Home Brew Forum

Started this one while watching Battle of Britain yesterday. Not very British as its a Weissbier.
Humour me its my first AG - hence Vector AnGels 19. Geddit?

Its a BIAB setup with kit borrowed from my mate Nik at work - going to see if I fancy it before investing in my own kit.
I'm attempting hoegaarden type Weiss Bier.

Its a Brupak AG kit. I'm going to add 20g of crushed coriander seeds and some orange peel.

Little Urn.



I'm using two urns - one for mashing and one for warming the sparge water.
I heated the mash water (18l) to 71C and put the bag in. Doughed in and got a mash temp of 67C - not bad for a first attempt.



Wrapped in an old quilt.



Left for 45 mins and then stirred - left for a further 45 mins. During which I had to rush to the shops for a new battery for my thermometer.

After 90 mins it was at 63.5C - not great but close enough for government work!! Pulled the bag out - hell thats heavy!!!



Sorry for the camera shake - I was taking it while holding the bag with my other hand.

Got the sparge (15l) up to 75C and popped the bag back in. I know BIAB usually uses only one vessel but this was the most convenient way for me.
I left it in for 30 mins after giving it a good stir. Put the first runnings into my boiler.



After 30 mins I put the bag in my FV and gave it a good squeeze. Left it to drain. Check out my sophisticated sky hook system.



The second runnings out of the urn went into went in the boiler. Chucked the bag drainings in and off we go. Got it up to boil in around 15 mins. Unplugged one of the elements and one on its own gave a good rolling boil. In with the hops - shame the kit doesn't say what they are - I'll fix that next time - if there is a next time.

After a while I ran off some wort into a pan and boiled up the coriander seeds and orange peel. After about 10 mins they went back into the boiler.
Boiled for 60 mins. Cooled with a copper cooler and ran into the FV.

Total volume in the FV 21 litres. I allowed 5 litres for mash loss and 5 for the boil - its a wide boiler so I must have lost it there.
What the hell Its all a bit of a tester so I added 2 litres of water in the FV.

Now for the main cock-up - I smashed my hydrometer during the sanitise process - what a pillock. So I've no idea of OG. I'll get one Monday.
Total brew time inc cleaning - 6 hours - I was knackered.

Again forgive me - I won't do it again. The twins:

there must be a next time.... Its a very fulfilling hobby once you get the wrinkles out

Thanks for the encouragement pdtnc - it's like childbirth - you forget the pain and go for another one. I already have plans for what my setup will be like.

Well done matey! keep it up!

simco999 wrote:Now for the main cock-up - I smashed my hydrometer during the sanitise process - what a pillock.

maybe worth getting two... i always make sure i have a spare just for such a situation... and they are a cheap piece of kit. i have broken enough in my wine career to take the precaution...

Cheers leedsbrew

Good call yogester - not sure how it happened. They're so fragile.

you will break them with annoying regularity! I smashed my thermometer last brewday!

Must be only me who has never broke a hydrometer or thermometer! though now I've mentioned it I'm sure I will!

have to say i'm intrigued by the whole brew-in-a-bag thing. Anything that gets more people making beer is a good thing, in my opinion. Anyway, congrats on AG#1. The only downside to this is that there's no way back. Once you've tasted beer you made nothing else is ever quite the same again.

Cheers Monkeyboy - I'm thinking now I could achieve a full brew using only one vessel - the kettle/boiler.

I would heat say 33 litres to 72C and then switch off the boiler. Stick the bag and grain in. Mash for 90 mins. Bag out - boil - hop etc.

No messing with sparging and water transfers - the only transfer would be to the FV. Sounds simple. This would be BIAB in its purest form. OK - I'm hooked.

Would need to work out the efficiency. What could possibly go wrong???

Good luck ith that man

Would need to work out the efficiency. What could possibly go wrong???

You know you've probably just angered the brew gods!

no, those brew gods were too busy screwing up my brewday to notice full story to come, but i knew it was gonna go downhill when the electricity board turned up to fit a new meter - meaning no power...

leedsbrew wrote:Good luck ith that man

Would need to work out the efficiency. What could possibly go wrong???

You know you've probably just angered the brew gods!

I sacrificed the hydrometer to appease the gods.

Bottled tonight - quick QT - nice Weiss Bier taste - not getting the coriander yet. Only got 21 litres Grrrrr. Cannot get that elusive last 2 litres.

Also saved some of the slurry for more beer/ bread.



Rewarded myself with some Krony - we need to know what we're aiming for. I know its not a Weiss Bier BTW. Just for comparison purposes.

Wow - that's why people brew all grain.

It's bloody lovely. I'll leave it now for a few weeks. It can only get better.