Here Is My Take on the Step by Step instructions for my first BIAB brew day!

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

This is an American Pale Ale 23litre batch.

1) Add 30Litres? of Strike water use hot water from tap to speed up the process, heat to a temp of 69-70c? aiming for 66c? mas temp

2) Turn off gas and add the grain bag, stir in the grains for a few minutes,

3) Put a lid on and insulate for 60min, checking every 15 min temp and stir.

4) Do a mash out? what temp and for how long? after the 60min?

5)Lift the grain bag out and allow to drain in to kettle then place in a bucket and then do a sparge water over grains, how much water? and at what temp? then add back to kettle.

6)Start hop boil for a 75 to 90min adding first hops addition after hot break 10min in to boil?

7) add Irish Moss somewhere in there?

8)At the last 10min of hop boil add the wort chiller to sanitize and then proceed to cool at end of boil.

9)cool the wort down to a temp of?

10) then transfer to the fermenter through the tubing in to a sieve to remove trub.

11) Aerate the wort then pitch yeast

12) put lid on and fit the air lock half filled with filtered water?

13) Clean up and have a beer or 2.

Can you guys please help me fill in the blanks where I have put a ? and add something that I have left out or not quite got right...that would be a massive help.

Cheers!!

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

I should mention that I have a large 600mm metal ruler I am going to mark with 1 or 2 litre increments so I can gauge how much I have in the kettle after I remove the bag.

[Grant R Baker]

1) 30 litres sounds right... what volume are you aiming for.? The grains will drop the water temp when added... exactly how much can be calculated using http://www.brewersfriend.com/mash/  other tools on the brewers friend are quite good if you are not using BeerSmith.

 

4-5) Mash for at least 60mins. I mash longer for high ABV beers. Mashout and sparging is optional when doing BIAB. I recommend using 76c water from a jug to sprinkle sparge your grains to get a little extra of the sugars out.. and it might help you top up your wort volume. Volume require depends on target pre-boil volume. 

Your malts are going to soak up a fair bit of water, something like 600m per 1kg of malt.

Lets say you are going to lose 5litres during the boil, so you want to target 29L of hot wort... lose 5 to evaporation, lose 1 to chilling shrinkage.. leaves you with 23L.  (evaporation rate can be calculated too). So sparge until you have 29l of pre-boil wort... rough guide but it is your system to fine tune.

 

6) sounds good to me.

7) add irish moss 10-15 mintues from the end of the boil.

9) 18c is ideal. I go for 20c then chill some more in the fridge/fermentation chamber before pitching yeast.

12) cooled boiled water or starsans.

13) lots of beers.

 

 

Hope this helps some

 

 

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Where you say.... "Lets say you are going to lose 5litres during the boil, so you want to target 29L of hot wort... lose 5 to evaporation, lose 1 to chilling shrinkage.. leaves you with 23L.  (evaporation rate can be calculated too). So sparge until you have 29l of pre-boil wort... rough guide but it is your system to fine tune."

makes sense, what you are saying is if I start with 30L strike water them after mash lost a fair bit, sparge it back to around 29L as that is what I'll need pre-boil? Yes?

[Grant R Baker]

Bang on.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

I'll also be able to take a sight reading after mash too with my gauge I'm making up a sight ruler when I do a trial run this Saturday and mark it from 20 Litres up in 1 litre increments I think this will work well as a sight glass does.

[Grant R Baker]

It might work better... remember the wort expands as it heats so 23l cold is about 24.6l when boiling... and a vigorous boil is even harder to read.

 

Either way I only measure gravity at the start of the boil and then when it is cooled. Actual volume is less important as long as I am not too far out. It might take 3 or 4 brews to dial in the evaporation rate of you kettle.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

So take a hydrometer reading before boil and when was the other time? there's original gravity(1st reading at pre-boil) and final gravity(2nd reading at ?)

[Grant R Baker]

I se a refractomter at start or the boil and a hydrometer once chilled just to get the OG and see how close I got.

 

Hydrometer once more when the fermentation is over so you can calculate ABV.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

Hey cheers mate, great stuff to take in. My target volume for the fermenter is 23 litres. I'll just give it a crack and record everything I do so as you say fine tune it for next time! Cheers

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

I have the brewer friend app on my iPhone but not sure how to use it, any tips to follow there anyone? Cheers.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

My indicated mash temp strike water is 64 deg C while mashing, so what is the normal strike water temp pre grains?

sorry if this has been pointed out already so much great info coming in I am trying to make sense of it all. Cheers.

[Darren Andrews (Daza)]

All good found it in my book I should have strike water of 30L temp 70 deg C so my mash temp is in the range of between 64 deg C - 67 deg C this range will produce a Balance of sugars and body. Anyone agree with this so I can start my first batch off at this? cheers.