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Author Topic: First BIAB All-Grain Done  (Read 1800 times)

Offline wmwadeii

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First BIAB All-Grain Done
« on: April 19, 2015, 04:26:42 pm »
So first BIAB is in the books. Hit all my volume numbers per Beersmith2 predictions, but missed my gravity by a few points both after Mash and after boil. BS2 predicted 1.053 after Mash and 1.070 final. I ended up with 1.047 and 1.060 final.

I did a second mill off of NB pre-milled grains, didn't go all the way to powder consistency as I read it can make the beer a little gritty. I also let the grains drain twice and poured that in. My saccharification was 60min, and then 17min mashout. I used BS2 timers, but probably should have gone 90min as I have read high OG beers benefit more. All in all I'm please I was able to get 76% Mash Eff, and 67.8% Brewhouse Eff.
Fermenter A: Lemondrop Hefe
Fermenter B: Empty
Bottles: Apple Hefe, La Petite Orange Blanche
Brew Total: 15

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Online pete b

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Re: First BIAB All-Grain Done
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2015, 05:18:19 am »
When I have about 5 minutes left in the boil I cool a sample in a  cocktail shaker in an ice bath and check the gravity. If its a little low I boil a bit longer. If it was 10 points lower I would add some dme  Also IMO its OK to crush quite fine with biab. Also I find a slight increase in biab efficiency by dunk sparging.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2015, 05:20:15 am by pete b »
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Offline wmwadeii

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Re: First BIAB All-Grain Done
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2015, 07:26:08 am »
Thanks for the info. I forgot to take pictures of each crush I did but I do have it in my YouTube Video at about the 4min mark. Somebody else mentioned a sparge so will probably try that this weekend. Will probably get better results with both, along with it being an Apple Hefe I'm going to try so the grain bill will be a lot lower. I have heard that high OG beers are hard to zero in as a first time, and that I might need a longer saccharification.
Fermenter A: Lemondrop Hefe
Fermenter B: Empty
Bottles: Apple Hefe, La Petite Orange Blanche
Brew Total: 15

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YouTube

Online pete b

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Re: First BIAB All-Grain Done
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2015, 08:42:26 am »
Your original gravity is about borderline for me as far as a 60 or 90 minute rest. I actually did a 75 minute rest for a saison about that gravity last week and actually hit a bit higher gravity than I predicted. For some reason I actually seem to get a bit better efficiency with higher gravities but I don't know why, it doesn't seem to be most peoples experience.
Also I think now is the time to experiment with your system, preferably changing one thing at a time (sparge or no, finer milling etc.) then dialing it in from there. I value good and consistent efficiency over crazy high efficiency. I'm getting 72-74% right now pretty consistently and liking it.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2015, 08:49:41 am by pete b »
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Offline morticaixavier

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Re: First BIAB All-Grain Done
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2015, 09:40:18 am »
I don't set my mash time based on gravity. It's more to do with mash temp and target FG.

The more grain there is the more enzymes there are so you shouldn't need to mash longer unless you are using a lot of adjuncts or a very thick or very thin mash.
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Online pete b

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Re: First BIAB All-Grain Done
« Reply #5 on: April 20, 2015, 10:50:30 am »
I don't set my mash time based on gravity. It's more to do with mash temp and target FG.

The more grain there is the more enzymes there are so you shouldn't need to mash longer unless you are using a lot of adjuncts or a very thick or very thin mash.
It seems that when I've seen recipes for higher gravity beers they use a longer mash temp and always equated them. Are the mash temp/target FG factors more common in high gravity beers? I'm always willing to save time.
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Offline morticaixavier

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Re: First BIAB All-Grain Done
« Reply #6 on: April 20, 2015, 12:11:44 pm »
I don't set my mash time based on gravity. It's more to do with mash temp and target FG.

The more grain there is the more enzymes there are so you shouldn't need to mash longer unless you are using a lot of adjuncts or a very thick or very thin mash.
It seems that when I've seen recipes for higher gravity beers they use a longer mash temp and always equated them. Are the mash temp/target FG factors more common in high gravity beers? I'm always willing to save time.

the enzymatic activity slows at lower temps so if you are mashing at 162 things are going to move along much more quickly than if you are mashing at 148. So if you want a nice dry well attenuated barley wine and you're mashing at 148 then a longer mash time is warrented. In that sense it seems gravity related but if you want a nice dry saison starting at 1.060 and you don't want to use sugar you might also want to mash at 148 for 90-120 minutes. on the other hand, an American Amber where you want a lot of body and richness and mash at 158 you only really need to go for 45-60 minutes.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
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Online pete b

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Re: First BIAB All-Grain Done
« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2015, 12:20:27 pm »
I don't set my mash time based on gravity. It's more to do with mash temp and target FG.

The more grain there is the more enzymes there are so you shouldn't need to mash longer unless you are using a lot of adjuncts or a very thick or very thin mash.
It seems that when I've seen recipes for higher gravity beers they use a longer mash temp and always equated them. Are the mash temp/target FG factors more common in high gravity beers? I'm always willing to save time.

the enzymatic activity slows at lower temps so if you are mashing at 162 things are going to move along much more quickly than if you are mashing at 148. So if you want a nice dry well attenuated barley wine and you're mashing at 148 then a longer mash time is warrented. In that sense it seems gravity related but if you want a nice dry saison starting at 1.060 and you don't want to use sugar you might also want to mash at 148 for 90-120 minutes. on the other hand, an American Amber where you want a lot of body and richness and mash at 158 you only really need to go for 45-60 minutes.
Got it. A lot of correlation between gravity and mash length in my own experience but not the right causation.
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Offline wmwadeii

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Re: First BIAB All-Grain Done
« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2015, 06:04:05 pm »
Thanks for the info, would have never associated the temps, time, and style that way. Still have so much to learn.
Fermenter A: Lemondrop Hefe
Fermenter B: Empty
Bottles: Apple Hefe, La Petite Orange Blanche
Brew Total: 15

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YouTube

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: First BIAB All-Grain Done
« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2015, 08:26:36 am »
Thanks for the info, would have never associated the temps, time, and style that way. Still have so much to learn.

that's the fun part.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
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"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
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Offline ynotbrusum

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Re: First BIAB All-Grain Done
« Reply #10 on: April 24, 2015, 12:14:12 pm »
Thanks for the info, would have never associated the temps, time, and style that way. Still have so much to learn.

that's the fun part.

Well done, Jonathan.  As regular posters we sometimes just jump to the end answers on posts, forgetting that newer guys could use the fuller explanation.  And yes all grain allows for the greatest flexibility in brewing.  I have tried to explain this to friends who solely do extract brewing, but your simple yet succinct account is something that gets a lot across in a modest amount of words (and doesn't sound snobbish - which I risk when talking to my extract brew friends).
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