Getting started with BIAB recipes

[agermich]

Hi All

So I’ve been kit brewing for a while now and have been fairly happy with the results, but have decided that I want to make some better quality beer and get a bit more involved in the process. I don’t have the space or cash for a full all grain setup, so mini BIAB looks like a great way to go. I have been out and picked up a 20 litre pan, have sewn up a couple of grain bags from voile net curtains and have adapted a pizza tray to keep the bag off the bottom of the pan. Now I just need to find a first recipe and get some ingredients ordered.

I’m finding the huge array of possibilities a bit overwhelming and don’t really know where to start. There are so many different recipes out there on the interweb, how do I figure out what to trust and what to start with? Are there any recipe books out there that are worth a purchase?

I would quite like to give a hoppy pale ale a go, so would appreciate any recipe suggestions to get me started. I have had a play with BIABacus, so think I understand how to use that to scale recipes. I’ve probably got a couple of weeks to go before I get to a brew day, so there’s some time to decide on a recipe and get ordering.

Any tips or recipes would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Mike

[Chug]

If you tell us what beer do you like then I'm sure someone will have a tried and trusted recipe they can share.

[agermich]

As most of the kits that I have done have been more traditional style ales, I would like to have a go at a hoppy "craft beer" style of pale ale. A couple of my current favourites in this style are Sambrooks London Pale ale and Adnams Mosaic. Something along those lines would be great to have a shot at.

[wfr42]

Admittedly my 4th pint of the night but my 2nd AG "10 litre" batch tasted awesome.
It consisted of
2.15kg of Vienna malt
0.25kg of caramalt
4g of galaxy at 60 mind
12g of galaxy at 10mins
12g of galaaxy at 5mins
12g of galaxy for a 10min hop stand at flameout.


A simple SMASH (single malt and single hop) with pale malt is where a lot of people start .

[E J Gumby]

Hi agermich,

You could do worse than trying the recipe that I did on my first BIAB.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=75140
Make sure to look at the other 3 threads that i mentioned in my OP
You can do a full 23L batch in your 20L pot and it will taste a hell of a lot better than any kit you could mention.

Once you've done your first AG, you won't want to go back to kits.

Good luck.

[bigchris]

When you start All Grain brewing, particularly BIAB, measure and record everything. Everybody's equipment and technique is different and you will need to find out, for your method/kit, various numbers such as 'how much temperature has dropped after one hour of mashing' or 'how much water stays trapped in the grain' or 'how much water evaporates during a one hour boil'.

As others have said, you'll never go back. Its much more interesting than kit brewing and, provided you keep infections at bay, its not likely to produce a batch of poor beer. I'd say the worst beer I brewed with BIAB is better than the best kit beers I ever brewed.

[alexlark]

I would recommend a simple SMASH recipe with Maris Otter malt and Amarillo hops. Ferment using Safale US-05. You'll get to learn the process without complicated hop additions and end up with a lovely hoppy pale ale. The first time I done a SMASH recipe I was surprised how much flavour you can get with a single hop.

Also, as Chris says, take plenty of notes throughout the brew day as it's so easy to forget what/how much/temp etc. Good luck and enjoy it!

[Clibit]

Adnams Mosaic is described on their website as Pale Ale malt, some lager malt and a touch of caramalt, with mosaic hops, and is 4.1% ABV. You could just use 4kg pale malt, which would get you to around 4%. Or you could add some caramalt, maybe 200g.

20g Mosaic boiled for 60 mins would give you about 30 IBUs assuming an AA% of 12ish. I would then add aroma hops after the boil when the beer has cooled to 80C. 60 - 80g should be about right. I leave them in to steep til I transfer to FV, which is longer than most people, an hour or more. I actually left the last lot in right through fermentation. You could dry hop with the remaining 20g if you use 60 g in the steep.

Adnams have their own lovely yeast. You can nick this from an Adnams mini keg, or use another nice liquid English yeast, or just use US-05, which is widely used in beers like this, cos it promotes hop aroma.

[agermich]

A SMASH recipe sounds like a plan, keeping it simple to start with will be a good way to learn the process and get a feel for the flavours of the grains and hops. I'll have a look at what combos other people have gone for and report back when I have an idea. I Might even go for a Mosaic smash, I love the flavour in the Addams mosaic. Even if it's not a clone of the adnams, I've seen a few Marris Otter mosaic smash combos on forums.

Thanks for the notes on the Adnams Clibit. That's useful stuff. I had seen about adnams having their own yeast, I'm sure that I have drunk plenty of it in the past through not letting the minikegs settle properly! I will probably buy a yeast for this first brew.

Mike

[Bad 'Ed]

Every recipe I've ever done from Graham Wheeler's main bookhas been simple and excellent. I keep going back to it because I've never been disappointed with the results.

[rpt]

For your first brew I'd use an easy dry yeast such as Nottingham or Safale S04. They should start quicker and clear better than US05. Just make sure you properly rehydrate it at the manufacturer's recommended temperature. If you can get Wilko ale yeast or Gervin GV12 they are cheap versions of Nottingham. Still top quality though.