Bag too big?

First post by SenorPartagas, 12 years ago

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Hello all,

my grain bag is WAY too big for my pot. Is there anything stopping me from doing the mash withough a bag then just using the bag as a stainer? To me it seems a simple solution but I will leave that up to the experts. Thoughts?

My bag is 29*29 and my pot is only around 2.2-2.5 gallons

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Thanks for the help everyone

Second Brew Questions

First post by FlipFlopLife, 12 years ago

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All,

So I finished my second brew and it smells great, my converted chest freezer/fermentor control is now full. I'm making beer and am quite happy with it.

That said. I think that my second brew has highlighted some areas that I'm screwing up. I have attached my filled out Biabacus file for the second brew -- a quick look should highlight deficiencies pretty quickly (for what it's worth this recipe is a recipe without integrity for Bell's Two Hearted Ale -- I did what I could to give it...

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Great post #1 in the thread FFL. Good detail and a few exellent laughs as well :lol:.

There is a lot to say on this and it would take me a few hours at least to write. Lucky I've done it before... in fact, I wrote a thousand words on this very thing just last night ;). You'll need to read this post and the link contained within it.

The BIABacus auto-adjusts for high gravity brews so you should be achieving what it says or better so don't even think about the high gravity brew being the...

Mini BIAB question

First post by SenorPartagas, 12 years ago

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Has anyone here ever tried mashing in a low oven to maintain temperature? Just a though.

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So far in my very little experience (no batches yet) I've read that people have set their oven low and as long as the pot fit, mashed in it

Sorry I should have done a search first, seems people have had success doing this. I might just try it this weekend

calc

First post by daverobbo, 12 years ago

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hey guys :thumbs:

is there a calculator for maxi biab and if so where do i find it please

cheers

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Yes, it works a treat for scaling a recipe. :P

help

First post by daverobbo, 12 years ago

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Hi guys.

Am new to biab so any help will be greatful. I have a 33ltr eletric
Boiler.can i just use any all grain recipe and mash in with about 27
Litres of strike water and maybe a dunk sparge.idealy i want to put
about 21 to 23 litres of wort in fv

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Cheers mate appreciate ur help

My First Recipe

First post by darren131, 12 years ago

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Hi team,

I've now done 5 brews all pretty successful... some more than others; but there has always been drinkable beer at the end so things can't be going too badly :)

I've decided to try my hand at making my own recipe; which is what follows. Any advice or whatever would be great? Is this something you'd drink, etc? Also—should I be using something like Irish Moss? And if so, how much and when?

Thanks!

Darren's NZ Pale Ale - Batch 1

Recipe Overview

Brewer: Darren Wood
Style: NZ Pale...

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That advice is awesome, thanks so much PP. Makes total sense :)

From now on I'll be tacking on an extra hour to my process... :)

BIABacus Sanity Check

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First post by DenverBrewer, 12 years ago

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Hi all, I'm new to the forum and excited to be here.

I've done three BIABs prior to using the BIABacus - a Red Ale, a SMASH ale, and an Oatmeal Stout. I'm using a five gallon pot to get to three gallons in the fermenter. I've been mashing with three gallons and sparging the bag to get to a 4 gallon preboil wort. Successful so far with 75-80% efficiency , but I have to admit it wasn't done with any amount of precision. Through my own experiments boiling water with the pot, I knew my evaporation...

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Good Job! The beer looks inviting. Keep up the good work.

New to BIAB, concerns over hob power, batch size & boil time

First post by do_you_realise, 12 years ago

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Hey,

I've never brewed BIAB before but looking to start. I have been given a stainless steel pot which is about 20L in size (photos for context: )

Firstly, I filled this with 15L cold water (just a guess as to a sensible amount to use) and on our biggest gas ring on the kitchen stove the pot took exactly 1 hour to come to a boil. On top of this, with the makeshift lid removed (tinfoil!) the hob only managed to maintain a gentle boil, not the aggressive type I've seen on BIAB videos on...

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You should ask and run your ideas through the ELECTRIC BIAB section.

Cheers

MS

Adding water to FV

First post by cxp073, 12 years ago

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Rather silly question I presume, but here it goes.

