Well completed my first BIAB brew last Sunday. Been kinda busy this week so haven't been able to post this earlier
Started off really well got everything all set up and added the water to the kettle and flame on. Got the strike water to 152.8 on my thermapen and began adding the grain. Once the grain was in and well stirred took a temp reading at it was 149.8. Not bad considering I was shooting for 150! Covered up the kettle with a couple of towels and got busy getting hops weighed out for the boil. Stirred the mash twice during the 60 min but not sure if it was necessary or not. After an hour mash the temp had dropped to 145. Next time I will either insulate better or forgo the stirring. Pulled the grain bag out and squeezed it real good then hung it over my fermentation bucket to dribble out the last few ounces. My volume into the boil was 7.6 gallons and pre-boil hydrometer reading was 1.034 (corrected for temp). Used a hop sock for my hop additions. After the boil and cool down using an immersion chiller I had 6 gallons. I transferred 5.25 Gal into my fermenter (yes I cleaned and sterilized it after holding the grain bag) a little short of my original target but probably due to larger than expected evaporation. Hydrometer read 1.042 at pitching which was a little higher than expected but my grain bill was using the original recipe's weight and not the BIABacus corrected values or could be from the additional boil off. Pitched the yeast from a small starter placed it in the fermentation chamber set at 70deg and she was bubbling away by the next morning. Had a few swings in the fermentation chamber temps the first night because my insulation over the temp probe came off but got that fixed the next morning.
Overall a great day brewing!! Learned a lot and I am sure things will only get better from here.
Fermentation seems to have completed as the bubbling in the airlock has ceased. Pulled a sample this morning and it was at 1.009 which is below the expected finish gravity. The sample tasted great as well! Going to check it again tomorrow and if it is stable I will cold crash it for a day or two then transfer to a keg and drop it in the lonely, currently empty, keezer and let it condition for a week or so.
Not sure why Picture is upside down but you get the idea
My First BIAB - Centennial Blonde
Post #1 made 9 years ago
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Last edited by jrstephens65 on 11 Sep 2016, 07:16, edited 1 time in total.
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