Did my first BIAB last night and not sure if some of my figures are wrong as efficiency seems way to high.
Recipe was schwartzbier.This is the calculator for my mini brew.
A. MEASUREMENT Units
Brew Length 9.50 lts
Fermenter Trub* 0.76 lts
Volume into Fermenter 10.26 lts
Kettle Trub & Buffer* 1.71 lts
End of Boil Efficiency* 79.00 %
End of Boil Gravity (OG) 1.048 Deg.
End of Boil Volume (Batch Size) 11.97 lts
Boil Length 90 min
Diameter of Kettle 31.00 cms
Evaporation Per Hour* 3.23 lts/hr
Evaporation for this Brew 4.85 lts
Expected Start of Boil Gravity 1.034 Deg.
Start of Boil Volume 16.82 lts
Grain Bill Required 2369 grams
Grain Absorption* 1.49 lts
Water Required is... 18.30 lts
Approximate Mash Volume 19.87 lts
I bought a 19L BigW stockpot with 31cm diam, drilled out the rivet in the lid so my meat probe thermometer fit tightly. Heated 13 L in brew pot to strike temp + remaining 5.3 L in another stock pot. Added 2.37kg grain and added some of the extra water to top off. Put in oven, mash was constant 67 for 90 minutes. Removed bag and put into 2nd pot with remainder of water for 10 minutes at 76. Added this to brew pot after much wringing. These are my figures:
Volume (lts) Current Brew* Actual 1
Start of Boil Volume 17.4
End of Boil Volume 13.4
Volume Into Fermenter 12.2
Brew Length
Grain Bill (grams) 2370
Gravities
Start of Boil Gravity 1.04
End of Boil Gravity (OG) 1.051 Both reading taken at 24 C
Your Efficiencies Are...
Efficiency "Into Kettle" #DIV/0! 95.7
End of Boil Efficiency** #DIV/0! 93.9
Efficiency "Into Fermenter" #DIV/0! 85.5
Efficiency "Packaging" #DIV/0! 0.0
I added some extra water to fermenter to top up to 13 L, gravity 1.047. Added 6g US05 at 20 C and put fermenter into my wine cellar, will ferment at 18-20 C
My efficiency can't be that high, any pointers as to possible mistakes ?
cheers
sean
Post #2 made 14 years ago
Well,
It can actually be that high
Your effciency at start and stop of boil are both approximately the same, which gives us a good idea that your gravity readings were about right...
so, the only other reason to have such a high efficiency is if your grain was actually heavier than you thought, for instance 2.5KG instead of 2.37
Did you weigh the grain yourself? or did an LHBS?
Efficiencies up to 90% are certainly possible, especially when you have such a small batch where you are not battling the physicality of the system
It can actually be that high
Your effciency at start and stop of boil are both approximately the same, which gives us a good idea that your gravity readings were about right...
so, the only other reason to have such a high efficiency is if your grain was actually heavier than you thought, for instance 2.5KG instead of 2.37
Did you weigh the grain yourself? or did an LHBS?
Efficiencies up to 90% are certainly possible, especially when you have such a small batch where you are not battling the physicality of the system
Fermenting: -
Cubed: -
Stirplate: -
On Tap: NS Summer Ale III (WY1272), Landlord III (WY1469), Fighter's 70/- II (WY1272), Roast Porter (WY1028), Cider, Soda
Next: Munich Helles III
5/7/12
Cubed: -
Stirplate: -
On Tap: NS Summer Ale III (WY1272), Landlord III (WY1469), Fighter's 70/- II (WY1272), Roast Porter (WY1028), Cider, Soda
Next: Munich Helles III
5/7/12
Post #3 made 14 years ago
Being my first BIAB I measured everything twice, so grain was spot one. I'm pretty stoked buy how it went, but the proof will come in about a months time when I get to have a taste.
As we haven't got a sewing machine I haven't had a chance to get my bag made up by someone yet with the voile I got at spotlight , for this brew I used my old nylon grape bag that I've used in the past for steeping grains. The mesh is nowhere near as fine as the voile so I guess this may be a factor.
