Best BIAB starter kit

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I'll get it and fiddle about with it and report back in a month or so.
It comes with a kit with grains and hops etc. so i'm happy to mess that one up a bit for the sake of experience, might do half of it if possible and then do the other half once its fermented and I know if it tastes nice or not. I've got two kits to be used up and one in the FV still so i'm in no rush and I like the kit beer but I want to go BIAB just because I want to try different tastes in the same style. (and i've got some money burning a hole in my pocket lol)
 
I'll get it and fiddle about with it and report back in a month or so.
It comes with a kit with grains and hops etc. so i'm happy to mess that one up a bit for the sake of experience, might do half of it if possible and then do the other half once its fermented and I know if it tastes nice or not. I've got two kits to be used up and one in the FV still so i'm in no rush and I like the kit beer but I want to go BIAB just because I want to try different tastes in the same style. (and i've got some money burning a hole in my pocket lol)

If the grains come in separate bags, you will be able to split the quantities to make a smaller batch but, if they are already mixed in one bag, you won't know if you have the correct ratios for a smaller batch if you split the bag. (Ignore this if the kit just has one type of grain)
 
Just use the lot and do a full batch. A well executed AG beer will beat a well executed kit beer every time. Its the 'well-executed' bit that can be trouble. Talking as someone who screwed up my first BIAB, this is the advice I would give:

Use a strike water temperature calculator; you don't want to be turning the peco on with the mash in it. Mash with an amount of water equivalent to half the volume you want to boil, plus grain absorption (about 0.7*amount of grain) plus an extra litre or two as waste. Stir the mash at least once halfway though, or better every 20 minutes or so. Insulate the peco really well with a duvet, dressing gown, whatever you have to hand. When done, squeeze the life out of the bag. Get every drop you can out of it. Sparge in a separate vessel with 80C water of half the volume you want to boil, and again squeeze every drop you can from the bag. When chilling, keep the chiller moving otherwise it will take a very long time (this is where I messed up - and I pitched too high).
 
Right so my plan:

Heat water in boiler to strike temp (with bag in for ease so I don't burn myself)
Add grains to bag and stir
Cover and insulate
Stir during mash
After 60 mins take bag out and squeeze. Place bag over an FV and pour sparge water through grains (12L as an estimate)
Add this water to boiler and boil for 60 mins + hop additions
Chill until 21C then pitch
 
I'd be really interested to know how you get on given that it's your first BIAB.

I've only done three kits to date (though only tasted two - one is still cold conditioning) and am already sick of the old 'home brew twang' that I don't seem to be able to get rid of. Maybe I'm over fussy, but I don't see the point in doing something unless I'm totally happy with it and at the moment, kits are not inspiring me.

I'm already thinking of moving to BIAB and it can obviously be done with far less financial outlay than I imagined.

Good luck with it!
 
Well my theory is that it can be done as simply or as difficult as you want. For me I want to experiment and although I can pimp kits it's not financially worth it for the price of going BIAB. £100 for everything I need for one brew is pretty good in my opinion
 
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