to BIAB from kits

[David Woods]

So, I have been brewing from kits for a long while and some have been OK but now going off the "twang" so I am looking into BIAB as an option.

What I wanted to know from those that have done this is, is there that a big difference going all grain - I assume so but would be interested in comments from those that have moved over from the dark side of brewing. Is it possible to brew "normal" tasting beers such as Long Man Blonde or Citra for example without the kit taste.

I want to brew light golden hoppy ales so wondering if I should go the BIAB route - don't have the time or space for full blown all grain brewing.

Any links to any help with this would also be welcome.

Dave

 

[Rodcx500z]

I moved from kits to biab 3 years ago, the difference for me was night and day, you say you don't have time and space for full blown all grain,, i started with a 30L klarstien fullhorn and the process is exactly the same as my brewzilla 35L the only difference is the bag is replaced with a basket, i would say the brewzilla aio is slightly quicker than biab it takes me 4 hours tops and that includes clean up but the end result will blow you away, not knocking kits as i fully understand why people do them, the best thing you can do is temp control

 

[Cwrw666]

If you go Biab then space isn't an issue. And yes it's worth it because instead of that kit taste you're basically brewing first class microbrewery beer. In fact much better than a lot of pub beer. All you need is a boiler.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

I brewed kits for a year or so and they weren't bad, but every single one tasted like “home brew”. Then I moved on to all grain brew in a bag and the difference was unbelievable. I got a Peco boiler starter kit (this one) https://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.u...iler-chiller-mashing-bag-mash-kit-p-3859.html

and already had everything else I needed from the kit brew days.

 

[Bosch]

I went from kits to all grain around 10 years ago.
You have much more control over what you make.

Brew day is longer though

 

[Rwilts]

Yep, been on that journey, years of kits then BIAB with gas burner and 50L pot for about 5 years and then brewzilla 3.1.1 for past three years.

Nothing wrong with kits and this forum is generally supportive of kit brewing, but you will notice a considerable improvement in the end product when using grain, hops etc...

Sounds big headed but I find that what I produce at home is vastly superior to most supermarket options ( even well.know brands) and simply won't waste money on them. When out and I have to buy in a pub I again don't see.much of a quality difference between what a good micro brewery is knocking out to what I can make.

Not really surprising as Cwrw999 says we are basically using the same processes.

Enjoy , you won't regret it

 

[lmbollinger]

All in one electric brew systems (Brewzilla, Grainfather, etc) are basically BIAB. I tried to go all grain with a cooler mash tun and separate brew kettle, but quickly realized that didn't translate well to my circumstances. IMO, all in one electric/BIAB is the best option for a home brewery. Brew days are longer (mash rests, time to change temperatures, and clean up) with all grain brewing. But, none of us are under the illusion that home brewing is faster than picking up beer from our favorite craft brewery

 

[MashBag]

Night and day.

But I don't understand the "space" issue.
An all in one will take up as much space as the mash vessel and fermenter you will need for biab. For me biab saw more vessels on brewday. Unless you a stovetop with smaller batches maybe?

Or are you married and scarred to make a mess in the kitchen ... Which I think is why many of us have brew sheds

 

[MashBag]

Brew days are longer (mash rests, time to change temperatures, and clean up) with all grain brewing. But, none of us are under the illusion that home brewing is faster than picking up beer from our favorite craft brewery

With an aio you don't have to have brew DAYS. If you can leave it where you are going to ferment you can do it ALL IN ONE place and leave it in between steps.
Day 1 boil, 2 chill, 3 pitch, check 8 bottle etc.

Please don't be put off AG thinking, you need a whole day to brew, that's a choice. It can be so so much easier... I would venture that my mash & boil is only about 15 mins longer than making a kit up.

 

[David Woods]

Thanks very much for all the helpful replies - MashBag - the space issue was if I was full on all grain with what I assumed would be an additional HLT for sparging? It's more the time factor really but I understand it's going to be a longer day - worth it for better beer.

I could kick the wife out of her gardening shed! :)
Cheers all.

 

[Twopan]

The difference is stark IMHO. I am now making Belgian styles using BIAB that taste pretty authentic with no home brew twang. There are two major lessons I have learned:
1. If you are using mains water make sure to dechlorinate all water with a Campden tablet. I put 17L in the kettle for the mash and another 8L or so in the FV (or a second kettle if you have one) ready for the sparge water. Half a Campden tablet in each for 20 mins. This will ensure no risk of TCP flavour!
2. Efficiency can be problematic. It took me several goes to get efficiency up to 70%. The trick is a fine crush grain, a longer mash at 62C (makes for a drier, more fermentable beer) and a dunk sparge for 10 minutes in 75C. Mix the sparge water with the original mash in the kettle, top up to target boil volume with the reserved water and off you go.

