wish me luck!

[potatoes]

Awesome one Bob, I wish I could build stuff like this with me own two hands!! Keep it up and good luck for the BIAB.

Dan

[tractorboy]

Well, that's my 1st BIAB done! Didn't go entirely to plan; I was using Graham Wheeler's Youngs Special recipe which after processing in Brewsmith or the BIABinfo spreadsheet gave a water requirement of about 43l for a 23l batch. After a 90 minute boil it was down to 35l which I assume explains the OG of 1035 rather than the expected 1045. Anyway, I've got about 24l in the FV so I'll see how it goes. I'll put some pics up shortly...

Bob

PS What a fantastic smell!! Just hope the neighbours liked it too

[tractorboy]

Here are the pics...

[jimp2003]

NIce pics Bob! The water requirement is something that might take a bit of tweaking to suit your own equipment and set up. The BIABrewer spreadsheet is the one I use and it has never seen me wrong.

Where did you get the wire rack that you have to keep the bag off your elements? I could do with something similar?

James

[Valley Commando]

I usually start with around 32l of water and end up with 26l into the FV. But my boil is shorter than yours, plus I keep the lid part-covering the copper during the boil. Easier/quicker to top up with more water if under volume than boil it off with too much volume.

[DeadFall]

That looks like the type of rack you get with a microwave/grill oven. Search the net for microwave grill rack and loads pop up.

[jonnyt]

Way too much water. I reckon on 34 to 37L my last batch with 32L was 3L short and I reduced the boil by 15m as I could see I was going to fall short

[Beer O'Clock]

That looks like the type of rack you get with a microwave/grill oven. Search the net for microwave grill rack and loads pop up.

If you can't find one, I use a pizza tray. It's aluminium with holes in it.

[tractorboy]

The rack is as Deadfall spotted, from a Microwave; a Panasonic in fact. I shortened the legs by bending them in such a way that they are a perfect fit in the bottom of the boiler. As for the water, I'll certainly use a lot less (10 litres less!) next time. Seems odd that the BIABinfo spreadsheet and Brewsmith were SO far out; I was suprised at the volume required but there was no way I was going to mess with things on my 1st brew. Anyway, lovely crust on top right now.

Again, that smell was fantastic!!

Bob

[Wolfman]

nice one bob..youve deffos given me food for thought...just 3 questions..

1. if i cant find a brew bag,could i use a pillowcase or duvet cover?


2. apart from the chiller, how much did all of your kit cost?

and

3. around how much did all of your ingredients cost?

i already have a 25 litre Brewing Bin and same sized keg with tap.

cheers,
Wolfman

[Goulders]

Well done on your first BIAB As Jim says the water treatment takes some adjusting. You may already have done so, but make sure your boiler dimensions are correct as this affects the evaporation rate.

I use beersmith but brewmate has a BIAB option and gives a good estimate for water volumes. I use a Buffalo boiler, and for a 23 litre batch calculated 34l needed, which was about 29cm for a diameter of 393mm.

[tractorboy]

nice one bob..youve deffos given me food for thought...just 3 questions..

1. if i cant find a brew bag,could i use a pillowcase or duvet cover?
Not from what I know. Everyone uses a bag made from swiss voile. You can just buy a few metres of voile, or a cheap net curtain (they are made from Swiss Voile) and put it in the boilerwith the excsess draped over the top. Then gather it together to remove and squeeze. Very cheap!


2. apart from the chiller, how much did all of your kit cost?
From memory: Bucket £20 from Colchester Home Brew shop, 2 tesco value kettles £12, plumbing bits for tap £10, voile £4, webbing for bag £4, Wickes plaster stirrer (probably OTT) £12, everything else (keg, FV, siphon etc) £40.

and

3. around how much did all of your ingredients cost?

About £10 I think.

i already have a 25 litre Brewing Bin and same sized keg with tap.

cheers,
Wolfman

[Wolfman]

cheers matey..ive found a few bits allready and ive got part of a recipe for dark mild,but as im only half way through fermentation on my beerkit brew,i have plenty of time to gather my stuff together.

Wolfman

[Wolfman]

ive got a youngs ubrew plastic fermenting bin and i was wondering if i get the boiling elements from 2 kettles and submerge them in my water in my fermentation bin,will that do and will the plastic cope with the heat?

Wolfman

[jonnyt]

You cannot submerge the kettle elements they need permanently fixing.

One element is sufficient as proven by my own 30L brew lengths using a single Argos 2.2KW element. Needs a 38mm hole to mount.

I use a 60L container from www.dvfuels.co.uk cheaper than a Youngs FV, others use 60L FVs that are thick walled and cost around £25