First BIAB AG IPA - An autopsy of disaster

[chuff76]

I wanted to document my day for my own sanity and perhaps the seasoned brewers out there can identify what went wrong here and help me to improve next time.

Myself: I started around a year ago and have successfully brewed 6 kits in that time, I wanted to graduate to AG and decided BIAB was the right method for me.

My kit: In addition to all of my kit brewing equipment, I recently bought a Buffalo GL349 40 litre boiler and a large voile BIAB bag, a wort chiller and a stainless steel hop spider.

My first BIAB - The plan: I wanted to brew an American style IPA that looked like this:
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 6.258
Total Hops (g): 200.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.060 (°P): 14.7
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.37 %
Colour (SRM): 8.1 (EBC): 16.0
Bitterness (IBU): 59.0 (Tinseth)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
5.632 kg United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (90%)
0.313 kg German - Munich Light (5%)
0.313 kg United Kingdom - Crystal 30L (5%)

Hop Bill
----------------
20.0 g Centennial Leaf (10% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.9 g/L)
20.0 g Simcoe Leaf (12.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.9 g/L)
25.0 g Centennial Leaf (10% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.1 g/L)
25.0 g Simcoe Leaf (12.7% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (1.1 g/L)
25.0 g Centennial Leaf (10% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.1 g/L)
25.0 g Simcoe Leaf (12.7% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma) (1.1 g/L)
30.0 g Centennial Leaf (10% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.3 g/L)
30.0 g Simcoe Leaf (12.7% Alpha) @ 0 Days (Dry Hop) (1.3 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05


My brew day:
Ø Boiler just outside the back door and filled the boiler with 35l of water - This volume was suggested to me by someone here and sounded reasonable - I heated it up to strike temperature then remembered that this would drop so googled a calculator - The calculator suggested a starting temp of 74˚C.
Ø We got to 74, heat off and bag in. First mistake - I put pretty much the whole bag in and started adding grain - I soon realised this wasn’t right and pulled it right up so the grain was suspended and folded the bag down over the sides - Bulldog clips all round to keep in place - gradually poured in all of my grain stirring as we went, by the time it was all in, the boiler was absolutely brimming full.
Ø Wrapped the boiler in camping mat and checked temp - We were too high - It had only dropped from 74˚C - 71˚C, so I removed the mat and waited for it to cool - It took around 15 mins - I used this time to keep stirring. Got to 68˚C, lid on, camping mat and sleeping bag over the top.
Ø The grains infused for an hour at 68˚C, didn’t drop a single degree.
Ø Removed the bag - Laid a wire cake rack across the boiler to rest the bag on while it drained - The wire rack bent, so after a good bit of squeezing I chucked it into a bucket and took a sample of the wort.
Ø My SG is miles off - Only 1.040 - Not knowing what had gone wrong or how to remedy it, I decided to put the bag of grain back in and stir it again, hoping I could coax out a bit more sweetness, and then I recalled reading somewhere about a ‘mash out’ so thought I’d try raising the temperature a bit - Switched the boiler on…
Ø This is the first time I’d switched it on with anything other than just water - It seemed to make some loud kettle boiling noises - In fact it seemed a bit too much so I tried moving the bag, lifting it off the bottom when suddenly the boiler went dead.
Ø This was only 5 minutes and I’d only gone up a degree or two, but as the boiler died I had no choice but to remove the bag again - Squeezed it out good and put in a bucket.
Ø So this is my wort - I chilled a sample down to 20˚C and tested, still at 1.040.
Ø Took the boiler inside and lifted onto the kitchen surface - This is a 2 man job, or one man + long suffering wife.
Ø Boiler still not responding, but the wife notices a reset switch underneath and we’re soon back in action.
Ø Cranked it up to MAX and waiting for it to boil - In the meantime I’m googling, posting on forum and interrogating my books looking for answers.
Ø We reach 100˚C, hop spider is in and in go my first lot of hops and timer started.
Ø We get a rolling boil - It’s not particularly vigorous, but it’s rolling. For 5 minutes anyway, then we plink off to ‘keeping warm’… Unplug it, press the reset switch, and at this point realise the importance of wearing long sleeves as the inside of my arm got burnt against the side of the boiler(twice).
Ø It starts heating again, and went on like this for the whole boil - 5 mins on and rolling, 5 mins off ..
Ø Immense amounts of break material floating about - I don’t know how normal this is or how much I should expect, hope for the best.
Ø Some helpful people on the forum gave me a few tips, I decided to extend the boil as I had loads of wort and hoped to improve the SG a bit closer to target.
Ø Due to the lack of constant rolling boil, I didn’t seem to get enough boil off and after over 90 mins I called it and added my 10 minute hops and half a protofloc tablet and my immersion chiller.
Ø At flame out I ran the chiller for 5 mins and dropped down to about 80˚C - I then switched it off and added my aroma hops and left it for a while.
Ø My total boil time is now over 2 hours - I still appear to have too much wort, but no way of measuring the volume.
Ø It’s at this point that I decided to add some dextrose - It was a bit of a half-hearted effort, and it looked loads so I only added 250g which I boiled in some water for 5 mins then added to the boiler.
Ø Hop spider out and Immersion chiller on and start cleaning up this massive mess that I’ve made.
Ø The chiller ran for ages but the temp just wasn’t going down any further than about 40˚C - So I left the lid on and we went out for dinner. Got back a couple of hours later and we’re around 26˚C
Ø Opened the tap and ran the wort through a sieve, which I’d lined with a bit of sanitised voile - The voile wasn’t needed and it appears the protofloc had done a brilliant job - I got some nice clear wort, leaving all the **** in the last couple of inches at bottom of the boiler.
Ø Amazingly. I ended up with less in the FV than expected! The whole day I’d been worried about having too much liquid in the boiler, but only got 21l in the FV.
Ø The sieve did a good job of aerating the wort, but I gave it a good thrash with the paddle anyway before adding the Safale US-05
Ø On cleanup - It appears the boiler had some burn/scorch marks on the element like caramelised sugar - I’m guessing this was at my failed ‘mash out’ when the unit required a reset and wonder if this had any bearing on it’s inability to hold the rolling boil.
Ø I recalibrated my refractometer, final sample at 20˚C gives me 1.045 so a long way off my 1.060 target.
Ø I started at Midday, and was still cleaning up at 10pm - This was a real trial by fire, beset with problems and mistakes. What on earth am I doing, why the hell did I choose this hobby… A bottle of my last brew from the fridge soon helped to overcome these feelings.