 

[MashBag]

Thanks very much for all the helpful replies - MashBag - the space issue was if I was full on all grain with what I assumed would be an additional HLT for sparging? It's more the time factor really but I understand it's going to be a longer day - worth it for better beer.

I could kick the wife out of her gardening shed! :)
Cheers all.

Kick the wife out of...... Can't even finish retyping that, the thought scares me so much.

Get an aio. Don't sparge, don't chill, no space or time issues and you can drink smashing beer that makes you grin.

 

[Rento]

I‘ve brewed pretty much every way you can over the years and after the very early days 15+ years ago when I didn’t really understand temperature control I’ve not had the twang you mention.

Temperature control (keeping temp constant) really is key (Assuming you’re using a good quality kit and additions). If you struggle with temp control it doesn’t really matter if you produce the best wort it won’t ferment well. However I’ve been experimenting over the last few years with pressure fermentation and or kviek yeast and it really does solve a lot of the problems for you. I do However still prefer to use my fermentation chamber/fridge as I can be more exact, step ferment and cold crash etc. In saying that when I’ve got a couple of brews fermenting I still use a heatpad and inkbird in my garage with a bucket fermenter wrapped in insulation (stuFG you use under laminate floors) and it works
great.

a good tip is to use an ensuite or cloakroom toilet with the heating off, you’ll usually find in a modern how these small rooms will stay at a constant temp of around 20c All year round.
R

 

[David Woods]

Thanks Rento, I have been doing kits for about 5 years with mixed results. The last two years I have used a temp controlled fridge for fermentation - with a controller for heat and cold plus a Tilt I can monitor on my phone and I have achieved good constant temps - but as I say mixed results. The better kits are definitely better but still not producing a beer I would run to the fridge for! A friend loves them so maybe I am being too critical or he is just a lush! but now I am a retired old fart, I have the time to try and improve.

The thing I have been looking for is a gathering of like minded drunkards to share the results with - it would be great to taste another's BIAB/AIO beers, especially someone who knows what they are doing but not found anything in my area - East Sussex.

We have some good small and micro breweries here so maybe I should go and pester them!

Cheers
Dave

 

[Sandimas]

There is an intermediate stage between kits and BIAB (AG) - Full Extract brewing. This basically removes the mashing stage from AG brewing by substituting it with malt extract, either dry (DME/spraymalt) or liquid. All you need is a large stockpot, 15L or so, you do a boil adding hops at various stages. Results are a huge improvement over kits, almost AG quality, only downside is that DME/LME is more expensive than grain, but the whole thing should be no more expensive that kits.

A few companies sell these as kits, unfortunately one of those (BrewUK) has just folded but others are out there, such as HBC. Worth a go before spending a fortune on AG kit, all you need in addition to what you have already is a 15L stockpot, less than £20.
https://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/hbc-full-extract-kits-23lts-c-1_216.html
This video explains it all quite well, it does have an extra grain steeping stage at the start: this isn't a mash (so no need for fine temp control), you can steep dark grains like Crystal Malt or Black malt to produce darker beers when used in conjuction with malt extract:

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Thanks Rento, I have been doing kits for about 5 years with mixed results. The last two years I have used a temp controlled fridge for fermentation - with a controller for heat and cold plus a Tilt I can monitor on my phone and I have achieved good constant temps - but as I say mixed results. The better kits are definitely better but still not producing a beer I would run to the fridge for! A friend loves them so maybe I am being too critical or he is just a lush! but now I am a retired old fart, I have the time to try and improve.

The thing I have been looking for is a gathering of like minded drunkards to share the results with - it would be great to taste another's BIAB/AIO beers, especially someone who knows what they are doing but not found anything in my area - East Sussex.

We have some good small and micro breweries here so maybe I should go and pester them!

Cheers
Dave

@David Woods I have been brewing on an AIO for a couple of years now but there’s no reason why anyone else couldn’t produce similar beers to what I’m making on a similar system. I’m no expert, not by any stretch, but would be more than happy to post a couple of samples for you to try/compare if you PM me your address.

 

[David Woods]

Thanks Benfleet, that's a great offer which I would like to take up.
How do I PM here - is it secure?

Cheers
Dave

 

[David Woods]

Thanks Sandimass, I will look into that as an option.

Cheers
Dave

 

[MashBag]

I who peeps who still manage to get "twang" with extract

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Thanks Benfleet, that's a great offer which I would like to take up.
How do I PM here - is it secure?

Cheers
Dave

Just click on my name under the profile picture on the left of this post and select “start conversation”.
Only you and I will see the correspondence.