First BIAB

My first all grain brew day today. Making an American IPA, good brew for the summer and my wife likes them too. I used a simple stove top BIAB setup for a 10 litre batch, started just before 9am and by 1pm the kitchen looked like it did before I started.

2.5kg Maris Otter
80g 40L Crystal

Mash 1 hour at 67C
Infusion of 93C water to mash out
Dunk sparge at 76C

60 min boil

10g Chinook 13.3% for 60min
1 tsp Irish Moss for 10min
30g Cascade 8.3% for 5min
30g Citra 12% for 5min
30g Centennial 8.7% for 5min

Chilled to 17C and pitched rehydrated S-05

My dough in temperature was a little higher than target so I added about 500ml of cold water. I mashed in a stainless steel pot with a double layer of tin foil under the lid and three towels on top. Lost just about one degree in the hour, including a half hour stir and temperature check. Simple dunk sparge for a few minutes. I undershot the BeerSmith pre boil gravity by two points. Boil was uneventful. Chilled in about 25 mins. I hoped to get a little lower temperature as the weather is so hot so I'm worried about the ferment drifting up but my chiller wasn't really getting it any lower so I decided to pitch and get the lid on my FV. I got a good cold break but it didn't all settle out by the time I wanted to get yeast pitched so I did end up siphoning a fair amount into the FV. I can see it settling out though so that's promising. OG ended up at 1.054, a couple of points lower than planned but not bad. It smells really nice, very citrus fruity as you'd expect with the hops. Fingers crossed for the ferment.

Ajhutch said:

started just before 9am and by 1pm the kitchen looked like it did before I started.

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cap doffed!

I wouldn't worry about getting it in the fv in a rush. Some people do overnight chill with no problems

You have taken your first step into a lager world

Is that correct that you used 93C water to mash out, was this extra water added to the main mash to raise its temperature and if so to what temperature? Just trying to ensure that you are not causing tannin extraction.

F00b4r said:

Is that correct that you used 93C water to mash out, was this extra water added to the main mash to raise its temperature and if so to what temperature? Just trying to ensure that you are not causing tannin extraction.

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I was worried about that too. Yes it was added to the mash, to be a little safe I pulled the bag up, poured the hot water in the bottom and then put the bag back down. That raised the temperature to 76C to mash out.

Ajhutch said:

I was worried about that too. Yes it was added to the mash, to be a little safe I pulled the bag up, poured the hot water in the bottom and then put the bag back down. That raised the temperature to 76C to mash out.

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That sounds like the sensible option to avoid possible issues, just make sure you stir to equalise the temperature.

Packaged this on Tuesday evening into a mini keg and a few bottles. Gravity finished up at 1.010 and it had 30g each of Citra and Centennial for dry hops. I lost more than I expected to the fermenter, the yeast didn't drop out particularly well and there was a fair amount of trub that I knew I'd transferred over from the kettle on brew day. So some improvements to be made to my handling processes, but I'm still pretty happy with the overall result, the beer looks and smells great.

Sounds superb, no way back from here !

sounds great, onwards and upwards :thumb:

Patience exhausted, I had to pour one out. I was very careful pouring as there was a heavy sediment in the bottom of the bottle but it's stayed pretty solid so that's good. Little worried about the sediment in the mini keg but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Very happy with how it tasted, there's officially no turning back now!

Ajhutch said:

Patience exhausted, I had to pour one out. I was very careful pouring as there was a heavy sediment in the bottom of the bottle but it's stayed pretty solid so that's good. Little worried about the sediment in the mini keg but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Very happy with how it tasted, there's officially no turning back now!

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Looks very good that.

Another week or two conditioning will improve carbonation (yours looks pretty good now anyway) and the flavours will blend/settle a bit also.

Difficult to leave all grain brews alone though, particularly your first one !!!