Tasted bloody good going into the fermenter
sean
As we haven't got a sewing machine I haven't had a chance to get my bag made up by someone yet with the voile I got at spotlight , for this brew I used my old nylon grape bag that I've used in the past for steeping grains. The mesh is nowhere near as fine as the voile so I guess this may be a factor.
Tasted bloody good going into the fermenter
sean
Post #4 made 14 years ago
Congrats on your first BIAB Sean, and I have to agree with stux 90% is very achievable. You may find that as you get used to things, measurements will mean make more sense, you may even get to where I am and not bother with the numbers, but for now keeping good records on each brew and then getting averages is what you need to do.
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."
Post #5 made 14 years ago
Congratulations Sean 
. Hope you enjoyed the process.
If you're embarrassed about your too high figures, don't be. I had one that was well over 100% efficiency into kettle, plenty in the 90's that I'm positive I measured correctly! (These figures by the way are scientifically possible.) Sometimes I did something different in my brewing to get the above but sometimes not?
I think, like stux and hashie, that your measurements are probably correct. But, until you do another two or three batches, you won't really know for sure.
One thing that you can be confident in is that the beer should taste great. A robust recipe mashed all-grain with a good thermometer is very hard to stuff up. (See this thread by Silo Ted.) I'm not sure what Schwartzbier recipe you used but I have abused Schwartz recipes in many directions (e.g. brewed them low-alcohol) and it has always been a truly delightful beer.
Let us know how she tastes Sean
Edit: If you are kegging Sean, there will be no need to wait for a month with a Schwartz brewed with SO5. I'd forgotten that I have brewed this in a rush and been drinking it 8 days after mashing. It was still an astonishing beer
. Hope you enjoyed the process.If you're embarrassed about your too high figures, don't be. I had one that was well over 100% efficiency into kettle, plenty in the 90's that I'm positive I measured correctly! (These figures by the way are scientifically possible.) Sometimes I did something different in my brewing to get the above but sometimes not?
I think, like stux and hashie, that your measurements are probably correct. But, until you do another two or three batches, you won't really know for sure.
One thing that you can be confident in is that the beer should taste great. A robust recipe mashed all-grain with a good thermometer is very hard to stuff up. (See this thread by Silo Ted.) I'm not sure what Schwartzbier recipe you used but I have abused Schwartz recipes in many directions (e.g. brewed them low-alcohol) and it has always been a truly delightful beer.
Let us know how she tastes Sean
Edit: If you are kegging Sean, there will be no need to wait for a month with a Schwartz brewed with SO5. I'd forgotten that I have brewed this in a rush and been drinking it 8 days after mashing. It was still an astonishing beer
Last edited by PistolPatch on 26 Feb 2011, 19:28, edited 5 times in total.
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Post #6 made 14 years ago
Good point pat,
100% efficiency is not impossible. 100% Efficiency just means you managed the same efficiency as a Congress Mash.
The Congress mash doesn't necessarily extract 100% of the sugars, but the amount of sugars you extract while doing a congress mash are considered the extractable sugars, and if you attain that amount of sugar extraction, then you have 100%.
95% means you extracted 95% of the extractable sugars as extracted via congress methods.
BIAB is actually a very similar process to a congress mash, so we should be able to get quite close.
Basically, congress, you powerderize your grain, then steep it slowly for 2 hrs at a high liquor to grain ratio, then drain it through filter paper over two hours!
90 min mash... powerderized... high liquor to grain ratio... voile draining... squeeze the water out.
hmmmm....
no wonder we get good efficiency
and if you waited two hours for the drips to finish, you'd probably get even closer
100% efficiency is not impossible. 100% Efficiency just means you managed the same efficiency as a Congress Mash.
The Congress mash doesn't necessarily extract 100% of the sugars, but the amount of sugars you extract while doing a congress mash are considered the extractable sugars, and if you attain that amount of sugar extraction, then you have 100%.
95% means you extracted 95% of the extractable sugars as extracted via congress methods.
BIAB is actually a very similar process to a congress mash, so we should be able to get quite close.
Basically, congress, you powerderize your grain, then steep it slowly for 2 hrs at a high liquor to grain ratio, then drain it through filter paper over two hours!
