short I open up BIABacus and simply cannot find where to convert liters to gallons. Any thoughts on this?!

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newbiabd00d, Quick question...

Are you looking for Imperial gallons or US gallons to Liters???????

Weed Feed and Mow Cream Ale Recipe -Questions

First post by dkrolak, 11 years ago

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I am brewing Jamil Zainasheff's Weed Feed and Mow Cream Ale Recipe. The recipe can be found in his Brewing Classic Style Book on page 223.
Here are my questions

1) Did I adjust my BIABACUS file correctly for the use of cane sugar in the original grain bill? The original grain bill calls for 340 grams of cane sugar. So I entered this in Section C and adjusted the Original Grain Bill in Section Y by entering 100% in the FGDB column and 0.0% in the MC column.

2) At what point in the BIAB...

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Couple of quick ones...

Just be careful on re-publishing recipes from a book. Hopefully Brewing Publications won't mind as the site does encourage purchase of the book and this recipe is a little different as it has the sugar in it.

My only differences from Joshua are the following...

2. Only problem with adding sugar early is it can darken the wort. I am not an expert on sugar but when I do use it, I put it in at about 5 minutes before the end of the boil.

4. I would not recommend going...

3rd BIAB; Problems...one with efficiency, and question

First post by Scott, 11 years ago

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Brewed my 3rd BIAB yesterday. :thumbs: Was very concerned about the volume I was able to transfer to my fermenter so measured it today. Discovered today that my Bayou Classic brew kettle's gallon measurements (which came pre-marked) are not accurate. :roll: (At 5 gallon - off by 0.2 gallon, and at 14 gallon - off by 0.5 gallon). So at 5 gallons it was at the 4.8 gallon mark, and at 14 gallons it read 13.5 gallons. So this meant I put too much water into my wort at the start, and my measurements...

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Thanks PP. I'm going to check the thermometer in my brew kettle to know if it is accurate. That will help for future brews. And beyond that, just not worry about it. Thanks for spelling that out for me.

Where to get kit

First post by Snipersunset, 11 years ago

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Can anyone tell me where I can get a good priced 19ltr pot to do a bit of maxi-biab please?

Cheers

Mase

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Could well be a buffalo

About to do my first BIAB brew

First post by mthanry, 12 years ago

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Hi,

I found a recipe, I want to do for my first BIAB (actually first all-grain) brew day:

...and I obviously a good number of questions regarding both the BIABacus and the recipe.

1) What is the difference between TWN and SWN? (found answer at viewtopic.php?f=5&t=286&p=44878&hilit=TWN+SWN#p44878)

2) The recipe requires Whirlfloc. I only have Irish moss. Would the required weight be the same? How about time?

3) There is no mention of recirculating the wort when lautering (for that...

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This is another one of those things that is a bit confusing when you are starting out. I'm not sure if this makes it any easier but any time you see a hop addition time, say twenty minutes, read that as, add hops 20 minutes before the boil is due to end, or add 20 minutes before flame-out, or add for the last 20 minutes of the boil. All these mean the same thing of course.

Looking for authentic Kölsch recipe

First post by Jbush, 11 years ago

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Hey guys I was wondering if anyone could show me an authentic Kölsch recipe. Im not looking for any variations, just as close to drinking a Kölsch in Cologne. Thanks!

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I'm glad sb :peace:. I was duly drunk :) when I wrote that but on a sober re-read, it's pretty accurate unfortunately :dunno:.

Hi everybody! Suggestions wanted.

First post by JDBenson, 11 years ago

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Hello to all.
I first want to say what an amazing forum this is.
I am new to all grain, having spent 3 years brewing some wonderful extract ales, and many many sore heads!
I have an electric 5 gallon kettle which (if I'm right and please correct if not) should give me 2.5 - 3 gallon final volume.
The reason is i want to make and try lots and lots of recipes, I'm looking to learn quick and play around so smaller batches would suit these needs.
I'm asking for any advise on recipes that you...

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Welcome Jason. You will find the suggestions here invaluable. I recently finished my first all grain and BIAB, with help from the members of this forum including PistolPatch and MadScientist, and the brew was easy, by the numbers, and perfect (thanks to the suggestions).

