ian_r
Brewing Numpty
So Sunday was the brewday for my second BIAB batch. This time I was making an American Pale Ale using the Homebrew Company mash kit. This came with Maris Otter and Crystal Malt and Nugget, Chinook and Cascade Hops.
I didn't really deviate from my first attempt (read about it here) because I'd been pleased with the efficiency and the process in general. The main change was the use of a hop filter because I had real problems with the quantity of trub left last time.
For this beer I went with 26 litres of water in the boiler as previously I'd been worried about overflowing water when the grain was added to the bag and only used 24 litres first time.
Water reached 73 degrees and then grain was added and stirred. There was 5.25kg of grain but as before I don't know how much of this was Maris Otter and how much was crystal malt.
The temperature dropped to 67 degrees and boiler was covered in a sleeping bag and remained at this temp for the duration of the mash (60 mins).
The bag was squeezed after an hour over the boiler. Heavy duty washing up gloves helped do this. Then the bag was put on a rack in the FV and sparged with 6 litres of water at about 80 degrees. After further squeezing of the bag the additional wort was added to the boiler giving me approx 27.5 litres.
When the wort reached boiling point the hops were added. Again, not sure which hops went in at what point because they come unlabelled in bags that just have the time to add to the boil on them.
15 grams at 60 mins
17 grams at 30 mins
34 grams at 10 mins
55 grams at 0 mins
Whirlfloc tablet added at 10 mins.
It took 50 mins using an immersion chiller to get the wort cooled to 20 degrees but this time thanks to previous feedback I let it settle for about 15 mins before transferring to the FV.
The hop strainer worked a treat. When I first opened the tap a dribble came out and then it stopped . I gave the strainer a gentle scrape with my paddle and it started flowing. After about 30 mins I had got 22 litres in the FV which I was very pleased with and loads of trub left behind.
The SG was 1.050 which again I was very pleased with because the instructions from HBC had an OG of 1.051 based on 72% efficiency. I wasn't far off the mark for a second time so must be doing something right. The trial jar was nice and clear with very little trub in it.
Moved the FV to my office where it's about 20/21 degrees at 14:45. Airlock was bubbling away at midnight when I went to bed. 24 ours later as I write this is is bubbling about every 4 seconds - a lovely sound to hear all day whilst I'm working.
More importantly there is no sign of any excess trub yet. Just a thin layer forming at the bottom of the bucket.
I have a really good feeling about this beer.
I didn't really deviate from my first attempt (read about it here) because I'd been pleased with the efficiency and the process in general. The main change was the use of a hop filter because I had real problems with the quantity of trub left last time.
For this beer I went with 26 litres of water in the boiler as previously I'd been worried about overflowing water when the grain was added to the bag and only used 24 litres first time.
Water reached 73 degrees and then grain was added and stirred. There was 5.25kg of grain but as before I don't know how much of this was Maris Otter and how much was crystal malt.
The temperature dropped to 67 degrees and boiler was covered in a sleeping bag and remained at this temp for the duration of the mash (60 mins).
The bag was squeezed after an hour over the boiler. Heavy duty washing up gloves helped do this. Then the bag was put on a rack in the FV and sparged with 6 litres of water at about 80 degrees. After further squeezing of the bag the additional wort was added to the boiler giving me approx 27.5 litres.
When the wort reached boiling point the hops were added. Again, not sure which hops went in at what point because they come unlabelled in bags that just have the time to add to the boil on them.
15 grams at 60 mins
17 grams at 30 mins
34 grams at 10 mins
55 grams at 0 mins
Whirlfloc tablet added at 10 mins.
It took 50 mins using an immersion chiller to get the wort cooled to 20 degrees but this time thanks to previous feedback I let it settle for about 15 mins before transferring to the FV.
The hop strainer worked a treat. When I first opened the tap a dribble came out and then it stopped . I gave the strainer a gentle scrape with my paddle and it started flowing. After about 30 mins I had got 22 litres in the FV which I was very pleased with and loads of trub left behind.
The SG was 1.050 which again I was very pleased with because the instructions from HBC had an OG of 1.051 based on 72% efficiency. I wasn't far off the mark for a second time so must be doing something right. The trial jar was nice and clear with very little trub in it.
Moved the FV to my office where it's about 20/21 degrees at 14:45. Airlock was bubbling away at midnight when I went to bed. 24 ours later as I write this is is bubbling about every 4 seconds - a lovely sound to hear all day whilst I'm working.
More importantly there is no sign of any excess trub yet. Just a thin layer forming at the bottom of the bucket.
I have a really good feeling about this beer.
