I began my home-brewing career a little over a year ago and have to admit, I am completely hooked on the art and science of the craft. I am fortunate in that an ex-roommate of mine some years back was a keen brewer, allowing me to assist and enjoy the fruits of his labors. This provided me with some insight into the process prior to embarking on my own journey of discovery. Luckily, it was relatively early in the learning process that I discovered HBT and to say this forum is invaluable as a resource is no small exaggeration.
The purpose of this article is to outline my methods and system that I have tweaked over the last year in the hope it will assist others. I have endeavored to stick to proven methods rather than the, "it works for me so it must be OK", approach. I'm a stickler for details, so accurate measurements, calibrated instruments and a neat and tidy work area are front and center in my approach to homebrewing. Enjoy!
Planning the Brew
The planning stage has evolved from the simplicity of buying kit recipes to more recently combing the HBT recipe database, buying ingredients and tweaking things slightly to account for my own system's parameters, which I am getting dialed in with ever greater accuracy. I gravitated to all-grain brewing after two partial-mash extract-brews and recently started using BeerSmith. I am only sorry I did not purchase the software sooner. Accurate measures of grain weights, water volumes, temperatures, and appropriately calibrated instruments are essential in determining efficiencies and the dialing-in of one's equipment for future brews. If truth be told however, this is the geeky side of homebrewing which I thoroughly enjoy. The grains are milled finely using my grain-mill's narrower gap setting. With a thinner mash in full-volume, no-sparge mashing pH adjustments are also something worth considering. Other than that, no other major changes are made to a more traditional, all-grain preparation.
Preparing Strike Water
Water volume and strike temperature can be calculated based on one's system parameters, using any online calculator. BeerSmith is what I now use but have had accuracy with others too. I treat my tap-water to remove chlorine and chloramines using a carbon filter and 1/3 of a Campden tablet respectively. Water reports obtained from Ward Labs and my local water authority allow appropriate adjustments, using Bru'n Water, to be made. An accurate pH meter is arguably a prerequisite if mash acidification or alkali additions are being done.
The Mash-tun/ Kettle
As this is the only vessel I use, I concluded a quality pot with some modification was in order. An 11 gallon stainless steel kettle with holes drilled for a thermometer and valve eliminates any boil-over concerns, and allows a full volume mash for 5.5 gallon batches. To better facilitate volume measurements, quart markings were etched in the pot as described in this thread. No sparging, additional pots or water are needed. I installed both valve and thermometer using Teflon tape on all the threaded fittings and added a 90 degree elbow and barb to serve as a pick-up tube. The make-shift pick-up tube allows complete emptying of the kettle if desired. To prevent damaging the bag, a 12" stainless steel cooling rack is placed at the bottom of the kettle prior to placement of the bag and heating strike water.
The Mash
A BIAB mash should be no different in its objective than any other. I am looking for a stable mash temperature at the planned temperatures for the duration of all steps.
Doughing-in is completed while stirring constantly. I find calculators for strike temperature to be extremely accurate given accurate measures of grain temperature and mash-tun specifics. Thus far, I have been employing two-step mashes, involving a saccharification rest and mash out. Following doughing-in and temperature measurement, the lid is put on the kettle and an insulating jacket placed resulting in stable mash temperatures. Once the saccharification rest is complete an iodine test confirms complete starch conversion. The temperature is raised to 168F, while constantly stirring the mash. A mash-out rest at this temperature is carried out and then I lauter. Owing to the thin mash, and finer milling with full-volume no-sparge BIAB, mash times can be shorter than more traditional approaches. The higher water to grain ratio can also facilitate better efficiency.
Lautering
The bag is freed from the pot and removed. I do not have the facility for a pulley or hoist, so allow the bag to drain in a large 16" colander paced atop the kettle. The bag is then squeezed to extract more wort. Typically, anywhere from 0.04-0.045 gallons of wort, per pound of grain is lost to absorption. The etched markings on the pot are useful here. I just keep squeezing till my preplanned pre-boil volume is reached. Donning latex gloves is of benefit during the squeeze: keeping one's hands clean and providing some minimal protection from the heat. The wort is thoroughly stirred prior to taking a representative sample. This sample is cooled to the hydrometer's calibration temperature, allowing accurate measurement of the pre-boil gravity and a calculation of mash efficiency. The steps I take result in reasonably good mash efficiencies, in the order of 90+%. The grain bag is put to one side to cool, prior to being dumped into the flowerbeds as fertilizer.
Boiling and Cooling
The boil proceeds in the same manner as any other brewing method. My kitchen stove with natural gas can easily maintain a strong rolling boil of 7 gallons facilitating a good hot-break. A hop-spider prevents much of the hop matter from entering the kettle, plate-chiller or fermenter. The wort is circulated through the chiller during the last minutes of the boil and during cooling using a stainless steel Chugger-pump with center inlet. The silicon tubing is secured with two clamps to create a whirlpool in the kettle. This augments the cooling and eliminates the risk of spilling boiling wort as it flows at speed through the tubing. For much of the year in Texas, the tap water is quite warm. A pre-chiller in an ice bucket negates this problem allowing rapid cooling of the wort to 65F and formation of a good cold-break.