All-grain to BIAB

First post by Jimyson, 11 years ago

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The overview: I am an all-grain brewer that does 10 gallon batches using 2 keggles and a cooler. The keggles are heated via propane. I currently fly sparge, have a RIMS tube for mashing, a trub filter, immersion chiller, an oxygenation assembly, 2 pumps, and PID control panel for pumps and RIMS. I am looking to make my brew day shorter, have less equipment to clean once done, and to increase variations of beers on tap at all times.

Here is the concept. I want to scale down to 5 gallon...

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Apparently you're a fast learner or much less stubborn than I. You are supposed to ignore advice, state that you have a better way of doing things, and then struggle over the next few brews trying to make it work before finally giving up and admitting defeat. You sure know how to take the fun out of it! :lol: :lol: :lol:. Oh, how we've missed you Todd.

You are in the best of hands Jimmy.

OBK Kettle (ontario beer kegs)

First post by Floaton, 11 years ago

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Hey All,

Newb here...
I am ready to pull the trigger on my last piece of equipment for BIAB... the kettle... the main investment.
Currently scoping out 2 different kettles from OBK (hope lots of you are familiar).

Anyway, they offer a 10gal Heavy Duty with thermometer and 3pc ball valve for $205, but then they offer a 16gal with same hardware for $160.
I am only planning on running 5gal batches, as i already invested in standard size primary and secondary ferm's. I have a 66000btu burner, i...

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You can't go wrong with OBK. I have the 15 gal version of the same pot. I don't have the thermometer. The hole is there for it but I have it capped. I am very happy with it.
The 15 gal is a terrific size as goulagain has said. With the 10 gal pot you could only brew upto 5 gal batches. I haven't tried yet but I imagine that I could pull off 10gal batches in the 15 gal kettle if I decided to.
Go for the 16gal you won't be disappointed.

Help with Efficiency for a new BIAB brewer.

First post by FatTulip, 11 years ago

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Hi All,

I just finished my 2nd BIAB brew, I'm using AG kits supplied by a local HBS.

Recipe 2: OG 1042, PG 1010, ABV 4.2%
My brew : OG 1036, PG 1010, ABV 3.6%

Recipe 1: OG 1049, PG 1012, ABV 4.9%
My brew : OG 1044, PG 1012. ABV 4.0%

I've read that I should expect a lower efficiency and probably add a bigger grain bill for BIAB.
However, are my results 'normal'? or should I be getting better efficiency?

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Thanks for all the replies. There are some really valuable lessons for me here, I sure have a lot more work to do for my next brew but looking forward to it already :)

High gravity beers from 33L boiler/kettle

First post by itbrvilla, 11 years ago

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I am planning to get a 33L Peco Electrim boiler for my first BIAB setup as I comes with a decent startup kit for a good price. I was wondering what would be the highest ABV achievable for this kit for say the production of a 23L batch?

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Hi itbrvilla.

There is a fair amount of information required to get a good answer for you.

1. I am guessing the PECO is 32cm DIA X 43CM high (34.6L calculated).
2. You will want to full volume brew (no MAXI/sparging etc.).
3. No advanced trub management (hop socks etc.)
4. Your 23L is Volume into Fermenter (VIF).
5. You will boil for 90 minutes.

If yes to all above you can mash 2.34 Kg of grain in approx 32L of water. Your volume of mash (VOM) will be 34.3L, and your gravity will be 1.025....

First BIAB Setup ?

First post by MargateNoob, 11 years ago

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Hello All

This is my first proper post :)

I have not got a setup yet and am seriously considering this one in the link

Just wondered if anybody had had experience of this particular kit or opinions of it? or any other suggestions

Thank You

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Welcome to the forum Margate :salute:,

I think it's important to get your first BIAB set-up right and one of the first keys is understanding that BIAB, as intended by the pioneers, is a full-volume, single vessel, mashing/sparging method. The 'starter' kit yu linked in your original post, to me, is not really pure BIAB as the kettle being sold is way too small to fill the fermentor being sold in the kit. This tells me that they will be expecting you to heat sparge water in a second vessel and...

New brewer with a few problems

First post by Slaw07, 11 years ago

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Hello all,
I've done a whopping 3! brew days in my life, and have run into some problems that I'm hoping you all have suggestions on.

