BIAB school boy errors

[clarkeuk]

Reyt folks
With any look (and out interference from the family ) it's my first BIAB AG Brew this weekend and I'm looking forward to the task ahead but what are the usual school boy errors. I have read up a fair bit on the subject but what's the real world things to look out for the stuff you don't seem to pick up from books etc
Cheers

 

[Gaspode]

Great question, and one I will certainly be interested in hearing the replies to. I too am about to start the adventure of BIAB in the next month or so after 4 months and half a dozen kit brews.

Happy with the kits but as was predicted by many members here the move seems almost inevitable. I was going to start with smaller batches 10 liter or so to understand the process and schedule and to work out efficiency, boil of rate and the like.

It's also a bit soon for me to start designing recipes so spending some time investigating those.

What is your set up for BIAB? Have you gone with a big pot or an Peco type boiler?

 

[Covrich]

Gaining Expereince is key, you will learn a lot yourself no matter how much you read up.. bit like having kids in that respect lol.

One thing I would say is

1) Always give yourself plenty of time.. try to avoid being up until early hours of the morning trying to rush it. So if you can get it on early in the day you have plenty of headroom time wise.

2) I would try and make sure your thermometer is reliable and can be calibrated.

3) Write everything down or at least keep a log of what you did and your receipe.

Other things which may be helpful is try try and clean up as you go.. depending on your setup you can still make a hell of a mess.

 

[Spapro]

Some great advice from Covrich there, I would only add:

4. Make a check list before hand of what you are doing, handy being able to tick things off as you go so you don't forget a hop addition or to add the irish moss/whirfloc tablet etc.

5. right down your starting time for key events as they come along in your notes - eg, started mash at 9:40am, started boil at 11:30 or whatever - when you are busy its easy to forget when a step started and that affects end points and hop addition times etc.

6. remember to pop your copper wort cooler in for the last 10-15 minutes of the boil (usually this ties in with a hop addition and adding the whirlfloc tab (or irish moss)). The wort cooler needs this short time in the boil to sterilise it ahead of using it to chill the wort.

Oh, and enjoy it, thats the name of the game - something will go wrong but just learn from it and barring a calamity you should end up with very nice beer and much better than any kit.

 

[GHW]

My brain dump:

Make a timing plan. It sounds like something you'd do when planning Christmas dinner but otherwise you'll forget something or time something wrong. If I don't do this now I always forget Irish moss or flame out hops or something.

Get everything you need out of wherever it's stored before you start faffing with weighing etc.

Label everything. It's easy to forget which hop additions are which once they're all sat in bowls on the counter top.

You don't have to squeeze the bag. It doesn't particularly impact on OG and creates trub. Also it's bloody hot.

If you're heating with the grain bag in, get a false bottom in the pan or you risk burning the bag and grain. i use a cake rack type thing that fits neatly in the pan.

Cover the pot when mashing to insulate. I use a duvet, it's basic but stops any heat loss and costs me nothing beyond my wife's displeasure. All the same, check mash temp half way through. Stir well before you take the mash temp. The bottom may well be hotter than the top and you might mash high by accident. Calibrate your thermometer too (read outs in boiling water and iced water) so you can take inaccuracies into account.

Don't be tempted to pitch your yeast too soon, cooling takes a while even with a decent cooler, but it's still worth waiting.

Don't be tempted to change you're recipe halfway through. It probably won't make bad beer but it'll make it harder to understand what effects your ingredient choices had.

Obviously the last few aren't biab specific, but hopefully helpful.

You'll be fine. Start with a smaller brew and build up. Smaller brews are much quicker with biab as you're heating less water. As covrish says, you'll learn as you go along, and chances are you'll make good beer even when you make mistakes.

 

[HisDudeness]

Agree with the note taking above, make sure you record water volumes and all the temps at different stages this will allow you to refine your technique later on, so as well as a reliable thermometer it is worth checking volume markings on your boiler/mash tun, FV etc and remarking them if necessary (I try to put 1 litre divisions on all my kit so I can check volumes for all different brew sizes) i.e. mash water volume, water recovered from mash, sparge water volume, sparge water recovered, total volume into kettle pre-boil, volume post boil and volume into FV. Temperature wise it is easier to bring temp down than up once you start a mash/sparge so I tend to aim slightly high on strike temps (only by a degree or 2).

 

[clarkeuk]

Great question, and one I will certainly be interested in hearing the replies to. I too am about to start the adventure of BIAB in the next month or so after 4 months and half a dozen kit brews.

Happy with the kits but as was predicted by many members here the move seems almost inevitable. I was going to start with smaller batches 10 liter or so to understand the process and schedule and to work out efficiency, boil of rate and the like.

It's also a bit soon for me to start designing recipes so spending some time investigating those.

What is your set up for BIAB? Have you gone with a big pot or an Peco type boiler?

Iv just got a peco boiler

 

[cheapbrew]

Some great advise above, I planned my first AG out well and made a tick list to tick off the stages as I went, the only thing I didn't do was check the calibration of my thermometers (which turn out to read 10+ degrees low) and I ended up with much too hot water for the mash and sparge, so I'll say it again....... make sure you have an accurate thermometer!