We have activity this morning - Not loads, but it’s definitely bubbling away…

Someone has suggested adding some DME and making this a partial mash - Would anyone be able to advise me on this, what to add, how and when - I have never used DME

And if anyone can shed some light on why I might have got such terrible efficiency, or any of the other multiple issues that I struggled with here I would be very appreciative - Feeling a bit beaten down today, show me the light!!

 

[Covrich]

A few things to note

1) your doing Full BIAB, maybe look at the crush.. I think it benefits hughley from a fine crush this will aid your efficiency a lot.. might me worth investing in a grain mill.. you can mill your grains a day or so before if it helps break it up

2) your strike water was too hot and you obviously realised this, you may have mashed a touch higher than ideal too..

3) you could give your mash a stir half way through to help

4) you may want to "MASH out" with a cake stand on the bottom of your pot or a false bottom before you start makes this easy as you wont need to remove the grain bag just heat the total thing up to 75 degrees or so then flame out.. stir and hold for another 10 minutes.. stir and then remove grains proceeding on to boil..


You made it, okay a few mistakes and a lot to learn from but you have some things you can work on.. don't worry it will get quicker. I do true BIAB like you and can now knock out a batch in around 5 hours give or take 30 mins.

 

[chuff76]

Cheers Covrich

I think with a bit more organisation I could shorten the day - There are periods when I could be doing other things rather than just hovering around it watching the thermometer.

From your experience, how do you think this beer I've made will turn out ? Will it still be the same IPA flavour, or will the balance be out of whack ? I expect I might get around 4.5% ?

As for adding DME - Should I bother or just leave it as a session ale? It's already fermenting, so how would adding sugars part way through affect the ferment ?

