10L BIAB- does this look okay?

[Hengoedbrewer]

Hi guys

I have my first BIAB Citra IPA 12 days into fermentation; now thinking of my next brew. I have some citra left over and some unopened Galaxy, and being a fan of that hop combo in some commercial beers, I thought I'd give one a go.

It would again be a 10l batch BIAB, using a 15L stock put, induction to boil wort. 13L boil aimed for to get 10L in fermenter using bottled water and a batch sparge. It's similar to my first recipe other than I have added sugar to the recipe- 1) to bump up the ABV a little and also to attempt to dry it out slightly (?) I had planned on adding it with 10 mins of boil left.

Any comments / thoughts would be great. Recipe has been plugged into Brewer's friend and seems okay for the intended style, link below.

Thank you all.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/edit/821088

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Looks good to me!

I'm not sure if the sugar would 'dry' it out, obviously gets the abv up a bit but the us-05 should get the fg down to 1008 anyway which is where the dryness comes from. The lower the fg generally implies a drier beer.

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

Looks good to me!

I'm not sure if the sugar would 'dry' it out, obviously gets the abv up a bit but the us-05 should get the fg down to 1008 anyway which is where the dryness comes from. The lower the fg generally implies a drier beer.

Thank you, still a bit unsure of myself with this all grain lark!

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Thank you, still a bit unsure of myself with this all grain lark!

Me too, about 10 or so brews in and still finding my feet! I've gone on to 23l brews now mainly but still enjoy 10l stove top, feel you can afford to experiment a bit more.

 

[matt76]

I'm as much of an expert as pilgrimhudd (!) but FWIW.....

I'd leave out the sugar. If you want it drier then reduce mash temp to, say, 62degC (I've done this with an IPA using Wyeast 1056 which is the same strain as US05).

I haven't used crystal malt much but i wonder if 10% is a bit much (based in the recipes in Greg Hughes's book). Maybe reduce it to 5%???

Adding flaked barley (up to 9%) will help head retention - this is pretty much standard for me now (just take out some Maris Otter to make room.).

I've done an IPA dry hopped with Citra and Amarillo (60g dry hop total in 11L batch) - based on that i think you could double up on your dry hop. Depends how big and hoppy you like it - maybe leave it for now but consider if you'd like more next time. But I'm pretty sure you've enough dry hop as is for it to be noticeable.

Sounds good though, and good on you for trying your own thing - best of luck with it, keep us posted

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

I'm as much of an expert as pilgrimhudd (!) but FWIW.....

I'd leave out the sugar. If you want it drier then reduce mash temp to, say, 62degC (I've done this with an IPA using Wyeast 1056 which is the same strain as US05).

I haven't used crystal malt much but i wonder if 10% is a bit much (based in the recipes in Greg Hughes's book). Maybe reduce it to 5%???

Adding flaked barley (up to 9%) will help head retention - this is pretty much standard for me now (just take out some Maris Otter to make room.).

I've done an IPA dry hopped with Citra and Amarillo (60g dry hop total in 11L batch) - based on that i think you could double up on your dry hop. Depends how big and hoppy you like it - maybe leave it for now but consider if you'd like more next time. But I'm pretty sure you've enough dry hop as is for it to be noticeable.

Sounds good though, and good on you for trying your own thing - best of luck with it, keep us posted

Thank you for that, as I say it is very much a learning curve this. I was thinking sugar for additional abv more than drying out really as brewers friend said recipe was slightly low for style, plus I don't mind a bit of a stronger brew, most of my fave commercial IPAs are north of 6% other than Oakham Citra. Will have a look at lowering crystal then next time and chucking in some flaked barley.

For the first brew if anything I am a bit concerned about lack of hop aroma I was getting in my first attempt, and I definitely prefer a big hop blast, I have plenty of citra left over so think I will double up and chuck 20g in, probably Wednesday if it has finished fermenting, then aim to bottle Saturday. I can then tweak the dry hop with the next brew as you say if I find this dry hop was not enough, I am more concerned with it not being hopped enough for me than over hopping really. Good to know about 62 mash being ok too as I think mine dropped a bit lower than planned.

Hopefully as I go I will get to know what works and what I can improve next time and come up with solid workable recipes of my own, but for now I really appreciate the advice!

 

[matt76]

Well if you want it stronger then why not just reduce the amount of water and/or increase the amount of malt - why faff around with sugar?

My typical process (I also use brewers friend) is to enter my base malt until I get the ABV I want, then trade some of it for crystal malt, roasted malts, adjuncts etc.

Where you might struggle initially is you probably don't know your boil off and efficiency - not a problem as such but it adds a bit more uncertainty to the outcome (ABV etc.). Once you've done a few brews you should see your process start to become pretty consistent.

But don't do your head in too much overthinking things (as I tend to do!) - just brew and have fun, and more than likely you'll end up with some decent beer

 

[matt76]

One other thing about hopping...

