First 2 BIAB. A new start for 2015 with Small 1 Gallon Brews.

[hulmea]

[FONT=&quot]After making some plain tasting beer with my full grain system I thought it time to go back to basics and start with small amount and taste. I got 10 demijohns from gumtree and will aim for 2 brews a week.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]These are my first BIAB so I am still getting to understand the process.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Equipment: 20 Liter stock pot ,mash bag, demijohns, Gas stove.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]1st brew Old Peculiar ish:[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Type: All Grain[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Batch Size: 5.00 l[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Boil Size: 7.09 l[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Boil Time: 60 min[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mash: 68 C 75 mins,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mash out 76C 7 mins rise 10 min hold[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Ingredients:[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]1100.00 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]128.58 g Special B Dingmans (147.5 SRM) Grain[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]24.89 g Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]6 g Challenger - Boil 60.0 min[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 g Fuggle - Boil 60.0 min Hop[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3 g East Kent Goldings - Boil 10.0 min[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Newcastle Dark Ale Yeast (Mangrove Jack's #M03) Yeast 7 –[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Pre boil OG 1.042[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Post Boil: Forgot to take wooops[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Notes: After transferring the Wort to the fermenter there was only about 3.5Liters without dragging the bottom of the kettle. Next brew I will make more as I prefer to waste some rather than not have enough.,[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]2nd brew: replaced the Special B with Crystal Old Peculiar ish.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Type: All Grain[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Batch Size: 6.00 l[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Boil Size: 9.78 l[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Boil Time: 60 min[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mash: 68 C 75 mins,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mash out 76C 7 mins rise 10 min hold[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]1417.79 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]75.27 g Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]62.59 g Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]6.64 g Challenger [7.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3.72 g Fuggle [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]3.72 g East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]0.5 pkg Newcastle Dark Ale Yeast (Mangrove Jack's #M03) Yeast 7 -[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Mash Eff: 81.1%[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]OG Pre boil 1040[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]OG past boil 1.055[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.4 %[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Notes: This amount was great for the 1 gallon donjons I have. I am happy with the mash eff[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Measure the temp of the mash. I found this very hard. Any place in the mash tub seemed to be a different temp. The temp could go from 63-69C. I used both a digital probe and a real thermometer and it was the same. Unless you stir it there is no constant temp. I decided to stir every 10 mins and by putting the tub on the lowest burner ring on the lowest heat and leaving the lid off the temp would remain constant at least in the place I measured from. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Whirlpool. I did not after boil and it did gather the trub into the middle. I will do this again.[/FONT]

 

[honeymonster]

Excellent. I'm in the process of getting all the kit together for a 1 gallon BIAB system. Should have it up an running within a month. I'd be really interested in hearing how these turn out. Keep us posted!

I do have two questions though, do you insulate the pot at all during the mash? If you do, how?

 

[MyQul]

Excellent. I'm in the process of getting all the kit together for a 1 gallon BIAB system. Should have it up an running within a month. I'd be really interested in hearing how these turn out. Keep us posted!

I do have two questions though, do you insulate the pot at all during the mash? If you do, how?

I also have a 20L pot. I insulate by wraping three towels around the pot and folding a fourth and placing it on to (have found the fourth towel to be particularly important to hold the heat) then wrapping the whole thing in a blanket. I only lose 1C in a 40 min mash
I can just about fit my pot in the oven. You can also 'insulate' by putting the oven on the lowest setting and sticking the pot in there.

 

[hulmea]

I will have to try the oven idea. Instead i have no insulation and found I can use the smallest burner on its lowest heat to keep the temp stable.

I tested this first with just water and that worked ok and for the mash i just checked ever 10 mins.

I have just order a lot of hops to play with and will be brewing some IPA next week.

 

[honeymonster]

I don't have a lot of spare cash at the moment so I'm trying to piece the kit together without having to spend a bundle. I don't have a stock pot but I have a few 10L ex-mayo buckets and a salvaged asda value kettle element. My plan is to turn one into a mash tun/boiler and use the rest to ferment in. I've checked and they are the right kind of plastic to withstand boiling temps.

The towels are a good idea. I read on another forum that some folks have had good results using bubble wrap, space blankets(those foil survival blanket things) and ground mats used for camping. I'm pretty sure I can get all three of those at my local Poundland. Might not be the season for the camping gear tho:)

 

[hulmea]

The stock pot only costs 28 Pounds inc deliver and it came from Germany in 3 days. I thought it was a great deal.

I built my mash tun for my large system from 2 30 liter fermentor buckets. To keep the temp I used a pump and recirculated the water through the HTL. Its a huge pain though so I may changes this to insulate it properly or use a cooler like a lot of folks.

See: http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49652

You could do the same with your 10 liters ones,

 

[hulmea]

Thinking about it more I would insulate with expending foam used in building.

You can get a can for about 3-4 Pounds and would insulate a pot really well.

 

[honeymonster]

The stock pot only costs 28 Pounds inc deliver and it came from Germany in 3 days. I thought it was a great deal.

I built my mash tun for my large system from 2 30 liter fermentor buckets. To keep the temp I used a pump and recirculated the water through the HTL. Its a huge pain though so I may changes this to insulate it properly or use a cooler like a lot of folks.

See: http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49652

You could do the same with your 10 liters ones,

£28 sounds like a great deal. I'm sure I'll get on the shiney bandwagon at some point :)

Thanks for the link. I'll have a proper read through in the morning.

 

[hulmea]

3rd brew today. A basic IPA. I will be playing this week with using the same hops but different malt combinations.