Transferring Wort to Fermenter
A gravity sample is taken from the kettle and prepared as before. Once volume into the fermentor is known this gravity measurement will be used to calculate brewhouse efficiency, allowing better planning for future recipes. This data can also be used to highlight any procedural errors. The setup I outlined results in consistent brewhouse efficiencies at 80+%. The cooled wort is pumped into a sanitized carboy leaving 0.25 gallons in the kettle, chiller and tubing. The wort is oxygenated prior to being placed in the fermentation chamber where it is further cooled to the desired pitching temperature.
Pitching Yeast
If using liquid yeast, either from a fresh smack-pack or from previously harvested slurry I always use an appropriately sized starter. Once again, online calculators are a boon here. I routinely crash-cool the starter for 2-3 days and decant the spent wort. If using dry yeast I always follow the manufacturers' simple recommendations for rehydration to optimize the yeast viability upon pitching.
Fermentation Temperature Control
Arguably the most important addition to my setup is my chest freezer with STC 1000 temperature controller. This allows batches to be fermented at the optimal temperature for any given yeast and/or recipe requirement. Crash cooling is also possible. An immediate an obvious improvement in my beer was the result of this added control. I would encourage anyone with space and means to get a similar setup.
Kegging
I bottled my first batch and that was enough for me. I did not enjoy the hassle. I built a two tap kegerator and just love it. It is my pride and joy. A kegerator is great for parties and still gives me a sense of satisfaction when I pull a cool beer from it. I followed an excellent YouTube video outlining the kegerator build.
Clear, sparkling, bright, delicious beer is what I am trying to brew. I cold crash and use gelatin finings in the primary fermentor with this objective in mind. I do not use secondary vessels. Clear beer can of course be achieved with bottling, without crash-cooling, without finings and with or without a secondary. This is my method, it is tried and tested by many before and is how I get the clarity I desire. The importance of getting good hot and cold breaks during boiling and chilling is however, not to be understated in the quest for clear beer.
The Results
This is what it is all about. The destination at the end of the wonderful, chemical, biological, technical and inspirational labor of love that is homebrewing. I am only beginning to scratch the surface of this craft and owe an immense debt of gratitude to all the passionate, knowledgeable, humble and humorous, power-houses of creativity, on this forum. Slainte!
The purpose of this article is to outline my methods and system that I have tweaked over the last year in the hope it will assist others. I have endeavored to stick to proven methods rather than the, "it works for me so it must be OK", approach. I'm a stickler for details, so accurate measurements, calibrated instruments and a neat and tidy work area are front and center in my approach to homebrewing. Enjoy!
Planning the Brew
The planning stage has evolved from the simplicity of buying kit recipes to more recently combing the HBT recipe database, buying ingredients and tweaking things slightly to account for my own system's parameters, which I am getting dialed in with ever greater accuracy. I gravitated to all-grain brewing after two partial-mash extract-brews and recently started using BeerSmith. I am only sorry I did not purchase the software sooner. Accurate measures of grain weights, water volumes, temperatures, and appropriately calibrated instruments are essential in determining efficiencies and the dialing-in of one's equipment for future brews. If truth be told however, this is the geeky side of homebrewing which I thoroughly enjoy. The grains are milled finely using my grain-mill's narrower gap setting. With a thinner mash in full-volume, no-sparge mashing pH adjustments are also something worth considering. Other than that, no other major changes are made to a more traditional, all-grain preparation.
Preparing Strike Water
Water volume and strike temperature can be calculated based on one's system parameters, using any online calculator. BeerSmith is what I now use but have had accuracy with others too. I treat my tap-water to remove chlorine and chloramines using a carbon filter and 1/3 of a Campden tablet respectively. Water reports obtained from Ward Labs and my local water authority allow appropriate adjustments, using Bru'n Water, to be made. An accurate pH meter is arguably a prerequisite if mash acidification or alkali additions are being done.
The Mash-tun/ Kettle
As this is the only vessel I use, I concluded a quality pot with some modification was in order. An 11 gallon stainless steel kettle with holes drilled for a thermometer and valve eliminates any boil-over concerns, and allows a full volume mash for 5.5 gallon batches. To better facilitate volume measurements, quart markings were etched in the pot as described in this thread. No sparging, additional pots or water are needed. I installed both valve and thermometer using Teflon tape on all the threaded fittings and added a 90 degree elbow and barb to serve as a pick-up tube. The make-shift pick-up tube allows complete emptying of the kettle if desired. To prevent damaging the bag, a 12" stainless steel cooling rack is placed at the bottom of the kettle prior to placement of the bag and heating strike water.
