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Post #8826 made 4 years ago
by mk1
Hi Scott
Thanks for taking the time to talk to me! Yes I read quite a lot of PP's post's yesterday after searching the forums, (they are very informative and extensive, (thanks PP too!)). Which is one of the reasons I'm going to try NRB's Amarillo APA first up. I think I've got my head around the BIABacus spreadsheet: entering my kettle size (35cm dia. and 35cm height) and adjust the VIF (lots of new acronyms to learn!) which adjusts the grain bill. I thought about trying a small batch first, around 24 (0.5l) bottles (approx. 12l VIP) that I have standing empty (never a good thing!). Do you think the recipe will scale OK for this?
I have actually managed to order some malts which are pretty close to the EBCs listed, although they have a range: eg. Munich 1 is 15-25 EBC (19 in recipe). I have taken this as 20 for the substitutions column in part C of the spreadsheet. Is this sensible as well, or will I get a better figure on the packaging when it arrives? The Amarillo hops are 8.4 AA% (not 9.5%) but I guess you get natural variations year to year, which have to be adjusted for (done by the spreadsheet, nice). So I'm really just hoping it all arrives before the weekend, but who knows at the minute!
Cheers for the link, I'll spend some time reading through - looks like a bit of a minefield adapting other people's recipes!
Thanks again
M
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Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8827 made 4 years ago
by Scott
Hello @mk1

Yes your methodology seems sound. Malt producers normally have a range of color and I always guess in the middle. You are unlikely to get more info in your shipment, but who knows...

Yes hop AA always changes. Even same year different field the same variety can be different. I would run with the full volume and go with it... That’s what I did, when new at this. Actually my first BIAB run I did two large batches, and I would not recommend that (made for a super long day :cry: ).

And one more thing. For questions like this on a batch, best thing is to go ahead and post the question on the BIAB for new brewers section, a new post, so that it can be found easier later by others. There will be other newbies that can value by your questions and answers to the questions.
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Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8828 made 3 years ago
by TaterNbrew
Hi all!

I'm an American that started brewing about 6 or 7 months ago when my local garden nursery was going out of business and had everything in their store at 50% off. This included a Brewers Best starter kit and a couple of extract kits that I decided on a whim to pick it up cheap. Now that I've gone down that rabbit hole I can definitely say it was not a cheap decision to start brewing, but it's been an enjoyable one.

I've brewed 8 or 9 five gallon batches to this point (2 BIAB and the rest extract), all of which I've been pleased with aside from the two that I picked up originally on sale. I'm really looking forward to hopefully learning a lot more from the members of this site and eventually sharing some of what I've learned to date.

I've had a lot more time to brew lately since I've been home a lot more these last couple of months and I'd like to try different recipes in smaller batches (still trying to decide between 1 gallon and 2.5 gallons). Anyways I'm looking forward to conversing with everyone and gaining additional knowledge about my newest hobby.

TaterNbrew
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Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8830 made 3 years ago
by ehall
Eric here, I'm in Phoenix, AZ, USA. I've been brewing about 18yrs now. Just last year converted over to a eBIAB system. I've had issues with efficiency that I'm struggling to work out. found this site doing some research to correct that issue. I've downloaded the calc and will give it a shot to see if it helps me out. Looks like a pretty good site from the little bit of looking around I've done.
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America

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Post #8836 made 3 years ago
by Billythebrew
Hi all,

From Wiltshire in the UK and came across this site via Jims Beer Kit website. Been brewing kits and extracts for a few years now and a couple of small AG batches. Now deciding whether to go for one of the all in one systems or buy a bigger burner and pot and go for BIAB. I'm drawn to the BIAB for a number of reasons - cost, reliability and the fact that I'm not too bothered about trying to hit exact numbers - I just want good beer that I can control during the brew process.
Hoping to learn a lot from here and to share any knowledge (quite small!) that I've gathered.
    • BME Brewer With Over 20 Brews From Great Britain

Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8837 made 3 years ago
by ShorePoints
Welcome Billythebrew. I started brewing with kits and switched to BIAB for much the same reasons you wish to leave kits behind. If you employ the BIABacus spreadsheet - now that you have registered you can get it http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1869. - you will get pretty close to the numbers. However, you are correct in saying that it is more about the beer than the numbers. I find that the process involved in BIAB is very much under my control and I learn something in every batch.
Ask questions along the way and someone will get back to you.
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Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8838 made 3 years ago
by Brewer_Bob
Hello - I’ve done a few extract 5 gallon batches and took a long break to have a family. My kids are getting a little older now (2, 4 and 6 yrs old) and I’ve gotten back into brewing a bit but now focused on mini-batch BIAB. Which is how I found you all. I’ve done a couple 1 gallon batches and im hoping to do a 2.5 gallon batch this weekend.

My brewing goals are to try and keep it simple, and make/drink some good beers. With 3 young kids I like to and need to keep my brew days short and sweet.

Excited to be here!
    • SVA Brewer With Over 5 Brews From United States of America

Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8841 made 3 years ago
by ShorePoints
Ablask - Ouch!
Going zero for three and trying again deserves credit as long as you get help.

First, I hope you are doing All Grain batches with good fresh grain crushed less than two weeks prior to mashing, full volume 90 minute mash near 66 ºC the whole time, a 90 minute rolling boil with bittering hops added at the 60 minutes remaining mark, flavor additions close enough to Flame-Out (heat source turns off) that they experience wort temperatures above 75 ºC for less than 30 minutes total and also stay in contact with wort “long enough” until proper pitching temperature is reached. Dry hopping is a separate discussion. Hops are vintage crops - they differ from year to year and you always hope to get hops that are fresh and close to the %AA advertised. Yeast makes the beer. You might make a starter with good water, Dried Malt Extract (DME) and yeast to be assured that it will work.

Raw materials are very important - the largest component of the product (beer) is water. You might try purchasing bottled water at this stage; Reverse Osmosis water is too pure, city water may have chlorine, well water might be unbalanced, etc. Water is a full semester course; you can read about it at Bru’nwater.

The ingredient variables are just about infinite. Your process (how you brew) is also a big deal.

Read the Clear Brewing Terminology CBT: https://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2685
and get the BIABacus. https://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1869

Do not be overwhelmed, it will work out.

Ask questions along the way and somebody will try to answer.
    • SVA Brewer With Over 100 Brews From United States of America

Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8842 made 3 years ago
by ElezEspana
Hello all.

1. Where are you from?
Lincolnshire, UK

2. How did you stumble across the site?
I was researching BIAB recipes and came across this site due to mention of BIABacus

3. What you think of it so far?
Lot's of recipes that are much larger than my current capacity, so need to do much more digging to get the right info or understand/find the BIABacus

4. Have you brewed at all before. If so, for how long and what method are you currently using?
I have now done 3 brews and one wine batch. All from starter kits (so never used the BIAB method before). My latest brew that is currently fermenting I had a play around with as it was a kit, but I bought better yeast and better hops for it. But I really want to start BIAB, I have a 15 litre capacity electric Urn which I want to use, so need to work out how best to do this in terms of getting the most (but good quality) beer and also calculating the current 5gallon recipes. Most forums just tell me to buy loads of new equipment, but I just want advice on how to make what I have work for me.

5. Do you work? Are you retired or maybe you run a household?
I work full time so evenings and weekends are my brew days.

Feel free to ask any questions.

THanks
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Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8843 made 3 years ago
by tomp87
Hi all!

I thought I would answer the questions at the beginning of the thread and then fire off a few questions of my own that I hope people can help with...

1. Where are you from? - Leicestershire, UK
2. How did you stumble across the site? - found accidentally during endless hours of googling recipes/equipments/brewing methods!
3. What you think of it so far? - A lot of the content looks really useful, especially the biabacus
4. Have you brewed at all before. If so, for how long and what method are you currently using? - Very much a beginner and done a few successful kits so far, want to try a simple method of AG (hence this forum!)
5. Do you work? Are you retired or maybe you run a household? - Yes i work full time as an electronics engineer so will be brewing on evenings/weekends.

