BIAB Noob Questions.

[Muz0415]

Hi all. Have been brewing kits for a couple of years with acceptable results, but would like to experiment with BIAB.

I’m thinking of starting with 10l batches, so I can experiment more and get to spend more time brewing! I have found some recipes for 20l batches that I like the sound of, is it simply a case of halving the recipe?

Thanks!

 

[Galena]

Pretty much yes, but you can't just half the water as the boil off will probably be the same no matter the quantity, probably the easiest way is to use one of the free software applications like Brewfather or Brewers Friend, you can then input the original and let that scale the recipe and you can check and correct ABV, IBU etc. There is a bit of a learning curve with any of these but well worth it in my opinion, my favourite is Brewfather

 

[obscure]

I typically do 9L batches and just scale everythin (typically I round up to The nearest gram. 9-10L I find is a nice size, it’s small enough that you can do a full boil on the stove, and it is easy to move things around. It’s also big enough that I feelmI get a reasonable batch out of it. I could scale up, but based on my typical consumption see no reason to do so.

One thing I,would say is worth the investment is a digital probe thermometer, shouldn’t cost more than three or four pounds but it is so much easier than trying to read off a glass thermometer.

 

[Muz0415]

Pretty much yes, but you can't just half the water as the boil off will probably be the same no matter the quantity, probably the easiest way is to use one of the free software applications like Brewfather or Brewers Friend, you can then input the original and let that scale the recipe and you can check and correct ABV, IBU etc. There is a bit of a learning curve with any of these but well worth it in my opinion, my favourite is Brewfather

Cheers for that! Glad to know I will be able to half the recipe in terms of grain, hops etc. Realise I would have to calculate strike water measurements and the like myself so thanks for the heads up!

 

[Muz0415]

I typically do 9L batches and just scale everythin (typically I round up to The nearest gram. 9-10L I find is a nice size, it’s small enough that you can do a full boil on the stove, and it is easy to move things around. It’s also big enough that I feelmI get a reasonable batch out of it. I could scale up, but based on my typical consumption see no reason to do so.

One thing I,would say is worth the investment is a digital probe thermometer, shouldn’t cost more than three or four pounds but it is so much easier than trying to read off a glass thermometer.

That’s exactly why I’m set on a 10L batch. Small enough that I can play around but big enough that I still feels worthwhile. Thinking about getting a peco style boiler if I can get one for a good price, I’m limited with space and think doing it all in the kitchen would be too chaotic!

 

[AdeDunn]

I do 14 litre batches, which give me an estimated 11 litres into bottles (always hit the estimate in the past too), which is 22 500mls bottles. I start with a normal recipe, put it into Beersmith 3 (which I chose as it had an app and desktop software, and with the sub you can upload to their cloud server, then access the recipe on both desktop and phone, and use phone for timers etc, just personal preference really, although it does annoy me that the only acid additions it supports are lactic, phosphoric or acid malt...) as if I am going to brew the full volume, then scale it to my equipment profile and the batch size I want, et voila. I started doing the smaller batches last go round, as found that 23 litres was giving me more beer than my wife and I could get through, and if it was one we weren't keen on it was even worse! So little and often was way better for us, and allowed more variety.

As to boiler, my advice, do yourself a huge favour and save up and buy a single vessel system if you aren't going for multi vessel. I did the whole process of boiler - DIY build eBIAB rig etc, ended up costing more and was way more work too. Bought a system just the other week finally ready to get brewing again.

 

[terrym]

That’s exactly why I’m set on a 10L batch. Small enough that I can play around but big enough that I still feels worthwhile. Thinking about getting a peco style boiler if I can get one for a good price, I’m limited with space and think doing it all in the kitchen would be too chaotic!

Our kitchen is best described as 'adequate' and I can comfortably work within it on brewday. I use an 11 litre pot since thats the largest pot that will fit on my hob. I carry out up to 5 litre mashes in the pot, and it just fits into the oven so I can control the mash temperatures really well. I then do 9 litre boils. Any boil off just gets topped back up to 9 litres. I find about four sinkfuls of water are needed to cool the wort, perhaps more in summer when mains water temperature peaks. I can then use the hop boil wort in 20 litre or so partial mash brews, or 10 litre AG brews by a dilution of the wort as required.

 

[Muz0415]

I do 14 litre batches, which give me an estimated 11 litres into bottles (always hit the estimate in the past too), which is 22 500mls bottles. I start with a normal recipe, put it into Beersmith 3 (which I chose as it had an app and desktop software, and with the sub you can upload to their cloud server, then access the recipe on both desktop and phone, and use phone for timers etc, just personal preference really, although it does annoy me that the only acid additions it supports are lactic, phosphoric or acid malt...) as if I am going to brew the full volume, then scale it to my equipment profile and the batch size I want, et voila. I started doing the smaller batches last go round, as found that 23 litres was giving me more beer than my wife and I could get through, and if it was one we weren't keen on it was even worse! So little and often was way better for us, and allowed more variety.