1) my first two brews came out tasting rather bitter. I carbon filtered the water for both brews. From what I've read, it seems like an astringency issue. The first brew (oatmeal stout) had major temperature issues, so it's easy to attribute that one to sparge temps above 170 (yes, I sparged). The second (American amber) however, was just about dead on temp...

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Thanks, PistolPatch. I appreciate your feedback and will definitely be using BIABacus for my next brew. Hoping to brew this weekend so I will sit down and spend some quality time with the resources mentioned above. From everything I've read about BIABacus, it seems like it should give me a lot more structure. You're absolutely right that the kit recipe is fairly useless for anyone that is new to brewing.

I may be back with questions about putting my recipe together in BIABacus, but after...

HELP WITH MAXI BIAB

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First post by rmklaw, 11 years ago

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Brand new on this board (and brewing BIAB) and already asking for help from this learned forum. For my first ever AG and BIAB (call me crazy) I am doing a Maxi BIAB because my kettle is 8 gallon and would like a full batch of 5.5 Gallon into the fermenter (7.5 Gal SS Brewtech Chronical). The idea (call me crazy again) after reading countless postings is to do a spare or dunking to be able to add the additional wort in steps before and during boiling.

I tried (again first time) the BIABACUS and...

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Thanks PistolPatch. Very useful. Getting ready to do a Trippel batch using the same setup. Will see if I can keep consistency.

New Zealand Wakatu hops in LloydieP's Krispy Kolsch?

First post by shetc, 12 years ago

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G'day, mates!

I am planning to brew LloydieP's Krispy Kolsch ( ). I was thinking about replacing the Hallertau hops with New Zealand Wakatu to get some lime flavor in the beer. Northern Brewer has its Wakatu listed with 6.5-8.5 AA%. Do you think this will be good?

Thanks,
Steve

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Done

The first of many BIAB days

First post by steharg, 11 years ago

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After a couple of weeks of research, and of course time to let my first and only kit brew ferment so I can use the fermenter I finally done my first biab.

Overall, I loved it, I did however underestimate how much time it would take - as I brewed it on monday night after work, I finally completed (by the time it had cooled down enough to pitch) at about 1am... Lesson 1: dont brew when in work the next day!

I followed the Mini Biab guide and brewed the amarillo. I think it went smoothly enough,...

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Early report - it's bloody lovely.. I'm absolutely delighted with that even going by the early taster.

Now I realise why you all brew larger batches! Great to hear steharg and well done!

Also excellent posts above by safebrew and his amendments to my post are perfectly correct (thanks SB :salute:)

...

I think the thing that all of us brewers need to focus on more is quotes like, it's bloody lovely, instead of, I am hoping to squeeze a few more litres out of it next time.

Way too often we...

Beginner questions need some help

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First post by Jbush, 11 years ago

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Hey everyone, I'm new to brewing in general and have never done biab some I'm hoping you guys can help me out with some of my questions!

1. I'm using an aliuminum turkey fryer for my mash and boil, is there anything I have to do to prep the pot? I heard something about oxidizing it but I'm not sure.

2. I know that some people do a full volume mash and some incorporate some sort of sparge method. Which do you use? I though sparging would be good to rinse the extra sugars out.

3. Do you add...

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I'm voting for NRB All Amarillo Pale Ale . There's a BIABacus file in that thread somewhere so use that if you go for this recommendation. Short on time but the reason I recommend it is that I've served it to all genders across all ages and they all love it.

I am assuming though that you have a good season of amarillo hops though. Ther have been one or two crap ones.

1st BIAB: Off flavour and sediment floating

First post by TheFrozenDegu, 11 years ago

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Hello everyone,

I need your guys help. I brewed my first BIAB (English style IPA) two weeks ago. Mashing temps were according to recipe but I made a rookie mistake: Boiled with the lid on. That is the only thing I can think of went wrong. In addition fermentation was moderate, no big bubbling. But gravity went from 1,057 to 1,016 in 13 days at 20°C. So I suppose that is fine. Gravity didnt change for the last two days.

But the flavor. The beer tastes kind of sour (wife says like cleaning...

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So after cold crashing it for 24hrs the sediment settled on the ground. Nostrile test was negative. It was new equipment anyways... I bottled it now and hope it will turn out allright. Will let you guys know when its ready :-)

Thank you for your help again!