 

[Slid]

I think the most awkward part of BIAB is draining the grain bag after the mash and any dunk sparge. If you get stuck at this stage, it could be very frustrating.

Some brewers have a pulley system in place, which sounds like a great idea. I use a large Collander, but as this is not quite big enough to sit on top of a boiler, pot or FV, needs to have one handle balanced on a barbecuing utensil place across the vessel I am draining into. At this point, you also need thick, waterproof gloves - like marigolds, if you are going to squeeze the grain bag a little.

Thermometer with reliable calibration is important. I used a glass one that was about 4C too low!

 

[Spapro]

Good point on the waterproof gloves. I've got some black marigolds (not that thick, just slightly thicker rubber than the yellow I think), don't wear them much during a brewday but without them I would burn my hands squeezing out the grain bag.

 

[NorfolkBrew]

Be sure not to squeeze the grain bag too much as it will release the tannins ion the grain which will give your beer an off mouth feel. I usually poke it a bit during the steeping phase just to make sure there aren't any dry pockets in the bag where water isn't getting in and then drain is over a saucepan after I take it out.

Also if you tie the knot in your grain bag leaving enough at much room as possible (i.e. don't tie the know where the grains are tie it at the edge of the excess material) for the grains to expand and move about this helps with getting the water through it.

Enjoy!

 

[HisDudeness]

Be sure not to squeeze the grain bag too much as it will release the tannins ion the grain which will give your beer an off mouth feel. I usually poke it a bit during the steeping phase just to make sure there aren't any dry pockets in the bag where water isn't getting in and then drain is over a saucepan after I take it out.

Is this a real problem? Before I started using a mash tun I used to squeeze the mash bag loads to try and get all the wort out and I don't think I ever had any flavour problems. I'm not sure squeezing by hand you can really exert enough pressure to force tannins out of the grain but thats just my personal experience...

 

[GHW]

Is this a real problem? Before I started using a mash tun I used to squeeze the mash bag loads to try and get all the wort out and I don't think I ever had any flavour problems. I'm not sure squeezing by hand you can really exert enough pressure to force tannins out of the grain but thats just my personal experience...

Dunno, my preference now I have a pot with a tap is to not squeeze, but recirculate first wort to remove bits, then sparge the bag in the pot, draining off the sparge running as I go, so it's essentially being used the way you would a proper mash tun. I then Put the bag on a pizza tray sat on an fv to let any extra wort drain itself. Though often this is so floury that I don't add it to the boil.

My first beer done like this was super clear in the fv, with less grain trub (though it had a lot of yeast trub but that's nowt to do with mashing)

 

[HisDudeness]

Yeah I can see the argument for less grain trub with your method as this certainly improved for me when I went to mash tun, just not convinced about the tannins side of the issue. This is a good reason to use a false bottom as it makes the lauter/sparge easier, it never really worked for me without one as the bag would block the tap outlet and/or the sparge water would run straight over the bag to the tap which is why I ended up lifting it up for a good squeeze! I dont miss the scalded hands/mess from this either....

 

[Covrich]

I think a lot of people think the tannins thing is a myth.. I certainly had no problems.. I must admit I didn't realise it created more trub..

 

[Cwrw666]

I've got a pulley system for hoisting the bag out of the boiler, which is great, especially for stronger brews as the bag weighs a ton - it's not just the grain, but all the wort that's still in the bag. never had a problem with off flavours from squeezing the bag, and guys, come on, man up a bit - it's only 65c, what's a little pain when you're making wonderful beer!

Definitely clean up as you go - there's a lot of waiting around time when brewing and the last thing you want after 5 hours of work is a great pile dirty equipment to sort out.

 

[Covrich]

I've got a pulley system for hoisting the bag out of the boiler, which is great, especially for stronger brews as the bag weighs a ton - it's not just the grain, but all the wort that's still in the bag. never had a problem with off flavours from squeezing the bag, and guys, come on, man up a bit - it's only 65c, what's a little pain when you're making wonderful beer!

Definitely clean up as you go - there's a lot of waiting around time when brewing and the last thing you want after 5 hours of work is a great pile dirty equipment to sort out.

For people like me who mash out, its closer to 80ºc so I have an excuse for the marigolds ...

 

[Sonnal]

My advice would be to plane what vessels and other bits and pieces you're going to be using at each stage. I heat my mash water in the Peco then transfer to another FV or pan to mash in (depending on the batch size). It's easy to forget that you need to heat up some more water at some stage and then realise that the pot you were going to use is already in use. I draw mine out to avoid mistakes.

Apologies for the poor drawing skills and the sideways photo. Maybe a helpful Mod could turn it the right way round.

 

[clarkeuk]

Cheers guys helpfull as ever great forum this for help and advice

Should I circulate the wort at any time with the BIAB method to help clear it
Thanks again

 

[Covrich]

Cheers guys helpfull as ever great forum this for help and advice

Should I circulate the wort at any time with the BIAB method to help clear it
Thanks again

I certainly don't do that or need to do that..

WHat is your setup.. what are you brewing in and how much ect