First BIAB Attempt

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kohoutec

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Hi All
I've just found this site in my quest to brew my first small batch BIAB.
I may be being a little ambitious as I've only got a couple of kit brews under my belt, but figured if you're going to do something you might as well do the best job you can! BIAB looks like it will suit me, so that's what I'm going for.
I've only got a small pot (20 litres), so for now I'm just going to be aiming for around 10 litres into my fermenter.
I've been playing around with the recipe editor and come up with something I hope is pretty simple and vaguely IPAish (Bear in mind I haven't really got a clue what I'm doing at this stage - I chose Challenger and Fuggles hops as that's what I've got from the LHBS). I'm lucky enough to live 5 minutes walk away from one of only 4 traditional malt houses left in the UK, so getting malt isn't a problem! (Tuckers Maltings in case anyone is interested)
My recipe:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/69526/jons-first-beer

Does this look doable? If it all looks completely off please say, as this is very much a first stab - any help greatly appreciated! I wanted to keep the grain bill / hops simple to start so it is pretty basic I guess.
Something I'm not quite sure about at this stage is the "boil size" field. How does changing this affect the outcome? I entered 17 but the "Quick Water Requirements" state 14.8 litres for the mash - as I'm going BIAB does that mean that's the figure I should be going for?

Thanks in advance :)
 
Recipe looks good to me with a couple notes. Since this is your first brew on new equipment, be prepared for some variations in volume and gravity. 65% BHE might be a little ambitious for your first all grain batch. Maybe shoot for 55% instead. If it is high, well you'll get a little more alcohol and body, which an IPA can handle.

As for the dry hop - I only dry hop for 4 days now. 10 is pushing it. The hops start to breakdown / rot in the fermentor after about 2-3 weeks. The flavor/aroma actually absorbs much faster that 4 days, sometimes within a day according to some studies: http://braukaiser.com/blog/blog/2012/12 ... y-hopping/

The boil size field factors into the IBU calculations and pre-boil gravity, and the recipe editor lets you input whatever you want. The water requirements section will tell you what the system predicts based on your equipment profile. I usually cross check it just to make sure I'm close. You may want to double check your equipment profile settings.
 
Looks fine to me. I'm looking to do all-grain one gallon batches of some of my more experimental stuff and will use "MIAB" (Mash in a Bag) to do so. One question: Why 90 mins? I've used Maris Otter and 45 minutes is generally enough although I give 60 just for safety. Got iodine? If so, do a conversion test after 60 mins and save yourself a half-hour of your brew day!
 
Brilliant thanks both
The dry hopping was a total guess so I will cut down the duration, and the 90 min mash was because I used another recipe as an initial template, I didn't spot that so thanks, I was actually intending 60 mins.
My pot is coming from Germany so still waiting for that, hopefully brew day is a couple of weeks away at most, I will report back then :)
 
Well this went surprisingly well for a first attempt I think. It had 2 weeks in the fermenter, OG 1052, FG 1012 and bottles today.
I only got 8.5 litres into bottles so a little less than I was hoping for, but the sneaky taste I had today tasted absolutely lovely if I do say so myself! So 17 bottles of that will do me fine
Next time I want to try and get more like 10 litres into bottles and maybe filter through something when transferring to the fermenter as I had a fair bit of gunge, but due to that I used some gelatin to help clear it and what went into the bottles was pretty clear
All in all a successful brew hopefully and already planning another for Saturday now I've freed up the fermenter
 
kohoutec said:
Well this went surprisingly well for a first attempt I think. It had 2 weeks in the fermenter, OG 1052, FG 1012 and bottles today.
I only got 8.5 litres into bottles so a little less than I was hoping for, but the sneaky taste I had today tasted absolutely lovely if I do say so myself! So 17 bottles of that will do me fine
Next time I want to try and get more like 10 litres into bottles and maybe filter through something when transferring to the fermenter as I had a fair bit of gunge, but due to that I used some gelatin to help clear it and what went into the bottles was pretty clear
All in all a successful brew hopefully and already planning another for Saturday now I've freed up the fermenter
Click to expand...

That's awesome! I foresee a 2nd fermenter in your future. :D
 
yes when your doing higher gravities and using more yeast, eventually you'll provably start adding more to the recipe and more water to allow for wast from trub and yeast in the primary , yeast in the cold crash secondary so your amounts end up correct for your bottles or kegs

I my self end up with 5.5 to 6 just to get a full 5 gallon keg.....I like clear unyeasty beer lol
 
Yep, just completed my brew day today. 6 gallon 'to the kettle' batch size, leaves 5.5 gallons in the primary. From there it will be the perfect amount to fill a 5 gallon keg counting trub/yeast and samples.

I also foresee a growing bottle collection in your future... :D
 
kohoutec said:
... maybe filter through something when transferring ...
Click to expand...
When bottling i have wrapped a 5 gallon paint strainer to the cane and have caught a fair amount of stuff at bottling time. Just another trap for gunk :)
 
here's what I do most of the time

I pour it all out from the pot so from the boil, filter with 3 layers of bag filters or paint staining bags into the first carboy

After 10 days I auto syphon off the trub and yeast cake in to a secondary, I then seal the secondary and put that into my keezer and cold crash it for 3 to 4 days without disturbing it.

Then auto syphon out to a keg usually leaving ½ to an inch of yeast in the bottom , I save that yeast and carbonate the kegs , beer turns out very clear
 
I also live a small drive from tuckers maltings they have a good beer festival every year worth a look, how much is a 25kg sack of malt from tuckers ?
 
Looks like a full bag of MO is £30 according to their website (I only bought a small amount for first brew)
On that subject - I just opened a bottle for purely scientific reasons. It's only had 8 days so needs a while longer but I'm very pleased with it already for a first attempt. It's quite close to London Pride (although I wasn't aiming to emulate anything inparticular). It could do with a bit more aroma so that's something to work on, but taste and colour wise I'm happy :)

Next attempt is already in the fermenter, it was going to be a MO/Amarillo APAish smash which it pretty much is although I did add a few grams of challenger at 15 mins as well
 
kohoutec said:
Well this went surprisingly well for a first attempt I think. It had 2 weeks in the fermenter, OG 1052, FG 1012 and bottles today.
I only got 8.5 litres into bottles so a little less than I was hoping for, but the sneaky taste I had today tasted absolutely lovely if I do say so myself! So 17 bottles of that will do me fine
Next time I want to try and get more like 10 litres into bottles and maybe filter through something when transferring to the fermenter as I had a fair bit of gunge, but due to that I used some gelatin to help clear it and what went into the bottles was pretty clear
All in all a successful brew hopefully and already planning another for Saturday now I've freed up the fermenter
Click to expand...
I only got 8.5 litres into bottles so a little less than I was hoping for,
Click to expand...
i always convert my recipes from gallons to litres, us gallons and quarts confuse me.
 
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