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Brew In A Bag (BIAB) All Grain Brewing Method

BIAB is an acronym for Brew In A Bag. It is a dead simple all grain brewing technique. All it requires is a large grain straining bag, 15 gallon kettle and a propane burner. This method is excellent for brewers who are wishing to convert from extract brewing to all grain, because you can make that leap for a very minimal cost. It will also save an all grain brewer 1.5-2.5 hours on a typical brew day. If you combine this method with the No Chill brewing method also listed on this site, you can go from extract to all grain brewing for as little as $25!

BIAB utilizes THREE pieces of equipment:

The kettle: This kettle is the ONLY vessel required to BIAB. The only special requirement is that the kettle have a volume of at least 15 gallons for a 5 gallon brew session. This is because this one vessel will have to hold your entire water requirement as well as your grain bill. This volume will regularly exceed 10 gallons. You will mash and boil in this vessel.

The bag: This is a mesh bag that is large enough to conform to the inside diameter of the kettle and reach over the top lip. This bag is sometimes likened to a large pillow case, the kettle should be able to fit INSIDE it while still being able to close the top of the bag. Typically composed of “voil” or another mesh like material, this will hold your grain bill and must be strong enough to hold the water saturated grain when you lift it out of the mash water at the end of the mash.

The heat source: This is typically the very popular “turkey fryer” burner that is used widely by home brewers. This will be utilized to provide heat for strike water, maintaining mash temperature, mash-out and the boil.

Fig 1.

The process:
Crush your grain finer than you would with a typical all grain brew. This is because you no longer have to worry about a stuck sparge. The bag is the filter and the finer crush will improve your conversion efficiency.

Fill the kettle with the TOTAL water required to complete the entire brew session. Take into consideration that the water absorbed by the grain with this method is about HALF that of a typical all grain brew session that utilizes a MLT. Remember, when you remove the grain bag after the boil, the wort that is left is exactly what you are boiling, so calculate this carefully. Insert and secure the bag at this time.

Fig 2.

After heating the water in the kettle to your calculated strike temperature, pour your entire grain bill into the secured bag. Use a mash paddle to thoroughly mix the grain with the water so that there are no dough balls. There will be a very large volume in the kettle, so temperature control should be as easy as intermediate stirring and a couple quick firings of the burner if the temperature drops.

Fig 3.

After the mash is complete you heat the mash to mash-out temperature, which is crucial to achieving good efficiency with BIAB since you are NOT rinsing the grains.

After mash-out, remove the grain bag and allow it to drain into the kettle. Some brewers will place a rope and a hook above the kettle to suspend the grain bag as it can become heavy with larger grain bills.

Fig 4.

Fig 5.

Finally, boil the wort just as you normally would.

Fig 6.

Additional References:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/more-brew-bag-biab-success-88486/
https://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11694

Here are a few important points to make about BIAB:

**DO have a large enough kettle to accommodate about 9 gallons of water AND your grain bill.

**DO have a bag large enough that you can fit the kettle INSIDE it and still close the top.

**DO crush your grain fine, it will produce better conversion efficiency and there is no danger of a stuck sparge.

**DO NOT skimp on mash time, this is more crucial with BIAB, mash for 60-70 minutes to achieve full conversion.

**DO NOT allow your grain bag to come into contact with the bottom of the kettle when you are applying heat, it may melt! Some place a wire cake cooling rack in the kettle to lift the bag off the bottom.

Photos courtesy of user “Daddymen” on homebrewtalk.com. Thank you!

Posted in Brewing, Equipment | 31 Comments »

Casking small batches with oak chips and wine/liquor

Very few homebrewers have access to used wine or alcohol barrels, and even fewer brew in 50 gallon batches to properly use them, but it’s quite possible to achieve the “barrel aged” flavor in smaller batches. By using small amounts of wood chips, liquor or wine, water, and time, it’s possible to add those flavors in trace amounts to your home brew.

First, begin with your wood. Most homebrewing stores will sell oak chips of varying colors and origins. Since the goal is to add only a hint of this flavor, only a few ounces are necessary, 2-8 ounces for a 5-6 gallon batch. Liquor & wine are similarly used in only minute amounts. The strongest of Russian Imperial Stouts might use 12 ounces of whiskey, while a delicate Belgian triple would be overwhelmed by more than 2 ounces of bourbon. Again, that’s 2 ounces for a 5 gallon batch.

