Sounds like a win. Glad it worked out for you. I actually just brewed this last week. It's currently fermenting. I used up the last of my Riwaka hops. I'll be curious to hear how the other hops work out.
I do BIAB also, but with a simple sparge. My last brew with crushed grain from Morebeer got me 73% efficiency. I usually get close to 80% with my LHBS crush, so it's not perfect but I can live with it.
FI
FYI, I do infusion step mashes with my BIAB. I use the infusion calculator in BeerSmith. For simplicity, I tweak the amount of infusion water until it gives me a temp near boiling. Just get the water near boiling and throw it in the mash. I do the same thing for mash out. I usually end up...
Wow, this is a blast from the past! Good to hear someone else is giving this a shot. It has become part of my stock summer brew schedule every year. I've brewed it probably 10 times and I've tweaked it a little. Here's my recipe now for a 5 gal batch:
4 lbs US pale malt
2 lbs 8 oz German wheat...
I got mine online. They are small kits from a company called Salifert. Each kit will do 50-100 tests. Aquarium supply places will have it or just try Amazon.
My water varies by season. My town mixes town well water with reservoir water piped in. The mix varies by season - winter vs summer. I did two Wards analyses in different seasons with significantly different results. So now I can just do a quick alkalinity test and calcium test to figure out...
Brew & Wine Hobby is excellent. Thad is very helpful. Also, Phantom Brewing (formerly Beer & Winemaker's Warehouse) on Airport Rd in south Hartford is great and they have a brewery on-site. Bo is very helpful and friendly. Each has its strengths. Both have excellent grain and hops selections...
It is correct that you don't need a starter for dry yeast. Check the cell count on your dry yeast. Most already have a 200b cell count. One pack should be fine for a 1.048 brew. Just hydrate per instructions and you're good to go. As a matter of fact, I occasionally get lazy and just sprinkle...
I do a modified BIAB on my stove top with a 9 gal "tallboy" BK with a turkey basket holding my bag. After mash and mash out, I hoist the basket/bag and pour sparge water through the raised grains into the BK. With this setup I can do up to 16.5 lbs of grain and reach about 1.085 for a 5 gal...
Upstate has the right idea. That method should get you close and then you can confirm and fine tune in the bottling bucket. One correction. There are 16 8oz portions (128 oz per gallon) so use 16 to scale up instead of 32. Let us know how it works out.
A big starter is recommended. You can just pitch multiple yeast packets but the starter gets the yeast active and revved up before pitching into a big beer. Adding sugar in the fermenter after a few days will also amp up the ABV. You can even do small amounts every few days. I also agree with...
A little late to the game but here it is. Mine is based on Yooper's Oktoberfest recipe with some tweaks. Pretty simple. A little darker and maltier than most commercial brews because I prefer that.
40% Pilsner
30% Munich
20% Vienna
10% Caramunich
I use Tettnang and Hallertauer hops and Wyeast...