1st biab help needed

[emyrjones88]

Hi all

After eight years of homebrewing I'm finally getting ready to do my first all grain weather permitting this weekend.

I have a 50l boiler ready and I'm planning on doing a full volume mash.

One question, I have bought a summer lighting recipe kit however the instructions (picture attached) doesn't cover biab, I was wondering if somebody could calculate/guess how much water I should use for a full volume mash taking into account the reduced efficiency, I still want to end up with a 5% beer.

Thanks in advance
Tomos

[deanrpwaacs]

Looking at the recipe i would say about 28ltrs . I would just follow the recipe then see what u end up with in the fv at the end . If its short you can top it up to 23ltrs and you will then have an idea how far out you are for future brews .

[bigchris]

It does depend a little on how much 'dead space' there is in your kit, whether you'll 'squeeze' the grain bag when draining and how vigorous your boil will be, but if I were brewing that recipe I'd start with around 33 Litres.

I find Graham Wheelers Beer Engine software very useful for converting recipes to BIAB. I feed in the ingredient list and it calculates the total liquor required. If I start with that I usually end up with the right amount and SG at the end. The software is available for free download from http://www.practicalbrewing.co.uk/main/ ... eerengine/ and is linked to in the EXTRAS section of this (JBK) site.

[windrider]

The recipe you attached isn't the most detailed. It doesn't state what the 23 litre brew length is i.e amount in to packaging, volume at flameout etc etc.

Using BIABacus I typed in your ingredients listed and if you want to hit the OG 1.049 (90min mash / boil) you’ll want to start around the below:

Total Water Needed (TWN): 37.24 L = 9.84 G
Volume into Boil (VIB): 34.16 L = 9.02 G @ 1.037
Volume of Ambient Wort (VAW): 25.08 L = 6.63 G @ 1.049
Volume into Fermentor (VIF): 21.5 L = 5.68 G @ 1.049
Volume into Packaging (VIP): 19.91 L = 5.26 G @ 1.012 assuming apparent attenuation of 75 %

Obviously that’s just an estimate and your equipment, efficiency and technique will be different. But it gives you a base to start from. You should have a look at the BIABacus calculator, it’s a really great tool!

[rpt]

I also use the BIABacus. It's much simpler than it appears. For your first few brews just let it automatically estimate your efficiency and losses as it will be close.

[Fil]

deadspace and boil off or evaporation rate are the 2 unknowns with any new boil pot, and if brewing outside ambient temps and wind can effect the evaporation.

All you can do really is guess reasonable values to estimate the correct volume to use,
iirc a kilo of grain will absorb 2.2l of liquor, So when you remove the grain bag after the mash it will take circa 2.2l of liquor with it, weighing the damp grain mass with luggage suspension scales will help confirm the loss of liquor due to grain absorption 1l of water is just about 1kg in mass.
so if you using a 4kg grain bill expect to loose 8-9l of liquor when you remove the grain.
Yes the grain bag will triple+ in weight on the way out

Then you have the deadspace if any in the boil kettle, which can be estimated by a simple water drain and measuring any remaining volume not drained.

Then there is the loss due to hop absorbtion and trub, which at about 200ml per 100g of hops is only really valid if the calculated volume is greater than The deadspace Or if you bag and remove the hops..

So Target volume + boil off volume + volume absorbed by grain + deadspace (+ hop/trub volume if relevant) So
23 +4 +9 +Deapspace = 36l+deadspace to start with..

But the actual result will indicate any error in the estimated boil off, if you boil off more you can liquor back with cold water to hit the target volume,

And if you underestimate the boil of rate you can boil just a little longer it will impact on the final bitterness as your hop utilisation will probably increase a tad but i wouldnt let that wory you,

After a couple of brews you will know the nuances of your kit and will be able to predict the boil of rate with a high degree of confidence

But imho volume targets are secondary to gravity targets, and if the gravity post boil is within the target range I dont bother adjusting the volume

[alexlark]

But imho volume targets are secondary to gravity targets, and if the gravity post boil is within the target range I dont bother adjusting the volume

That's what I did starting off. Once you get the wort in the FV take a gravity reading and go from there.

[emyrjones88]

Hi All

Thank you for the advice (a great response from the forum as usual) I'm going to try with 36L and see what I end up with, not particularly bothered if I end up short or long on volume/gravity on my first attempt.

Bigchris, I received one of your bags for Christmas. Looks well made. Looking forward to trying it!

Anyways I'll upload some photographs and let you know how it goes.

Thanks again

[emyrjones88]

Hi All

Had a good brew day on Sunday (cooking a roast turkey at the same time!) decided to start with 35 litres of water.

First mistake strike temperature of 70.8c gave me a initial mash temperature of 68c instead of the 66c

Celotex box worked well lost 1.1c over the 90 min mash

Brewing assistant

Good rolling boil

Ended up with approximately 25L at a gravity of 1048

Took ages to cool without a chiller (nearly 24 hrs) hopefully I have avoided infection and the extra time with the hops wont adversely affect the taste, defiantly will get one for the next time.

Thanks for your help
Tomos

[vacant]

That looks like a great start. What help do you need? I'd suggest a no-chill cube for keeping the wort safe while cooling if you don't want the expense of an immersion chiller.

[alexlark]

Cracking brew day!! Nice clear wort too.

I tried cooling my 33l pot in the sink with ice and that took ages. By the next brew I made a copper immersion chiller, they are great!! Down to pitching temp in 20 mins.