wanting to do my first AG BIAB...

[tom_p87]

Hi all, I'm looking to do my first AG BIAB as I want to keep the setup as cheap as possible (at least for now). Hopefully this is the right forum for a few questions!

- I've got myself a 19L brew pot. Do you think this would fit the full amount of water required for a 3 gallon (US) recipe?
- I'm thinking of trying a SMaSH recipe as a starting point. Would you recommend this approach or something different?
- With a decent sized gas hob do you think it's got the grunt to heat 19L? I have read that some people just use their oven...?

Would appreciate any help, up to now I have just done a few kits but would love to try a recipe from scratch. Any recommendations on where you buy your ingredients from would also be great

Thanks

Tom

 

[Galena]

Ingredients I just bought my first AG batch from Geterbrewed, reason being they have a custom recipe maker where you can order exactly the amount of grain and hops you want and no extra charge for small amounts or forced to buy more than you need so its a good way to try out different recipes and small batches.
Less of a problem if you are going for Smash recipes, I'm about to do the same and am going to buy a 25Kg sack of base malt and then vary the hops in small batches.

 

[NormanHurst]

Hi all, I'm looking to do my first AG BIAB as I want to keep the setup as cheap as possible (at least for now). Hopefully this is the right forum for a few questions!

- I've got myself a 19L brew pot. Do you think this would fit the full amount of water required for a 3 gallon (US) recipe?
- I'm thinking of trying a SMaSH recipe as a starting point. Would you recommend this approach or something different?
- With a decent sized gas hob do you think it's got the grunt to heat 19L? I have read that some people just use their oven...?

Would appreciate any help, up to now I have just done a few kits but would love to try a recipe from scratch. Any recommendations on where you buy your ingredients from would also be great

Thanks

Tom

Hi Tom. Short answer - yes. I started a few months back and have used a similar set up 4 times. I use a 20L pot and it boils fine on a gas hob. Not the quickest to the boil but it gets there.

I tend to just half standard 23L recipes and aim for 11.5L in a 15L plastic FV. Simple enough to convert with or without brewing software.

SMaSH definitely a good place to start as you get your bearings. I did 2 before tweaking with some extra grains and different hops. Enjoy!

 

[tom_p87]

thanks both for the quick responses! @NormanHurst any chance of sharing those 2 recipes at all? or pointing me at a good website you might have used?

 

[NormanHurst]

I started here as a few other members did... Have a go at simple AG

My first was a 5L Citra and it was horrid. I think I made every mistake going including pitching enough Yeast to ferment 500L rather than 5!

Second time, I did a 10L Cascade and it's much, much better (slightly bodged bottle priming apart)..

 

[tom_p87]

thanks a lot for the advice!

 

[Tim Wilkes]

@MyQul also has an excellent maxi BIAB method if you search for it.

 

[PaulCa]

I'm a BIAB'er.

I use a 30 Litre canteen 3Kw boiler. If you go this option you will need a power controller or TRIAC dimmer to maintain a rolling boil and not cause it to rain in the kitchen... don't ask how I know that.

I use 5 gallon paint strainer bags for grain. About 15L of strike water at 75*C. Mash for 1 hour with a temp probe in the middle, poking it every 15-20 minutes. Heating very, very gently if needed, but usually covering the boiler in a quilt this isn't needed.

I sparge in a 15 litre bucket with kettles at 75C, just washing the grains in the bag and using the extra water to bring the boil volume up.

I have a copper coil wort cooler hooked up to a cold tap and down the drain.

The boiler has a tap, though it often clogs and needs poked at.

In 19L... I probably wouldn't boil more than 15L in it and be careful with the hot break foam.

You will need to consider how you are cooling the wort and how you are getting the wort back out of the pot. Lifting a 15-19Kg pot full of hot wort is not wise.

cheer,
Paul

 

[MyQul]

I used to do 19L boils on my biggest gas hob ring no problems