BIAB number 2

[oz11]

Just finished clearing up.

Willow (Best) Bitter (loosely based on Fuller's London Pride)

Mini BIAB brew 10L

The grain bill was:
Pale Ale (MO): 2250g (90%)
Crystal : 250g (10%)
Total : 2500g

Mash Temp 65c
Mash Length 90mins

Mash Out at 77c

Boil Length 60mins

Target AA 12.53% 5.5g (60min)
Northdown 8.7% 5.5g (60min)
Challenger 7.6% 6.0g (60min)

Northdown 5.0g (10min)
1/4 tablet protofloc

Yeast safale S04.

Will dry hop this after primary with about 7 - 8g of target.

Mash all went well, was very pleased that my thermometers were reading the same within about 0.5c of each other. Strike temp was 68c and after doughing in quickly stabilised at 65c. Ensured there were no wildly different temperatures throughout the mixture. A sleeping bag on top and the thermostat did a good job of maintaining the temperature for the 90mins. The boiler is heated by a 2.4kw element with a brupaks(?) thermostat. All this went so much better than BIAB no.1 and I felt much more relaxed at this stage. Raised temperature to approaching 78c after 90 mins and lifted bag. Drained and gently squeezed into a spare FV, runnings returned to boiler at start of boil.

Boiled for 60 mins, only problem is I brew in the kitchen, the extractor fan above the boiler gets rid of most the steam, but condensation is an issue...does anyone have the same problem? My solution was to give the filter and grill and good wash, before starting the boil give them a spray with no rinse peracetic acid, and every so often wipe the fan after temporarily putting a lid on the boiler to stop any drips going in. I think a few drops of condensation did get in but with the precautions I took I hope this won't cause any problems.

Chilled down to about 25c, 15 min wait for hops to settle and then dropped into FV. Ended up with about 11.5L of wort at this stage with an OG of 1039 at 20c. I was really aiming for 1042 and if I boiled for 90mins I'd probably get closer with the extra losses to evaporation.

Generally speaking would you expect to get a 1040-ish OG from a 2.5kg grain bill, or should I looking to improve efficiency here?

Waiting now for the yeast to get working, sitting currently at about 19c

[rimski]

Hi Oz

Any picture, I'd love to see a BIAB in action

[Yeasty Rob]

condensation is an issue...does anyone have the same problem?

Boil with a lid on. Sounds simple but it will reduce a huge amount of steam given off and also save energy - without a lid you are effectively heating much more just to evaporate steam rather than maintain a boil.

[mysterio]

Boiling with the lid on is not a great idea, part of the reason for boiling is to volatilise off certain compounds. However partially covered is fine.

[oz11]

DMS isn't it..or something similar? I will have to try a partial covering, or move back outside when it warms up a little bit!

[oz11]

Hi Oz

Any picture, I'd love to see a BIAB in action

Sorry Rimski, I don't have a camera at the moment, if I ever get hold of one I'd happily take a few pix though.

[Yeasty Rob]

Boiling with the lid on is not a great idea, part of the reason for boiling is to volatilise off certain compounds. However partially covered is fine.

I stand corrected, I'm fairly new to AG myself so maybe should hold back on advice just yet

Out of interest what are these compounds, and is it possible you might want to retain them for a certain flavour.

I've done two beers now like this and they both taste lovely. Are there off flavours etc that need to be boiled off as I haven't noticed any?

[oz11]

Rob, have a look at this==> http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index. ... l_boil#DMS

[Yeasty Rob]

Rob, have a look at this==> http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index. ... l_boil#DMS

Thanks for that, makes sense - i'll be leaving the lid off in future