During my first brew I didn't properly account for the volume that the grains would take up in my kettle (mini biab). So, when my recipe called for 4 and some odd gallons, I had to reduce my water volume to 2 and a bit to give myself enough room. However, as it was my first attempt and to be honest I was pretty frazzled, I forgot to add water pre-boil to account for this. Therefore, the amount into the FV after boil was only about 2.25 gal...

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It is common with the big commercial breweries, but I don't think many homebrewers would go to those lengths.

Here are some links to read.

BIABacus

First post by Homemade, 12 years ago

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Just a quickie regarding what to enter into the sheet:

Section L - Mash Volume should this be the water added to the mash tun or the total including grain?

If it includes grain then it seems you would have to wait some for the grain to absorb water?

I am currently using Brewing Classic Styles for my recipes, I understand they work on a malt yield of 70% whereas the BIABacus uses an extract potential of 80%. I am assuming the wording points to the same thing but what about the numbers does...

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Ian, I know you have one other question here and I am trying to knock all questions off tonight so I'll just do my best here...

In your brew, I wouldn't have topped up the mash to match the BIABacus. Why?...

The estimates used in the BIABacus are the best we have but they are very much averages (and I think there is actually one error on volumes I haven't had time to check in the last two months. This stuff is not as easy to check as you would imagine :smoke:.)

I don't think any adjustments...

First brew - advice on a recipe

First post by Duotwr, 12 years ago

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Hi there

so I've just taken delivery of a 21 litre pot, for doing BIAB on my kitchen hob. Looking around for a recipe to start with. I come from Scotland, but now live in England, so fancy doing something Scottish. Found a recipe for Raven Ale on another forum (I remember drinking lots of this at a wedding in Orkney)

Recipe details are short and sweet...

-----------------------------------------
Raven ale 5 gallon batch OG 1038 ABV 3.8%

GOLDEN PROMISE 3410 gms
CRYSTAL MALT 110 gms...

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Duotwr - I have looked at your tweaked recipe from the other thread, to be honest I cannot quite remember what was in the original to do a comparison, but there is nothing there that seems untoward.

Bob helped with your boil questions; I used to do 60 minute boils, but now do 90 minutes, but that is more out of habit than because I have noticed better beer. As you mentioned, this is less important with darker grains (due to reduced SMM I believe).

I would say go for it, and make comparisons...

Non-fermentables

First post by BabyfaceFinster, 12 years ago

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Hi guys,

I haven't been on here in a while, but not because of losing faith or giving up. Quite the contrary, I am brewing about twice a month and the BIABacus is my right hand man :salute:

I have hit upon a recipe that raises a question for me. I am making a porter that in addition to the grain bill, also calls for two non-fermentables. Here is the short of the recipe:
mash at 158F for 60 min
8 lbs 2 row
2 lbs munich
1 lb chocolate malt
1 lb crystal 40L
1 lb flaked oats
then during boil
8...

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Awesome, thanks for that PP ... pretty much answered all of my questions regarding section Y.

What's looking good on Amazon? (Draft thread.)

First post by BIABrewer, 12 years ago

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The, What's looking good on Amazon? thread allows you several easy opportunities to support BIABrewer and/or the members who give you the most value here.

Before we explain these options in full, could a member here who intends to buy something through Amazon today, please click on the banner that now appears at the top of BIABrewer.info and then order that item?

Once you have done this, can you please advise what you bought? Once we know that the link is working, we will edit this thread,...

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Mally, thanks for bumping the thread and for placing an order. I've delayed replying here as it still hasn't appeared but I think that it often takes some time. I'm not sire why there is such a time delay.

Sales have been pretty slow with the only new ones since I last posted here being two knives. Thank you to whoever that was. When NME gets some more time I'll see if I can get him to put some widgets on the page and we'll see how that goes. Site structure still remains the priority atm...

First high volume BIAB

First post by jdeiro, 12 years ago

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My friends,

I've been absent from the forum, but I haven't stopped brewing! Using the BIABacus, I've already made IPA's and an Oatmeal Stout.

However, I've decided to upgrade my equipments and I am about to produce my very first batch on a brand new, 33 gallons kettle. I've ordered and received a custom made bag from BIABrewing.com (great service!) and I am just about finished installing the ropes and supports in order to lift the bag.