Once you’ve decided on the volumes of wood chips and adjunct alcohol, mix the two in a glass jar or other nonporous container. (If you use plastic, label it and only use it for that purpose afterwards) Add enough water to fully cover the chips (usually ¼ cup to 1 cup), seal, and place out of direct sunlight. After about two weeks, the liquid in the container will have taken on a darker color from the wood, and can be poured into the fermenting beer. Because you’re adding an aromatic, you should wait until the initial fermentation blow-off is done (at least one week) or you’ll lose a lot of the nose. For a more intense flavor, you can choose to add both the liquid and the wood chips and let them ferment with the beer for a few weeks. The alcohol will have sterilized the wood chips, eliminating the risk of infection.

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Australian NO CHILL Brewing Technique TESTED

“No Chill” is a term used for the Aussie method of transferring HOT wort into a sealed container and letting it cool gradually, over a period of time. Aussie brewers generally pitch the yeast when they see fit to do so, sometimes days or even weeks later. This method has evolved out of the necessity to conserve water in some areas of the world, such is the case in Australia.

By utilizing this method I hoped to:

1. Conserve the many (50) gallons of water that I waste while operating my immersion chiller.
2. Conserve time (20-30 minutes) that is spent cooling the wort on brew day.
3. Conserve time by fermenting in the same HDPE (High-density polyethylene) vessel that I transfer the hot wort into after the boil.
4. Reduce the amount of equipment required (no chiller) to complete an all-grain brewing session. This may be of special interest to new all-grain brewers.

The “PLAN”: Brew a recipe that I have brewed many times before, something low ABV and lightly hopped so that any real flaws in the flavor will be very apparent. I brewed the beer normally except for a small change to my late hop additions. The planned OG is 1.040, FG 1.011 and comes in at a light 18 IBUs.

There is still a noticeable amount of hop utilization happening in the wort as it cools in the HDPE container; at temperatures above 170F this is more pronounced and will affect the total IBUs of the beer. For this reason I have adjusted my late hop additions to keep them from bittering the beer.

The CONTAINER: A 6 gallon HDPE container from www.USPlastics.com ($15) and a #11.5 drilled stopper ($2.25) to accommodate the large opening where the cap currently exists. Aside from this, the HDPE container is simply outfitted with a stick on thermometer to indicate when the temperature is appropriate to pitch the yeast.

The PROCESS: After the boil I added what remained of my late addition hops to the HDPE container, those that were not moved to FWH. I gently whirl pooled the wort in the boil kettle and let it stand for 10 minutes to allow some of the material in the wort to settle to the bottom of the kettle.

The kettle was drained into the sanitized HDPE fermentor, once filled, the cap went back on tightly and I gently turned the vessel on its side to allow the hot wort to further sterilize the inside of the container. I then placed the container in my 65F fermentation freezer for a 24 hour period to chill.

When I drained the kettle I saved about 1 quart of the wort to create a 24-hour yeast starter. This is referred to as a RWS, or Real Wort Starter. NO MORE DME!

After 24 hours: The wort had cooled to yeast pitching temperatures, so the fermentor received a good shake to adequately aerate the wort. Once this was complete, the yeast starter went in and the cap came off so that I could affix the stopper/air lock in its place. Signs of a healthy fermentation were visible in the air lock within 5 ½ hours of pitching the starter.

14 days later: The fermentation is complete, the hydrometer is showing the target FG of 1.007. Very light, very crisp! The beer is transferred to an awaiting keg for a couple weeks of cold storage and carbonating. The cold and flat beer has a distinct “twang” to it… much like any green beer, time will tell if this brew will have any off flavors from the “no chill” method.

28 days later: After much anticipation it is time to pull the tap! This beer is still young, it has not completely cleared, though it is clearer than it was when first kegged. The aroma is slightly malty, slightly hoppy (Cascades) but very mellow, just as this Haus Ale has been in the past (4) keggings while using an immersion chiller. The flavor… it is again identical to previous batches that were chilled in the conventional manner. It is very light, slightly citrus (Cascades) and very easy drinking. There are no indications of DMS (a corn like flavor) and the hop profile is identical to previous batches that were chilled conventionally.

