How to go from Extract to AG for < $10.00

[awalker]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
You said Tea Bag.

BUB teabags Code
BUB

You are a worry Bub

[bub]

Oh yeah Awalker

On You
BUB

[Thirsty Boy]

What happens to your mash PH if you're mashing with the full volume of water? You're mashing with 35L water, whereas this would normally be half this amount. Would your PH not end up pretty high (say above 6.0), and extract phenolic and tannin compounds from the grain husks - particularly in paler styles?

Actually, I dont know. I have only just started to measure my mash PH. And I'm still vaguely mystified by the whole water chemistry thing. My last BIAB brew which I did measure was below 5.2, but that was a stout, so the dark grains etc....

At a guess... I'd say that the mash ph would be the same as the final wort ph, there is no change as the OG drops as there would be in a fly sparge, not even the sort of change you would get in a batch sparge. I doubt that unless there is some sort of serious issue with your water, it would ever get high enough for tannin extraction. It might howerver be an issue for beer quality.

I'd say that on average it may be a little high????? so you would adjust in the way you normally would if you wanted a particular water profile ??? But I'm not sure. I'll ask the more experienced BIAB guys what they think for you though.

Any water gurus out there have an opinion n this one??

Thirsty

[PistolPatch]

Excuse the long post guys but as I'm new here I thought the least I could do would be to acknowledge each of your comments. (This is actually a lie - I always write long posts

Lufah - Good point on the cooler ambient temp while mashing. A few ways around this besides insulation. I think it's pretty important to keep an eye on things for the first 20 or so minutes whether you batch or BIAB. THe great advantage of BIAB though is that if you do lose temp, a quick burst of heat and a stir will restore it whereas with batching like I used to do, it's a PITA unless you have an immersion heater or something. In a very cold climate, if you had a ring burner, I imagine the lowest ring set very low would just maintain the temp - not sure on this.

LunaticSoup - Tis guy is a frequent poster on AHB and is one of the funniest yet most informative blokes you'll ever meet. He's the one who suggested the abbreviation - BIAB.

agiseasy - A lot of us would disagree with your comment. Traditional AG can be quite bewildering to get your head around. It also can require some expense. BIAB has been producing equivalent beers to batch-sparged brews yet only requires one vessel and no where near the amount of knowledge. Very few people here go from kits to AG in a few months though many are getting in far quickler now due to this method. You must be the exception to the rule in time taken from kits to AG. If so, good on ya.

bub - Spot on!

Thirsty Boy - The $500 I promised you to write that flattering post is in the mail That's interesting about raising the water to mash out temp. I think I tried it on the first few but stopped doing so. Can't remember why??? I better read back through the thread to see if there was a reason. I know the point did come up though. As for controversy, I actually haven't really seen any controversy on the method so far. There were maybe two people that had some outlandish objections but the results put them right. The response I have seen has been more, 'enquiring.' I'm sure the guys here would show the same attitude like....

bubba - Not sure what the Denny method is but great to see you willing to have a crack!

That's way too much from me,
PP

[Thirsty Boy]

Pistol,

I thought we agreed that you would continue to feild the BIAB questions on AHB and I would get them here.

Go to sleep for gods sake man. You are starting to worry me.

Get some rest!!!

Thirsty

[Tundra45]

Me likey! Hmm, to go even one step simpler, just pitch onto the cooled wort in the BK. I know, all those hops and break material, but it's been done before. Viola! Heat brew water, mash, boil, and ferment in the one vessel. Granted, I would not try a lager this way, but a quickie mild, esb, or pale ale??? Brilliant!

[Thirsty Boy]

Just a quick little update and minor advertisement for the BIAB thing.

My mate who I taught to BIAB on new years day (he's the hungover looking one in the pictorial.... wait, that was both of us!) anyway, he came down to visit and we had a brew session on Thursday evening.

I showed him how I brew on my more trad system. 3 vessl quasi HERMS.

I did a multi step mash, so we got to play with re-circulation, protien rests, pumps and all the attendant stuff. I batch sparged with 3 drainings.

At the end of the 7 hours... he basically couldn't see a single reason to change from his much simpler and easier regimen. And he brought down the last bottle of the beer we made on New Years Day. A modified version of Denny's Rye IPA --- And quite frankly, I cant see why he would want to change either, it was superb. At least as good as any of the IPAs I tasted at a recent beer festival with 15 micro breweries in attendance. His very first AG beer was as good as anything I have brewed, and better than a lot of it.

Of course, I gave him a sample of a reasonably complex brew day. I could have just done a single infusion. But now he's brewed both ways and his decision to stay with BAIB or move on, is a little more of an informed one. To be honest if someone handed me the beer he did; and then told me they were planning on radically altering their brewing process... I'd call them crazy.

Any lingering doubts I might have had about Brewing in a Bag have been well and truly vanquished. Of course now I have to worry about my own brewing.... and why it doesn't seem to be as good as Col's. Bugger

Thirsty

PS - Tundra45. Your suggestion to just ferment in the kettle has certainly been tried. I dont think the concept has legions of fans and I dont think I would try it myself. But what the hell. Give it a go and see what happens. Try doing a search for "ferment in kettle" or something like that. I'm sure I have read posts about it here.

Its all post lautering, so whether you do it following a BIAB mash or a "normal" mash shouldn't make any difference at all.

If you really want to save some time and effort, check out thread I link to about the No-Chill method. Its got its own issues, but it also has a lot of converts in Australia who are brewing good beer. I'm not endorsing, because I haven't tried it, but it would make a BIAB & No-Chill brewday around the same length as an extract batch, so if time is a concern.....

[SoCal Surfer]

Like a good homebrewer, I rigged up some f'd up, crappy fly sparge contraption that gave me crappy efficiency. Then you pull this out and show me that I could have done my AG jump much easier. Bullshit! Where were you 5 years ago? Damn it!