First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

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E J Gumby
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First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by E J Gumby » Wed Mar 02, 2016 5:06 pm

So, after studying Alexlark's thread on here from a year or so ago and PhilB's thread on Brewuk plus Ralph's thread on Biabrewer, (Many thanks to all these authors),

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=67731
http://www.brewuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopi ... =28&t=7655
http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=352

I finally took the plunge and did my very first BIAB of any sort, yesterday.
Got the water up to strike temp of 71, but took so long doughing-in and getting the levels right, that the temp had gone down to about 64-65. Was a bit worried about burning the bag, so left it as it was. After checking at 30 mins temp was down to about 63, so after re-reading the posts, applied heat for about 3 -4 mins to get the temp up to 66, which, after re-wrapping the pot in insulation, was constant until the end of the 90 min mash.
The 90 min boil and sparge went OK, although I did have about 2 -3L of sparge left over.
It took absolutely AGES to get the wort down to anything like pitching temp (Pot plonked into sinkful of cold water - changed 6 or 7 times), so once it was below 25, I chucked it in the FV. The volume at this point was 15L(Biabacus said about 12.5) and hydrometer reading was 1065(non-adjusted)
I then topped it up to 23L with cold water (Temp was 16 and hydrometer was 1040( again non-adjusted) and after I re-hydrated the yeast (S04), it finally got pitched at round about midnight. Put the FV up against the heating pipe in the kitchen and now there is a nice krausen forming.

A couple of questions: Should I have thrown the wort into the FV, or should I have syphoned it?
Should I have transferred all of the wort or kept some back? It did look a bit murky in the FV.
What should I have done with the left-over sparge? Could I have added it to the FV?

A couple of thoughts: I think I need a bigger bag. The one I have fits the pot OK but only just. It was a bit awkward to work with.
It took longer than i thought it would - about 12 hours in total from measuring out grains and hops to pitching yeast. (to be fair, most of the time was taken sitting around waiting - mash - boil - cooling). It was my first so I was probably being ultra-cautious. Once I've got a couple more under my belt it'll be quicker.
It was easier and less stressful than I thought.
I can't get my head around Biabacus - may be due to the fact that I've never had to use a spreadsheet in my life.
On balance, it was quite enjoyable, although as I've got a stinking cold, I could hardly smell anything.

Sorry to witter on - Any comments/answers most welcome.

BTW - used Northern Brewer hops - Rob didn't have any Northdown at the time. Used whole hops rather than pellets.

Cheers.
Last edited by E J Gumby on Wed Mar 02, 2016 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Meatymc
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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by Meatymc » Wed Mar 02, 2016 5:26 pm

Congrats on your 1st BIAB - you won't regret it. I'm only on my 4th so don't profess to be anything other than a novice and my experience was much like yours - main problems being time taken to get up to mash temperature, up to boil and then down to pitch (see previous posts).

I bought a HDPE container (plastic food grade high temp tollerance) and had intended transferring the post-boil wort into it and leaving it overnight to cool but then thought why not just leave it in the pan - which I've done. Pitched the following afternoon when it hit the temperature I wanted.

I've done this twice now and fermentation has been fine.

I'm now working my way through my stock of kit beers. Even though my BIAB brews are really too young to appreciate yet they are miles better and I can't see myself ever going back to kits.

Best of luck for brew 2!!

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alexlark
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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by alexlark » Wed Mar 02, 2016 7:10 pm

Sounds like you had a smooth-ish brew day! You'll end up with a cracking brew I'm sure.

Don't worry that everything went in the FV. It will settle out and all drop to the bottom. I use a large sieve from Ikea and started by pouring evrything through that. I now do the same but place an offcut of voile in the sieve too, filters out even the pellet debris.

I kept some wort back when I did the first London Pride in my thread as I didn't want crap going in the FV but I don't worry avout it so much now. My sieve method means I get hardly any kettle wastage.

As for the leftover sparge, I've had that happen too. Just adjust for next time.

Recipe wise, I now use Beersmith, very steep learning curve but cracking software and once dialed in allows you to hit your numbers all the time.

My first brew day took a long time too but then becomes second nature and much quicker (that's when you make silly mistakes! Lol)

Having got hooked on BIAB I went for an upgrade to a 33l pot and bigger, better mash bag. Then I decided to fit a 2.4kw element to the pot. Due to the volume of liquid a syphon as much as possible (into the voile and seive) and tip the rest in.

I also made an immersion chiller as, like you, was shocked how long it takes to get the temp down. My immersion chiller now gets 20l wort down to pitching temp in 15-20 mins.

If I were to change anything I would have gone for a 50l pot as it would give a nice bit of extra boil space without much more outlay than the 33l pot. Saying that I can still do 20L of big APA beer with my kit.

Main thing is enjoy your kit, enjoy the process and enjoy the beer!! Cheers

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by WalesAles » Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:58 pm

E J,
Congrats on your Brew! :D =D>
I don`t like BIAB because it wastes 6Hrs of my life making it! #-o
I made a `Coopers Stout` kit today. Where is my Hydro, Oh Yes, it is in my BIAB `Old Speckled Hen` FV in the Beer Shed! :D
You are Doomed! :D
No going back now! Unless you are like me and still enjoy the 60min bish, bash, bosh of kit brewing! :D =D>

WA

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by rpt » Sat Mar 05, 2016 10:25 am

I usually take 40 hours from setting up to pitching yeast. I overnight mash and use a no-chill cube, which saves my time. Stick with BIABacus as it is the best for BIAB. It looks harder than it is but you can ignore most of it.

