First attempt at whole grain brewing..

[BristolBrew]

Hello all.

After a pretty successful attempt at kit brewing (got through the keg in two weekends with the help of some mates :-) I decided to get deeper into the hobby and try my hand at whole grain brewing.

Bought an electric mash tun / boiler, chiller, and all the grains. Here are a few pics from yesterday's brew:

Here's the recipe:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p...26oEiKBdjU2fb5EyQ2CuxGPCge8aUg57=w620-h929-no

Mash tun ready:

Found out that the grain bag was too small, so in desperation we used an old (clean!) pillowcase...

Draining the wort while trying to sparge:

Chilling after the boil (brother in photo):

The chiller is a bit big....

Finishing up:

The problem is, I don't think we were able to sparge well enough. The SG is supposed to be 1060 and I measured 1.031. Is it worth continuing? It needs to stew for 3 months and I was looking forward to making a Christmas brew for friends / family but don't want to have it sitting there if it won't work.

Any thoughts?

 

[The Baron]

Hi
thats well down on SG
My advise would be to look at what you have done and try and perfect any issues you have had but your basic idea seems ok. It may be the mash that has been the problem as that is what converts the sugars to give the SG so I would start there also I would possibly buy one of the all grain kits which are pretty fool proof and will help you to get used to your equipment and technique. I am sure you will get some better advise from other brewers into what the problem has been regards SG but they will probably need more info as to what you have done i.e was it your own recipe or a kit? how have you measured the SG? and if it was your own kit how have you arrived at the figures that you should hit etc. I started out with exactly the same kit as you have Peco boiler and BIAB and it is a really good way to get into all grain

 

[BristolBrew]

Thanks Baron.

I forgot to add, this is the recipe:

Maybe the grain wasn't allowed to wash in with the water enough?

It was a bit tricky with the bag (and that chiller) falling down and resting on the element then needing to hold it all up.

I'm thinking of getting a mash tun (here) for next time to make all this easier, then I can use my electric bin as a HLT for batch sparging..

 

[The Baron]

You don't need a mash tun yet as its extra cost what you need is something you can put in the bottom of the peco to stop the bag touching the element like a trivet or fashion one of those wire cake coolers or a upside down colander(cut slots in it so it sits around the element) just make sure it takes the weight of the bag and grain and does not press on the element most of these items you can get from somewhere like wilko's for a few quid. Then make sure your strike water is higher than your mash temp as it will drop when you add the grain I used to heat to 72c for a mash at 67c then cover and wrap with a old duvet or something to help it retain the heat.
Another tip is do not try to over sparge if at all (BIAB was meant to be done with no sparge originally yes you will lose a little efficiency but not that much)as this can cause astringency issues until you have mastered the all grain method so try and keep it simple to start with and then add more technique as you improve

 

[BristolBrew]

Thanks for the advice :-) I'll look into trivet etc and see what I can do.

Worth trying to ferment this batch then, and see if it works?

 

[KH_Brewery]

You can get one of these from Geterbrewed.

https://www.geterbrewed.com/stainless-steel-false-bottom-for-peco-boiler/

I remember buying one , and it works well.

 

[The Baron]

Thanks for the advice :-) I'll look into trivet etc and see what I can do.

Worth trying to ferment this batch then, and see if it works?

I know you have some experience but do check your readings and that the hydrometer is reading correct. As it is your first brew if you are able to let it run its course do so just to see the end result but do not tie up your fermenter if it is your only one as I am sure you are eager to get back into the next brew or if you do decide to throw it try and keep a demijohn full to see the end result you never know
It has got to be the mash conversion that has caused the problem so be critical on what you did as you may get that light bulb moment and realise why?

 

[Honk]

Just a thought,you did use crushed grains rather than uncrushed grains did you?

No reason why you shouldn't get good efficiency with biab. I have the same recipe book and think they are based on 75% efficiency. I would normally get better than that with most of the brews I've done but have found i get less efficient when brewing a stronger beer. Not by nearly as much as you though assuming your readings are correctly calibrated.

 

[The Baron]

Just a thought,you did use crushed grains rather than uncrushed grains did you?

No reason why you shouldn't get good efficiency with biab. I have the same recipe book and think they are based on 75% efficiency. I would normally get better than that with most of the brews I've done but have found i get less efficient when brewing a stronger beer. Not by nearly as much as you though assuming your readings are correctly calibrated.

Yes just like Honk said you need to check everything even the basics to get to the bottom of it which I am sure we will between us and you
keep your pecker up we've all been there

 

[BristolBrew]

Thanks guys.

Yep I used the crushed grains. I think really it might have been that the bag didn't drain very well and still some wort left in it.
I used a glass hydrometer and just dropped it into the fermentation bin (after sterilising it and making sure no bubbles sticking to the outside) - I can take another reading to be sure.

Will see how it goes for now, then could always keep a bit back in a demijohn, good idea.

All good experience!

 

[The Baron]

Thanks guys.

Yep I used the crushed grains. I think really it might have been that the bag didn't drain very well and still some wort left in it.
I used a glass hydrometer and just dropped it into the fermentation bin (after sterilising it and making sure no bubbles sticking to the outside) - I can take another reading to be sure.

Will see how it goes for now, then could always keep a bit back in a demijohn, good idea.

All good experience!

Hi Bristol
it looks like you've got those bits covered what was the mash time and temp and did your temp stay constant? its really becoming a unusual one

 

[Sandimas]

FYI I get 68% efficiency with BIAB which includes a dunk sparge. Stirring the mash at the start, middle and end helped get mine up, as did checking the mash pH and getting it down to the "magic" 5.4 with a bit of Gypsum and/or CRS.

 

[chub1]

FYI I get 68% efficiency with BIAB which includes a dunk sparge. Stirring the mash at the start, middle and end helped get mine up, as did checking the mash pH and getting it down to the "magic" 5.4 with a bit of Gypsum and/or CRS.

Similar here. My biab brews seem to average around 70%.I dunk sparge every time now for around 10 minutes ,like you with stirring whilst it's sparging.It's improved my brews no end.
Oh and i also squeeze the life out of the bag:lol:

 

[cheshirehomebrew]

think that has happened to most of us at one time or other, what was your mash temperature?

 

[Alside101]

You can get one of these from Geterbrewed.

https://www.geterbrewed.com/stainless-steel-false-bottom-for-peco-boiler/

I remember buying one , and it works well.

i use this its bang on for the job also works as a good hop filter

 

[MrL73]

Don't suppose you remember what the temperature of the wort was when you tested it? I found that with my first AG brew (a couple of weeks ago - so I'm no expert!!) the OG was way lower when the wort was still warm. Once it had cooled to pitching temp, the OG was more in line with the recipe I was following - a Ghost ship clone that I can't wait to get stuck into.

 

[chub1]

Don't suppose you remember what the temperature of the wort was when you tested it? I found that with my first AG brew (a couple of weeks ago - so I'm no expert!!) the OG was way lower when the wort was still warm. Once it had cooled to pitching temp, the OG was more in line with the recipe I was following - a Ghost ship clone that I can't wait to get stuck into.

take a look at the calculators above page,there is one for adjusting temps/readings using your hydrometer.:thumb: