Biab #2, promising IPA, few questions tho...

[dshar]

Biab brew #2.

So my first go at AG wasnt a great success (maybe a bit ambitious after only one extract brew!)
was a choc stout and Temp dropped when i added the grains ending up mashing at too low a temp. So stout was very strong (8% ish) but also taste was quite off.
Another mistake i made which i think spoilt the taste was that i siphoned off some of the trub stuff at the bottom and realised only too late..

So back to brew #2, a very hoppy wheaty ipa. Seems to have come out well, og, fg both spot on. Just bottled yesterday. Supposed to be ibu 32 but on tasting was pretty bitter, not that i mind, but wasexpecting it to bemilder. Not sure what happened there??

So i was very careful not to unsettle the bottom and siphon off the trub, but that meant i only got 14 litres out of a total of 18litre batch. Is it normal to lose so much? I use 5gallon round glass carbuoy as a fv, given the shape, a few cms at the bottom means a few lites of beer! so, How do people avoid the trub when siphoning? Or do you just accept a few litres of losses at bottom? I should mention i didnt rack to secondary which would prob help.

Cheers for any tips


3kg pale malt
750g wheat malt
500g light crystal
Styrian 30g 60mins, 20g 30mins, 20g 15mins
Cascade 50g at flame out
60min boil, cooled in 20mins
Mash at 67, 75 mins
Sparge at 66
Og 1.05. Fg 1.015
Ebc 20something
Nott yeast

[ajclarkson]

I'm by no means a BIAB expert, but I might be able to offer a few thoughts on these questions!

Just bottled yesterday. Supposed to be ibu 32 but on tasting was pretty bitter, not that i mind, but wasexpecting it to bemilder. Not sure what happened there??

I often find that the flavour of hoppy beers changes every week from bottling to around 4 weeks, at which point it levels out and becomes a bit milder. The bitterness also won't be as pronounced when your IPA is carbonated, so wouldn't worry too much. One of the best bits of advice I was given when starting out AG was to get 4 250ml bottles, bottle those and then you can try one for each week to get a feel for how flavours develop. I still do that every time I try a new style now. I know that won't help for this one, but might be something your interested in for future brews.

So i was very careful not to unsettle the bottom and siphon off the trub, but that meant i only got 14 litres out of a total of 18litre batch. Is it normal to lose so much? I use 5gallon round glass carbuoy as a fv, given the shape, a few cms at the bottom means a few lites of beer! so, How do people avoid the trub when siphoning? Or do you just accept a few litres of losses at bottom? I should mention i didnt rack to secondary which would prob help.

Do you know that you definitely got 18 litres into the FV? Just asking as a point of clarity because I missed my target volumes on a few of my first brews. 4 litres does seem on the high side to be losing to FV trub, I brew shorter at the minute, typically get 11 litres into the FV but I'll routinely get 10 back out of it (that's a bucket rather than a carboy though). It's worth mentioning (and this can be a bit contentious) that it's suggested BIAB can result in more trub in the FV than a multiple vessel AG procedure. It's quite lengthy to go into the full reasoning but its to do with the pulling the grain bag out, rather than letting a grain bed form at the bottom of a mash tun and filtering the wort through it.

Additionally, didn't see any kettle finings in your recipe. Did you use Irish Moss (or other variants like protafloc, whirl floc)? They help to clarify your wort after the boil and can help to leave some more trub behind in the kettle rather than the FV.

Hopefully passing on the same tips people gave me when I started will help out!

[dshar]

thanks for the comments AJ, at my stage, all input is very helpful...

I often find that the flavour of hoppy beers changes every week from bottling to around 4 weeks, at which point it levels out and becomes a bit milder. The bitterness also won't be as pronounced when your IPA is carbonated, so wouldn't worry too much. One of the best bits of advice I was given when starting out AG was to get 4 250ml bottles, bottle those and then you can try one for each week to get a feel for how flavours develop. I still do that every time I try a new style now. I know that won't help for this one, but might be something your interested in for future brews.

good to know, i dont mind the bitterness, but want to get good control of it and it was just more bitter than i expected, but guess that will change with carbonation and time.. I actually bottled a few 330mls, so will be trying them regulalry starting this weekend!

Do you know that you definitely got 18 litres into the FV? Just asking as a point of clarity because I missed my target volumes on a few of my first brews. 4 litres does seem on the high side to be losing to FV trub, I brew shorter at the minute, typically get 11 litres into the FV but I'll routinely get 10 back out of it (that's a bucket rather than a carboy though). It's worth mentioning (and this can be a bit contentious) that it's suggested BIAB can result in more trub in the FV than a multiple vessel AG procedure. It's quite lengthy to go into the full reasoning but its to do with the pulling the grain bag out, rather than letting a grain bed form at the bottom of a mash tun and filtering the wort through it.

I was a bit short on the final volume but topped up to 18litres. I could have got more beer out but didnt want to risk unsettling the trub and siphoning it up... 10/11 litres sounds much better, no issue with unsettling the trub? seems i may have to invest in some buckets..

Additionally, didn't see any kettle finings in your recipe. Did you use Irish Moss (or other variants like protafloc, whirl floc)? They help to clarify your wort after the boil and can help to leave some more trub behind in the kettle rather than the FV.

yes forgot to mention, i did use irish moss, so may explain the amoutn of trub

cheers!

[dshar]

Much obliged for any further pointers, thoughts, observations.. Thks chaps!

[ajclarkson]

Sorry for delay in getting back to you, as for my brew length, I end up with 10/11 litres because I brew using a 19L stockpot at the minute, so for an average grain bill and not topping up, that's the best I can achieve.

When I started out with the stockpot, after the mash I used to clean and sanitise my grain bag while the wort boiled, then use that to strain the wort going into the FV as well. I've since drilled a hole in my stockpot and added a tap and hop strainer and I think that has improved further. I wouldn't worry too much about there being trub in your FV unless you are doing extended primary fermentations (over 3-4 weeks) the wisdom that I've read seems to be that off flavours shouldn't be an issue up to then

[dshar]

Ye, maybe im making too much of the trub... Good tip to use the netting to filter the hops out going into the fv, will give that a go for sure
Cheers for the tips