First attempt at BIAB

[Iain]

Morning folks, after being donated a large pot, 4.6kg of Maris Otter grain 100g of Hallertau hops (Youngs) and a sachet of Ale Yeast I'm going to attempt my first rough BIAB this weekend. I'm thinking something along the lines of

20l water & all of the grain for 90mins at around 65oC
Raise temperature to near boiling, add hops for 20mins
Remove "bag" from the pot and clip it over fermenting bucket
Chill then drain into the bucket washing down the bag as i go
Draw off some liquid for a yeast starter
Allow everything to chill to c.25oC add yeast and ferment...

Have I skipped over anything? I've no idea about efficiencies, EBU's etc etc I just want to get the process sorted first - I can experiment with proper recipes later
Regards
Iain

[potatoes]

20l water & all of the grain for 90mins at around 65oC
Raise temperature to near boiling, add hops for 20mins
Remove "bag" from the pot and clip it over fermenting bucket
Iain

Hi Iain,

Welcome to BIAB. A couple of points. I would remove the grain bag, then bring to the boil. Also, I would definetly boil for at least 60mins. I have been advised that a 20 minute boil does not remove all the baddies...

In terms of your recipe, I have no idea what kind of beer Marris Otter and Hallertau would make. I think, but may be wrong, Hallertau is a german hop used for wheat beers. Others will no doubt comment.

Potatoes

[Beer O'Clock]

Hi Iain

Loads of info here http://www.biabrewer.info/

You need to boil longer than 20 min to kill off nasties and to actually get something out of the Hallertau ideally 60-90 min. The 'noble' hop is traditionally a low AA (alpha acid) hop meaning that you will get very little bitterness from only 20 mins. If you have no bitterness to balance the sweet wort, you will have a sweet brew that could border on undrinkable. Whaile applaude your willingness to throw yourself into it, a little planning will prove a greater benefit than blind enthusiasm.

Check out the above link. There are step by step guides under various headings.

I am assuming you want to drink the final product ? I can't see much point otherwise.

[Iain]

Ok, thanks for the heads up on boiling time, is removing the bag prior to boiling a practicality issue relating to not having the bag (muslin in my case) tumbling about, risk of spillage etc?

The I wasn't planning on literally throwing myself in, could turn messy - I do plan in drinking this even to use as a bad example to be worked upon!

Regards
Iain

[Goulders]

Iain

I have been reading up a lot on BIAB as I intend to go that way soon. See the link Beer o' clock attached and register to the website to download stuff. There is a good guide there for the maxi-BIAB method which with the 20l pot looks like what you want for that amount of grain. While I am no expert, if you boil the bag with the grains in you will extract tannins and other flavours you don't want (and yes it may be dangerous too!)

[soupdragon]

Hi Iain

You'll extract off flavours from the grain if you leave the bag in during the boil.

Cheers Tom

[Iain]

Ah, right, that explains it....wish me luck!

Regards
Iain

[soupdragon]

Even if things go wrong. Most of the time you'll still end up with drinkable beer

Cheers Tom

[jimp2003]

Good luck Iain! - I am sure things will turn out well.

The biabrewer site is a great resource and if you follow the basic principles of mashing the grains in the bag, pulling the bag then adding your hops through the boil then you will make good beer.

Definitely let us know how things go on the day.

Cheers.

Jim

[Iain]

Well, 45mins after I hit 65oC and the aroma in the room is worth it regardless of what the beer tastes like!

BTW Tom how far along the Wirral are you?

Regards
Iain

[soupdragon]

Wallasey mate

Cheers Tom