BIAB advice.

[will4009]

Hello,

I am going to attempt a really simple all grain BIAB, and could use some advice to make sure I am on the right track.

I have previously brewed a few kits, tried my hand at a partial extract brew, but that was a few years ago. All of my brewing kit is at my parents house, so due to the current circumstances that we are all in, I can't pop around to retrieve it....so, I am going to buy a few bits and pieces.

My plan is to brew a single hop single malt beer, on the stove top. I am hoping to brew about 10 litres of beer. For malt, I was thinking Maris Otter and Citra hops. But, I am open to other suggestions if you think that's not the best combination.

My plan is to purchase a 17-20-ish litre stock pot (if anyone knows a good place I can order one).

So, the general recipe is:
1. heat up 13 litres of water to 75C
2. pour 2kg of malt into the pot (within the bag), stir and aim for a temp of 68C
3. wrap in a towel and leave for an hour
4. after an hour, remove bag and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
5. Boil for an hour. adding 15g hops at start of boil.
6. add 10g of hops for the last 5 mins of boil
7. fill up the sink with water, place pot in sink, wait until wort has reached 20C
8. Transfer into the fermenter, add the yeast.

like i said, quite basic. But, I am not the most experienced and haven't brewed for a long time. Does this seem about right?

Finally, can anyone suggest a bag that I should use? I see a few cheap mesh bags on ebay, will they do the job?

Would be really grateful for any advice.

Thanks

 

[Charles Stanley-Grey]

I would recommend this bag off amazon. I used a few others and they have too large holes in them, this is perfect.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01D53H3W6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I would clean up one of your oven grills and use that to help you, instead of holding the heavy bag of grain for an extended period. Just pop the grill under the bag neatly and you can even sparge with water from another pot. This also saves your fingers as trying to squeeze a hot bag while holding it up is really a two person job.

I would measure your sink to make sure your stock pot is going to fit and do not underestimate how long its going to take to cool down from the boil, cover the pot up and leave the cold water tap running. If you get back into brewing could not recommend an immersion chiller more.

I would not worry much about wrapping the pot in a towel, I never understood that, I found that much wort holds its temperature quite well, and if it dips a little bit, just pop the hob on low. Remember to stir plenty if you add heat so it does not all sit at the bottom.

Just checking, what sanitizer are you going to use? You want everything not only scrubbed clean but sanitised, its super cheap on amazon or eBay.

Happy Brewing!

 

[Sandimas]

I've been using a 15L catering stock-pot off eBay for many years and it'll make a 10-12L BIAB brew. I've got a 12L one for doing the mash in, which is a bit smaller so fits in the oven on low to maintain temperature. It also means I can start boiling up the extra water in the 15L pan on the hob which reduces the brew time a little, when the mash is done I transfer the bag from the 12L pot into the 15L to dunk sparge. Gets me a little more efficiency, which is a consistent 68%.

I did about 10 AG BIAB brews before I started to get a little disappointed with the volume of beer produced but I didn't want to upgrade my kit, so now I supplement the brews with 1kg DME which allows me to increase the volume to 17/18L by doing a smaller-volume boil and then topping up in the FV. You have to use more hops in a smaller-volume boil but software like Brewers Friend will do the adjustements for you. This setup really works for me, I know it's more expensive than AG due to the DME but I buy it from The Homebrew Shop when they have sales so it's usually less that £5 per kg.

 

[An Ankoù]

I've been using a 15L catering stock-pot off eBay for many years and it'll make a 10-12L BIAB brew. I've got a 12L one for doing the mash in, which is a bit smaller so fits in the oven on low to maintain temperature. It also means I of can start boiling up the extra water in the 15L pan on the hob which reduces the brew time a little, when the mash is done I transfer the bag from the 12L pot into the 15L to dunk sparge. Gets me a little more efficiency, which is a consistent 68%.

I did about 10 AG BIAB brews before I started to get a little disappointed with the volume of beer produced but I didn't want to upgrade my kit, so now I supplement the brews with 1kg DME which allows me to increase the volume to 17/18L by doing a smaller-volume boil and then topping up in the FV. You have to use more hops in a smaller-volume boil but software like Brewers Friend will do the adjustements for you. This setup really works for me, I know it's more expensive than AG due to the DME but I buy it from The Homebrew Shop when they have sales so it's usually less that £5 per kg.

I, too have a 12 litre pot which I use for my stove-top brews. If I'm making something that'll have an OG of around 1040 I tend to brew overstrength, that's to say mash sufficient grain for a 20 litre batch and then dilute the wort before pitching the yeast. The brewers friend IBU calculator copes well with calculating the hop requirement in the face of the diminished utilisation. (But I usually guess it).

 

[will4009]

I would recommend this bag off amazon. I used a few others and they have too large holes in them, this is perfect.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01D53H3W6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I would clean up one of your oven grills and use that to help you, instead of holding the heavy bag of grain for an extended period. Just pop the grill under the bag neatly and you can even sparge with water from another pot. This also saves your fingers as trying to squeeze a hot bag while holding it up is really a two person job.

I would measure your sink to make sure your stock pot is going to fit and do not underestimate how long its going to take to cool down from the boil, cover the pot up and leave the cold water tap running. If you get back into brewing could not recommend an immersion chiller more.

I would not worry much about wrapping the pot in a towel, I never understood that, I found that much wort holds its temperature quite well, and if it dips a little bit, just pop the hob on low. Remember to stir plenty if you add heat so it does not all sit at the bottom.

Just checking, what sanitizer are you going to use? You want everything not only scrubbed clean but sanitised, its super cheap on amazon or eBay.

Happy Brewing!

Thanks for the advice,

Yes, I had just realised that the pot I was looking at was too big for my sink! I shall make sure I pick up something that fits. I will be using some no-rinse sanitizer. Not sure what brand I will go for, but something cheap-ish.

Yes, I think once all this blows over, and I can sort my brewing kit out, I will get a immersion chiller. I was hoping doing a smaller 10 litre brew would cool down relatively quickly in the sink, but there's only one way to find out.

That bag looks great, only issue is it says delivery by 25th of April. I think getting any deliveries in a reasonable time will be difficult atm.

cheers

 

[Sandimas]

I was hoping doing a smaller 10 litre brew would cool down relatively quickly in the sink, but there's only one way to find out.

It will, make sure you keep stirring it rather than letting it sit there and keep changing the water, you should be able to get the temp right down in 20-30mins.