Main reason for posting was to try and get some help with my first AG BIAB. I found what looks like a simple SMaSH recipe with a hop that I like the flavour of in several commercial ales. https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/ ... ession-ipa (i also prefer a lighter ale)

I was hoping someone could help me check i've got the biabacus working correctly for the recipe above. I think I am mainly concerned with the correct amount of water to use rather than completely populating the spreadsheet
BIABacus PR1.3U - Blank Style - Blank Name - Batch A0 - speedysimcoeSMaSH.xls
At the moment I have tried the calc for a 16L pot, which was delivered accidentally. It should be 19L so I will correct this once it hopefully arrives. Looking at section K:
how does TWN differ from SWN? Is this the volume of TWN when heated to strike temp?
Mash volume is my SWN + grain volume?
What is VIB?
which figures should I be most concerned with on brewday?

I am going to try the 2.5L recipe first as an experiment but I am hoping to increase the volume with the maxi-BIAB method next time around. I understand I can use section W to help me with this? My question is where should I adjust the original recipe from a water volume perspective to account for water added to fermentor (for example) so that I'm not diluting to a lower SG? Would boiling up a 2nd lot of water in another pan then adding to fermentor with a more concentrated grain/water ratio wort be an acceptable method?

As you can tell I am a real beginner so any help is much appreciated!

Thanks

Tom
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Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8844 made 3 years ago
by Scott
Hello @ElezEspana and @t@tomp87,

Welcome to the forum! Thank you for both giving good background info. It helps to know where you are coming from. Let me give you both some quick answers and assistance...

Important Links:
First, a couple links that will help if you have not found these yet:
BIABacus Calculator: https://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1869
CBT - Clear Brewing Technology page: https://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2685

The BIABacus calculator is an Excel spreadsheet that is super helpful in designing recipes or copying an existing recipe for your system. There are lots of terms used there that will be confusing at first. The Clear Brewing Technology page has numerous posts that is a big help to understanding this terminology. Don't worry if you are not able to understand everything perfectly to start... Do your best and start using it and it won't take much time and you will get it. Section K gives Estimated Volumes and Section L - your actual brewing Volumes. (Plus sections M, N, O, P, Q, R...) I like to think of these as "Check Points"... Like when driving down the road, "when you get to the red barn, turn Right!". After the brew if something went south a little bit, this will help you to understand where it went wrong. And also if something is off, you can catch it mid course.

BIABacus - left side of the Grain Bill (Section C) and Hop Bill (Section D) show what the recipe is calling for, and Right side "what I will use", based on your system.

ElezEspana:
You wanted to know how to scale an existing recipe to your system. Put your pot dimensions in the Section B area and it will automatically list your kettle capacity.

Tomp87:
You mentioned not understanding certain terms. CBT page (above) will connect dots. In fact there is a schematic several posts down that illustrate the different stages of the brewing process. From opening up your file and a quick glance, just note that you are close to your kettle capacity. Should be able to do it if very careful, but watch out not to spill... I try to fill out as much as I can, including yeast, etc. With a quick look I did not see any other problems other than you could list more details - and likely after your brew you should have these noted as well.

There is a ton of helpful info on here already, and likely someone may have had the same question in the past. Feel free to make a new post under "BIABrewer.info and BIAB for New Members" if you cannot find an answer with a bit of looking. Someone will be along to help.

Best of luck, and let us know if you need help. :luck:
    • SVA Brewer With Over 50 Brews From United States of America

Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8845 made 3 years ago
by WombleBadger
Hello everyone,

I live in Oxfordshire in the UK and I've been brewing beer kits on and off for a few years, but this year I'm already on my 4th batch for some unknown reason... ;) I've been using lockdown as an excuse to get my research done into moving up to (in my opinion and hope) the more rewarding and involved world of grain brewing.

I'm the main carer for 2 kids, a dog, 2 gerbils and a house and work from home a few hours a week as a freelance writer (words for websites rather than novels) for pocket money I can spend on things like this. The current Mrs WombleBadger keeps a roof over our heads and only puts up with me because I'm an excellent cook.

