Brew in a bag?

[rich27500]

Fbsf I have never attempted a beer at that abv. I have a 26l boiler and with normal BIAB I have done a 10l brewlength. I think I could go bigger but as I'm a traditionalist for 23l brewlengths I usually go maxi. If you are good with spreadsheets I'd recommend the calculator on the BIAB forum. It's an impressive piece of kit and would enable you to work out all losses and the grain bill for your target gravity. It's definitely possible and worrying about mash:liquor ratios is not a BIAB issue, our mashes at way thinner than for 3v brewing and despite the widely accepted rumour it has jack all effect on efficiency.

Good luck with your 'big' beer, you know it'll take around 18 months to mature right?

 

[Asalpaws]

Don't get bogged down in the terminology BIAB is easy but you need the right set up. There is a BIAB forum, download the excel sheet called "the calculator". This will let u know how much water needs to be in the pot at the start, you don't add any water after that. FYI a 9% brew at 20 L will need a heck of a lot of water, probably over 40L for BIAB. T

 

[Asalpaws]

Ah didn't see Rich's post before I waded in but at least we agree that the "calculator" is what you need!

The biggest brew I've done with BIAB was a RIS that's 10.9 %, I did cheat to get the gravity up by throwing in a can of golden Syrop! I got 15 L but that had my 45 L brew pot quite full. T

 

[LeedsBrewer]

oh and the biabaccus trial version is now available to download from biabrewer incase anyone wants to try out the new version of the calculator. :thumb:

 

[rich27500]

Had a play with the calculator based on my boiler. It's saying start with around 22 litres water which with grain will give a mash volume of about 25.5 litres after doughing in. Your grain bill will be 5.6kg giving a grain absorption of 3.5 litres. Your boiler looks like a converted 23l fv so it's actual volume will be getting on for 25-26 litres at least. So it looks like you could get near a 15 litre brewlength without additional sparging. Like I said I've not tried it and I haven't factored in hop absobtion but that's how I'd do it if I wanted a high abv beer. Your bag will be HEAVY!

And thinking on, only losing 3.5 litres to the boil seems a bit low to me!

 

[rich27500]

Lookalike all 3 of us in agreement, is that a first for a brewing forum? :

 

[Asalpaws]

Agree, BIAB is for real men, who like lifting bags of boiling grain and holding it at arms length while it drains :)

 

[artyb]

Agree, BIAB is for real men, who like lifting bags of boiling grain and holding it at arms length while it drains :)

yea not messin around with a cool box.... :rofl:

tbh i did my 1st biab and had 6 kg of grain and it was easy to lift,

the grain is buoyant while in the pot, then if you raise slowly the wort drains out and the remaining grain weight is not too bad,
i then dropped it nto a clean fv , and flushed it with some hot water,

next time i will flush/sparge it with hot wort from the boil ... :thumb:

 

[rich27500]

Artyb alright me duck!

Yep you can pull it by hand but I don't like standing around so I have the clever screw in the end of the worktop technique

 

[artyb]

mines outside,

and a big un,,,

keep up the good work with the biab tips...

were gonna have to meet up soon,
as your quite close to me im in nn5

 

[StevieDS]

I've only recently started brewing biab but I love it!
The wonderful thing about it is U can make it as simple or as complicated as U like.
My first one was a simple 66'c mash for 60 mins, dead easy.
My most recent was a double decoction mash, which was a LOT of work for a beginner like myself but personally I love that level of complexity, very satisfying.
:

 

[rich27500]

Yes artyb perhaps a beer trade could be arranged. I'm a bit wiped out due to Christmas but will have quite a selection by Easter.

 

[fbsf]

Fbsf I have never attempted a beer at that abv. I have a 26l boiler and with normal BIAB I have done a 10l brewlength.... Good luck with your 'big' beer, you know it'll take around 18 months to mature right?

I'm hoping that as I'm only planning on a 12L brewlength it should be do-able in my bag-in-an-fv mashtun - Yeah, I know that isn't the idea with BIAB, but my boiler has the element relatively high up, so I will be using a 25L FV and insulating that instead.

I'll make sure to have a look at the calculators, to make sure I'm not in cloud cuckoo land.

But is it really going to take 18 months to mature? I was expecting something around 9 months (so ready for Christmas).

 

[artyb]

Yes artyb perhaps a beer trade could be arranged. I'm a bit wiped out due to Christmas but will have quite a selection by Easter.

ideal i will be doing biab #2 soon ... :party:

 

[calumscott]

But is it really going to take 18 months to mature? I was expecting something around 9 months (so ready for Christmas).

It's a pale so that works in your favour.

Rule of thumb is condition a week for each 10 point drop isn't it? Then push it a bit further the bigger you go and further still the darker you go...

I think you'll be happily supping a really nice, conditioned, 9% ish double IPA by crimbo. My 10.5% kit based RIS has been in the bottle 4 months so far and it will need at least that again and probably won't actually be ready until Christmas NEXT YEAR!