First BIAB - Comments Please :)

[Beer_Matt]

Hi, just put together a new setup to give BIAB a go which consists of a 50litre tun/kettle and a 7.5kw propane burner.

The recipe I used was from the Bible (Graham Wheelr's book) and was a clone of Hop Back Summer Lightning. I bought all the ingredients from my local HBS http://www.chesterhomebrew.com

Right then, here we go:

FILLING UP KEG cold water temp was 11 degrees, it took 50 minutes to reach 71 degrees



Mashing:



After 90 minute mash I checked the temperature and in was 66 degrees so I think the strike temp calc was a little out unless my sleeping bag insulation was AWESOME.

Bag out, a quick check with the calibrated stick revealed there was about 33 litres of wort. So far so good. SG at this point was 1036



Heat back on to boiling. This took about an hour to reach a rolling boil and first lot of hops went in:



Now chilling the wort to pitching temp. The volume at this stage was 30 litres and the SG was 1046


Soooo, I'm happy with the new setup and techniques but the volumes seem a little out. All I can thing of is that the burner isn't up to the job and the boil temp hasn't quite been high enough to evaporate the required volume of liquid.

Does the time it takes to raise 36 litres from 11 degrees to 71 degrees seem OK at 50 minutes?

Does the time it takes to raise 33 litres at mash temperature to boiling seem OK at an hour?

On the plus side, I could leave it on full and there was no risk of a boil over or the possibility of scorching the wort/bag and a nice rolling boil was reached for the duration.

I could use a high pressure regulator to hit the temps quicker but lose some of the benefits above by using a hotter burner, what would you do?

[Beer O'Clock]

No standard boil off or losses are written in stone. The process not only produces beer, it also teaches us how our various set-ups work. Knowing your set-up allows you to adjust the process to suit. The set-up defines the parameters not the other way around.

[subfaction]

Nice one welcome to all grain brewing, I bet you can't wait to taste the brew!

That recipe produces a nice dry pint, great for summer - well at least it did when I brewed it for AG#3, I used Nottingham yeast which made it taste and smell rather nasty at bottling (dirty sulphur and green beer aroma), but that completely cleaned up after a couple of weeks in the bottles.

Sounds like you have the right attitude - taking notes and thinking on how to improve after each brew is a perfect recipe for making the whole thing easier, more efficient and FUN!

For timings I can't compare directly, as I use a 40 litre Buffalo electric boiler to BIAB with, and it takes around 50mins to get to up to strike temp (70c ish) from ~5-10c similar to you.
It normally takes 20-30 mins to get to boiling from mash out (75c) if memory serves correctly.

I'd consider pulling the bag up slightly when applying heat and whacking the flame up, but I'm very time constrained when brewing!

Just checking you are pulling the bag out when temp gets above 75c on the way to boiling - wasn't sure if that was a big hop bag in the picys or you left the grain in when approaching boiling, I'm sure it's the former as you seem to have everything else done right, but just in case!

[Twistedfinger]

Well done Matt, you made beer.

You've got a nice set up and the more you use it the more you'll dial in your numbers.

To save time and if you have a modern combi boiler consider filling your boiler from the hot tap.

A HP reg will help so would some sort of shielding around your burner. The slightest breeze will blow away precious heat and there is nothing wrong with putting the lid on whilst bringing the wort up to the boil. My water/wort heats up at the rate of about 1degree/minute.

Another good tip if your rolling boil is a bit weak is to float a stainless steel / food grade bowl on top of your wort during the boil. It reduces the surface area and helps get things going.

[AnthonyUK]

That looks great Matt.
You'll soon work out your evaporation rates etc as mentioned so I wouldn't be at all concerned.

[Beer_Matt]

Thanks for all the comments guys, I've taken it all on board.