Following are the guidelines I followed to reduce the perceived bitterness of hop additions.

1. Assumed that the HOT wort in the HDPE container would add 20 minutes of utilization to ALL hop additions.
2. Moved my (20) minute hop addition to the HDPE container (20 minutes utilization in the container from #1).
3. Moved any hops that required LESS than (20) minutes boil time to FWH (this provides a complexity in flavor and bittering and less perceived bitterness).

Posted in Brewing | 41 Comments »

Water Chemistry Calculator Updated

The water chemistry calculator at this site now allows NaCl (non iodized salt) as an additional brewing salt! Use canning salt, kosher salt, pickling salt, or pure salt – just make sure it is not iodized. Avoid regular table salt because it is iodized! Yeast will not handle iodine well so avoid ‘table salt’ or ‘iodized salt’.

The calculator automatically converts grams to teaspoons. For reference we created the following guideline:

• A teaspoon is best measured with a baking set of measuring spoons:

  

• A teaspoon looks like this in a normal spoon:

  

• In more humid climates, the salts will absorb water from the air, so pad 10% or so.

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Over Priming Home Brew Bottle Bomb

If you happen to over prime your bottled home brew beer, this is what you will get:

“Huston We Have A Problem”

This beer was very excited to see me!  It had a texture more like soda at least until it settled down.

Over priming creates a veritable fountain of fizz, and if left unattended can shoot off on its own.

A tell tale sign of over priming when the cap begins to buckle. The bubble in the middle should be a dimple.  If you see a cap in this state, make sure to open it over the sink! Some folks call this a bottle bomb, but I have never had one explode. More than likely the cap will shoot off and you will have a sticky mess wherever the beer was stored. One way to contain the situation is to use a bottle opener to gently relieve the pressure without prying off the cap.

The solution to this problem is to add the correct amount of sugar at bottling time. Make sure to measure out how much dextrose (corn sugar) you are using. I use about 3oz by weight for a five gallon batch. Don’t get aggressive with this ingredient, less is more. You can also prime with dry malt extract (DME), however it is more expensive, requires more, and I have not been able to tell the difference.

The hard core home brewers will tell you to solve this problem, keg the beer instead of bottle it. I consider myself a hardcore brewer, and I do keg a lot of my beer. That said, I still enjoy bottling as the flexibility and portability are big advantages, though it does take more time. The photos above were from an experimental one gallon batch of mint porter, which didn’t turn out that great. I manually primed each bottle and a few bottles got too much dextrose.

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Yeast terminology attenuation and flocculation

Flocculation describes the process of yeast sticking and clumping together once all the nutrients have been used. As the yeast gathers, they become too heavy to remain in suspension in the beer, and fall to the bottom of the fermenter, mixing with the sediment and nutrients. Home-brewed beer can use yeast to carbonate bottles (aka bottle conditioning), so this process also occurs in the bottles, causing the yeast and ‘trub’ to form a thin layer along the bottom of the bottle.

The strength of this “clumping” is determined by a host of factors from O2 levels in the beer, temperature, and nutrient levels, but the primary factor seems to be the strain of yeast itself (in truth, flocculation is still being researched, and has a few mysteries remaining.) Flocculation occurs near the end of the yeast life cycle, so a yeast that flocculates early will not convert as much sugar, and result in a lower-than-expected alcohol content. Strong flocculation gives a clearer beer, while weaker flocculation can lead to a cloudy beer, sometimes with a yeasty taste. Hefeweizen yeast is a good example of a strain that has very low flocculation, meaning a lot of it is left behind in suspension. Traditional non filtered hefeweizens should look cloudy from the yeast (not the wheat as some might think).  The clove like signature flavor in a hefeweizen comes from the yeast.