 

[Simonh82]

Grain crush could be one factor. I think the high starting temp could also affect things too. 71oC is very high and will have been denatured the mash enzymes from the outset. By the time you got down to 68oC there may not have been enough to get the job done.

The boil cut outs are frustrating. This was one reason I went for a Burco rather than a buffalo boiler. There are lots of threads on how to modify them to solve this problem though.

Don't be surprised if this brew finished early with quite a high final gravity. Chalk it up to experience and move on. The recipe looked cracking so I'm sure you will make great beer.

When using the chiller it is important to either gently stir the wort or move the chiller around. Wort is quite a good insulator and once the wort in contact with the chiller is cold it insulates the rest from the chiller. I tend to gently stir with a paddle to keep hot wort in contact with the chiller.

Good luck with the next brew!

 

[TheKitchInn]

I BIAB and thoroughly recommend looking into Biabacus...software designed specifically for BIAB. It operates via a spreadsheet and is free. Takes a while to get your head around all the data as it is pretty comprehensive but it will be be able to give you accurate water volumes required for different grain bills etc.

 

[chuff76]

I BIAB and thoroughly recommend looking into Biabacus...software designed specifically for BIAB. It operates via a spreadsheet and is free. Takes a while to get your head around all the data as it is pretty comprehensive but it will be be able to give you accurate water volumes required for different grain bills etc.

I have BIABacus on my desktop but it might as well have been written in mandarin for all the sense I could make of it, will take another look!!

 

[Spapro]

Stirring the grains as you add them to avoid clumps helps (looks like you did this), stirring the grains once or twice during the mash helps with efficiency a lot. The grains want to be floating fairly freely in the mash water - was your bag large enough to allow the mash water to permeate through the 6kg grains freely ?

How many litres did you have in the boiler prior to transferring to the FV ?

Oh, and trying to sort out the Buffalo boiler so its not cutting out should be a priority - sounds like a proper pain that !

Your next brew will go much smoother I am sure, even this one will be produce very drinkable beer no doubt.

 

[chuff76]

Grain crush could be one factor. I think the high starting temp could also affect things too. 71oC is very high and will have been denatured the mash enzymes from the outset. By the time you got down to 68oC there may not have been enough to get the job done.

The boil cut outs are frustrating. This was one reason I went for a Burco rather than a buffalo boiler. There are lots of threads on how to modify them to solve this problem though.

Don't be surprised if this brew finished early with quite a high final gravity. Chalk it up to experience and move on. The recipe looked cracking so I'm sure you will make great beer.

When using the chiller it is important to either gently stir the wort or move the chiller around. Wort is quite a good insulator and once the wort in contact with the chiller is cold it insulates the rest from the chiller. I tend to gently stir with a paddle to keep hot wort in contact with the chiller.

Good luck with the next brew!

I was originally looking a Burco, but got the other as I wanted 40l for the biggest batch I could manage. With the cutouts, will it still achieve what's needed from the boil or will I need to butcher the electronics? I spent the time wishing I'd gone for gas burners instead

 

[TheKitchInn]

If you send me your kettle dimensions and recipe I'm happy to dial it in and give you the basic info.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

 

[chuff76]

I dont have them to hand but dimensions on Nisbets says:

Dimensions 630(H) x 433(W) x 440(D)mm

It's supposed to be 40l, but with 35 in there it was pretty damn full!

Cheers !

 

[TheKitchInn]

It's the internal height and diameter we'll need. A sparge and/or top up in the Fv might be the way to get full length brews at a high og.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

 

[marlon]

Chuff, I too have done several kits and am about to dive into biab. Your problems sound like exactly what would happen to me, so I'm glued to this thread. Keep reporting.....please......?

 

[IainM]

With the longer boil I suspect you have extracted more bitterness from the early hop additions. Add to this the lower OG, and I suspect your BU:GU ratio will be quite different from what you planned. On the other hand, you did mash high, so hopefully the unfermentable sugars will partly redress the balance, even if that does leave you with a very low abv. There are a ton of posts on here about frustrating first BIABs, including my own, but you will have beer and you will have learnt a lot about the process and your set-up, so it'll be worth it in the long run.

