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Brewing times ands other newbie questions

Post #1 made 14 years ago
by Zelig
Hi all,
While waiting to get a proper bag, I'm getting infos for entering BIAB world!
I've read your great guide (many times) and it's quite clear, but I still have some questions.

About brewing times: the guide recommends a mashing time of 90 min. whitout any test, but if I do a iodine test, say after an hour, and it's positive, I can go on to next step, right?

And about boiling, I can't understand why you suggest a 90 min boiling time, but only 60 min hopping. What's the reason of the first half hour of boiling without hops?
You may have noticed that I'm trying to save time, as I usually brew in the evening... :whistle:

Another one: I've got a 27 lts pot and I brew on the stove top, where I have a 2 rings gas burner. On previous experience, I've seen that I can boil about 20 liters. Is it possible to bottle more than 15 liters of beer in these situation? Or maybe, is it possible to brew a concentrated wort this way, and then dilute it (a little) in the fermenter to get a batch of around 20 liters, like I used to do in E+G?

Thank all and sorry for my poor english, I'm from Italy! ;)
    • SVA Brewer With Over 50 Brews From Italy

Post #2 made 14 years ago
by PistolPatch
Hi there Zelig and welcome aboard :salute:

Your English is perfect!

As for mashing for 90 minutes, it tends to give you better extraction. Plenty of people only mash for 60 minutes however if you take gravity readings between 60 and 90 minutes, you'll still notice the gravity will rise a bit. This is not a big issue. Personally I just go for 90 but I have done plenty of 60 minute mashes plus a mashout and never had any problems.

I'm not a great believer in ending your mash when an iodine test proves positive. Iodine tests one aspect of the mash. Plenty of other chemistry is happening in a mash though.

A 90 minute boil is recommended to beginners as it is safer. For example, some water will give you a hazy beer if you only boil for 60 minutes. You can get the same with a bad batch of grain as well.

Some recipes might have a 90 minute boil with 60 minute hop additions but you can feel free to adjust this. I personally do a 90 minute boil and do my bittering hop addition at 75 minutes. This gives the boil time to settle and me time to weigh my hops :). Once again, this is not a big issue.

Try the 60 mash and 60 boil and see how you go.

As for brewing a more concentrated wort, yes you can do this. Some guys manage to get an amazing volume of beer out of very small pots. Have a look at Maxi-BIAB on this site. Basically maxi-BIAB refers to a variety of techniques to boost your volume. It can be as simple as brewing a higher gravity wort and diluting it in the fermentor or topping up during the boil. It may be as complex as doing both of the above plus having a second vessel so as some sparging can be done.

If you simply want to top up in the fermentor, a good rule is not to top it up by more than 25%. If you are going to top up during the boil, you can increase this.

Whatever you do, you'll find it is pretty hard to make an awful all-grain beer (assuming your gear is clean etc) so don't be scared to bend the 'rules' :P.

:luck:
PP
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Post #3 made 14 years ago
by shibolet
i was just writing a reply. you clicked the SUBMIT button just before i did. oh well.
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 #5 made 14 years ago
by thughes
As to the iodine test, the latest issue of BYO magazine did a recent test where they took iodine tests and gravity readings every 5 minutes during a mash. What they found was that at a certain point in time the iodine test came back negative (conversion complete) yet subsequent gravity readings continued to rise for the duration of the mashing time.

This indicates that while the liquid part of the mash may show that all of the starches have been converted, there is still starch remaining in the solids (grain). The hypothesis for the iodine test showing negative yet gravity still increasing is that the enzymes have reached a level in the liquid where they are now converting the starch from the solids as fast as it is dissolving into the liquid.

Translation: Don't base conversion on iodine test alone. ;)
Last edited by thughes on 05 Sep 2011, 22:46, edited 5 times in total.
WWBBD?
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Post #6 made 14 years ago
by PistolPatch
Thanks thughes and joshua,

I have always been dubious about iodine tests (see here and probably many other posts :lol:) and could never understand why so many brewers talked about how great iodine tests were. I think these have lead to the "20 minute mash myth." :roll:

Zelig,

Another small advantage of the 90 minute boil is that it gives you more water to start with. This means you are 'rinsing' the sugars from the grain with more water so your efficiency should be a bit higher.

:peace:
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 06 Sep 2011, 20:33, edited 5 times in total.
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 #7 made 14 years ago
by thughes
PistolPatch wrote:Thanks thughes and joshua,

I have always been dubious about iodine tests (see here and probably many other posts :lol:) and could never understand why so many brewers talked about how great iodine tests were. I think these have lead to the "20 minute mash myth." :roll:

Zelig,

Another small advantage of the 90 minute boil is that it gives you more water to start with. This means you are 'rinsing' the sugars from the grain with more water so your efficiency should be a bit higher.

:peace:
PP
My favorite part of BIAB and a 90 minute mash is that I can get a much longer nap in (as opposed to the days of 60 minute mashing and double batch sparging in my converted cooler MLT). :sleep:
Last edited by thughes on 06 Sep 2011, 20:58, edited 5 times in total.
WWBBD?
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Post #8 made 14 years ago
by Squared
^this.

I do 90 min mash/ boils everytime because in between I can do the "more important" things around the house as said by the SWMBO.

It appears like my day isn't consumed by brewing and it makes her happy. happy wife= happy life.

Post #9 made 14 years ago
by Zelig
Thank you all for the explanations!
I didn't know that iodine test was not so reliable.
And about brewing times, my problem - as I said - is that I used to brew in the evening. Usually starting around 8 PM, I've never finished before 1 AM doing extract brewing (including cleaning and all)! Now we are talkink of another 2 hours, maybe more...
I think I'll have to change my habits and start the mash in the afternoon, family permitting. ;-)
    • SVA Brewer With Over 50 Brews From Italy

Post #10 made 14 years ago
by Zelig
No-chill is an interesting topic, despite meny people out there shouting about the importance of cooling the wort as fast as possible, right? ;)
Anyway, I've got a simple DIY wort-chiller, so I can cool the wort in less than 30 minutes. No much gain for me doing no-chill, I think...
    • SVA Brewer With Over 50 Brews From Italy

Post #11 made 14 years ago
by stux
Well 30 minutes ;)

From doughin to finished cubing takes me less than 4 hrs and thats with a 90 min mash and a 90 minute boil

I could probably cut it to 3 hrs if I wanted to by dropping to 60/60

The prep on the day is to fill the pot with hot water. Grain and everything I do the night before. Rest of the cleaning I do during the mash. I do hop weighing etc during the first part of the boil. And I finish cleaning the cube and the mash stuff during the boil.

Then all I need to do is fill the cube and rinse the pot
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
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