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First BIAB Almost ready!

Post #1 made 16 years ago
by brad
So, after quite a long time, I now have my first BIAB in the keg, and will be ready for consumption tonight! I had a taste as it was filtering, and it wasnt too bad for the first go!

I was aiming for a czech style pilsner, but the recipe is a bit of a mix n mash from other stuff I have read on some forums.

5kg pilsner
300gms light munich
200gms wheat
40gms saaz @70mins
32gms saaz @40mins
28gms saaz @10mins
Yeast W34/70

I was only planning on a 60min boil, but as that was approaching, I was not down where I estimated I would be in volume. I let it boil for an extra 10.
At that point I emptied 23litres into the fermenter and still had about 5 litres in the pot. I incorrectly assumed that the OG would be very low as it had not boiled long enough(kicking myself at this point), and so just drained the remaining wort. As I kept some to take a reading after cooling, I was not happy with myself for draining the 5 litres as the reading was at 1.054. Oh well, live and learn.

The OG was 1.054 and it finished at 1.013 both being a bit higher than I expected.

The fermented beer has a very fruity taste but I was quite happy with it as it was being filtered. Hopefully the carbonated product comes out well tonight!
Overall, its looking good and I have a better idea of whats happening for the next batch!

:)

Brad

Post #2 made 16 years ago
by hashie
Well done Brad, I bet it tastes fantastic :)

This AG caper is really quite simple. I certainly don't know why I stressed so much with my first few. These days I just let it all happen and enjoy great tasting beers.

Are you sure on your figures? Beersmith gives it at ~90% efficiency.
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #3 made 16 years ago
by brad
Pretty sure, as far as what was being presented to me by the tools.. I wrote everything down as I was doing it. All measurements taken @20 degrees as per calibration on the hydrometer.. Unless thats out of whack.. :) I was very surprised also and didn't think I would get that kind of reading.. hence the wastage!

I installed beersmith.. yet to work it out though. :)

Post #4 made 16 years ago
by hashie
Well that is a great effort to get those figures on your first batch, well done!

Beersmith is a piece of piss, once you get it set to your equipment, it's dead easy.
Just continue to write everything down so that you can use those figures to set Beersmith to the way your system works. Even with just the 1 brew you still have boil off figures you can use to determine strike volumes for next time.

Again, well done and enjoy your Pilsner tonight :)
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #5 made 16 years ago
by bigjoe
Like hashie said this all grain "caper" isn't a big deal. I try to convince new all grainers ever chance I get. And experienced all grainers for that matter. Unfortunately I think part of the draw to all grain is not always the pursuit of better beer, but more toys to play with. All grain is cheaper and I heard some use that as an excuse for going all grain then tell me about the mash tun and other various pieces of equipment they purchased. I did the cooler mash tun for a while before I discovered BIAB. As its turns out now I do need to brew all grain as a matter of necessity if I want to brew. I've had one traditional all grain brewer be honest with me and tell me he doesn't even want to try it. He has a system he paid a lot of money for and he has it tweaked to his liking and knows what to expect. I can respect him for that. I still tried to tell him it wouldn't take much to tweak BIAB.

Some have even told me that it seems to be a good stepping stone to "real" all grain brewing. Maybe your not sure you'll like it so do a BIAB as an intermediate step to all grain. Well that's just bull crap. Its not an intermediate step, but a technique all its own. Not better or worse just a different way to achieve the same goal.

I'm fortunate to have a platform with new brewers. I fell into teaching a Brewing 101 class. A friend was teaching it and had to move out of state. We brew 2 - 20 liter batches of extract, bottle 2 weeks later and then try the beer 2 weeks after that. The last night is tasting our creation and a few batches that were from the previous class to see how aging improves the beer. We also talk about advanced techniques which is mostly how to all grain brew and I mention the cooler mash tun, but mostly I'm trying to sell them on BIAB. I'm trying to incorporate a mini-BIAB with a late extract addition into the class or one to compliment it.
Joe

Post #6 made 16 years ago
by hashie
Way to go Bigjoe, sell it to them in class before they are corrupted by 3 vessel brewers :)

Be great to hear how you get on if you can do a mini-BIAB in the class room.
"It's beer Jim, but not as we know it."

Post #7 made 16 years ago
by PistolPatch
It's 2am here so I better go to bed but Brad and I am looking forward to reading this thread in more detail later - lots of interesting stuff above and...

Congratulations,
PP
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Post #8 made 16 years ago
by brad
Thanks everyone.

It came out OK.. for the first batch anyway. Can do with a little tweaking.
Overall, still happy with the first attempt and has given me drive to go for it again! :)

Cheers,

Brad

Post #9 made 16 years ago
by PistolPatch
bigjoe wrote:Like hashie said this all grain "caper" isn't a big deal. I try to convince new all grainers every chance I get. And experienced all grainers for that matter. Unfortunately I think part of the draw to all grain is not always the pursuit of better beer, but more toys to play with. All grain is cheaper and I heard some use that as an excuse for going all grain then tell me about the mash tun and other various pieces of equipment they purchased. I did the cooler mash tun for a while before I discovered BIAB. As its turns out now I do need to brew all grain as a matter of necessity if I want to brew. I've had one traditional all grain brewer be honest with me and tell me he doesn't even want to try it. He has a system he paid a lot of money for and he has it tweaked to his liking and knows what to expect. I can respect him for that. I still tried to tell him it wouldn't take much to tweak BIAB.