Attenuation describes the overall efficiency of a yeast strain in converting sugars into alcohol under a specific set of conditions. Higher gravity beers require the use of yeasts with higher attenuation rates. Attenuation is listed as a percentage, meaning the percentage of sugars present in the wort that get converted into alcohol. Most beer yeasts have a 65-80% attenuation rate. Wine & mead yeasts have a higher attenuation rate. The exact attenuation rate can be found for a given beer by comparing the starting (pre-yeast) original gravity (OG) to the final gravity (FG) of the finished beer.

When selecting yeasts, the beer style should be considered. When brewing a Belgian Witbier, a yeast strain with a 65-70% attenuation rate would be appropriate. A “stronger” yeast (higher attenuation) could be used, resulting in a higher alcohol content, but the overall flavor & style of the beer would be “off” from the standard. The attenuation for yeast for an English ale would be lower than the yeast for a Belgian brown.

The attenuation of a particular batch is affected by anything that would affect the health of the yeast. Unexpected flocculation, changes in temperature and insufficient nutrients can all lower attenuation.

Posted in Yeast Cultures | No Comments »

Basics of Hops in Brewing

Hops contribute four elements to beer: stabilization, bitterness, flavor, and aroma. Using the right hops, added to the boiling wort (pronounced wert) at the right time, is every bit as crucial as using the right grains or yeast.

Hops resins contain two types of acid, one (Beta) that contributes to aroma, and the other (Alpha) that contribute to the bitterness of a beer. Commercial hops are air dried prior to packaging. The resins require boiling to fully release the acids. The higher the percentage of Alpha acids in your hops, the more bitterness will be imparted, leading to a higher IBU value for the beer. Usual time for boiling is 60 minutes.

Hops also contain essential oils that contribute to aroma and flavor. These oils are aromatic (like the oils in coffee), which means they will evaporate out of boiling wort over time. Hops added for aroma are added last in the boil, and usually boiled for five minutes or less because “hop flavor” tends to boil out within 15 minutes. Over-boiling these hops defeats the purpose of adding them. Over-boiling bittering hops has no effect, since the bittering acid isn’t aromatic and won’t evaporate out in a boil. The cutoff point between a bittering hop and an aromatic hop is somewhere around an alpha acid level of 8%, but some higher AA variates are dual purpose.

Some styles of beer call for even more hop flavor and aroma, such as India Pale Ales. In order to increase the ‘hopiness’ of a beer further, hops can be added after the wort is chilled and left to ferment with the wort through the primary fermentation. This process is called “dry hopping”; the un-boiled hops soak in the fermenting beer for weeks.

If you have to substitute because your preferred variety of hops are not available, bittering hops are the easiest to substitute, since you’re comparing the IBU and Alpha Acids By Weight. (often noted as “Alpha %”) Flavor & aroma hops are trickier to substitute; the best strategy is to pick a hop from the same family (American, English, German, Saaz, etc). Changing the hop used in dry-hopping has an even larger impact on the finished beer, so even more care should be used.

The next choice a home-brewer must make is picking between hop pellets and dried hops. If you live in the right part of the world, you can even use fresh hops in your beer; as you might expect, the fresher the hop, the more aroma and flavor it provides. Dried hops are preferred, but may not be available. Hop pellets are hops that have been dried and compressed; they have the advantage of being small and easy to add down the neck of a carboy, but aren’t as good for aroma and flavor hops.

Hops can be added directly to the boil as loose leaf or placed inside a ‘hop sock’ for easier cleaning afterward. Use the same rules as making tea: wait for the wort to reach a roiling boil before adding the hops. If you do use a hop sock, consider adding an additional few minutes to the boiling time, especially for your bittering hops, as the hops won’t be able to circulate as well inside the sock.

At the end of the boil, strain the boiled hops out prior to fermentation. You can sparge the hops by gently pouring water over the boiled hops, and applying gentle pressure with a spoon or other tool. While it’s a good idea to sparge flavor & aroma hops, if your beer only has bittering hops, you can safely skip this step.

This site maintains a hops alpha acid table.

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Beer styles and relative CO2 levels

To begin, consider a brief refresher from chemistry class. Gases dissolve into liquids; the amount of gas that can be dissolved into a liquid is inversely proportional to that liquid’s temperature. At one extreme, boiling liquids contain very little dissolved gases; most home brewers know this, either directly or indirectly from having to oxygenate their boiled wort before adding yeast. But there are two other stages where we have to consider carbonation levels & temperatures.