Here is the base so I can compare using only Maris Otter:

1591.53 g Pale Malt, Maris Otter
7.78 g Citra [13.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop
4.02 g Citra [13.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop
4.02 g Simcoe [15.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop
11.48 g Citra [13.80 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop
11.48 g Simcoe [15.20 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop

OG was 1.060 so on target for a 6.4 ABV

 

[howyoubrewin]

I did my first 1 gallon AG on Fri. A NZ pale ale which is fermenting away nicely and smelling amazing too! Below are the details.

1000g lager malt
40g caramalt
3g Wakatu [6.67%] @60 mins
3g Cascade [5.5%]@ 60 mins
2g Wakatu @45 mins
2g Cascade @45 mins
2g Cascade @20 mins
2g Cascade @10 mins
2g Wai-iti [3%] @10 mins
2g Wai-iti @0 mins
3g Wai-iti dry hopped for 5 days.

IBU-36.9
SRM-5.7
60 min mash @ 66°
OG 1.052.

I sat the pot on a blanket with a hot water bottle folded into it and wrapped two bathrobes around the pot which worked really well as I only dropped 1°C during the mash. Not the most sophisticated system I know but it worked so big woohoo!

 

[hulmea]

That sounds nice. If that turns out well let me know and I will give it a go.

1 C loss is great I may have to try that. I am now just using a small amount of heat but if I don't stir it enough in the mash then the grain acts like a heat insulator on the bottom so the tempts down there may be getting to high.

I do have a cooler I could use but want to try and avoid more cleaning up :-)

 

[howyoubrewin]

I hear you. The less equipment to clean after, the better. I found that,like you, I was getting false readings on the thermometer if I moved it too much. Every so often I just aggravated the wort to allow heat displacement until I got a steady temp. The brew is in day 4 of fermentation just now and the colour and aroma is amazing. I have high hopes for it. This brew is geared toward my other half as she tried a NZ pale ale in a craft beer pub in Edinburgh and really enjoyed it so I will be sure and relay her critique of my effort here when the time comes!

 

[hulmea]

Good news bad news today.

Good news the IPA is has nearly finished fermenting and tastes great. Should be a ABV of 6.2 percent.

IPA
Stated 26/1 OG 1.059
Secondary ferment 2/2 G 1.012

Will leave it in the secondary for anther 2 weeks and then bottle. Taste great so far.

OP's

Both of these have stalled out at 1.022

Brewed 20th Jan OG 1.055
Secodary fermentor 25th Jan G 1.022
Todays reading 2 feb G1.022

May have to re-pitch the yeast. Taste ok though.

 

[hulmea]

3 IPA's brewed today. I used the same wort to make 3 different IPAs. All single hopped. 60 mins 10 mins and dry.

Grain Bill for wort:

Pilsner 2330G
Caramalt 175g
This makes 9 Liters or beer.

3 Boils with 3 hops. 55 IBU was the aim so I can then mix and match the brews to find the combination I like

90 Mins Boil.

Simco
Citra
Pacific Gem

I plan on doing the same with Marris Otter instead of Pillsner latter this week.

The boil as this was a 90 mins because of using the Pillsner I had a lot less wort than I expected. I had to top with water to get the OG back to 1.060 for each of them. It was about 1.110 to start with. :-)

 

[howyoubrewin]

Well tonight is the first taste test of my AG#1 recipe, a NZ pale ale. The recipe is listed on a previous post on this thread and I promised a bit of a critique on the beer.
As i type this post it has been sitting for 10 mins and still has a good two finger head on it. The carbonation is pretty good and the colour is very light,almost pilsner in colour. There is a zesty, tropical fruit nose to the beer with very subtle bitterness and a light, smooth mouth feel from the lager malt. The initial taste is punchy grapefruit and citrus due to the late additions and dry hopping and it is finished with a very subtle bitterness.
I am very proud of this attempt for a first AG and more importantly Mrs Howyoubrewin said she couldn't tell the difference between my beer and the craft beer she tried while on holiday. I will continue to tweek and experiment but I encourage all brewers to try the hops in this recipe as they work really well together.

Cheers!

 

[clibit]

Sounds brilliant. I remember ny first glass of AG beer too. A very special moment!

 

[howyoubrewin]

It was a special moment clibit. I have read and listened to many people say that their first AG brew was a completely different experience to anything else and i always felt they were embellishing a little but no. I now understand!

 

[hulmea]

Its been a while so I though it time for an update.

I have 4 brews in front of me. 3 Single hoped Pilsner Caramalt. One Simco/Citra mix.

Pacific Gem > Light subtle and very moreish
Cita > Has the taste of a brew dog style ale. Very nice if a little unrefined.
Simco > Not as sharp as the Citra but more flavor.

Simco/Citra mix > Just right :-)

I then mixed in a bit of the pacific gem to the simco/cita and it taste great.

 

[GHW]

To insulate my pot when I did my first mash I took the pot off the cooker, put it on an old rug and put a duvet over it. It dropped about 0.5c in an hour.

Didn't look pretty but worked a treat

 

[clibit]

Its been a while so I though it time for an update.

I have 4 brews in front of me. 3 Single hoped Pilsner Caramalt. One Simco/Citra mix.

Pacific Gem > Light subtle and very moreish
Cita > Has the taste of a brew dog style ale. Very nice if a little unrefined.
Simco > Not as sharp as the Citra but more flavor.

Simco/Citra mix > Just right :-)

I then mixed in a bit of the pacific gem to the simco/cita and it taste great.

Interesting, thanks. I like Simcoe a lot, and I like Citra. Not tried Pac Gem.