For my first big batch, I've decided to make a recipe...

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Nice to hear from you jdeiro ;)

That is big! Good on you :). Your file looks fine to me though I wouldn't be able to give you any comments on the actual recipe as I'm not familiar with the beer.

Maybe copy the Recipe Report to your first post so lazy buggers can check your recipe without downloading the file :P.

:luck:
PP

2nd brew questions and recipe conversion

First post by matteo35, 12 years ago

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So I just made my second BIAB batch and I've got a couple questions about it. Also wouldn't mind comments if anyone has them about what I did. So, I made the Northern Brewer Patersbier recipe. The original recipe from the NB website is:

9 lbs belgian pilsner
1 oz Tradition @ 60 min
0.5 oz Saaz @ 60 min
0.5 oz Saaz @ 10 min
Wyeast 3787

So, all of my information is in the link below, but the quick summary is this. I upped the grain bill to 11 lbs (based partly on my first brewing experience)....

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Thanks a bunch PP! Really appreciate the help. I will try to be more careful on my temps for the hydrometer readings. I will admit that I'm am a bit hasty on such things.

Can't wait to try the beer and I have to say that I am loving the BIAB method and all the help that I've found on this forum. Great method and resource!

Is this OK?

First post by Homemade, 12 years ago

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On Sat we brewed our third all grain brew, we forgot to take the lid off for the first 10mins of the boil when we did we found to our horror this ugly scum line around the top of the kettle ( see photo 1 ) we wiped this off but during the boil we also noticed bits of slimy material floating in the wort. ( photo 2) we tried removing with a sieve but it wouldnt come out.

It all seemed to settle out and the wort smelt great.

We were brewing a Pilsner.

Is this normal? OK?

Appreciate any input....

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Thks that a relief, I suspected it was all ok but not seeing it before on the past two beers gave us cause for concern

Thks again

Pimping the technique on a German site.

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First post by EoinMag, 15 years ago

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Hi guys, I've signed up for a German site www.hobbybrauer.de (all German) and I've posted about the BIAB technique to see if they are interested and what they think. There appears to be a new one vessel decoctions technique being discussed there so I'll attempt to get a handle on what they are doing and hope to eventually be able to bring it to an English speaking audience here as time progresses.
I'm a fluent German speaker, if not so fluent writer, but I'm having to relearn the language from...

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Thanks for the welcome. Yeah its sweet for Sous Vide especially if you drop in the smallest Fish Tank/Immersion pump that you can find.

Here's a Video of my setup in action.

The Silvercrest has a 27l capacity, and with grain in it that works out closer to 24-25 litres. Its a BIAB system even without a pump, just gotta drop a bag into the pot, fill'er up and away you go. The pump just helps to improve the extract efficiency, but then I also mash for two hours... I tend to prefer to keep the...

First biab, very strong wheat flavor?

First post by Chicagojustin, 12 years ago

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Hi all, I moved my first biab, an IPA with New Zealand hops, from the primary to secondary last night. When I tasted it, I was immediatly hit with the aroma and up front taste of grain, specifically a Cheerio flavor. I know the flavor will still change dramatically by the time I crack the first bottle, but I wanted to see if maybe I did something wrong, so that I can fix it for the batch I'm doing this weekend.

The only thing I know I did wrong was that I sparged my Grain bag in a seperate...

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Hey, let us know how this turns out after the bottled beer conditions/ages for a month or so. Motueka hops... Part of one of my all time favorite Chicago brewed beers - Half Acre Akari Shogun!

the opposite of liquoring back

First post by maevans, 12 years ago

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So I've got a few biab's under my belt and I've noticed the evaporation rate I get differs quite a lot between brews.

So I'm wondering how to deal with it - I know people add more water to their wort if it's come in over gravity as there's been so much boil off.

But what do people do for the opposite? I brewed a wheat beer at the weekend and the evaporation rate was much lower than normal (and maybe the grain retained less water than usual), so I ended up with nearly a litre more wort than I...

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Thanks both - ignoring it is what I've been doing! I doubt I have the palate to notice..!

I think I need to start making a note of my numbers a bit better, and dial in my system.