The Mash
A BIAB mash should be no different in its objective than any other. I am looking for a stable mash temperature at the planned temperatures for the duration of all steps.
Doughing-in is completed while stirring constantly. I find calculators for strike temperature to be extremely accurate given accurate measures of grain temperature and mash-tun specifics. Thus far, I have been employing two-step mashes, involving a saccharification rest and mash out. Following doughing-in and temperature measurement, the lid is put on the kettle and an insulating jacket placed resulting in stable mash temperatures. Once the saccharification rest is complete an iodine test confirms complete starch conversion. The temperature is raised to 168F, while constantly stirring the mash. A mash-out rest at this temperature is carried out and then I lauter. Owing to the thin mash, and finer milling with full-volume no-sparge BIAB, mash times can be shorter than more traditional approaches. The higher water to grain ratio can also facilitate better efficiency.
Lautering
The bag is freed from the pot and removed. I do not have the facility for a pulley or hoist, so allow the bag to drain in a large 16" colander paced atop the kettle. The bag is then squeezed to extract more wort. Typically, anywhere from 0.04-0.045 gallons of wort, per pound of grain is lost to absorption. The etched markings on the pot are useful here. I just keep squeezing till my preplanned pre-boil volume is reached. Donning latex gloves is of benefit during the squeeze: keeping one's hands clean and providing some minimal protection from the heat. The wort is thoroughly stirred prior to taking a representative sample. This sample is cooled to the hydrometer's calibration temperature, allowing accurate measurement of the pre-boil gravity and a calculation of mash efficiency. The steps I take result in reasonably good mash efficiencies, in the order of 90+%. The grain bag is put to one side to cool, prior to being dumped into the flowerbeds as fertilizer.
Boiling and Cooling
The boil proceeds in the same manner as any other brewing method. My kitchen stove with natural gas can easily maintain a strong rolling boil of 7 gallons facilitating a good hot-break. A hop-spider prevents much of the hop matter from entering the kettle, plate-chiller or fermenter. The wort is circulated through the chiller during the last minutes of the boil and during cooling using a stainless steel Chugger-pump with center inlet. The silicon tubing is secured with two clamps to create a whirlpool in the kettle. This augments the cooling and eliminates the risk of spilling boiling wort as it flows at speed through the tubing. For much of the year in Texas, the tap water is quite warm. A pre-chiller in an ice bucket negates this problem allowing rapid cooling of the wort to 65F and formation of a good cold-break.
Transferring Wort to Fermenter
A gravity sample is taken from the kettle and prepared as before. Once volume into the fermentor is known this gravity measurement will be used to calculate brewhouse efficiency, allowing better planning for future recipes. This data can also be used to highlight any procedural errors. The setup I outlined results in consistent brewhouse efficiencies at 80+%. The cooled wort is pumped into a sanitized carboy leaving 0.25 gallons in the kettle, chiller and tubing. The wort is oxygenated prior to being placed in the fermentation chamber where it is further cooled to the desired pitching temperature.
Pitching Yeast
If using liquid yeast, either from a fresh smack-pack or from previously harvested slurry I always use an appropriately sized starter. Once again, online calculators are a boon here. I routinely crash-cool the starter for 2-3 days and decant the spent wort. If using dry yeast I always follow the manufacturers' simple recommendations for rehydration to optimize the yeast viability upon pitching.
Fermentation Temperature Control
Arguably the most important addition to my setup is my chest freezer with STC 1000 temperature controller. This allows batches to be fermented at the optimal temperature for any given yeast and/or recipe requirement. Crash cooling is also possible. An immediate an obvious improvement in my beer was the result of this added control. I would encourage anyone with space and means to get a similar setup.
Kegging
I bottled my first batch and that was enough for me. I did not enjoy the hassle. I built a two tap kegerator and just love it. It is my pride and joy. A kegerator is great for parties and still gives me a sense of satisfaction when I pull a cool beer from it. I followed an excellent YouTube video outlining the kegerator build.
Clear, sparkling, bright, delicious beer is what I am trying to brew. I cold crash and use gelatin finings in the primary fermentor with this objective in mind. I do not use secondary vessels. Clear beer can of course be achieved with bottling, without crash-cooling, without finings and with or without a secondary. This is my method, it is tried and tested by many before and is how I get the clarity I desire. The importance of getting good hot and cold breaks during boiling and chilling is however, not to be understated in the quest for clear beer.
The Results
This is what it is all about. The destination at the end of the wonderful, chemical, biological, technical and inspirational labor of love that is homebrewing. I am only beginning to scratch the surface of this craft and owe an immense debt of gratitude to all the passionate, knowledgeable, humble and humorous, power-houses of creativity, on this forum. Slainte!