HBC Double IPA BIAB First timer

Gents,

Even though i didn't win an AG kit from the HBC, i have just recently acquired one of their discounted BIAB beginners kit. So i thought i would write up my first review, both of the kit and the equipment.

Firstly thanks must go to those who offered advice but especially Clibit, who inadvertently persuaded me to buy this kit! Thanks :

All the kit laid out and ready to go, i must admit that i bungled my way through some bits and without harping on and repeating what others have said, the instructions that came with the kit were... sparse!

So strike water in reached 70oC and then in with the grains and OMG what a lovely smell!

All wrapped up and managed to keep the temp at 67-66oC which really impressed me.

Mashed for 60 min then removed the grain bag! Well that was emotional, talk about heavy, managed to do some work out on my arms!!!!

Grains eventually out, i then put the boiler back on and it came to a rolling boil relatively quickly. In with first hop addition, and these smelt wonderful, fruity and citrus... mmm

15 minutes to go, in went the wort cooler.

Next addition was at 10 min and also the fining tablet.

at flame out, i added the final hop addition and switched on the cooler.

Came down to 20oC and the racked off to the fermenting bucket.

Yeast pitched and in the the brand new fermenting fridge.

Now the wait!

Great post Simon keep us updated:thumb:

All in all, it was a fairly uneventful brewery and for my first BIAB not too bad. I do, however, have a questions;

All went well until the boil was over and cooled down, only then did i have some issues, draining into the FV was not easy, how do most people stain the liquor from the hops, it took bloody ages. i have the Peco 30 litre plastic boiler which does have a tap, would it be best to replace the plastic tap with a ball valve and bazooka, or is there another way?

i manages to achieve the OG 1.060, so it looks like I'm on for the 6.5% ABV.

The kit was good and the boiler achieved a nice rolling boil quickly. the wort chiller is as expected for a copper chiller and i have the temp down to 20oC in about 20 minutes.

So for £81.00 this was a really good kit and i think a reasonable way to start AG brewing without costing a fortune. BRAVO The Homebrew Company!

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk...iler-chiller-mashing-bag-mash-kit-p-2426.html

Sounds like your having fun. And you're not even drinking the beer yet. :thumb:

simon19791 said:

All in all, it was a fairly uneventful brewery and for my first BIAB not too bad. I do, however, have a questions;

All went well until the boil was over and cooled down, only then did i have some issues, draining into the FV was not easy, how do most people stain the liquor from the hops, it took bloody ages. i have the Peco 30 litre plastic boiler which does have a tap, would it be best to replace the plastic tap with a ball valve and bazooka, or is there another way?

i manages to achieve the OG 1.060, so it looks like I'm on for the 6.5% ABV.

The kit was good and the boiler achieved a nice rolling boil quickly. the wort chiller is as expected for a copper chiller and i have the temp down to 20oC in about 20 minutes.

So for £81.00 this was a really good kit and i think a reasonable way to start AG brewing without costing a fortune. BRAVO The Homebrew Company!

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk...iler-chiller-mashing-bag-mash-kit-p-2426.html

Click to expand...

Sounds great, did you do yours in the kitchen? I did wonder where I would do mine.

A quick question on the chiller, I assume you need to get some tubes and a tap adapter for it?

Mine came out at 1060 too and According to my gravity check it is down to 1012 or 1010 so yeah looking at 6.5%!

Nice pictures by the way

clibit said:

Sounds like your having fun. And you're not even drinking the beer yet. :thumb:

Click to expand...

Re the hops, use a small piece of muslin, put your hops in that and tie it. That way all the flavour gets in the beer but the actual hops are kept neat and tidy in the bag

Covrich said:

Sounds great, did you do yours in the kitchen? I did wonder where I would do mine.

A quick question on the chiller, I assume you need to get some tubes and a tap adapter for it?

Mine came out at 1060 too and According to my gravity check it is down to 1012 or 1010 so yeah looking at 6.5%!

Nice pictures by the way

Click to expand...

Covrich, yes did mine in the kitchen, was worried about how much steam, but too bad.

Yes i had to buy some tubing, jubilee clips and hose connectors, but worked a treat!

I put the brew in my new fermenting fridge so had to adapt a new air lock, which consists of plastic tube having down into a glass of water!

auralabuse said:

Re the hops, use a small piece of muslin, put your hops in that and tie it. That way all the flavour gets in the beer but the actual hops are kept neat and tidy in the bag

Click to expand...

