Going biab. But what kit?

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

It's 50l. Not wanting to make anywhere near that volume though as nowhere to put it. I've Prob got about 30 500ml bottles I'm thinking of filling for summer. So was after either a super hoppy beer to try make or a summer ale as proposed. But this would be my first BIAB so I'm clueless and confused.

 

[MyQul]

So was after either a super hoppy beer to try make or a summer ale as proposed. .

Just so your clear here, a super hoppy beer and my summer ale IBU - wise are almost polar opposite. A super hoppy beer will have high IBU with a big hop punch wheras my summer ale is low IBU with mellow hoppyness.

As a suggestion, for your first BIAB you might want to go for a SMaSH (single malt and single hop) for simplicity. It would be a good one for summer beer too. As it would be nice and light as it only has base malt in it and you can either do a supper hoppy SMaSH or an easy drinking session SMaSH

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Just wanting to fill some bottles I have with something different than bitters/ales. So summer ale be good or something hoppy having liked one I tasted at weekend.

 

[clibit]

You can switch Brewmate into BIAB mode and it will tell you the water volumes.

But you have to enter things like the boil off rate, grain absorption and the loss to trub etc so first time you do it you can make a rough estimate.

If you work backwards, you want 23 litres in the FV.

You will lose some to the cooling process, about 4% - approx 1 litre.
You will lose some to hops and trub in the bottom of the boiler - maybe 2 litres.
You will lose some to evaporation (you should know this now roughly) - 5 litres? (wild guess)
You will lose some to grain absorption - around 5 litres for 5kg of grain

Meaning you would do your BIAB mash with about 36 litres - 23 plus 13.

If my figures are correct, you need to adjust based on your experience of using your equipment with your extract brews.

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Think I need to get brew mate.

 

[MyQul]

You can switch Brewmate into BIAB mode and it will tell you the water volumes.

But you have to enter things like the boil off rate, grain absorption and the loss to trub etc so first time you do it you can make a rough estimate.

If you work backwards, you want 23 litres in the FV.

You will lose some to the cooling process, about 4% - approx 1 litre.
You will lose some to hops and trub in the bottom of the boiler - maybe 2 litres.
You will lose some to evaporation (you should know this now roughly) - 5 litres? (wild guess)
You will lose some to grain absorption - around 5 litres for 5kg of grain

Meaning you would do your BIAB mash with about 36 litres - 23 plus 13.

If my figures are correct, you need to adjust based on your experience of using your equipment with your extract brews.

This is a lot more clearer than my ramblings

 

[MyQul]

Think I need to get brew mate.

Just download it. It's free

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

I'll have a look now. Does it work on Macs?

 

[clibit]

Brewmate is great. Might not be Mac compatible though...

I think a smash is a good idea - they make great beers. A lot of the world's great beers are very simple. You can add a bit of crystal or caramalt or carapils to add a bit of body and complexity/sweetness. Use a favourite hop, like Amarillo, Citra, Centennial, Galaxy for an American hop style (though Galaxy is Australian!), or First Gold, EKG etc for an English style, Motueka, Nelson Sauvin, Wakatu, Green Bullet for a NZ flavour, or a nice German hop. Decide whether you want mainly bitterness, to counter the malt, or a lot of hop flavour, by adding most of the hops late in the boil.

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Loving this brewing lark.

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Loving the smell and taste of the styrians in my latest brew attempt.

 

[clibit]

You could try Bobek, another Styrian hop, one of my favourite hops.

 

[MyQul]

Loving this brewing lark.

Great isn't it? As you do more recipes you soon find yourself fine tuning your prefered style of beer to your particular tastes. I recently made a 'dry as the sahara' guinness clone which in my opinon is far superior to the stuff they churn out at St James's gate

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Space is my limitation and funds or I'd be having FV lids popping all over the house. Mrs Bungle though may think different.

 

[MyQul]

Space is my limitation and funds or I'd be having FV lids popping all over the house. Mrs Bungle though may think different.

Me too but tbh unless your giving your beer away to a lot of people I don't think you need more than two FV's on the go at any one time.

I now brew once every three weeks. I only ever have one FV on the go and still have plenty of beer to drink - I have about 200 330ml bottles and there are only ever about 60 - 70 max empty at any one time

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Storing what I make is more the issues. Two legs is all I have at present. Hence wanting to utilise the pop top bottles ive acquired.

 

[MyQul]

It's one of the reasons I don't brew more often as 200 is my maximum bottle storage capacity so I wouldn't have anywher to put it all

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Sure it's a problem most have. Ah well.

 

[Bunglebrewsbeer]

Brewmate not for Macs ive just confirmed. Booooooo.

 

[GHW]

Right, completely contrary to my OP I think gas is the way forward. My life would be easier and cheaper with a gas cooker, but I guess getting bottles and a burner has the advantage of outdoor brewing and the associated lack of whinging from wife and kids.

Anyway, malt Miller has the lot (though gas cheaper on Amazon, and I have found the burner £10 cheaper on fleabay, but I'd rather go one stop shop).

If anyone cares this is what I think I'll go for:
Pot http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=387
Burner http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=422
Plus gas hose etc. got mash bag already.

@ bungle, as you have gas bottle experience, I'm assuming I need a regulator too?

Cov, you made a decision? For price/diy effort trade off I think this is a good solution.