Wow, an influx from New Jersey?

Welcome bobchadwick. This is the forum with tons of info for those like you who are moving from any kind of extract brewing to all grain. Be sure to get the BIABacus, http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1869 take some time with it and you’ll soon be brewing great beers.


Welcome LibationDude John.This forum is great for continued learning about all things brewing. It never ends. All Grain outdoors works for me, especially in nice weather. If you have any questions about equipment, process or recipe, ask away.

Welcome gomerwiz.
If you have been doing extract all this time you should have everything you need to jump into Biab.

Greetings, Niklas.
15 BIAB brews in 5 months is impressive!

You can remove wort (after flame out) from the kettle for use as a starter by employing either Section L or X where KFL volume can be entered (it will also then show in section K) or you could consider the volume removed as ‘Lost’ from fermenter in Section N. Your efficiency numbers might turn out differently; maybe you cannot have everything at once. Deep in the background calculations you might change the amount of water absorbed by the wet grains to accommodate what you want, but that creates other problems. I would stay away from non-Pasteurized sweet liquor from the end of mash time for use as a starter (even mashout is not typically hot/long enough), unless you plan to boil it separately, and that’s more work than taking a sample after FO and diluting. If you want sweet liquor for a starter without any hop additions in it, you can (carefully) take a sample from the kettle after boiling begins, prior to first hop addition.
Other water volumes are in Section N and Section W and Section X for TWN/Mash/fermenter volume changes.
pH calculations - Did you mean impact on starting pH by the grist and boil? I think you’ll have to take those pH measurements when you want the numbers. There are way too many variables in play.
As for import/export of data, maybe somebody else on the forum can guide you.

Niklas,

One tip to add to ShorePoints' remarks... you could get your starter from the grain you pull from your wort. That's what I do sometimes. Brew kettle is 16 gallon. Have an older 5 gallon pot. Heat up 1-1.5 gallons of water. When I pull my brew bag & grain from my BIAB brew kettle (after letting it drip into kettle), I put the bag in the other 5 gal pot. Then later pull it out and squeeze the lower gravity wort out of it. If I need to, after pulling the bag from the small pot and measuring gravity, I can heat up the smaller pot for more evaporation to finish around 1.040 for my starter. Then measure out proper size starter solutions, put in ziplock freezer bags and freeze for future use. This way you don't have to steal wort from your future beer.

Hello, Pigface Nelson. I’m glad you found this place after you used to be so close to where BIAB and this forum stem from - Australia.
The really big bag you seek needs (at most) to be big enough to fit your kettle inside. Look for sewing instructions http://lukasholenweg.com/biab_bag_calculator/ and here http://www.biabrewer.info/search.php?ke ... c647ada1be or purchase a bag on line.

Welcome Chris.
Nice to see you have yourself some quality gear from OBK. They are my go to supplier.
Take your time and look over the site. As a new brewers there is a lot for you to learn. Ask plenty of questions and we'll get you brewing beer in no time.

Greetings, StevenG. Now that you have found this forum you can soak up lots of information and turn it into beer. Read up on equipment as it relates to how you can perform the brewing steps (heating source, stove top and maneuvering space indoors or out, storage of kit and packaged beer, etc.). You’re on your way.

Look back a few pages of posts in this thread for links that should be helpful.

I have been to N Ireland and remember it well. Great people and pubs, tough flight home.

Hello, Phatbrews!
Scaling recipes easily will come from some practice using the BIABacus. http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1869 Do take some time with it. After entering your kettle size and a recipe of grains and hops on the left, you will see what you need on the right side. Try it before purchasing your raws and post questions if you have them.

Hi Sam,

Welcome to the forum, and some quick thoughts...

1) They say that "Consistent Fermentation Temperature" is a major factor in making good beer. If fermenting outside in a way that temperature can float - if correct - that could be a major issue. Also yeasts have ranges they like to work in, sometimes can be a little out of their range and work okay - but you want to keep temperature as consistent as possible.

I would research making a fermentation chamber. Low cost solution to keep under control include putting fermenter inside a larger garbage can filled with water. And if on the colder side get a fish tank heater. That could take care of things if in a garage. This is what I did at the start, after receiving some great advice from a pro "assistant" brewer working part-time at LHBS.

Or moving up could do a freezer with temperature controller... And to heat most use some sort of heat mat or incandescent light bulb, etc. That's what I use now.

2) Existing problem - yeast shocked or dead. May have to repitch fresh yeast. Don't want it to sit for too long, only partially fermented (might contribute off flavors).

And using the BIABacus, along with using its checkpoints to check where your beer is at throughout the brewing process is a huge help as well. (Volumes, Gravity at different points, etc.)

Lots we can't know, but that's my best advice based on what you listed. Best of luck!

Hey Sam, a quick answer. You aren't going to get anything at all bad from BIAB; and nothing added that you won't get from other processes. You mentioned getting dextrins somehow more with BIAB than...? Maybe than 3-vessel or extract??? All should extract or have similar sugars, depending upon quantity of grain. It is (or should be) a little more efficient process so if you got more in the wort - it shouldn't matter, that would have effected the OG, but that should be all...

Welcome aboard, jfd204. This is the place to read up on what you need in order to get to wort and then beer. You will find that the list of absolute requirements is a short one, but you can also add as much as you like in terms of controllers and transfer kits and chillers and fermenter styles, not to mention packaging. That is, it can be as simple or as complicated as you want. Brew on and ask questions.

Welcome to the forum woody600, kwkaze and liquidbread.

The site is currently going through a major re-design, until then, please ask questions if you can't find them easily.
MS