Update 19FEB: So after 2 weekss in the bottle and a few days in the fridge I tasted the first beer. The taste was fine and I couldnt find any off flavors. I am just a little bit disappointed with the carbonation. I used around 65g of brown...

Extend Mashing time to gain efficiency

First post by ncl, 11 years ago

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Hi there
I have 60% of efficiency in my BIAB system and for my recipe I'm running 45 minutes of mashing. Assuming that I have the correct temperature and ph, does anyone know how much efficiency I gain (approximately of course) if i keep the mashing time going on till 90 minutes?

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Whilst there are many very good answers above, questions are being asked and then ignored or forgotten. Consequently, as a reader, there is no careful flow of information or education in this thread so far.

For example, Mad_Scientist's question asked in #5 above is a critical one. Explanations and links on EIK versus EIF and the importance of a 90 minute mash on most recipes need to be given to ncl first. Some other detailed answers above, whilst of high quality, are totally irrelevant to...

Yeast question with recipe scaledown

First post by RadioGoriLLaz, 11 years ago

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First, here is the converted recipe I'm going to be using with the help of the BIABacus:

Recipe Overview

Brewer: Nate “radiogorillaz” Whalen
Style: American Amber Ale
Source Recipe Link: onclick= window.open(this.href);return false;
ABV: 5.6% (assumes any priming sugar used is diluted.)

Original Gravity (OG): 1.058
IBU's (Tinseth): 36.9
Bitterness to Gravity Ratio: 0.64
Colour: 23.4 EBC = 11.9 SRM

Kettle Efficiency (as in EIB and EAW): 83.1 %
Efficiency into Fermentor (EIF): 71.2 %

Note:...

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Thank you @goulaigan and @PistolPatch (I've read many of your posts); I may go with the starter after all or even the dry US-05. I'm still working on acquiring my materials for a DIY stir plate so I will probably just go with the shake it when I walk by starter. Haven't used dry yet and sounds easy. Just like baking yeast; rehydrate, pitch.

@goulaigan; I agree with the assessment about the 42 days (6 wks) of fermentation. The longest I've done was 4 wks so I'll probably stick to that as a max...

equipment

First post by baikinman, 12 years ago

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I need to get a larger pot to get biabing and wandered what size i would need, I was initially going to get a 33l thermos pot from mrlard but he said this is really only for mashing in as it repels heat to certain extent.

So i only want to end up with 13.5 litres in my fv and am not really interested in 'BIG' beers, i know a lots of people argue that the bigger the pot the better , but i've been doing these amounts for extract for the last 2 years and have found it a good amount for me, i...

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You may want to have a look at Nisbets then baikinman.

I have a Buffalo 40L urn that is still going great after 2-3 years.
Just had a look now and they are currently £80+VAT.

Partigyle?

First post by nicko, 12 years ago

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Hi guys,

I'm thinking about doing a partigyle this weekend, the first back will be a normal IPA, I'll dump the bag temporarily into a bucket and won't return the runnings into the kettle. I'll finish the first brew, then i plan on adding a couple kg of fresh grain to the bag and making a second beer that would be a lighter pale ale. Both 90 min mash and boil.

I won't be planning the second brew very precisely, I'll take the gravity etc and will be curious to see how it turns out. I don't...

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I have done it a couple of times Nicko. There isn't much too it really.
What OG are you planning for your 1st runnings?

If high enough, and your 2nd runnings volume is low enough you may be able to just rinse out without adding more grain. Depends what you are hoping to achieve. I know you say you aren't bothered about the 2nd brew, but if you calculate wrong, you could end up with a high volume of dilute wort that wouldn't make a very nice beer.

The only other thing I would say is that if...

1st BIAB. Is it already ruined?

First post by InterCooL, 12 years ago

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Hi guys, I'm pretty new to brewing and have done 2 'kit and kilos'. After steeping and dry hopping, I thought I would try to use grains and extract, and do a mini mash biab, following this recipe:

What happened is that I performed the mash at a too high temperature for half of it. I used a digital thermometer but due to placement and lack of stirring, I think it may have been 10 degrees higher than required for anywhere between 5-35mins. I know that this may have released the tannins but I...

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I think I'll do that then. I have a fermenting fridge and a stc1000 so dialing in 2 degrees should be easy :)

Thanks for your help