First AG BIAB

[mc88]

Seems like a good 1st brew to me !

Everything your asking is down to personal preference. Brulospohy has some good articles that have tested options your mentioning. Lid on/off boils and mashes for example. Personally I think for the average homebrewer, especially starting out, it makes no difference...

http://brulosophy.com/exbeeriments/

I use the plastic fermentors and have used taps and the base and siphons. I flit between using both tbh but always found I can get more beer out of FV when siphoned however you have to be careful to leave the trub. I don't like wasting beer. A tap however gives you consistent wastage which you could build into your process to compensate for. It's all about knowing your boil offs, grain absorption etc for your setup which will be unquiet to you

Yeah I think it went well! I bought some cascade pellets too so going to do a single hop cascade pale ale next. As for siphons, do you use a autosiphon, racking cane or just a standard siphon?

That exbeeriments page is really interesting! Just been reading the one about whether or not squeezing the grain bag after the mash has any effect - it appears that the only difference was that the squeezed grain bag beer was slightly less clear.

 

[mc88]

Some good answers there from Hamster.

What alpha acid Amarillo was the recipe based on ? and what alpha acid are the Amarillo hops you have received ?

I suspect they are close enough to just use as is without it affecting the brewed beer to any noticeable effect.

In the end I used the brewersfriend calculator to adjust the amount of hops. Recipe quoted 40IBU with 5% Amarillo but I was supplied with 6.6% Amarillo so dialled down the hops so the calculator gave me 40IBU.

 

[Spapro]

In the end I used the brewersfriend calculator to adjust the amount of hops. Recipe quoted 40IBU with 5% Amarillo but I was supplied with 6.6% Amarillo so dialled down the hops so the calculator gave me 40IBU.

Sounds like you adjusted and dialled back well for the extra Alpha %. Sure it will turn out good, and bets of luck with your planned Cascade Pale.

I love both Amarillo and Cascade, two of my favourite hops. Another good one is Galaxy - Fruit Cocktail but in a very good way !

 

[hamster]

Yeah I think it went well! I bought some cascade pellets too so going to do a single hop cascade pale ale next. As for siphons, do you use a autosiphon, racking cane or just a standard siphon?

I use a standard pipe with a fllter on the end and I'm careful not to take the crap with me. You could do this into your bottling bucket a few days early and let it settle once again which will filter it further although I don't bother...

As far as a cascade brew goes this is worth a look...

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/28546/sierra-nevada-pale-ale-clone

Mine came out different to what a Sierra Nevada tastes like but by the love of god it's a good beer. I think I've added more cascade that I should have and it's come out with more bitterness. One of my best alongside the Cwtch clone I've done...

Food for thought

 

[mc88]

Sounds like you adjusted and dialled back well for the extra Alpha %. Sure it will turn out good, and bets of luck with your planned Cascade Pale.

I love both Amarillo and Cascade, two of my favourite hops. Another good one is Galaxy - Fruit Cocktail but in a very good way !

Yeah I think on my next brew I'll feel a lot more comfortable with the process. I can't wait to get it bottled, will be batch priming and keep it at fermenting temp for a few weeks before trying the first one, fingers crossed it's a good one! Will put Galaxy hops on my list too.

I fancy trying a Black IPA after the cascade but might upgrade to a bigger pot first. Is 33L probs as big a pot as would be recommended for stove top BIAB? Is it worth getting fittings on BIAB pots or not really worth it?

 

[mc88]

I use a standard pipe with a fllter on the end and I'm careful not to take the crap with me. You could do this into your bottling bucket a few days early and let it settle once again which will filter it further although I don't bother...

As far as a cascade brew goes this is worth a look...

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/28546/sierra-nevada-pale-ale-clone

Mine came out different to what a Sierra Nevada tastes like but by the love of god it's a good beer. I think I've added more cascade that I should have and it's come out with more bitterness. One of my best alongside the Cwtch clone I've done...

Food for thought

What do you mean by standard pipe with a filter on the end? I'm interested as the siphoning to fermenter felt like the biggest hassle of the brew (which is pleasing!).

I'll check out the recipe, Sierra Nevada is one of my favourite beers so might give that a go instead of the Greg Hughes cascade single hop ale I was planning. Thanks for your advice :)

 

[chewie]

Overall, I enjoyed the brew day but it took me around 7 hours start to finish! I think I'll be able to knock at least a few hours off that next time around but I still feel like I have ended up with quite a modest amount of beer for the time spent. However, I think I've learnt plenty.

This is one of the problems with doing small batches, there is very little extra time taken to do 10l or 50l with the exception of heating water. Speed will increase as you get more familiar with each step, a wort chiller instead of an ice water bath chill will speed your cooling, these can be self made for around �£20. Warm water coming from the chiller can be saved and used for cleaning.

 

[Spapro]

Yeah I think on my next brew I'll feel a lot more comfortable with the process. I can't wait to get it bottled, will be batch priming and keep it at fermenting temp for a few weeks before trying the first one, fingers crossed it's a good one! Will put Galaxy hops on my list too.

I fancy trying a Black IPA after the cascade but might upgrade to a bigger pot first. Is 33L probs as big a pot as would be recommended for stove top BIAB? Is it worth getting fittings on BIAB pots or not really worth it?

This is a very nice 33l pot from the Maltmiller (I've had a 33l and a 50l from them and both were Bergland from Germany).

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=387

Its fitted with a bazooka filter which makes transferring to FV so much easier - leaves all the hops and trub in the boiler.

I've added electrical elements to mine and brew in my garage but should be fine on your domestic hob - particularly if you positon over 2-3 gas burners.

Boiling 30 litres of wort does generate a lot of steam/condensation so a lot of us moved out the kitchen into brew sheds, garages or outdoors where you can make as much mess as you like.

Also worth having the 90° angled end to pop in the tap to transfer to FV:
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=342
Or one of these with some hose to transfer to FV:
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=341

This is how the maltmiller bazooka looks inside the pot (I added the elements),

 

[hamster]

What do you mean by standard pipe with a filter on the end? I'm interested as the siphoning to fermenter felt like the biggest hassle of the brew (which is pleasing!).

I use this for siphoning from FV to Bottling Bucket

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Standard-...ew-Wine-Making-Simple-To-Siphon-/272121674473

Then this for bottling...

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=1638