New to brewing - BIAB

[finbarrmc]

Hi all, I'm new to brewing and after searching through the web I'm glad I found a local club, hopefully you can all share your experience and knowledge with me!

So, I have been gathering up bits and pieces of equipment for a few weeks now and after doing some research I think brew in a bag would be a good place to start.

First of, here's my set up, have I got everything I need?

34 litre pot
25 litre fermentation bucket, with airlock and tap
Gas burner ring
Wort chiller
Thermometer
Hydrometer
Long handle spoon
Auto siphon
Brew bag
Bottle capper
Old sleeping bag

I know I need to pick up some santiser(any recommendations?), bottles, and the ingredients themselves. Where is the best place to get the grains, hops, and yeast in Belfast/online? Any beginner recipe recommendations? Where can I get empty bottles? I've been trying to save any 500ml bottles I drink but it's slow progress!

Also, does anyone know of any good step by step tutorials of BIAB online?

Cheers!

[Eoin]

VWP is a good cleaner and sanitiser, but I'd use something like star san afterwards myself. I keep meaning to do a BIAB tutorial..... Lazy

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[finbarrmc]

VWP is a lot cheaper, as long as it does the job that will be good enough for me, so I'll order a tub of it.

If ever you needed a bit of motivation to do the tutorial, now's the time!

Cheers Eoin!

[sub82]

Hi Finbarr! Are you based in Belfast?

Looks like you've got pretty much all you need there! We use Milton's for a lot of our stuff but everything needs to be well rinsed to remove the chlorine smell.

We use BIAB for our beers and found this method pretty helpful.

Brew in a bag

[belfastboozer]

Great BIAB article I didn't realise it was that easy

[finbarrmc]

Yes, I live in Belfast.

Thanks for that link, it's just the kind of thing I was after.

[Conor]

BIAB is great, only limitation is amount of grain you can get in and effectively mash. You'd struggle with a high gravity brew, but all you do is decrease the volume slightly.

For sanitising, I use either plain bleach (by far the cheapest and very effective) or milton. Just need a thorough rinse. I also have a spray bottle with 70% ethanol solution, great for sterilising that little bit of tubing or spoon at the last minute.

[finbarrmc]

Cheers Conor. I have a question about the tap water in Belfast. I've seen it mentioned in other places that they add things like camden tablets. Does anybody add anything to their water?

[Bill_00]

VWP is a lot cheaper, as long as it does the job that will be good enough for me, so I'll order a tub of it.

Hey Finbarr

It may look cheaper but I remain to be convinced. A capfull of StarSan will do your entire set up if you are careful.

You can keep and transfer StarSan to your hearts content. Plus it is designed to be a yeast nutrient and is actually encouraged to be used "no-rinse"

I know some people that have used the same bucket of StarSan'd water to sanitise for 3 or 4 months.

[sub82]

I know some people that have used the same bucket of StarSan'd water to sanitise for 3 or 4 months.

That's good to know - we always get nervous and chuck the remainder after each brew!

[Joe Rocket]

 I used Starsan for a brew a while ago that got infected. Now, that's maybe more to do with the setup than anything. I think because it's so good I probably got a bit sloppy! The ro-rinse aspect is dead handy, and I currently use a spray bottle with about a ml in it for on the spot stuff as Conor mentioned..Allegedly, Starsan can be tested for pH using litmus paper? I have some and it stayed red, pH 1 consistently. They say that if it's cloudy it's bad, although with our water here, it's apparently always cloudy!

Anyway, this isn't a hijack, I swear! hoping to get onto BIAB too so, just on the look for a big pot!
Good luck with yours!

[@geterbrewed]

Joe,

We are hoping to bring some equipment in to go along with the new range of hops and grain can you guys give me an idea of what size of pots you would like to see for BIAB?

Do you want to see them with taps etc....

Thanks for the help

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

We are hoping to bring some equipment in to go along with the new range of hops and grain can you guys give me an idea of what size of pots you would like to see for BIAB?

Do you want to see them with taps etc....

Getting good value, workable BIAB gear is a bit tricky. I ended up getting a 40L catering Urn online for ~£108 STG. Thats a lot of money for something that is basically a bucket with a 2.5Kw element, but I couldn't source anything cheaper at that capacity. You need 40L capacity as you lose so much to the grain & boil - 33L strike water turns into ~20-22L after you have mashed 5Kg grain. The thermostat is only useful for kicking in when you hit strike temp, and its not very precise.

I suspect there is a big demand for value oriented BIAB boiler (1 or 2 elements, 40L capacity minimum, plastic or converted stock pot). And also big demand for specific pieces of kit, like an immersion temperature probe. It would need an on/off tap, and preferably one with a decent sized bore, or optionally something that could take a silicon hose attachment.

[Joe Rocket]

Hi geterbrewed...I was thinking of a 33l pot, a drawstring bag, and a burner- as a cheaper option compared to a dedicated rig. Throw it into a bundle with some bulk hops and grains to make a few brews, and your laughing!

Oh, and toss in a couple of Wagu steaks too and we're good to go! 

[Eoin]

Try it out then look at my bags... www.custombiab.com. We'll be taking orders again in about two weeks.

Sent from my HTC One