Do you think you get the same amount of hop battering, taste and aromas if they are in a bag? I assumed that they had to 'swim free'?

Re:hop straining - I replaced the tap on my burco boiler with a ball tap and bazooka. Works a treat. I only put the bazooka on finger tight so that I can take it out and wash it (and removing it makes cleaning the boiler easier).

Right, all bottled... GOD i hate bottling! came out at 6.5% and the sample from the sample jar was very nice!

So, my first BIAB... it went well, i did a (don't know the term) an all in one (no sparge) and i was short in quantity came out with about 18 litre, so i need to work on my quantity or brewhouse efficiency.

Next on the agenda... Citra SMaSH or a Witbeer or a Fursty Ferret clone or a Yorkshire bitter or....

Even SWMBO like the sample from the jar!!! WINNER

Cheers for all the help and listening to the ramblings of a newb!

Cheers :

The American/Australian method of BIAB is no-sparge and I've switched to that for the bigger volume brews. Works really well for me.

Was the shortness of quantity due to a lot boiling off ? Efficiency problems tend to be the other way around i.e. too low a gravity, 1.058 sounds OK to me ;-)

It really helps when SWMBO likes it :-) most 'man activities' just get sighed at.

Finally caved in on Saturday and cracked open a bottle.

From the bottle, it had cleared lovely and the sediment had dropped, if not quite a solid pack at the moment.

Good hiss on opening and carbonation seemed good.

Poured first one in to a non-widgeted glass; poured lovely and gave a good finger sized head, the aroma was magnificent and I could swear it smelt just like a Badgers Hopping Hare (poss same hops).

First taste, OMG, this is amazing, perhaps as this is my first BIAB that i cant give a true review, but this is by far THE best homebrew i have produced! It was crisp and the bittering hits the back of your tongue followed by the magnificent hop aroma on the taste buds, this is still a bit young as you get the sense and taste it is a strong beer (6.5% ABV), but it is a very well balanced beer. The head didn’t last as long, but it did have some lacing on the side of the glass.

Not one iota of a homebrew twang!

Second bottle was poured into a widgeted glass and this produced a much larger head (perhaps 2 fingers) and im sure that the flavour of the hops came through better. Head retention was good to the last drop and the lacing around the glass was good.

3 bottles done it one night and if this is the only beer i could every produce, i would be a happy brewer!

For anyone toying with the idea of BIAB, DO IT! I was getting slightly disillusioned with kits and the homebrew twang, which I could never seem to shake off, but this is on a whole new level.

All in all, one good beer!

simon19791 said:

Finally caved in on Saturday and cracked open a bottle.

From the bottle, it had cleared lovely and the sediment had dropped, if not quite a solid pack at the moment.

Good hiss on opening and carbonation seemed good.

Poured first one in to a non-widgeted glass; poured lovely and gave a good finger sized head, the aroma was magnificent and I could swear it smelt just like a Badgers Hopping Hare (poss same hops).

First taste, OMG, this is amazing, perhaps as this is my first BIAB that i cant give a true review, but this is by far THE best homebrew i have produced! It was crisp and the bittering hits the back of your tongue followed by the magnificent hop aroma on the taste buds, this is still a bit young as you get the sense and taste it is a strong beer (6.5% ABV), but it is a very well balanced beer. The head didn't last as long, but it did have some lacing on the side of the glass.

Not one iota of a homebrew twang!

Second bottle was poured into a widgeted glass and this produced a much larger head (perhaps 2 fingers) and im sure that the flavour of the hops came through better. Head retention was good to the last drop and the lacing around the glass was good.

3 bottles done it one night and if this is the only beer i could every produce, i would be a happy brewer!

For anyone toying with the idea of BIAB, DO IT! I was getting slightly disillusioned with kits and the homebrew twang, which I could never seem to shake off, but this is on a whole new level.

All in all, one good beer!

Click to expand...

Sounds like yours is turning out very much like mine :thumb:

Surprisingly drinkable so early

Covrich said:

Sounds like yours is turning out very much like mine :thumb:

Surprisingly drinkable so early

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Had to really stop myself drinking another few, tasted great, but you know your drinking a 6.5%er!

simon19791 said:

Had to really stop myself drinking another few, tasted great, but you know your drinking a 6.5%er!

Click to expand...

My second half of this has come out at 8% :-? still in FV and dry hopping tonight but I have no idea what that's gonna do