first time BIAB, stuck/stopped fermentation

[Jtonthebike]

Hi all,

Over the weekend I did my first BIAB, lots to learn and room for improvement This is what I was attempting. http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/ ... e-11-11-11 but making it for 25l, not the 50l batch.

Anyway. I had the bag 'tied' closed rather than open around the pot, i think this is the primary reason for the poor efficiency. The OG came in at approx 1.041 rather than 1.063 discussed. So a quick google found a calculator which suggested I add in 1kg of brewing sugar to compensate for the poor efficiency. Which I did, by taking out some of the contents of the fermenting bin, added sugar, a little heat and then cool, back to the FV. (sunday morning)

By Sunday evening, some foam appearing but no bubbles in the airlock.

Today, no foam and a gravity reading of 0.0024. A quick taste, it seems quite sweet, with some bitterness (that'll be the hops then) I am still learning a lot and need to dedicate some time to 'off flavours' but i didn't detect anything off - it tasted better than the kit's i've been brewing!

The original bag of grains was tipped into the composter Sunday evening, so i can't re-mash with the old stuff, it'd have to be fresh grains.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

cheers.
JT

[sbond10]

You've taken one gravity reading sit back and leave it to the weekend at the very least

[Jocky]

First of all, don't worry about your fermentation. As kind as you have it over about 17c it will get there. Ideally you want to be 19-22c. In particular, don't count on airlock activity.

As its Tuesday, now is a good time to measure the gravity and see how the fermentation is really getting on.

Regarding your poor efficiency, I doubt having the bag closed is at fault. Have you calculated what your efficiency actually was? If you want to post the recipe you actually used we can work things out for you. The one mistake you may have made is that the recipe you originally posted was for 10 US gallons, which is 37 litres. If you've just halved the quantities to get to a 5 imperial gallon, that would account for a large chunk of your efficiency loss. The rest is just some tricks you'll want to learn, like making sure all your grain is wetted.

[Manngold]

Jocky, what is wetted grain?

Back on topic, quantities of grain will help. Also, what was your mash temp?

[Fil]

A starting gravity circa 1.060 (after the sugar addition) on Sunday and a current gravity of circa 1.020 tells me that its fermenting well, you have dropped 40 points in 4 days.
(check your fermenting temp it may be a bit warm???)

the lack of movement thru the airlock indicates that the co2 is escaping thru a route of less resistance then the air lock.. an airlock is at best only an indicator anyway..

carry on taking samples for gravity readings every couple of days and dont worry sounds like its all good to me