90 min mash... powerderized... high liquor to grain ratio... voile draining... squeeze the water out.
hmmmm....
no wonder we get good efficiency
and if you waited two hours for the drips to finish, you'd probably get even closer
Fermenting: -
Cubed: -
Stirplate: -
On Tap: NS Summer Ale III (WY1272), Landlord III (WY1469), Fighter's 70/- II (WY1272), Roast Porter (WY1028), Cider, Soda
Next: Munich Helles III
5/7/12
Cubed: -
Stirplate: -
On Tap: NS Summer Ale III (WY1272), Landlord III (WY1469), Fighter's 70/- II (WY1272), Roast Porter (WY1028), Cider, Soda
Next: Munich Helles III
5/7/12
Post #7 made 14 years ago
Top post stux!
I never knew any of the theory behind that - I owe you a beer!
Got some good links on this?
(Hope this won't take you off-topic Sean
)
I never knew any of the theory behind that - I owe you a beer!
Got some good links on this?
(Hope this won't take you off-topic Sean
)If you have found the above or anything else of value on BIABrewer.info, consider supporting us by getting some BIPs!
-
- SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From Australia
-
Post #8 made 14 years ago
Best coverage is in Palmer's How To Brew, print edition
But a summary is here
http://www.realbeer.com/jjpalmer/NHC04_Extraction.ppt
Btw, the magic 307 extract value in the Calculator is Litre•Degrees/KG (LDK)
But a summary is here
http://www.realbeer.com/jjpalmer/NHC04_Extraction.ppt
Btw, the magic 307 extract value in the Calculator is Litre•Degrees/KG (LDK)
Fermenting: -
Cubed: -
Stirplate: -
On Tap: NS Summer Ale III (WY1272), Landlord III (WY1469), Fighter's 70/- II (WY1272), Roast Porter (WY1028), Cider, Soda
Next: Munich Helles III
5/7/12
Cubed: -
Stirplate: -
On Tap: NS Summer Ale III (WY1272), Landlord III (WY1469), Fighter's 70/- II (WY1272), Roast Porter (WY1028), Cider, Soda
Next: Munich Helles III
5/7/12
Post #9 made 14 years ago
Bottled yesterday FG was 1.008. Bottled 11.7 L. Tasted very good. Very happy.
Brew # 2 on the boil at the moment. Ross' Nelson summer ale. House smelling good.
Tryed the rauchbier ( smokey shwartz ) at Craftbrewer a couple of days ago, another one to add to the list !
Brew # 2 on the boil at the moment. Ross' Nelson summer ale. House smelling good.
Tryed the rauchbier ( smokey shwartz ) at Craftbrewer a couple of days ago, another one to add to the list !
Post #10 made 14 years ago
Cracked my first bottle of shwartz (PP recipe from this forum)last night after only a week in bottle, bloody good ( if I say so myself) . Problem with these mini brews is there isn't much to go around.
My Nelson ale has been 1 week in fermenter ,should be able to bottle in a week. Didn't reach the same end of boil efficiency as my first brew but not complaining as 85 % still pretty good, hit gravity targets with an extra litre above the calculator prediction.
Next brew is a step mash hefeweizen, getting way to cocky so something will go wrong.
If these next couple of brews are as good as the first I can see a visit to Ross coming up and a crown 40 L urn plus some more toys. He told me when I was in the shop that he's about to sell BIAB bags, currently being made up.
Thinking of going down the keg path as well
My Nelson ale has been 1 week in fermenter ,should be able to bottle in a week. Didn't reach the same end of boil efficiency as my first brew but not complaining as 85 % still pretty good, hit gravity targets with an extra litre above the calculator prediction.
Next brew is a step mash hefeweizen, getting way to cocky so something will go wrong.
If these next couple of brews are as good as the first I can see a visit to Ross coming up and a crown 40 L urn plus some more toys. He told me when I was in the shop that he's about to sell BIAB bags, currently being made up.
Thinking of going down the keg path as well
Post #11 made 14 years ago
Slippery Slope 
[center]"All right, brain. You don't like me and I don't like you, but let's just do this and I can get back to killing you with beer."
[/center]
[center]Homer Simpson[/center]
[center]K.I.S.S., B.I.A.B.[/center]
[/center]
[center]Homer Simpson[/center]
[center]K.I.S.S., B.I.A.B.[/center]
Post #13 made 14 years ago
I think we have another addict???
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."