You could try something called late hopping - instead of adding a small amount of bittering hops at the start of the boil, you add a large amount of hops at the end of the boil.

This gives you equivalent bittering but you preserve more of the hop aroma. Something to consider if you like it hoppy.

The recipe for my IPA is here - it's actually not so different from yours in terms of size, grain bill and strength but I use different hops in a different schedule. I've just rebrewed it and it's certainly not meek when it comes to hops and bitterness!

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

One other thing about hopping...

You could try something called late hopping - instead of adding a small amount of bittering hops at the start of the boil, you add a large amount of hops at the end of the boil.

This gives you equivalent bittering but you preserve more of the hop aroma. Something to consider if you like it hoppy.

The recipe for my IPA is here - it's actually not so different from yours in terms of size, grain bill and strength but I use different hops in a different schedule. I've just rebrewed it and it's certainly not meek when it comes to hops and bitterness!

Thanks for that, late hopping does sound good for my tastes! I have done one single hop amarillo extract beer which was okay but not a massive fan of it in general... I would def consider that recipe with citra and galaxy though. Would need to dial back volumes a bit I think though as my kettle is only 15L?

 

[matt76]

For the time being, yeah I would dial back the volumes a bit to fit your kettle.

But if you have space in your FV you can brew stronger and then liquor back (e.g. dilute with water) in the FV to get the volume

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

For the time being, yeah I would dial back the volumes a bit too fit your kettle.

But if you have space in your FV you can brew stronger and then liquor back (for with water) in the FV to get the volume

At the moment I am using a full size fv as I paid out for new stock pot plus portable induction, my biab bag, AND all the ingredients for this brew, I will get smaller fvs in due course though. So liquoring back is an option.

6.5l strike and 7.5 l for batch sparge seemed ok last time. No boil over and didn't have maris otter porridge so would probably do the same again.

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

Well, I appear to have made an all grain beer!! I checked the FG of my first BIAB last night after 15 days in FV and it was measuring 1.012 at 20 degrees ambient, so has come down quite a lot and is stronger than I thought it would be. I will check again Wednesday but would imagine it is finished now.

The sample wasn't overwhelmingly hoppy but there was some biterness and dryness there and tasted okay- it still has a dry hop to come. A little bit cloudy from the pellets, but I am pleasantly pleased that I did this without a disaster and it appears drinkable!! Will dry hop tomorrow with the intent to bottle on Saturday. Pleased so far!

 

[matt76]

Good work fella!

This is the pure citra one right? And then the galaxy one you mentioned in your OP is still to come right?

I wouldn't worry about it being hazy - most of my beers still seem to end up with chill haze once they go in the fridge, and my last two beers has hazy as can be from the hops - still tasted great though.

So, now you've joined the dark side, when's the next brew day gonna be?

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

Good work fella!

This is the pure citra one right? And then the galaxy one you mentioned in your OP is still to come right?

I wouldn't worry about it being hazy - most of my beers still seem to end up with chill haze once they go in the fridge, and my last two beers has hazy as can be from the hops - still tasted great though.

So, now you've joined the dark side, when's the next brew day gonna be?

Yes mate the one I mean has basically finished is the pure Citra. The Galaxy / Ctra combo one will be next then probably a stout.

As you say clarity is not that important (I LOVE Hazy NEIPA's!) and it's a by product of pellet hops as I understand it which I used exclusively.

Haha! If it wasn't for the hot weather I'd have a go sooner rather than later (no fermenting fridge and no real option for one at the moment, garage but no power)...also have to try and get a 21 month old out of the house / asleep long enough to do it! I have this morning though plugged some figures in to brewers friend by pinching your recipe / hop schedule amended to late hopping....so it's in the planning stage at least!
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/edit/821088

 

[matt76]

Looks good.

For what it's worth, I don't have any temp control either. It's worth checking the recommended temp range for your yeast and asking advice on the forum about this one and alternatives (I've never used US05 so can't comment).

Oh, and my kids are a little older but that just means they complain more & louder about the smell of brewing in the kitchen - when they start paying the mortgage I'll start listening!

 

[Hengoedbrewer]

US-05 is fine up to 25c I think; I'd rather not risk off flavours though. I can ease myself back in and look to brew again when it turns cooler which no doubt in Wales will not be too long!! It seems to have done the job here as no yeasty twang from the sample I had checking the gravity. Will know more once it has conditioned for a couple of weeks I guess.

Ah yes, I got the "oh god it smells like a brewery in here" from my wife when she brought the little one home! As if that's a bad thing......

 

[GerritT]

If I would add sugar to wort again (have in the past, have read up on it a bit more) I would add it after a few days in the fermenter. And I'll tell you why.
First few days the yeast should do its work at regular speed, with averagely fermentable sugars. After that wears out, add easier sugars, like sucrose or brewing sugar. After 2 or 3 days. Advantage being that the yeast doesn't get the change to stress itself out in the first few days, but is limited. And will carry on chewing through sugars at a normal pace.
Just my 2 pence, from what I've read hither and thither.