2nd go at BIAB

Luke_Buckaz · Dec 5, 2017

Last week I had a go at the simple BIAB recipe posted by clibit in his 'have a go at simple AG' thread. I used what equipment I had at the time and enjoyed it so much I immediately purchased more equipment so I can make bigger batches.

Could anyone share a simple BIAB recipe or point me in the right direction to finding some not-too-complicated recipes I could have a go at?

I do have 2kg of Munich malt left over (I was supposed to buy maris otter but picked the wrong one up - doh!) And about 85g of admiral hops.

The new pot I bought is 18.9 litres, what size batches could I achieve with this?

Thanks,
Luke

Metacomet · Dec 5, 2017

I'm still new but started in a similar way to you.
I would keep it simple for your second go. Use the brewers Friend website linked in the side bar and throw a simple single grain recipe together using all your Munich (post it here for more advice).
Not sure Admiral would make a good hop to use all on it's own. I would use 5/10g for bittering at 60 mins, and then at 5 or 10 mins remaining something with a suitable flavour/aroma depending on the style you wanted. Ale? try some East Kent Golding. Larger (ish) go for German Hallertau Mittelfruh, something hoppy? Choose your favourite, Citra, Mosaic (going for hoppy, throw in another handful after ferentation has finished as a dry hop).
I have a similar sized pot as yours and I started out aiming for 10 litres into bottles. Its a nice quantity to experiment with as you don't have too much if it turns out horrible but still enough to enjoy if it's good.

With my efficiency of 74% I would end up with a beer around 4%. Not very strong, so you could afford to throw in another 500g of malt (pale ale malt?)
Mash in 14 or 15 litres of water and see what comes out at the end, make notes and see where you can improve next time.

Check out CrossMyLoof.co.uk if you want to just get some small packs of hops, and cheap but very good yeast with free delivery.

MyQul · Dec 5, 2017

Sound advice from metacomet there. The only thing I might add is porter/stouts are quite hard to get wrong and often quite simple, if you like dark beers. So a simple recipe for a dry irish stout which is just, Base malt (you've got some) roast barley (you can buy on ebay), flaked barley (you can buy in holland and barrett or other wholefood shop) and just a single bittering additon (use the admiral)

Luke_Buckaz · Dec 6, 2017

Thanks for the replies.

I've had a look at brewers friend but need to spend more time on it and get familiar with it.

Just read somewhere that people like to make a SMaSH with Munich malt and centennial hops so might give that a whirl.

I have absolutely no idea which hops bring which flavours or aromas so it really is just a stab in the dark at the minute.

Im not too fussed about doing larger quantities at the minute, as I agree with Metacomet about being able to experiment with smaller batches.

Also when I purchased my new bits of kit I took advantage of the 50% off at beerhawk and ordered a milk chocolate stout BIAB kit. I read through the instructions and I feel fairly confident that I can pull it off. So that might be this weekends task while I try to decide on my next recipe.

GlentoranMark · Dec 6, 2017

If you've an Android phone, I can thoroughly recommend the Wort App. It's really simple to use and free although you can make the author a donation if you use it regular (I did)

I put this together in 2 minutes on the app:

2kg Munich
10g Admiral 60 minutes
10g Admiral 15 minutes
10g Admiral 1 minute

Dry hop with the rest if you want although IBU's are already 67 making it quite bitter.

Mash with around 14L total water but keep a track of numbers because boil off and mash loss will vary greatly. That's where your numbers will go wrong.