Finally did it :)

So, I finally found the time to do my first BIAB, and more importantly, my wife finally made my bag

50L pot, Amarillo Ale, silly 2 ring burner, 6.7KG of grain (HB store decided i should have more beer)

Calculator said I would need 45L of water at mash temps, so i did

I was targetting 1.045 pre-boil and 1.058 post-boil

start-of-boil volume was supposed to be 35.9L, i got 35.3 at 1.047 for efficiency of 80.7 (i was happy with that)

I had trouble with my dual-ring burner (i plan to upgrade to a medium pressure reg, then a spiral burner), and I hadn't re-drilled it, I had to use the lid partially on in order to get a wimpy rolling boil... hope its okay.

end-of-boil volume was supposed to be 23.1, i got 29.5, (probably because of the boiling problems), but I nailed the gravity , 1.058 ), so happy ending, except I don't need 30L of wort!!! for 83.2% efficiency

I whirlpooled, then syphoned the hot liquor into my 20/23L water jerry with my silicon hose and jiggle-syphon, worked fantastically... and then syphoned the remaining 5L into another vessel... hmmm.... then poured the kettle trub into a jug... 1.4L.

meaning, I harvested 28L of wort!!!

into-cube efficiency was thus 79%, which I'm happy with.

The sad thing is, I now have 5L of wort, which is a nice quantity, and no where for it to go... and its nearly 1am, so I guess the worms are getting it...

Next time I'll make sure I have 5L jerry for any extra... or maybe I'll see if I can maxi-biab a double batch...

Seemed almost too easy

I wont get to ferment this until after the 17th, so lets hope the cube works well

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Well done Stux, sounds like you had a great day. Just don't go telling those 3v brewers how easy BIAB is

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Great work stux!

Certainly keep that last few litres of wort for yeast starters, although it has to be said that I ended up with so much of it in the freezer that I stopped collecting any excess for a while.

By all means try a Maxi-BIAB in the bigger kettle, technically speaking there's no reason why it wouldn't. Practically speaking though, there's things like lifting and suspending the larger amount of grain, finding a large sparge bucket (but a 25L pail sounds good!) and of course your heat source, but none of them are insurmountable. Two cubes from one Maxi would be a pretty good result though!

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Thanks guys,

I plan to I install a skyhook and get a better heat source for the next brew.

Will be a little while before I can taste this one, but the hydrometer sample tasted delish

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I haven't been able to find a nice paint stirrer anywhere? Any suggestions?

Using a spoon sucked

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So,

I did the BIAB on a ring burner, on the double hotplate, on my barbie

As I mashed-in, the sky did a very strange thing, beer gods must've been watching

amarillo_mash.jpg

End result, in a willow 20/23L cube

amarillo_cube.jpg

now in my keg/cube cold storage fridge

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tredog wrote:Seems like I've only just recently followed this thread on some random social networking site

G'day T

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Congratulations stux

Great to hear you found it all fairly easy-going.

stux wrote:I had trouble with my dual-ring burner (i plan to upgrade to a medium pressure reg, then a spiral burner), and I hadn't re-drilled it, I had to use the lid partially on in order to get a wimpy rolling boil... hope its okay.

Drilling the holes out with a 1 or 1.5 mm bit should improve things as will getting an adjustable regulator. If you still have problems getting the right boil vigour on your next brew, try floating a food-grade bowl on the wort to reduce the surface area and increase the evaporation rate.

Also great to see you kept an eye on the figures. Remember not to rely on a single brew's figures too much though. Averages work well but an individual brew can throw some wild readings. For example, on this brew, I would have expected that with the higher volume that the OG would have come out lower. If you ever get an OG reading that seems a bit odd, try and grab another sample.

As for the "potato masher" as Bob said, Bunnings should have it but they are a bit erratic with their stocking on the things you seem to really need . Make sure you get the one pictured in The Commentary - don't get a painted one!!!

The Amarillo Ale is a great drop, at a large range of ABV's so I'll look forward to hearing how the taste test goes.


PP

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PistolPatch wrote:
As for the "potato masher" as Bob said, Bunnings should have it but they are a bit erratic with their stocking on the things you seem to really need . Make sure you get the one pictured in The Commentary - don't get a painted one!!!


PP

Nothing wrong with the painted ones PP, they haven't affected me at all

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You're a brave man hashie

Mind you, today I actually used my mash paddle as a paint stirrer. It worked really well

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In my trade, we have a rule...... Everything has to be a multi-tool

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wizard78 wrote:In my trade, we have a rule...... Everything has to be a multi-tool

I'm not going to ask what your wife thinks about this philosophy wiz .

Also not sure if we are allowed to go so far off-topic on this site (being an info one and all) while we are waiting for stux but if we are, stux, I have spent a heap of time in the Blue Mountains (mainly Mt Victoria and Little Hartley) and like to return there as much as I can so please keep your fridge full .

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PistolPatch wrote: You're a brave man hashie

Mind you, today I actually used my mash paddle as a paint stirrer. It worked really well

So your mash paddle is a painted one???

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FInally threw this in a fermenter today

(was just so damn busy last few weeks)

Amarillo aroma is so powerful, orange lychees is how I would describe it... hints of LCPA

The bitter, aroma and sweet are not melded yet, but hopefully that will happen in the ferment/aging

I had the beer stratify in the cube... about 2" of trub on the bottom and 1" on the top (in the handle) which had me greatly concerned...

When it was in the fermenter a green/brown, what looks like hop-junk, layer formed, maybe a few mms thick. I scooped it out... much nicer liquor colour underneath.

I suspect this is because I did not scoop anything out during the boil... or maybe its because I only had a wimpy boil...

US-05 @ 16C, see you in two weeks

(I like it clean)

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Maybe chuck a blow-off tube on your fermenter just in case. US-05 isn't too 'jumpy' at the lower temps but I think you might be stretching it at that volume .

Depending on what brewlength you want, seriously consider a 30 L fermenter. I put up with 25 L fermenters for years. I now use 30 L ones. These have made life a lot easier.

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Oh, Amarillo has been bubbling away, no rocking krausen yet.... But it is at 16C

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9th Day Gravity Reading

I pitched US-05 btw

"
3/2/11, fermentation has died down a bit, fermenter dropped from 16 to 15C, so I turned ferm fridge up a bit... probably too much

SG = 1.028 at 17C, 1027 at 20C, so quite a bit to go on fermentation

Tube was a bit cloudy with clump of yeast floating about, but it was the first sample of the barrel.

Amarillo was quite strong, should die down in time, bitterness was mild but present, malt was subtle but there, caramelly,

colour is jersey caramel

might not be a quaffer but should be interesting.
"

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1.017 today, should be kegging next weekend

best described as marmalade tones with a bitterness in the finish

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Okay stux, I think it is time for a brew summary

Brewed Jan 2 - No chilled
Pitched Jan 26 - OG = ?
Gravity Check Feb 6 - 1.017 gravity

This thread has explored so much I had to hunt down the above info .

I am hanging for your first taste. Next time pitch on or before Jan 3rd please


PP

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