BIAB - guesstimates

What's the OG?

Base malt |   OG    |   FG    | mash temps | ABV

     8            1.036    1.009     155 - 145      3.5%

     9.5         1.042    1.004     152 - 140      5.0%

I'm losing 8 - 10f over a 60 min. mash, that's not good.

this is during summer brewing. ( temps 75- 80 f. )

9lbs Rahr pale ale malt.

7 lbs Rahr Pale Ale, 1 lb brown malt

West Yorkshire Ale @ 78f ( a bit hot, 64/72 )

https://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/

https://wyeastlab.com/yeast-strain/west-yorkshire-ale

Heat loss to grain 

about 0.5 f / lb

(5 gal. batch size, full volume mash, 60 min biol)

via. https://biabcalculator.com/

Running the numbers in BIAB calculator, you start to get an idea of how grain affects the heat loss of the strike water. Assuming that your grain is room temp (70f) and you loose 0.3 gallons to the trube when transferring the wort to the fermenter.

Baseline wort:

5 gal. | 150 f mash | 60 min. boil

lbs. of grain | strike water volume | strike water temp

lbs. | SWV | SWT | loss

 7      6.8       154      4

 8      6.9       155      5

 9      7.0       155      5

10     7.0       156      6

11     7.1       156      6

12     7.1       157      7

13     7.2       157      7

14     7.2       158      8

15     7.2       158      8

16     7.3       159      9

And my measured results:

0.4f / lb of grain

Grain temp may have been 80f

Air temp was 75 - 80 f (summer, outside)

So, about a degree less than the above chart when brewing in the summer in a thick walled, 10 gal. Mega Pot.

lbs. | SWV | SWT | MT | loss

 8       7.0      158    155     3

9.5     7.0      156    152     4

Buy the ticket. Take the ride.

- BrewNorth

BIAB - brew day!

How it all went down!

I made two beers on two different days in hopes of learning more about strike water temps and heat loss to grain and during mashing, and ,most of all, to get a good handle on the steps and times for planing future brew days.

My e.t. for BIAB was about 4 hours both times, but for different reasons. The first brew had a longer mash because I got busy with dinner while the second brew had longer heat times because I had the burner turned down (i think).

The breakdown:

Gather 7 gal. of strike water and heat to 156F (losing about 0.5f / lb of grain, but it's not linear)

33 - 38 min.

Mash for 60 min.

Drain the bag and misc. I drained and re-dunked the bag 4 or 5 times to simulate a "lauder" step. Then placed it in a smaller pot to drain while the mash got up to a boil.

10 min.

Fire on! to boiling 6 gal. of wort. 

This is where I loss time on the second batch. The second batch had less grain and wound up being more than 6 gallons ( started with too much water ). 

31 and 40 min. 

Boil. 60 min.

Chill to 100f ish via summer temp hose water and the immersion chiller. 

30 min.

And clean up. Having the hose outside makes clean up easy, just spray everything down. (and minimal clean up is needed with the doby pad and maybe PBW. 

So, for timing a batch...

Start about 40 min before dinner time and get the mash going.

Eat, hang, and do dishes. 

Then pull the bag and get too it. That gets things wrapped up before 10:00. Maybe 9:30 ish. 

That's a very doable brew day!

Mega Pot! (10 gal.) 

This could totally be done in an 8 gal. pot.

Mashing (Dough-in)

Lauder.

Boil.

- Brew North

BIAB! my first all-grain batch ever

My goal for BIAB is to dial in a process for moderate gravity beers. (1040 - 1050ish OG) I don't care so much about brewhouse efficiency, just consistency. I'm not starting a brewery so an easy brew day is really my only goal.

For BIAB #1 I'm going for a full volume mash and boil. (no sparge). Another technique is to shoot for a high OG wort and adjust it down in the fermenter, like extract brewing. this would mean less heating and boiling water.

Guidance for this step into the unknown received from biabcalcualtor.com

Fuller's London Pride from "Brewing Real Ale"

Brewed June 12th, 2020

9 lbs Rahr Pale Ale malt

0.5 lbs crystal 40

60 min: 0.4 oz Target, 0.2 oz Challenger & Northdown

10 min: 0.2 oz Goldings

some Irish Moss 10 min

West Yorkshire Ale

Strike water volume: 7 gal.

Grain weight: 9.5 lbs. 

Strike water temp: 156 f

Mash time: 60 min (77 min by the time dinner was picked up)

Mash temp, start: 152 f (goal of 149 - 151)

Mash temp, end: 140 f @ 60 min (mashed for an additional 17 min, temp at that time was 137)

Pre boil volume: 6 (goal 6ish gal.)

Post boil volume: 5.5, 5 gal into fermenter (goal 5.5 gal.)

Yeast pitched at +78f

Fermented at 78f (the fresh beer had alcohol off flavors that dissipated with carbonation)

Post chill gravity: 1.042 (goal 1045 but whatever is fine be me)

Final gravity: 1.004 June 19th

ABV: 5%

9 lbs Rahr Pale Ale malt

0.5 lbs crystal 40

The Fuller's hop schedule according to "British Real Ale"

60 min: 0.4 oz Target, 0.2 oz Challenger & Northdown

10 min: 0.2 oz Goldings (just a dusting, must be a nod to tradition)

7/9 Day 2 in the keg at 22 psi

Under carbed/ cask-like bitter

Dark mild  (a spin-off of the Fuller's recipe) 

Brewed 06/19/2020

7 lbs Rahr Pale Ale malt

1 lbs Brown Malt

 3 oz. Carafa III 

60 min: 0.2 oz Target, Challenger & Northdown

10 min: 0.2 oz Goldings

some Irish Moss 10 min

West Yorkshire Ale (trube from the first batch, yeast ripped through in 24 - 48 hours)

Strike water volume: 7 gal.

Grain weight: 8 lbs. 

Strike water temp: 158 f

Mash time: 60 min 

Mash temp, start: 155 f (goal of 149 - 151)

Mash temp, end: 146 f @ 60 min 

Pre boil volume: 6+ (goal 6ish gal.)

Post boil volume: 5.75, 5.5 gal into fermenter (goal 5.5 gal.)

This batch took longer to get up to temp and finished with more volume. I think the extra wort was from a less vigorous boil and less grain. Also, there was no wind; the first boil was on a windy day.

Yeast pitched at +78f

Fermented at 78f

OG: 1.036 (squeeze!)

FG: 

the grist/ mash

Wrapping up at 11:00.

- BrewNorth