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by E J Gumby » Sat Mar 05, 2016 9:00 pm

Thanks for the feedback, lads.

Meatmc, I like the idea of the HDPE container (No-chill cube?). It's the time factor that stresses me out. Mash and boil one day; cool and pitch next day - Lot less stressful. I would feel safer putting the wort into a HPDE container rather than leaving it in the pot.

Alexlark, Good to know that it's OK to transfer it all into the FV. I've got the same sieve as you. Not sure that I need the extra voile as I don't use pellets. When I transferred this one I used a 2L sterilised jug for the first half and then tipped the rest in; the hops did form a nice little filter bed in the sieve.
I think I'll persevere with Biabacus for now 'til I can understand it.

Walesy, Yes I know I'm doomed. I've still got a couple of Wherries to make up, so I'll fit them in between. If it's going to be as good as everybody says it will, I don't think I will go back to kits. As Rob @ The Malt Miller said, when I ordered my grains and hops "You won't look back". (BTW, if anyone else is thinking about trying BIAB and you order your stuff from Rob, let him know you're doing BIAB; He'll put a finer crush on the malt.)

rpt, Overnight Mash? Not heard of that before. Will have to suss it out. Thanks for the tip.

A general observance: Not having used S04 before, I'm not sure how it reacts. Pitched Tuesday PM - Good krausen Weds + Thurs - Krausen gone Fri + today.
Does this sound OK? I'll check gravity tomorrow. I normally leave any brew I do in the FV for 2 weeks before bottling. Any reason to do it differently this time?

Cheers

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by alexlark » Sun Mar 06, 2016 9:38 am

The Ikea sieve really is great for draining the bag and filtering leaf hops. The added voile allows it to be used with pellets and really reduces sediment in the fermenter. Got to say, my process is down to a fine art these days. Brew day went so well yesterday I kept thinking I'd forgotten something!

Look forward to seeing some pics of your brew once finished.

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by Meatymc » Mon Mar 07, 2016 1:12 pm

E.J. - I've only used the S04 twice - 2nd one in the FV now, and had the same sort of 'activity' timeframe as you. 1st brew was fine and second is below anticipated gravity so is obviously doing what it should. Am sticking to 2 weeks in the FV for the time being though (apart from my Czech Pilsner which is now on week 8 albeit in the secondary) - don't see any reason for risking a short cut

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by E J Gumby » Mon Mar 07, 2016 6:10 pm

Checked gravity yesterday (and had a taste from the trial jar). Down to 1012 already. Tastes totally different to any kit I've done.
Dry-hopped it today. Smells lovely. Probably bottle it at the weekend.
Did take a few photos of the brew-day, but they're fairly generic; you'll have seen it all before, but I will put up a photo of the first pint.

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by alexlark » Mon Mar 07, 2016 7:52 pm

Sounding good. That first taste is great. I remember mine being a million miles away from the kits I've done.

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by E J Gumby » Tue Mar 15, 2016 12:14 am

So, I bottled this last night.
Actually finished @ 1.006 (corrected reading), so attenuation better than expected. ABV slightly over 4.3%
Lost 2 litres to trub (Is it still called trub when it's actual beer, rather than wort?)
Anyway, had half a glass as a sample and ...... HOLY SH*T! It was gorgeous - No twang, it tasted like a proper pub pint, but better.
Can't wait for it to be conditioned.

I think I'm hooked.

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by WalesAles » Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:35 am

EJ,
Good to see that you are enjoying it! :D =D>
2 Litres is a lot of lovely beer left in the FV. What is your siphoning technique?
When I siphon mine, I use a 2m length of 12mm dia food grade silicon hose.
End of tube 15mm below beer surface in FV 1
Suck on tube to start flow of beer onto priming sugar mix in FV 2.
Tube in FV2 is always below beer level so no air is introduced, fast flow ensures priming sugar mix is well mixed.
Follow tube in FV 1 down the side of the FV (always 15mm below the beer surface).
When at the 5Lt mark, gently tilt FV 1 at a slight angle, keep an eye on the end of the tube in FV 1, if there is slight movement in the
sludge on the FV 1 bottom, you will be able to judge when to pull the tube from FV 1 before any muck is drawn into the tube.
Job done in less than one minute. Maybe 1/2 pint or less left in FV 1! :D
Works for me.

WA

It`s not less than one minute! #-o
Just done 20Lts Earl Grey Stout in 2mins 35secs! :D
Perhaps I will buy a bigger dia tube!

WA

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by alexlark » Tue Mar 15, 2016 8:41 pm

Sounds good. That first AG sample is a cracking moment!

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by WalesAles » Tue Mar 15, 2016 9:17 pm

alexlark wrote:Sounds good. That first AG sample is a cracking moment!
alexlark wrote:Sounding good. That first taste is great. I remember mine being a million miles away from the kits I've done.
alex,
I`ve told you a million times, stop repeating yourself! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

WA

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Re: First Maxi-BIAB in a 19L pot - London Pride clone

Post by alexlark » Wed Mar 16, 2016 7:09 pm

Ha ha. Im doing my best to convince more over to the dark side!!

I won't mention sounds or sounding for a while, promise

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