As to boiler, my advice, do yourself a huge favour and save up and buy a single vessel system if you aren't going for multi vessel. I did the whole process of boiler - DIY build eBIAB rig etc, ended up costing more and was way more work too. Bought a system just the other week finally ready to get brewing again.

I would definitely like the option of being able to brew a larger batch, so I am definitely considering investing in something decent that will last me. I’ve found the same with large batches though, can’t always drink it fast enough especially if it’s not a brilliant brew.

Any good boiler setups you can recommend?

 

[AdeDunn]

Well I obviously like the one I bought, which is a 30 litre Klarstein Brauheld Pro (they do 30l, 35l and 40l machines). I chose it because they have an external pump (think been able to use the pump for things like pumping from a sparge water heater, or through a counterflow/plate chiller etc), external control box and an attempt at an anti scorch system. The pump is usable during the boil too (anti-scorch). However, the controller inherited the oddness from the Bulldog Masterbewer it resembles in that if you are worried about it losing rolling boil when it hits 100 degrees C (which is it's max setting) you have to then calibrate it to think it's only 98 degrees C. When I was just testing it with water though I left it at 100 (has to hit 100 on the controller to activate the timer for the boil, hence the "trick"), and the boil never went off rolling, but that was water, not wort, but I intend to try it for a brew day like that too, as watched some German brewers using one on Youtube and they had no bother doing this at all. I plan to do full volume brews (like with BIAB) with no sparge, which for 14 litre batches on even quite a strong brew like I am planning to start with (estimated at 6.5%) my mash volume needed comes up as 23.48 litres, pre boil volume estimated at 18.63l, which it will cope with with ease (max liquid volume is 30 litres, liquid+malt volume 25 litres).

They're all decent machines though pretty much (although some negative stuff about Grainfather's lately, and wow those Spiedel ones cost a fortune!) as most are badged versions of the same machine with just small differences, so you can't go far wrong with a Brew Devil from Angel Homebrew, or a Robobrew, or a normal Klarstein Mundshenk, or a Royal Catering machine etc etc... Those machines also are a bit cheaper too, but internal pumps, and control panels in the base of the machine (I basically paid a premium for the extra features). Lots of people on here using pretty much every single one of them who can tell you the pros and cons of each machine too.

 

[Crappyfish]

I've got a One Concert boiler with pump and 4 stages of brewing. I am quite fond of it but I have noticed a big price increase on Amazon and a place called Hi FI Tower. It looks like to me brewing equipment is going up in price.

 

[AdeDunn]

Try klarstein.co.uk or expondo.co.uk, no price hikes there. I have seen price hikes from a couple of big suppliers though, responding to the increase in popularity of home brewing during the lockdown, and reduction in availability of products, it seems. Still plenty of sellers playing fair though if you look.

 

[Muz0415]

Whilst I do love the thought of owning some of the units recommended, I’m seriously considering keeping it simple and just picking up a stock pot with a ball valve. This is my first venture in to AG and I don’t want to go absolutely crazy with equipment for now. I also have a large gas burner from ages back and 2 13kg gas bottles to use. Thinking of going the gas route as I already have almost everything. My only concern is dealing with the wind as I already know how even the slightest breeze can make most outdoor gas appliances useless.

 

[AdeDunn]

lol Not a serious suggestion though using a burner, the instructions that come with actually say don't use around flames....

 

[Muz0415]

lol Not a serious suggestion though using a burner, the instructions that come with actually say don't use around flames....

Hmm... Don’t go giving me ideas Don’t think the Mrs would approve! She’s probably already wondering why I want to spend half a day making beer in the garden

 

[AdeDunn]

Hmm... Don’t go giving me ideas Don’t think the Mrs would approve! She’s probably already wondering why I want to spend half a day making beer in the garden

My Mrs chose the gazebo, that's why it's so big, she didn't read the size on the description, nor did I to be honest, just ordered the ones that she told me to.... She's actually incredibly supportive of my brewing, especially since I told her that this year was going to be a year of pale ales.... lol

 

[Sandimas]

I started with 10-12L BIAB batches: easy to do on the hob in a large stockpot.

I still do that today, but I usually add 1kg of DME so that I can get 18L or so in the FV. DME from Malt Miller is just over a five a kilo. I do a reduced-volume boil and top up in the FV, I compensate for this by using more hops - the calculatos are on the Brewers Friend website IBU Calculator Beer Bitterness - Brewer's Friend

I know I could do better with more kit but I kinda like this basic approach to making beer.

 

[AdeDunn]

I keep DME in just in case I get an AG brew that comes in massively under target OG. It's never happened yet though, and odds are that the DME in my brewing draws is kinda past the BBE dates by now.... I just had to dump a load of dried yeast packets for the same reason. lol