How to go from Extract to AG for < $10.00

[katzke]

Well I did it I am a Biaby or what ever you call it. My first All Grain Batch and first Biab. An Ordinary Bitter, I posted help with the recipe in a different topic.

Planned on brewing Saturday but complications postponed it until Sunday evening. I know plan ahead and make sure you have plenty of time. Well I started at 6:15 and put it all to bend at 11:30. I found out I need a better burner.

The time went like this. Start 6:15, hit mash temp at 7:15, mash till 8:15, hit mash out at 8:30, pull bag at 9:00, hit boil at 9:20, shut down at 10:20, forgot to keep track of time from here but put the wraps on the fermenters at 11:30. Yes at night.

I missed my target gravity by about .002 because of less boil off then expected. So I added ½ pound LDME per BeerSmith to hit my target of 1.035. Would not have bothered but it is a thin beer and 1.032 or so bothered me.

Had to split the pack of yeast between my bucket and a 3 gallon carboy. Did not think this would be to big an issue as it is a low gravity beer. Last time I made a similar one it finished fast with a full packet in 5 gallons.

So I am sure some will say I did not get my All Grain feet totally wet because of the DME. I did learn a lot and know what better to expect and do next time. This is twice I did a night brew and both times I over shot my volume. Note to self to not brew in the dark.

On the positive side it did save me some $. Even with the price of hopes going up $2 this batch was less then the extract with grain batch of about the same beer. If I keep brewing this way I will have the extra equipment paid for in 2 or 3 more batches.

[katzke]

Anyone that has looked at this recipe I messed up the 2 row. It is correct now at 3 pounds, not 2.

Well we did our second Biab. That should make us Biabers and not Biabys.

The brew went well just like last time. If we went No Chill we may have set a record. With both of us keeping time we still have a few guesses. We started about 1 PM and pitched at about 5:50. We shut down the boil at 4:15 so that puts it at 3 and a quarter hours if we No Chilled. I followed Thirtyboy’s advice and just left the bag in until we hit Mashout and then pulled it. That saved a bunch of time over the last brew. It helped that it was at or above 90 today with little wind. One reason why cooling took longer as well as we let it settle longer. Advantage this time is less break in the fermentor.

Only bummer is we blew our efficiency and boil off again. We ended up with just less then 5 gallons and OG was 1.062 instead of 1.067 as calculated by BeerSmith (must be the program and not us).

Do not want to insult any Kiwi’s but the recipe is called Riwaka IPA. It is a typical American IPA no British sailor would have tolerated or brewery would have created. Here is the break down (sorry you will have to convert it yourself to metric).

Removed the recipe....


Taste into fermentor, sweet, bitter, fruity. The sweet is first, followed by the fruity on the tip of the tong and the bitter hits the middle of the tong.

I do not like IPA’s but it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

[katzke]

Well I thought I would post where I found the material for the bag now that I have 2 batches working (bottling the first one tonight).

Found it at Hancock Fabrics.

This store has many outlets so you may be able to find one. The fabric is not listed on there web site.

It is just plain "Voile" item # 002696987. Had them all confused with the Swiss Voile and references to Australian Haberdasheries and all. It is on a long tube rolled one layer and not folded like other fabrics. It was not in there curtain section. It does look a bit different then the image given someplace in the thread. It is a tight weave and for anyone old enough to remember fancy curtains (before everyone went to blinds) it is like the stuff they make shears out of. It was 5 bucks a yard. I got 2 yards and have enough for a second bag. I suggest measuring first and just get what you need rather then use the guess method like I did.

The style of bag we made is the tube with a round bottom piece. I use it in a converted keg. I cut the hole in the keg extra large with about a 1 inch lip to fit a canner lid. The bag has come out fine with few drips using 12 pounds of grain. The bag is just big enough to put on the outside of the keg. The bottom has a few tucks in it to mate up with the tube part of the bag.

I use a round cake cooling thing in the bottom of the keg to keep the bag off the hot bottom.

[PistolPatch]

Great to see you got there katzke!!! Have lost track of our correspondence the last few weeks (too much work) but hope you got a recipe or two to keep you going.

Love your new word - BIABY

Good on ya and
Pat

[GooberMcNutly]

I am glad that a lot of you guys are getting on the bandwagon. It's a great way to fire up a quick batch and not have to break out the whole sculpture and extra pots.

I have made nearly every style of Ale in my BIAB, including my first ever 47 pointer in competition, an American Rye Ale. Rye and the BIAB work perfectly together. There is NO WAY you can get a stuck mash.

[PistolPatch]

47 points Goober! That is brilliant! A huge congratulations to you mate

Also impressed that you have done so many styles as well - top stuff!

Pat

[Thirsty Boy]

Goober !!!

mate I was just thinking about you the other day and wondering if you had kept on with any bag brewing... apparently you have. 47 points, Jeezus H Christopher. And you have been getting through the styles as well.

Would it be OK for either Pistol or myself to brag about you back on the Aussie forum?? And if so.. can we get a little extra info about the beers you have brewed?

Which styles (mostly ales I realise) you haven't brewed BiaB ?
How many BiaB batched altogether ?
Which one got the 47 points ? did it win? surely it must have.
Any other competition results?

Just wanted to celebrate such a good comp result because I don't think that too many BiaB brewers are entering comps over here. They are either new brewers who are still feeling their way, guys who are brewing regularly and in volume, confident in the beers they brew and don't need the reinforcement of comps, or just slackers like Pistol...... or me. I will be entering one BiaB brew in the comps when they come up in October, but because its not my main style of brewing, most of my comp beers aren't BiaB. Most of my BiaB brews are experimental and not so suited for a styles based comp.

A few decent scores in comps and maybe a medal or two might encourage some people who are teetering on the edge to give it a go

So... can we brag about you?

and congratulations, bloody top effort.

Thirsty

[roylee]

I've been making beer for some time, but am entirely new to the forum so if my format is bad I apologize ... Question... In ThirstyBoys original post on the bag method he included a link that referred to sealing hot wort in a plastic cube to cool naturally before pitching. That interests me... hate chilling & wasting water & waiting. Has anyone tried this? What is a "plastic cube?" Would a corny keg work? (If this has been covered my apologies... I've been reading for hours and don't find it.