I've just been reviewing the notes I made and I have calculated my efficiency to be 71%, post mash SG was 1036 with 33.5 litres. I think my initial mash temp was too high due to a faulty thermometer as after 90 minutes I checked with my calibrated one and it was 66 degrees. I don't think my sleeping bags are that good at insulating! Could a higher mash temp have a detrimental effect on efficiency? Come to think of it, I never weighed the grain myself, I trusted my supplier so this could of been lower than expected.

What efficiency are people achieving with BIAB?

My VIF was 30 litres so if I subtract 2 litres for trub that leaves 28 litres of beer, so only 3 litres more than the recipe which I can attribute to an insufficient rolling boil.

Anyway, the proof is in the pudding! Thanks all, planning #2 now.

[Twistedfinger]

All GW's efficiencies are calculated at 75% end of boil. He also states that these are conservative figures and should easily be achieved. You should be able to hit the low 80's without much trouble.

[Beer_Matt]

Ahh, OK. EOB efficiency was 80.1% then. Happy with that for my first one.

[art.b]

nice work...

i fill my boiler from the spare hot tap, for the washing machine ,

then top up with boiling water from a kettle until its at strike temp,
i do all this in the warm kitchen wrap the mash and leave for 90mins,
then take the pot to the boiler outside..

[Harmergeddon]

Hi Matt. I really like your boiler idea. I can get my hands on a beer keg like that. What did you use to cut the top out with please? Stainless is notoriously hard on blades. Thanks.

[jaroporter]

What did you use to cut the top out with please? Stainless is notoriously hard on blades.

angle grinder made short work of cutting mine
metal cutting disc for the first cut, grinding disc to finish. can always touch up with a file. make sure you use tools that have only been used on stainless in the past (or fresh) though.

[Bribie]

If you have a good clean supply of hot water then that's probably going to save you money on propane (which isn't really efficient) as well as a shorter ramp up to strike temperature. Also the advantage that it will be virtually chlorine free to start off with.

[TenbobdaN1]

Hi Beer_Matt
Very impressed with your new set up, hope the brew tastes good. How long did it take to go from starting to pitching? My mash set up is a simple bruheat boiler with a sleeping bag as insulation (just like yours) then sparged in a home made grain bag into the bruheat boiler.I started my second brew (Dave Line's Davenport Bitter) at 9am and pitched the yeast starter at 8pm! Most of this was (4 hours) waiting for the beer to cool with the FV in a water bath. Maybe I should invest in a cooler - thought about buying a new freezer ( the old one is very inefficient) and using the old one as a cooler. Has anyone done this ?
Drinking - Dave Line's Crystal bitter (very pleased with my first brew in 25 years)
FV - Davenport Bitter
Next - Summer Lightning

Cheers TenbobdaN1

[Beer_Matt]

Hi Matt. I really like your boiler idea. I can get my hands on a beer keg like that. What did you use to cut the top out with please? Stainless is notoriously hard on blades. Thanks.

I'm lucky enough to have an engineering dept at work, the guys put it on a lathe and the result is really neat. I have a stainless lid that fits perfect.

[Beer_Matt]

Hi Beer_Matt
Very impressed with your new set up, hope the brew tastes good. How long did it take to go from starting to pitching? My mash set up is a simple bruheat boiler with a sleeping bag as insulation (just like yours) then sparged in a home made grain bag into the bruheat boiler.I started my second brew (Dave Line's Davenport Bitter) at 9am and pitched the yeast starter at 8pm! Most of this was (4 hours) waiting for the beer to cool with the FV in a water bath. Maybe I should invest in a cooler - thought about buying a new freezer ( the old one is very inefficient) and using the old one as a cooler. Has anyone done this ?
Drinking - Dave Line's Crystal bitter (very pleased with my first brew in 25 years)
FV - Davenport Bitter
Next - Summer Lightning

Cheers TenbobdaN1

Took ages using this setup and I couldn't really leave it to do other stuff because of the naked flames. I've since bought a 40l buffalo and it's made life so much easier, I've converted the keg to a mash tun now!