Suddenly having both kids and my wife here all the time courtesy of the virus has been a bit of a culture shock, so I reckon this will give me a good opportunity for some "me time"! I've also got a good friend who's never brewed anything (even a kit) but is an ale drinker who's always fancied getting into brewing, so a more involved "brew day" for us to share a couple of pints over while making and learning from mistakes would be good.

As my space is limited for equipment storage I decided to start on a single vessel BIAB system as my gateway drug, and hence finding this site.

With kids and pets, I decided to go down the electric route rather than anything based on fire ( got a handy exterior electric socket at the edge of the patio!) but still wanted to be able to do 20l batches so I can split a batch between 2 when required. Plus I figure if I do decide I need to go bigger later then a boiler can always magically be rebranded as an HLT, right?!

Anyway, looking forward to spending a lot of time learning from the wisdom here as well as having a play with the BIABacus sheet (which is amazing, by the way) and plugging in a few recipes I've found and seeing how they'll translate to the allegedly lightly used second-hand Buffalo 40l boiler that should be here next week.

Thanks in advance for your patience and willingness to help me out when I inevitably go wrong. :)
    • SVA Brewer With Under 5 Brews From Great Britain

Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8846 made 3 years ago
by bstew7890
Hi Everyone,

I live in the state of New Mexico, USA. I've been doing extract brewing for a couple of years and finally found an 8-Gallon aluminum kettle that I could afford and started trying some BIAB brewing. Some have been great, some not. I've been doing a 60 minute 1.25 qt/gallon mash and then either a dunk sparge or a pour-over sparge, and often having to top off the fermenter with water before pitching yeast. I had been using a mesh bag from the home-brew shop but then I ordered a new bag from "TheBrewBag" and it's much finer. I'll start asking the home brew shop to mill the grains finer with the new bag. Trying now to figure out what my grain to water ratio should really be with this method and how I can make a better beer!
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Post #8847 made 3 years ago
by bpinnix
1. From Wilmington, NC - raised in the mountains but settled on the coast :peace:
2. Found this site from BeerCraftr.com, after using a recipe of theirs
3. Lots of great info (though somewhat overwhelming for a newbie)
4. I've been brewing for a few months, switching from wine to beer recently using a 1-gallon set-up and aiming primarily to enjoy BIAB method
5. I work a highly demanding job (60+ hour weeks), so this is a much-needed stimulus outside of my career
Looking forward to joining!
    • SVA Brewer With Under 5 Brews From United States of America

Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8849 made 3 years ago
by Scott
Hello @WombleBadger , @bstew7890 , @bpinnix , @fharias - welcome to the forum!

The advice given to some others last week would probably be beneficial to all. Here is a link: https://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.ph ... 825#p61379

There is a lot of info available, so give it a thorough look. Let us know how we can help or can't find the answers you are looking for.
    • SVA Brewer With Over 50 Brews From United States of America

Re: My First Post! - Post here to become Fully Registered

Post #8850 made 3 years ago
by HAP-BR3W
Good evening all.

I am from Johannesburg, South Africa. I played around with the idea of making home brews for quite a while, but never got around to committing to do it. Now with this COVID pandemic, we have an alcohol ban and we never stocked up for various reasons, but mainly because we were caught off guard despite many predicting this. This is when I decided that it is a good time to make good on this long overdue bucket list item.

I am waiting for my kit to arrive, hopefully end of this week, so using this time to google and read and making sense of all the new info. That is also how I stumbled across this site. Honestly I have not browsed the site enough to give an opinion, but I am sure that I will have plenty to read through and learn here.

I am going to do BIAB from the start, I have absolutely no previous experience except for pineapple beer (that wasn't horrible I must add) so this is a daunting step for me.

I am an engineering surveyor, currently more office-based but do go out to the field when the walls start crushing me. Otherwise, I have a crazy family that keeps you on your feet mostly (3 kids, aged 6, 3 & 2) and the best wife.

Other interests outside of drinking beer with friends are motorbikes (does not mix well with beer) :thumbs: and guns (also does not mix well with beer) :shoot:

See you around & thanks or having me.
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