Welcome mr erneu,

Let us know if there are any questions... Perhaps look back a few pages on the entry forum and see what sort of advice has been given to other newbies. Likely much of this will be pertinent to you as well, and is good advice.

welcome mr erneu. look forward to hearing how you go. My first Biab batch was a bit of mess so suggest you write a checklist so you don't forget any ingredients or steps!

Hi Hugo, welcome to the forum! Lots of people here brew small BIAB batches with great success. Once you get to know how to use the Biabacus, there's no reason you can't scale down to a size that fits your equipment. Ask lots of questions, you'll get very informed and helpful answers. Be sure to read the clear terminology section - There's a link in an earlier post above. Happy brewing!

Welcome Hugo

I started with extract and went to AG via BiaB after 3 x batches so I think that path is good

I wrote a guide for beginners that is a short guide of all the things I learned and got valuable info from getting into homebrewing- PM me if interested and I can email it to you. I can't seem to attach it to this post!

Hey Hoppiton welcome

I think you've made the right decision coming to BiaB there's a certain satisfaction in mashing your own grains and becoming more of a real brewer.

I have free and purchased brewing software and neglect them both in favour of the Biabacus tool available here which is excellent, I hope you find it as useful as many of us do.

Good luck getting into it. Re: No chill: I use my chill water into the washing machine I was going to run anyway for the family's clothes. So two birds, one stone right?

cheers
Nick

Welcome welktickler - interesting moniker you’ve got there.
As a newbie, please read up on Clear Brewing Terminology so that we can communicate with fewer problems. http://biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2685
After you have invested time and money in choosing equipment (and you can ask questions here before you do) set things up for a practice run without the real ingredients. How will you maintain mash temp for x minutes? Will your heat source provide enough energy for the sweet liquor to get to a rolling boil? How fast do you want to cool the wort when the boil time is over? How will you do that, and how will you feel if it doesn’t turn out as expected? What will you use to keep a record of what you do? When do you need a timer (or two!) to start and later alert you to do something? Weigh stuff, measure volumes and Specific Gravity, figure out how to transfer liquids neatly - do not be afraid, you can do this.
The reward is beer.

BMWfan and therevbowring, welcome to the forum. As you put together your systems and start to brew with BIAB, you'll hopefully have questions, and this is the place to get them answered. Make sure that you have read and follow the Clear Brewing Terminology page - using the correct terms in you questions will help others understand your question and get back to you with an answer that will make sense. Here's a link http://biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2685

Hello BMWFan,

A few things to add to Streamer's comments...

Yes, your first post has to be approved by a moderator, and depending on how available one is to have noticed it. I appreciate the additional info for sure!

From Minnesota... Gets Cold there, for sure! That could be a benefit of having an electric heating element - easier to fashion an indoor brewing system if you brew a lot. I brew with propane on a part covered back patio. Works great most of the time and I love it out there, but there are a few times in the winter when cold - raining / windy, or just extremely cold that I would rather have an indoor setup. You might get more of those days than me...

QUESTIONS & Things to Think About - HERMS Setup:
Are you sure you want to go through with a HERMS setup? Seems like a much more complex setup that will not make better beer and will not give you higher efficiency. In fact, traditional full volume BIAB will likely be a little higher. Some say the wort is a little clearer, but after fermentation and cold crash - beer will not be any clearer. The equipment is "cooler" looking, and for sure is more complicated and will require more time to clean...if that is desired.

As far as tracking beer making process for better repeatability, our BIABacus file along with being diligent with recording benchmark "checkpoints", volumes and gravities with BIAB will do that as well as it can be done.

Some people on here, Mad_Scientist comes to mind, brew inside with some sort of electric heating element. There are some posts on here that could give better advice than me with electric.

When new to this, I loved the thought of a counterflow chiller, and bought one. But I drew the line with a pump - DID NOT want to have to add a pump to my brew day cleaning requirements! The CFC actually worked fairlly well but without a pump was slow to chill, and was kind of a pain to clean. Finally ditched it - sold it to someone else - and built a larger than you can buy immersion chiller. Works great! Much Better!!!

Anyhow, from my perspective simpler is better provided it works well. And traditional full volume BIAB works great! My 16 gallon stainless brew kettle will produce around 8 to 8.5 gallons Volume Into Packaging (VIP - into bottles or keg) of 1.052 OG wort). You have 25 gallon, doing the math that should have you able to brew 12-13 gallons Volume Into Packaging.

I would recommend trying some of the simpler equipment arrangements and then consider if complicating it really is a help... If it improves your beer - great! But if not...

The temp controller will be a big help with having a temperature controlled fermentation chamber. And that, along with ability to "cold crash" will be a big help!

Glad to have you on the board, and like Streamer said, new post on the beginner section with any questions.

therevbowring wrote: ↑

6 years ago

Hi all,

I'm a mechanical engineer from Nottingham in England and found the site while googling, trying to work out my plans for my first batch. I've not brewed before, but am in the process of gathering equipment for some mini-BIAB action. Almost there now, so on the verge of buying my first bunch of grain, hops and yeast.

Welcome therevbowring. Look forward to hearing how your first brew day goes. I'd recommend plenty of planning and a checklist for your brew day. The hobby can seem overwhelming when you first make a start. I hope you enjoy it and look forward to hearing your news and questions

@BMWFan I've got to agree with Scott your rig seems a bit ambitious and elaborate for your first Biab but good on you for taking on the challenge, hope it works out for you!
My personal path in Biab has been adding more and more elaborate gadgets and processes as I've grown and learned and I think there's less to go wrong/ muddy the waters if things go wrong with this approach.

Looking forward to hearing how you go

Welcome aboard xoto,

You have found the best resource on the internet for BIAB. Take a look around and ask if you can't find any answers you seek.

Happy Brewing!

Welcome to the site, Euge.

Check out the advice - plenty given in other intros above and tons available on the site. Let us know how it goes and if you need any advice or anything.

Welcome to the forum Luisito. There are quite a few small batch brewers here - do a search for Mini BIAB to start. Be sure to read Clear Brewing Terminology and then start diving in (http://biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2685). This site is a deep well of knowledge on brewing.