Well, finally did it. Wife got me a bunch of new brew equipment for Christmas, so I was able to do 5 gallon BIAB brews. (5 gal into Corny Keg). Before this, just have been extract with grain mostly, and a partial mash... So going backwards, was shooting for 5 1/2 gallon into fermenter and roughly 6 gallon or just a little more, in the bottom of the boil kettle when done.
Did two first batches at once. One a German Pilsner and the other a Vienna Lager. Using trash cans for a water bath to help keep temperature as consistent as possible. Cool new German fermenters, plastic... Water bath not working as well (plastic fermenter wants to float, can only put about 5 gal water in, not appx 10 gal like before).
Got my German Pilsner recipe from Brewing Classic Styles book, and the Vienna recipe from The Pour Report - blog. Both looked to be the same final size that I'm looking for...5 gal of finished beer into the Corny Keg.
BIABacus Issues:
1) The amounts being shown under Substitutions - both for Fermentables and Hops - seem to be cut back by 12-13% in the spreadsheet. I don't understand why... I show Desired Volume into Fermentor (VIF) @ 5.5 Gal. I put each VAW (Volume of Ambient Wort) for recipe @ 6.00 Gal. Seems to match up, but then why is it cutting me back on what the BIABacus wants put in? I may be doing something wrong...but can't see what. I stuck with the amounts (roughly) called for with the recipe rather than cutting things back. Had this issue on both of my recipes.
2) Pilsner - In addition to the 90 minute mash did a 90 minute boil (called for in the recipe). But when done, was short on water...probably just over 5 gallons in the bottom of the boil tank. Initial gravity was 1057 @ 58 deg F. I added 1/2 gallon of water and took another reading and it was 1051 @ 54 deg F. Figured that was pretty close so left it alone. Am I supposed to be boiling with the lid on the boil tank? That would seem to stop some evaporation. Just not sure why I'm losing so much water... Also, mashed 90 min @ appx 147 deg F. Recipe didn't note anything about mash out but I did it anyway (raised the bag 1/2 way out of the water, took up to 170 deg F, shut off flame and dropped bag back in, covered, for another 10 min. Another mistake I made was forgetting to add the Yeast Nutrient.
3) Vienna - Did Vienna second. 90 min mash but only did a 60 min boil. My mistake. Hope it doesn't hurt anything. But water wound up about where it was supposed to be, maybe a tad (up to 1/2 gal) too high...
With both lagers, I pitched the yeast starter after putting the fermentation vessel in the water tub. Temp of wort was 54-55 deg F. Next morning water in the tub was 53 deg F and I headed out for 3 day vacation with family... Got back and fermentation seemed to be going with both, but temperature in the water tubs were down to 45 deg F. Yikes!!! Used some rope lighting (as a heater) under tubs to get water temp up in the 50-51 deg range today (took 24 hours). Hope this doesn't cause a problem (the temperature dropping that low for 2-3 days). It's been almost 6 days now, and fermentation seems to be slacking off quite a bit... Figured I would give it a few more days...and do a diacetal rest to try and finish up fermenting anything that hasn't fermented.
If anyone has any advice, would love to hear it. Especially on the BIABacus... Seems like it should be an outstanding tool. You guys have some great advice on this website. Thanks in advance for the help!
Scott
1st & 2nd BIAB Beers Brewed - some issues with the BIABacus
Post #1 made 9 years ago
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Last edited by Scott on 03 Jan 2015, 12:42, edited 1 time in total.
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