The classic axiom for bottling home-brewed beer is ¾ cup of dextrose / corn sugar (or 1 cup of malt extract, or ½ cup of honey) for a 5 gallon batch, leaving 1-2” of air at the top of the bottle, regardless of size. Home brewers are strongly urged not to exceed that amount of sugar, as too much sugar leads to excess pressure and potentially exploding bottles. This one-size-fits-all approach will work for novice and intermediate home brewers, but for more exotic beers, or for more advanced brewers, there is room for more variation.

First, consider the style of beer. Most European Lagers and American Ales have the same carbonation levels, but there are exceptions. Porters & Stouts, along with British ales, tend to traditionally have lower carbonation levels, with Belgian ales lying between the Porter/Stout and the American/European beers. A few beer styles, such as fruit Lambics and German wheat beer, have very high carbonation traditionally.

Next, consider the bottling temperature of the “green” (uncarbonated) beer. A colder bottling temperature means more CO2 is dissolved in the beer. A “green” Lager kept at 40 degrees F will have almost 50% more CO2 already dissolved than a “green” Ale kept at 60 degrees F, which goes a long way towards explaining why a finished Lager often has more foam than a finished Ale.

Finally, consider carefully modifying the type amount of bottling sugar. Because even small changes can result in a big difference, consider using dried malt extract, or even liquid malt extract instead of sucrose, as these types of sugars are less efficient for the yeast, and gives you the brewer a little more room to work within. Since few home brewers attempt Lambic-style beers, mostly you’ll be reducing the amount of bottling sugar for your Belgians, Porters, Stouts, and British Ales by a few teaspoons, down to an absolute floor of ¼ cup of dry malt extract for a 5 gallon batch.

There is another way to modify the amount of CO2 in bottled, home brewed beer. Leaving less air in each bottle causes pressure to build up more quickly; increased pressure results in reduced yeast activity, and thus less CO2. Conversely, leaving more air in the bottle will cause faster fermentation and more CO2, but more pressure inside the bottle means more risk of exploding bottles, and safety has to be a priority in this case.

There’s something here even for the non-brewers: what temperature is best to serve beer at? Remember, the temperature of the beer determines how much CO2 is dissolved, and how much foaming will occur. Beer styles with less CO2 can be served at a higher temperature, because there’s less CO2 dissolved in the beer; serving these beers at a colder temperature means more of the CO2 is dissolved, and less will be available to provide effervescence and foam. A Stout served at near-freezing temperatures will fail to produce a solid head, and may even taste flat. Conversely, a Lambic served at room temperature will bubble & foam like champagne or worse. This is why many of the English bitters are served at ‘cellar’ temperature (55F), which is warmer than fridge temperatures.

Posted in Kegging and CO2 | 2 Comments »

First Wort Hopping

Brewers are always interested in improving the flavor and aroma of their beer, and there seems to be an endless array of techniques by which to accomplish this. One technique that is receiving much attention is first wort hopping. Also known as, and referred to as, FWH in most brewing circles and software applications.

First wort hopping is the method by which a hop addition is added to the boil kettle prior to lautering your grain bed. This allows the hop oils to steep in the 150F-160F wort during the lauter and then be boiled for the entire duration of the boil. There are complex reactions occurring in the hop oils during this low temperature steeping that are not well understood, but the effect is unmistakable. FIG 1.

Fig 1

This process is well suited for beers where you would like to accentuate the hop aroma and flavor of your beer, for obvious reasons this is probably not a great match for a malty Marzen or malty Holiday Ale.. FWH’ing provides the beer with a much more refined bitterness and flavor, it is sometimes referred to as a “round” flavor, less sharp.

Though the hop utilization is generally about 10% greater than a typical hop addition added at the beginning of the boil, the bittering perception is many times said to resemble that of a 20 minute hop addition. For this reason, FWH’ing generally does NOT take the place of your bittering hop additions. There are a few simple FWH’ing rules, but these are by no means limits to FHW’ing, just general guidelines.