Some have even told me that it seems to be a good stepping stone to "real" all grain brewing. Maybe your not sure you'll like it so do a BIAB as an intermediate step to all grain. Well that's just bull crap. Its not an intermediate step, but a technique all its own. Not better or worse just a different way to achieve the same goal.
What a great post! This is the post that really struck me at 2am a few days ago.

There are very few brewers who have traditional set-ups that are, "in a position," to give BIAB a go. I have written, "in a position," instead of, "willing or able to," because it is not easy to trial a whole new brewing system. Us all-grainers spend a heap of time researching and then money buying equipment. Once we make a decision to buy it we get attached to our decisions and equipment.

The only reason I explored BIAB was because I lived in an apartment and therefore, reducing equipment and "tiers" made a lot of sense. I had a hope that this non-traditional way of all-grain would brew a good beer but at the time had no expectation it would actually brew a great or equivalent beer. It does!

It is great for me to see a few brewers like BigJoe and BobBrew's (and a few others here I can't think of ATM) confirm what we, "traditional turned non-traditional brewers," now know as fact - a beer brewed with BIAB is at least equivalent to any beer we have brewed traditionally.

Good stuff BJ,
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 12 Jul 2010, 22:57, edited 7 times in total.
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Post #10 made 16 years ago
by PistolPatch
brad wrote:Thanks everyone.

It came out OK.. for the first batch anyway. Can do with a little tweaking.
Overall, still happy with the first attempt and has given me drive to go for it again! :)

Cheers,

Brad
Howdy Brad,

I found this thread very interesting the other night for many reasons. Just replied to one and replying to your post above is another of many. The other posts are great and don't require a reply. Your last post is great and does require a reply...

Your recipe tells me that you are trying to brew a pilsner.

I think this is a very hard beer to brew really well without giving it a lot of time. I have tasted Gold Medal winners and none of them struck me as enjoyable, well-balanced beers. None of them had that, "magic touch." I have tasted one though that did have the magic touch but it was over 9 months in a glass bottle. (It's a good recipe that one, and I even managed to get a bronze in the only comp I enter each year even though it had a major fault.*)

I think if you are a lager lover as many of us are when we first start brewing, then you should seriously consider brewing Lloydie's Krispy Kolsch. Lloydie reckons the above pilsner recipe was the best he had tasted in several years but I find his recipe far more reliable, exciting and "time" efficient.

For new AG brewers who enjoy a lager/pilsner, I think Lloydie's recipe above is often the way to go.

Brewing a truly great Munich Helles / Dortmunder / Pilsner, (one with magic,) I think requires it to lager for over a relatively long period. There are plenty of gold medal winners out there at three months but none have really impressed me whilst Lloydie's recipe gives me instant gratification :).

So Brad, maybe brew Lloydie's Krispy Kolsch next. When you are starting out in all-grain, you might as well start with recipes that will give you and others an ear to ear grin :).

Down the track, when you have more refrigeration and storage choices, then tackle and try and perfect the lagers. A perfect lager is spectacular but you need something else to drink whilst waiting for the magic to happen :).

Cheers,
PP

*That's another story that relates to welding and took me 3 years to find :).
Last edited by PistolPatch on 12 Jul 2010, 23:33, edited 6 times in total.
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Post #11 made 16 years ago
by brad
Hi PP,

Thanks for that great reply!

I have had a look at the suggested recipe, and yes I think Ill give that one a try while the weather is still cool. I also want to have a crack at a few ales, but am yet to decide what style.(thoughts on this one?)

Have been slowly getting through this first batch, and it does seem to be getting better as time goes by.. Im not sure its going to last very much longer though... I kind of like this 'instant gratification' of the Kolsche ;)

Cheers,

Brad

Edit: actually, this looks like it is fermented with an ale yeast so brew temps I would expect to be around the high teens?

Post #12 made 16 years ago
by PistolPatch
Evening Brad :),

LOL on it not lasting much longer!

I think LloydieP's Kolsch* fermented at the low temps is a great way for lager lovers to go.

I'm not too sure what to advise you on ales becasue I am not sure what type of ales you emjoy. There are so many to choose from. If you like American Pale Ales as I do, then, without a doubt, brew this one. It's a truly great recipe for a wide spectrum of palates.

Thanks for letting us know how you've been going brad.

Cheers,
PP

* Lloydie's Kolsch is brewed with an ale yeast but to avoid the fruitiness of a normal kolsch and get a crisper, lager-type beer, you should ferment his recipe at 15 C.
Last edited by PistolPatch on 16 Jul 2010, 22:32, edited 6 times in total.
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