BIABacus to Beersmith 2 Equipment Profile Conversion

First post by blancasterb, 12 years ago

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I want to be able to use both BIABacus and Beersmith 2
I am new to BIAB and had already paid for Beersmith 2 before I found this site so I dont want to not use it.
I am having a hard time creating my equipment profile on Beersmith, this has been a problem since I bought it.
I have a 15.5 gal keggle that Im using.
One of the nice guys on this board helped me get BIABacus set for my keggle.
Im trying to convert that over to Beersmith, but its not working. It seems that my total water volume is a...

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Just like Bob says, keep the beer at fermentation temperature for at least 3 weeks. If you are bottling, you can do that at the end of the 3rd week.

recipe with ctz

First post by urbanbrewer, 12 years ago

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looking for a good recipe that use ctz in it i have these hops and can not make up my mind the best way to use any advice would be good,
.
cascade 400g
ctz 400g
fuggles 80g
EKG 25g
Norhtern brewer 46g
styrian goldings 50g

thinking cascade ctz and fuggles maybe single grain to keep it simple and doing a maxi biab

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I'd do the flavor at 15 and the aroma at 5, give it a try and see how you like it. Then maybe try doing the same recipe but a small bittering charge and a huge late addition to get the IBU's, this will change the beer completely. Then maybe do an all FWH with a dry hop. Just using a single malt and experimenting with hops additions/timing could keep you busy for months. Then you can play with chill vs no-chill, hop stands, etc. There are so many variables to play with but remember to always...

split batch

First post by urbanbrewer, 12 years ago

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just thinking here but has anyone tried doing this.
I have a 20lt urn and a 20lt sparge bucket. thinking of splitting the grain bill between the two doing a mash in each, then pulling grain out of urn at end of mash (less grain more water i'm thinking)
start urn boiling then add wort from sparge bucket to urn till end of boil. any wort in sparge bucket at end to top up fermenter via urn.

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Hey there ub,

The unfortunate catch in this plan is that a lot of your wort won't be getting boiled properly so you will be introducing major quality compromises. You want all your wort to be boiling for at least 60 minutes and more preferably, 90 minutes.

Here is a very good article on some of the things that happen during the boil.

If you are limited to your 20 L urn but did want did want more beer on a brew day, if you have an esky/cooler at home, while you are boiling up your first lot...

My first ever brew.

First post by yeriksen, 13 years ago

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Hi

Over the last week I have collected my brew bits and pieces. Now the time has come to figure out what beer to try to make.
I found one for Schwartzbier on this site. It is from PistolPatch.
--
Style: Schwartzbier. This recipe can be brewed equally as well as a lager or an ale.
Name:
Yeast: If brewing as a lager use Saflager S23 (or a German or Bohemian liquid equivalent). If brewing as an ale use US-056.
Original Gravity: The Calculator = 1.048
Total IBU's: The Calculator = 23.2 IBU's...

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yeriksen,

Sounds like you did OK! Remember that the Mouth-feel is effected by the mash temperature. With a little bit warmer mash you might have added that thickness (mouth-feel) that you needed?? Keep us informed on your next brew!

Simple recipe to be my first BIAB batch?

First post by Tsar, 13 years ago

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Hi guys,

I'm converting a 30L keg into a BIAB pot, and I'd like some recommendations on what recipe should I begin with.

I love Belgian Strong Ales, is it possible to start with one of these without problem?

Thanks :)

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i have these hops and can not make up my mind the best way to use any advice would be good,
.
cascade 400g
ctz 400g
fuggles 80g
EKG 25g
Norhtern brewer 46g
styrian goldings 50g

looking for ale recipe maybe single grain to keep it simple and doing a maxi biab

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

First post by jhwerner1, 12 years ago

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A Day Late and a Dollar short.

I’ve been reading the Forum for a couple of weeks now and as I read I’m learning that I really don’t know very much about brewing beer.

At least as PP says I was looking at what was being said by the so-called experts through glasses with dust on them and using software that was and is flawed. No wonder, at times I could never make sense of what I was seeing on paper and what I was actually getting when brewing. I have a long way to go before I understand the...

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Very interesting

Thanks Joe :thumbs: