Biab dead space

[adonwar]

Hi guys a quick question for the Biab Brewers. I'm doing my first Biab on Saturday and have 6.2kg of grain. I'm using a 40litre buffalo. Brewers friend says I need 36.2litres of water. My equipment settings were for 2 litres of dead space but having just done a test it is actually 4 litres to the base of the tap. If I increase the water to 38.2 litres I fear it will not all fit in even though the 40 litres mark on the boiler is a good 2 inches or so below the rim. Questions, can I just siphon into the FV therefore makin dead space losses zero? Is the only way to do this to sparge 2 litres over the grain after pulling the bag? Thanking you in advance.

 

[paul3944]

Hi Mate,

Not sure about Brewers friend but I use Beersmith and after 3 brews so far I have 23 litres of wort in the fermenter every time.

I have attached my profile settings as a guide

 

[adonwar]

Thanks for that. How come the dead space loss is zero on your profile even though the tap is 4 litres above the bottom of the boiler? You profile gives me hope. If I can drop dead space to zero it will all fit.

 

[paul3944]

TBH, I searched the Internet in vain to find an answer and watched the Beersmith setup profiles on YouTube to fine tune the setup.

Maybe I touched lucky, but after a 90 minute boil and allowing for Trub (hops) at the bottom of the boiler I have 23 litres.

If brewers friend doesn't work out try Beersmith from the App Store, been absolute spot for my 3 BIAB brews.
Regards
Paul

 

[YeastFace]

With BIAB you don't have any mash tun dead space loss as you are mashing and boiling in the same vessel.

There will be some liquid left in the boiler post boil, which is the trub/chiller loss, as per Paul's post.

 

[Mickeywheelspin]

I may have been breaking several cardinal rules (I've only done one brew in my Buffalo) but I tipped mine when draining to reduce losses with no noticeable increase in debris in the wort.

 

[Covrich]

I may have been breaking several cardinal rules (I've only done one brew in my Buffalo) but I tipped mine when draining to reduce losses with no noticeable increase in debris in the wort.

If you have a hop strainer that should help anyway should it not? and if you want to be a little more ocd you could tap it through a paint strainer

 

[Mickeywheelspin]

Yep - strainer helped but I was worried I might get some break material through the strainer but in the end there was nothing I could notice (and I'd be happy with a little more turb in the FV once it drops out if it buys me a couple of extra bottles). I've reas that some break material and debris in the FV can be good for the yeast anyway.

Back to the OP's question - Adonwar, you mentioned you may syphon this brew till you get your tap sorted, in which case a litre or two losses would be more accurate.

 

[adonwar]

Thanks for your help guys. i have adjusted my equipment profile to match. :

 

[paul3944]

With my Buffalo boiler i removed the original tap enlarged the hole with a Q max cutter and fitted one of these
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Tap-Kit-Weldless-Hop-Grain-Filter.html#.VbkalnCkqrU

A bit on the expensive side but has been absolutely faultless with nil material passing thru to the fermenter.

After use make sure you throughly clean the boiler element with Citric acid as the burnt on wort will eventually kill the element.
Regards
Paul

 

[adonwar]

Thanks for the advice guys, got the hop strainer and tap, and a qmax for the hole. I guess this will enable me to 'tip' the boiler to get the most out and minimise losses?

 

[Cwrw666]

I may have been breaking several cardinal rules (I've only done one brew in my Buffalo) but I tipped mine when draining to reduce losses with no noticeable increase in debris in the wort.

I tip mine as well and all that's left behind in the boiler is trub and hops. Same when getting the last beer from a pressure barrel - do people really leave the last few pints in the bottom just because they turned the tap and nothing came out?