Another First Time BIABacus Brewer

Post #1 made 9 years ago
Hello everyone,

Hope you're all good.

I've been very much glued to this forum after registering last week. As the title of the thread suggests, I'm in the midst of planning my first BIABacus brew however I have a number of questions which I'm hoping some of you lovely people can spare a few minutes to answer.

This will be my fourth BIAB brew however I've always used recipes I've found online in the past, to largely mixed results. Despite all tasting reasonably well, they've all been much too strong and I've now developed a reputation among my friends of brewing something akin to Special Brew! I'm keen to use the BIABacus and speak to you folks in order to better understand the brewing process.

For my first BIABacus brew I've decided to do a simple Citra Smash, and fingers crossed you will find my BIABacus sheet attached. If any of you have time to give it a quick once over for me that would be great.

My biggest questions are around the hop bill and, in a nutshell, just what to do! I've taken a stab at a schedule after looking at a few recipes both here and elsewhere, but I'm really not sure what I should be looking to do. How many hops I should add when, should I dry hop, for this style of beer what sort of IBU should I be looking at? I could go on!

Thanks very much,

Jim
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Post #2 made 9 years ago
Go with the hop schedule for the Citra you have planned, keep good notes throughout (including time), and you will make a good beer. You will be successful and you will be able to make a guess as to what you might do next time. The target IBU (in Tinseth) will be good for what you want. Dry hopping with at least 1 oz (28.3 gms) and less than 3 oz for aroma here is a matter of taste, but do it 3 days before you bottle, not longer than 5 days before bottling. Kegging is different, somebody else can help on that.

Your attached file looks very good. You should know ahead of time that the BIABacus will set you up to slightly exceed the theoretical Original Gravity (OG) but you can then dilute with good water into the fermenter when you pitch the yeast. That gives you a measure of control to change impressions from Special Brew, if you want.
Your hop schedule will have to work in conjunction with your cooling method and also cover the amount you might choose to dilute (as I mentioned above). Bittering hops @ 60 min will be fine and not likely to change with any input here from the greater community.
If you actively chill the wort at some time X after Flame Out (FO), you should be aware that the times for your other additions of Citra hops are tied to when the wort gets to a temp below ~80 ºC (176 ºF). If you chill starting at FO, those times you have entered will fairly represent time available for thermal isomerization of what comes from the hops. Longer time hot = more bittering impact and less aroma (aroma will be supplemented by the dry-hopping you will do days later). If you wait more than 30 min after FO before chilling, then your last hop additions @ 20 and 5 min. have less chance to contribute as much flavor and aroma. When should you add hops and when should you start chilling? Here's an answer you may not like - it's up to you. Do the very reasonable experiment times you have set up, wait for what seems like forever, taste the results, repeat with a change to the next experiment.
You left blank the entry for hopsock y/n? which results in the default of n. This then becomes another thing to think about on your next brew day in terms of hop exposure time from when you add the hops, chill, and when you leave trub and residual hops behind upon transfer into the fermentation vessel. A hopsock gives you a different option.
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America

Post #3 made 9 years ago
Hey JimiJimi,

ShorePoints mentioned the potential of needing to dilute and lower your OG because of the better efficiency of our BIAB process. It's something I have to do most of the time. Below is a link to some advice I gave someone else to assist with this. It's not hard to use math and get close. Hopefully the proper formula (shown there) gets you right on...

http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=152&t=3680

I think my post gets into other things for using the BIABacus to help your brew operations. If you are ready to tackle the, too - great! If you need a couple more brews to get more comfortable, that's fine too...

And something else, for recipes the Brewing Classic Styles book is great with easy to scale recipes. If you don't have a copy I would highly recommend to pick one up.

Let us know if any questions! :luck:
    • SVA Brewer With Over 50 Brews From United States of America
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