BIAB #16 - Celebration American IPA

[Down2Die]

how much you selling these batches for? what's the profit margain... I hope your getting the bottle back at least

[john_drummer]

mates rates: ingredients + bottles + gas + labels + 10%

If I got a commission from someone I don't know then it would be (ingredients + bottles + gas + labels + 3-4 hours labour @ minimum wage) + markup on top of that

bottles are 2x boxes of Coopers PET bottles per 19-23L batch so I'm not worried about getting them back; if I get a repeat order then we reuse said bottles & that is deducted from the overall price; if the buyer provides the bottles then that would be deducted from the overall price

[john_drummer]

speaking of which, doing another batch of this tomorrow for the guitarist in my band; just bottled a 19L batch of porter for our bass player, his third batch.

[john_drummer]

and it's in the FV. 19L at 1049. not as strong as previous batches, I put it down to lower strike temperature and/or different grains. no worries

[AdyG]

The first batch of mine was so good I did another one yesterday. I had some left over Simcoe hops, so I put in 20g at flame out and left all the hops to steep for 20 minutes. I'm going to dry hop again with the last bits of the Simcoe and Amarillo hops. I've always used a hop sock before, but now I have a hop strainer and the hops absord a lot more water. From starting with 35.5 litres before the mash I added another 3 litres of 76 degree water as a sparge through the grain bag, and by some miracle I ended up with 23 litres as hoped. Bang on 1060 too!

[john_drummer]

35 litres!?!?!? my pan only holds 32!
I usually brew to 19 litres, starting with 24 for a grain bill as big as this to avoid spillage; I then add 3 litres before the boil so total water should be around 27 litres; I lose about 6 litres to the boil and another litre or two to the hops & the boiler dead space

[AdyG]

I have a Buffalo 40l I use for BIABs, although the 'max' line on the side is only really 35.7l!
Like you say though, this is a big grain bill and I'm right on the limit of what it can hold for a 23l batch, plus all the hops soaking up the liquid.
This is a great beer, and easily as good as a lot of shop bought AIPAs from our local specialist offie.... only anything from a micro brewery with exotic US hops seem to retail at £3.50 a bottle minimum there.... even more if they contain Simcoe or any of the NZ hops!
Hmmm..... might start selling mine too! .... only problem is I like drinking it too much!