1st BIAB UNDERWAY

[coldfoot80]

Well I finally bit the bullet and went for my 1st BIAB, I had been quite nervous beforehand, not fully understanding methods such as WORT, SPARGE etc... but have to say it was pretty straight forward and much more enjoyable than using a pre-made kit and fermenting.

Having used kits such as Coopers and Razorback the beers were drinkable but not enjoyable to the level that I was looking for, I don't brew enough to warrant spending lots of money on mash tuns and bog boiler kettles, so I got a 20 litre pot form Argos (£20) bought some grain and hops form my local home brew shop and off I went.


17 litres
90 mins MASH
60 mins BOIL
Final volume 12 litres

2.5kg maris otter
Chinook & Simcoe hops added towards the end of the boil and I will dry hop an a few days time. I wanted to use Nelson Sauvin but my local shop didnt have any and I couldnt wait any longer to get started.

The wort looked much better than in previous brews I had done using kits, it looked a golden caramel colour and not dark mud like colour, the hops smelled beautiful going in and I'm very hopeful that this will turn out to be a great beer.

The one thing that did suprise me was the length of time it took to chill the WORT down, I put it in an ice bath and thought 10 mins but it took almost 30 mins, anyway yeast was pitched and put on my heat pad to control the temp.

Fingers crossed in a few weeks I'll have a nice IPA to get stuck into.

I'm not too sure on which hops work together well so if anyone has any suggestions for future brews that would be great.


Cheers

[alexlark]

Sounds good for your first attempt! I've only done 2 BIAB brews myself. For my second I just went for marris otter and Amarillo hops. Best brew I've done! Your Chinook and Simcoe combo sounds nice.

If your interested in doing bigger batches you can use the Maxi BIAB method. You should be able to get 23L out of your pot. I got 21L out of my 19L pot on my first BIAB, here: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=67731

Up next for me is a Hobgoblin clone

Happy brewing

[coldfoot80]

Cheers for that, good info !

those recipes look good, I'm drinking a Hobgoblin now....how ironic


thanks

[Jocky]

If you've been doing kits and finding the results ok ish, then you're ready for BIAB, and you will probably find the results more than worth the effort.

Enjoy!