Simple First Wort Hopping Guidelines:

1. Do not alter your bittering additions, whether they be 60, or 90 minutes. The increased utilization is offset by the more refined bitterness and flavor of the addition.
2. Use noble or low AA hops with a low cholumene level for FWH’ing. Some claim that high AA bittering hops utilized in this manner create a less pleasing flavor and bitterness than do low AA or noble hops.
3. Use the recipes late addition hops (0-20 minute additions). The flavor and aroma from the FWH addition is a suitable substitute for these additions.
4. Use approximately 30% of the total hop bill, for FWH. This 30% will constitute the 0-20 minute hop additions from the original recipe.

The afore mentioned “rules” are a general guideline for FWH’ing, but they are by no means the limits of this method. I have brewed an APA that uses ONLY a FWH addition for bitterness and it is one of my favorite beers, so you can feel free to experiment. Until you feel comfortable with the FWHing technique, try the afore mentioned “rules” and then branch out once you get a feel for what it contributes to different beer styles.

Partial mash and extract brewers can also experiment with FWH’ing in their beers!. The key here is to realize that the FWH is dependent on the hops steeping for a time in 150F-160F wort. In the case of a FWH’ed partial mash the hops could be added to the wort immediately after the grains are removed. Steep the hops for 20-30 minutes prior to the boil to mimic the time interval that would take place during an all grain lauter. After this steep, then boil as usual and make your usual hop additions.

To use this method in 100% extract brewing you will have to heat the water + extract wort to 150F-160F and allow the hops to steep in this warm wort for nearly 20-30 minutes, this will closely mirror that of FWH’ing in an all grain brew. After this steep, then boil as usual and make your usual hop additions.

Posted in Brewing | 14 Comments »

Yeasts the difference between ale and lager

Beer snobs will insist that there are truly only two types of beer: ales & lagers. While it’s amusing to hear them explain why a German Dopplebock is a lager while a Wietzenbock is an ale, the truth is that they’re not actually talking about flavors or styles, but yeasts.

Yeasts are living organisms. The distinction between ale yeasts and lager yeasts is based on the temperature range at which they are most active, and where in the wort-suspension the yeast concentrates. Ale yeasts are top-fermenting. During the most active stages of fermentation, usually within the first 5 days of pitching (or adding) the yeast to the wort, ale yeast is visible on the surface of the beer, amidst the foam and bubbles. Lager yeast is active at the bottom of the beer, and is easily missed after the first week as it mixes in with the sediment.

The top- versus bottom-fermentation is an aesthetic difference though; the real distinction is the temperature at which the beer should ferment. Ale yeasts ferment best between 60 -75 degrees F; (12-24C) going below this range slows fermentation, causing the yeast to be “sluggish”, while going above the range increases the risk of bacterial growth and other contamination, as well as causing off-flavors from the yeast. A friend’s batch of hefeweizen suffered because the home thermostat was set to cycle to lower temperatures at night.

Lager yeasts are a slightly different animal. While they ferment best between 35 & 55 degrees F (2-13C), for the first day, the temperature should be in the ‘ale’ range. This is because of the life cycle of yeast: for the first 12-24 hours, the yeast is converting starches in preparation of reproduction and releasing CO2. After this initial “blow off” is done, the beer should be placed in a temperature controlled environment (like a refrigerator) and gradually chilled down to lagering temperatures. Note ‘gradually’; when cooling the wort, the goal is to chill quickly to limit exposure to wild yeasts and bacteria. When chilling the beer to lager it, no dramatic steps are necessary, as the beer should already be in a carboy with an airlock. Sudden, rapid changes in temperature can ‘shock’, or even kill, yeast. Smaller batches are inherently more susceptible to temperature shock due to the smaller volume of liquid.

Some people prefer to make a lager yeast starter at room temperature, then pitch into cooled wort from the kettle, then move the fermenter into the fridge. Lager yeast may also need a dialectal rest, which involves raising the temperature into the 60-65F range for a couple days to let the yeast clean it self up. Diacetyl is a butterscotch like flavor and can be seen as a defect in certain types of lagers, especially light lagers.

Posted in Lagering, Yeast Cultures | 2 Comments »