Modified BIAB rig ideas

[Karl Hayes]

 

Greetings.

 

I'd like to get some feedback on an idea for modifying my standard BIAB setup. Normally I would use 30 Litres of water for an 18 to 20 Litre batch. I'd like to be able to test the benefits of FWH so my diabolical plan is to: 

 

1. Start with about 16 Litres water but the full amount of grist
2. Empty the contents of the Bag into a sparge container (chilli bin with tap) after mash-out
3. Add the First Wort Hops
4. Begin the boil process
5. Use boiling water to sparge the spent mash. Bring the volume up to about 23 Litres

Any thoughts anyone?

 

My hop addition schedule is for 5g Southern Cross at 60 minutes and 40g at about 20 minutes. Any idea how to adjust this for FWH? Does the FWH replace the bittering hops or the aroma hops? I've read up on this but opinion is devided.

 

Slainte

[Llew Bardecki]

I do a (slightly modified) BIAB method myself and regularly use FWH.

I've got a 32L mash tun/kettle and a 17L pot that I use for sparging.

 

My method is roughly:

• Mash with about 18L of water in the 32L vessel
• Remove the bag from the 32L vessel, add FWH to the 32L
• Drain as much wort as possible from the bag into the 32L vessel
• Put the 32L kettle on the burner to start getting up to boiling
• Add the grain bag and 3-6L of boiling water to the 17L vessel (I've found that the cooler grain usually drops the temp to 75 or 80C)
• Drain bag into 17L vessel, then transfer wort into the kettle
• Repeat Sparge steps if necessary (I usually do 3x3.5L sparges)

I usually treat my FWH as a 20 minute addition, both in terms of its bittering ability and its contribution to flavour.  I've never actually done a side by side comparison, but this seems about right to me.

[Reviled]

Check out my blog page on here, ive done a couple of write ups on BIAB and FWH'ing

 

IMO replace your bittering addition with your FWH addition, the hops are still in the boil for the entire time, whilst the flavour compounds are slightly different with a FWH the isomerisation is very similair, and personally I think if you treat it as a 20 minute addition, your beer will be alot more bitter than you expect. Beersmith calculates it for the entire boil time, maybe 1 or 2 IBU difference...

 

[Karl Hayes]

Thanks guys, I'll update you in 6 weeks.

[denimglen]

To be honest I think FWH is a scam.

 

Well not a scam.  But yeah.  I've never noticed a massive difference in any of my beers I've done it in.  Maybe if you did a side by side of a really light beer with only one hop addition - FWH in one and a usual 60/90 in the other, then you might see a difference.  And maybe more of a difference for the commercial guys who have a longer lauter and different utilization %ages etc.  But anyway...

 

"IMO replace your bittering addition with your FWH addition, the hops are still in the boil for the entire time..."

 

From the FWHing I've done this seems to be the case - the IBUs would match up with what I'd expect if it was a 60ish minute addition.  I think this is how beersmith calculates it also.

[bart]

WTF is FWH?

[jt]

First Wort Hopping - you add the hops with your first runnings to the kettle

[martin w]

first wort hops, placing the bittering addition in the kettle with the first runnings, apparently gives you smoother bitterness with a bit better alpha acid exraction

[bart]

ah ok. so essentially doing the bittering boil with a very high gravity wort?

[denimglen]

First wort hopping is the addition of some of your aroma hops - often in place of some/all of the bittering hops to the boiling kettle before the wort is transfered in.

 

You put them in your kettle before there's any wort in there, and then run off from your lauter tun onto them.

 

The idea behind it is that some of the volitle aroma/flavour compounds oxidise and stabilise with the wort before it boils theoretically giving you a different flavour/aroma profile in the beer.

 

IIRC it was pioneered by Germans.  The same Germans who would leave their hops out warm for a week before brewing to let the 'bad' aromas get out...just saying.

[Pilgrim]

First Wort Hopping. See http://www.brewery.org/library/1stwort.html

 

[MrC]

So what's the difference between First Wort Hopping and Mash Hopping?

[denimglen]

Mash hops go in the mash and first wort hops go in with the first wort :-P

 

They're supposed to similar things.  

 

Mash hopping gives less utilisation as you're always leaving some behind in the deadspace of your tun.  If the theory is right you may also get some more aroma/flavour in the final beer as the hops are in contact with the hot wort pre-boil longer.