first time BIAB

[paulg]

I plan to try BIAB for the first time tomorrow ,I have brewed several AG recipes in my 3 vessel setup
I put the recipe for 19 litres draught bass into the BIAB BREWER calculator and it incresed the grain bill from 3.640 kilos to 4.471 kilos I guess to account for lower efficiency .It will be interesting to see the outcome.
I plan to brew in my 40 litre buffalo urn using a recirculation via pump and pid /internal element to maintain the mash(I know that it is not considered a good idea by some but as my 3 vessel setup is herms I am being stubborn
Paul
If all does well over a few brews I plan to convert my 70 litre e-bay ss stockpot to a recirculating BIAB setup

[far9410]

Great experiment, if it turns not as expected, will you return to 3 vessel?,keep us posted

[Twistedfinger]

it incresed the grain bill from 3.640 kilos to 4.471 kilos I guess to account for lower efficiency

You've made a mistake somewhere,

[jimp2003]

it incresed the grain bill from 3.640 kilos to 4.471 kilos I guess to account for lower efficiency

You've made a mistake somewhere,

That increase does seem a bit high if the volume is being kept the same. Its more than 20% increase in grain....

[Beer O'Clock]

Did you set the Defaults on the Calculator correctly ?

[art.b]

sounds interesting keep us posted with your thoughts...

[paulg]

well after a false start couldnt brew draught bass as no hops brewed courage directors
input the grain bill into calculator it gave a grain bill and I went ahead and brewed the preboil gravity was actually better than the calculator predicted but whan boil was finished although the amount of wort was spot on my gravity was 1.041 it should have beed 1.046 .
couldnt work this out as pre boil was better than expected.
started to play with calculator and noticed the spreadsheet boxes wernt changing as the should set efficiency to 50% instead of 75 grain bill doesnt change.very strange I thought change og grain bill stays the same.
deleted program redownloaded and input figures again this time all worked ok .
it turns out my grain bill was for a beer of OG1035 and I actually got an OG of 1041 so had a better efficiency than 75%.

thoughts on actual brew day
no problems with recirculation/pid ,I still insulated the pot, element was not running much once mash temperature was reached.
overall brewday mash started 09.30am
completely cleaned up 14.45pm
this included a 1/2 hour post boil hop addition before cooling to fermenter ,definitely quicker overall brew day than cleaning 3 vessels and herms and pump,chiller.
Just pot and pump,chiller

[art.b]

so which method do you prefer ...?

[paulg]

well certainly the BIAB method was less to cleanup.I am still undecided about whether to recirculate during the mash and boil, I did but dont know if it is really required.
I have plans to turn my spare 70 litre pot into an electric vessel ,as it is not a thermo pot this is why I am keen to recirculate but having spoken to someone who started by recirculating and has now abandoned it in favour of insulating the pot.
the wort was not so clear as using the herms setup I am guessing as you pull the bag you disturb the grain .I have thought about a bag with only mesh at the bottom so with recirculation you get a filter like in HERMS ,but I am not sure if it would lead to other problems like poor efficiency or the wort below the bag getting much hotter than the contents of the bag

[AdyG]

I've just seen this thread, as it was about a month ago the beer should be ready now, so I would be very interested to hear what the finished result tasted like. Coming from 3 vessel set up to BIAB can you still get the quality of beer you were expecting?

I did a BIAB Courage Directors and it was pretty much as good as a shop bought bottle. Slightly more hop aroma and a bit more fizz from the shop bought but that was it.

I orignally went for BIAB because it looked easier faster and cheaper that 3V as I was coming from kits. I thought I could alway progress to 3V a bit later when I got more experienced, but I have done about 6 or 7 BIABs and been happy with all of them.... still learning of course though!

[paulg]

adyg
yes your right
I tried the beer last week it was clear and tasted fine just needed a bit more fizz .It has been stored in a corny keg with very low pressure .I dont like fizzy beer and if I was to connect it to my handpump it would be fine as it is.
I am currently getting together the bits for my 70 litre pot conversion,its taking a while to come from china .For the first attempt at BIAB I would say the beer is as good as my others .I shall certainly continue to try this method and see how it goes.
I am still undecided about recirculating during the mash ,coming from a HERMS setup I want to but am worried about the prospect of draining under the bag quiker than the wort drains through resulting in burnt wort as the element runs dry.only time and experimenting will tell

[AdyG]

adyg
yes your right
I tried the beer last week it was clear and tasted fine just needed a bit more fizz .It has been stored in a corny keg with very low pressure .I dont like fizzy beer and if I was to connect it to my handpump it would be fine as it is.
I am currently getting together the bits for my 70 litre pot conversion,its taking a while to come from china .For the first attempt at BIAB I would say the beer is as good as my others .I shall certainly continue to try this method and see how it goes.
I am still undecided about recirculating during the mash ,coming from a HERMS setup I want to but am worried about the prospect of draining under the bag quiker than the wort drains through resulting in burnt wort as the element runs dry.only time and experimenting will tell

Hi paulg
That's good to know, I'm please your beer turned out fine.
I do not recirculate during the mash, I just stick the grains in the bag and leave it for 90mins giving it a quick stir half way through. Then I just drain the bag into a FV, tip a couple of litres of liquor through the draining back, give it a squeeze, tip the FV back into the urn, heat to 76 degrees, stick the bag of grain back in for 30 mins and drain again, this time squeezing everything back into the urn ready for the boil.

I look forward to hearing about your 70 litre pot conversion and seeing how you get on with the recirculation... I'm still quite new to this and like to see how more experienced brewers do things.