My BIAB beersmith set up

[MarkyP]

Hey guys just looking for a little feedback on my beersmith setup.
I basically want to brew around 1 gallon or more of beer for bottling, im not accounting for trub loss or fermentation loss because I don't know what them losses are and I also read a lot of comments from people saying set them to 0 and just account for the water volume in the batch size, Im not worried about leaving some behind due to trub and fermenter loss as long as I get around 1 gallon or more of beer in bottles, so the final volume isnt set in stone, once my set up produces beer with the correct, gravity,colour bitterness etc...

Is there anything wrong with this set up or has anyone got any tips.

I also chose the biab medium mash profile in beersmith as im doing biab, it's telling me to mash for quite a long time is this ok? Most mashs Iv seen are usually 60 to 90 mins and beersmith is telling me to do one for 1:42

Thanks for the help

 

[Build]

The 1:42 time is the total time up to that point, not the length of the mash. I've never made 1 gallon batches, but the measurements are more critical, and the temperatures can be more difficult to maintain over time due to the small volume. Biab is a great process and I do them with 10 gallon batches all the time. Good luck and let us know if you need any info, and let us know how it turns out.

 

[MarkyP]

thanks for the reply, Im a bit confused with the mash time, so based on the attached image is the mash time 85 mins in total? 75 min mash and then a 10 min mashout?

Beersmith is saying mash with 3.92 gallons of water so It wont be to difficult holding temperature, Ill probably end up with closer to 1.5 or 2 gallons of final bottle volume but I just want to make sure that Iv got beersmith setup correct

 

[Build]

Yes, 75 minutes. You can probably cut that down a little if you'd like. I thought you wanted to scale this for a 1 gallon batch? Right now it's for 2.5 gallon into the fermenter. You'll have over 2 gallons to bottle.

 

[MarkyP]

So in that 75 mins its (65 minutes at 66.7C) and (10 mins mash out at 75.6C) correct?

I have it at 2.5 gallon to fermenter, but I will lose some to trub in the kettle and then some to fermenter loss aswell, between .5 gallon and 1 gallon based on what I can gather from other peoples experiences. that will leave me with enough to bottle a 1 gallon batch and probably a few more bottles aswel,

Based on the screenshots of my setup will it work out ok, is there anything wrong with my setup that will drastically effect the gravity or bitterness of the beer.

Thanks

 

[DoctorMemory]

If you're doing BIAB you can skip the rice hulls. Those are used to prevent the grain from clogging up your manifold. Since you don't have one, you don't need the rice hulls.

75 minutes sounds like an awfully long mash time. I do full-volume BIAB and I rarely mash for longer than 30 minutes. I would probably get better efficiency if I went longer, but I manage to hit my numbers so I'm not too concerned about it.

To minimize your trub losses I'd suggest using whole hops in a hop sock.

 

[MarkyP]

I was thinking maybe just using the temperatures that beersmith gives me and then just Doing a 60 min mash, 90 at most, I presume I'll extract pretty much all the sugars I can within in that time

 

[Build]

At 66.7C you'll extract most of it in 30 minutes, but 60 minutes will get a little more. I was reading some experiments about mash times, and it seems most conversion happens pretty quickly. Brulosophy is an interesting read.

 

[kh54s10]

It looks like something is way off, almost 4 gallons total for a 1 gallon batch?? Your water amounts are more off than mash times. You will lose less that .5 gallons to trub in all the steps involved. Your printout says you will have 2.5 gallons into the fermenter.

I think you need to play around with your equipment profile more. Beersmith tells you what to do based on what you tell it the parameters are. That looks like the phone app. It is a lite version of the PC app. I suggest you get the PC version and look at all the video tutorials. It explains a lot on how to do the setup and what changes in the parameters do within the program.

You don't need rice hulls in BIAB as previously pointed out.
You also won't "fly sparge"
As to volumes you need tell BS what your boil off rate is so that you get the right amount into your fermenter. I boil off 2 gallons per hour on my rig. I boil off less for smaller batches inside on the stove. This determines how much water BS will tell you that you need. It will change if you use Pilsner malt as that will give you an 1.5 hour boil instead of 1 hour, do drive off DMS.

 

[MarkyP]

Thanks for the feed back guys.
As for the amount of water, Im not looking for exactly 1 gallon to bottle, 1 gallon is what im basically looking for as a minimum, Ill take 1.5 or 1.8 if thats what I end up with.

The water doesnt look like its overkill,

3.92 goes in the kettle
(Ill lose about .40 to grain absorption)

3.50 to boil (ill loose about a gallon to boiling) I havent tested a boil yet so roughly 1 gallon

Ill loose about .50 to trub (roughly)

and what ever I leave behind at the bottom of the fermenter,

I should have about 1 to 1.50 to bottle then maybe a little more.

Ill take out the rice hulls for sure

Thanks for the feedback, any other tips just let me know

 

[eelpout]

That looks like the phone app. It is a lite version of the PC app. I suggest you get the PC version and look at all the video tutorials. It explains a lot on how to do the setup and what changes in the parameters do within the program.

.

I think you are doing him a dis service by telling him to ditch the phone app.
The phone app is faaaaarrr easier to use than the PC.
Especially for biab which requires very little math to begin with. The PC would have him pulling his hair out if he can't make the app work right.