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First biab done

Post #1 made 13 years ago
by Brendandrage
Well I did my first biab today and it went pretty smoothly for the most part :)
Few things that I will be changing
1) pulley system for the bag
2) will stop being a tightass and making a wort chiller
3) floating thermometer would be a good investment
4) need to work out how the auto siphon works
5) have realized how much time it takes
6) will learn how to use recipe calculators

I have tasted the wort and it tastes sweet so I look forward to the taste test

A big thanks to this site and grain and grape

Cheers
Brendan

Post #3 made 13 years ago
by shibolet
good job.
a few ideas:
1. floating thermometer. here's a picture of mine
Image
it's basically an analog meat thermometer that i stuck through a couple of plastic jar lids.
Image
2. wort chiller. i don't have one. i no-chill in a plastic cube:
Image
it will also shave about 30-60 minutes off you brew day.

3. recipe calculators. i use them but not religiously.
Last edited by shibolet on 09 Sep 2012, 20:07, edited 2 times in total.
Cube:
fermenter: Sourdough Spelt Ale, Classic Lambic, Oud Brune, Barrel Aged Belgian Dubbel
Kegs: Bob's Black IPA, Blanc Blond, Soda...
to be brewed:

Post #4 made 13 years ago
by thughes
Good deal Brendan, congrats!

Pulley is a must have for me (bad back).

As shibolet said, you can knock 30 minutes or more off the brew day by going no-chill (and save some $$....copper is expensive and that's money that can be spent on ingredients).

I use a glass lab thermometer and just check temp on a regular basis, works for me but YMMV.

Auto-siphon operation should be pretty much self explanatory, I chucked mine when the valve wore out and just use a plain old racking cane now.

My standard no-chill brew day, starting with measuring water/weighing grain and ending with everything cleaned up and put away, takes on average about four hours. I think this is about standard for those of us that have got a "system" worked out. Measuring water, weighing and grinding grain the night before can knock another hour off that estimate. Don't forget that you can do other things during the brew session....a 90 minute mash and an hour boil leave a lot of downtime for doing yard work, playing with the kids, or in my case....napping.

Calculators and software are handy but I'd recommend learning the calculator that the boys here use and also learning how to do the basic math the old-fashioned way (learn the formulas and work it out with paper/pencil so that you understand what the software is actually doing when you use it).

Lastly.....there's no substitute for experience so get brewing and take good notes!

---Todd
WWBBD?
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America

Post #5 made 13 years ago
by kartoffel
There's a few really good e-books on biab and even some photos/videos that might help. I would start with known to be delicious and room for error recipe (pale ale/cream ale) for your first few brews till you figure out all the kinks so that you don't loose the morale and it helps you target the things you need to improve. Bigger more advanced brews are less forgiving and I found out the hard way a russian imperial stout is not a good beginner brew. when you're 20 something points off of your OG you won't know why or how it happened till you have that intuition and skills to fix things before they become unfixable.
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