 

[chuff76]

With the longer boil I suspect you have extracted more bitterness from the early hop additions. Add to this the lower OG, and I suspect your BU:GU ratio will be quite different from what you planned. On the other hand, you did mash high, so hopefully the unfermentable sugars will partly redress the balance, even if that does leave you with a very low abv. There are a ton of posts on here about frustrating first BIABs, including my own, but you will have beer and you will have learnt a lot about the process and your set-up, so it'll be worth it in the long run.

Thanks Iain, it certainly won't deter me from trying again (although I certainly had my moments yesterday) and hopefully I can only improve next time.

 

[chuff76]

It's the internal height and diameter we'll need. A sparge and/or top up in the Fv might be the way to get full length brews at a high og.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

I'll have to get my measure out later, cheers :thumb:

 

[JFB]

My first BIAB went a bit pear shaped and I thought the beer would turn out rubbish. The first bottle proved this, it was well bitter and just a bit horrible.
Now after about six weeks its seems quite a nice beer.
So don't despare my bet is you'll have a nice beer at the end. And it wouldn't be so much fun if we didn't have a few problems to overcome.

 

[Gomas]

Quite a read! Did you sparge after taking your SG? I am surprised that your boil off only increased it to 1045 if you boiled from around 35 L to 21L, that should create a much bigger increase, are you sure that you read it right both times?

Don't know whether it's necessary or not, but I have always found it helpful to empty your boiler into a FV (no need to sterilise) after the mash, leaving a lot of the mash debris behind. You can also sparge a bit easier. This allows you to check the preboil volume and recalculate. Once your ready, quick rinse of the FV, running's back in and your good to boil.

Don't despair, it really is easy once you get going, I can usually brew start to finish with a 30l burco (all tidying done) in 3 hours, pitching a bit later depending on batch size.

 

[nicowk]

Having done my first BIAB recently, you have my full sympathy as this sounds a right nightmare!

 

[chuff76]

My first BIAB went a bit pear shaped and I thought the beer would turn out rubbish. The first bottle proved this, it was well bitter and just a bit horrible.
Now after about six weeks its seems quite a nice beer.
So don't despare my bet is you'll have a nice beer at the end. And it wouldn't be so much fun if we didn't have a few problems to overcome.

I'm quite hopeful that I will at least get a reasonable beer out of this, but expect the ABV to be only 4.something%. So I've made a session beer, so long as it tastes okay - I've learned very well that leaving it as long as possible to condition is absolutely essential in homebrewing :)

 

[chuff76]

Quite a read! Did you sparge after taking your SG? I am surprised that your boil off only increased it to 1045 if you boiled from around 35 L to 21L, that should create a much bigger increase, are you sure that you read it right both times?

Don't know whether it's necessary or not, but I have always found it helpful to empty your boiler into a FV (no need to sterilise) after the mash, leaving a lot of the mash debris behind. You can also sparge a bit easier. This allows you to check the preboil volume and recalculate. Once your ready, quick rinse of the FV, running's back in and your good to boil.

Don't despair, it really is easy once you get going, I can usually brew start to finish with a 30l burco (all tidying done) in 3 hours, pitching a bit later depending on batch size.

I didn't sparge as that is part of the attraction of BIAB for me, simplicity (haha)

I started out with 35l, lost 'some' of that absorbed into my grain then did my boil with an unknown boil volume.

It looked quite high to me, even when the boil had finished I was worried it would be too much, but by the time I'd got it into the FV all that was left in the boiler was a few litres and a bunch of crud in the bottom - Honeslty that protofloc, if that was responsible, worked an absolute treat!! During the boil the whole thing was full of coagulated blobs of stuff, even taking small samples they were full of it, but I ran it through a voile into the FV and the voile had barely anything in it, looks like I left most of it in the boiler.

I spent £45 on a large stainless steel hop spider(which was a complete b*tch to clean) - it looks cool, and it certainly kept all of the hop matter out of my wort, but I do wonder how efficiently my hops will have performed - Time will tell