My name is Geoff..... and I am an All Grain Brewer.

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I never meant it to be this way. But, it just crept up on me, ya know?

I started with Kit and Kilo. I knew that some people see it as a stepping stone to the harder stuff, but I thought I could keep it under control. I was only doing one or two a week. It wasn't a problem - it wasn't interfering with the rest of my life (I didn't think).

I shared some with my friends and they all thought I was a cool dude. I even had a big party and basked in the warmth of appreciative drinkers.

Before too long, I tried a couple of extract brews. I told myself that a little mini-mash would be alright. I was okay. To be sure, I spread my purchases between multiple home brew shops, so that no-one would think it was getting out of hand.

But, today as I pulled the nylon bag out of the pot and watched the sweet liquor drip into the boiler and I prepared the 2400 watt immersion heater for the big boil, it came to me. I'm hooked.

( I waffled a bit about the detail of what I did here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/i ... opic=13853 )

[lethaldog]

I can totally relate

[KEG]

If it ever becomes too much for you and you need someone to talk to, we're here for you.

GROUP HUG!!!

[Hashie]

Well done on the first AG. And no oh s@#t comments for the whole day. BIAB has to be a winner.
I know you used an immersion heater, but I'm only a 4 ring burner away from my first attempt at AG.
It's actually quite exciting to be gathering equipment and planning on making very good beers.
Cheers and well done.

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I think that if you're using flame and BIAB, you might want to consider a false bottom (for your boiler!) to avoid melting the bag, as some have apparently done...

It really *is* exciting, isn't it.

[Hashie]

I've read extensively on the "other" forum (about BIAB) and thought it was only a problem with nasa burners. But When I have all the gear I will be careful.

Yes it is very exciting, I even have the wife excited

[Chris]

Wow! How'd you manage that, Hashie?

[OldBugman]

Yeah we all wouldnt mind relearning the art of foreplay.

[Hashie]

Foreplay What's that?

She's excited about making much better beer.

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Foreplay What's that?

She's excited about making much better beer.

It's when you ask if she has a headache and without pausing she says, "Yes and it is likely to persist for quite a while."

[drsmurto]

Been reading about the BIAB as well and it all seems so easy. Still doing K&K but i have this and a few other HB forums open all day at work. Generally have at least 2 or 3 recipes planned for the next brew. Its far too addictive. By the time brewing day comes round its almost an anti-climax, all that preparation and its over in no time......

But this BIAB has me fascinated, all i need is a bloody huge pot (reckon i can justify that cos i make my own sauces, chutneys) and a big burner..........

Damn it. Now i will be dreaming about this all day.....

[SpillsMostOfIt]

But this BIAB has me fascinated, all i need is a bloody huge pot (reckon i can justify that cos i make my own sauces, chutneys) and a big burner..........

Damn it. Now i will be dreaming about this all day.....

There are threads in this place and others about what size pot you need. I've given it a bit of thought and I reckon that the factors are:

How big are your batches? If you make lots of small(er) batches, you don't need your pot to be measured in hectolitres.

How much do you care about boilovers? If you think you can avoid the dreaded boilover, go for a pot that is 100ml bigger than your biggest batch and don't say I didn't warn you.

What are you using for a heat source? If your pot diameter is 20cm and your burner is 30cm across, you might lose some heat. Conversely, you might be disappointed if you try to boil a bigger volume than your heat source can reasonably do. I'm thinking about what would happen if I did a 40litre final volume boil in my kit and cube some of it 'for later'. I know my immersion heater will take longer to boil it all, but I do not know if it will keep it boiling 'convincingly'.

How much energy do you want to use not heating your wort? Newton would probably tell me that I am losing a lot of heat through my pot which is nearly three times bigger than my finished volume.

What will the wife say? Mine is extremely accepting of my foibles, but her reaction when she saw my FB Boiler was priceless.

One approach (that I tend to use) is to ignore the advice of people like me and just do whatever feels good, then do lots of hurried and worried research and spend lots more money trying to recover...

[drsmurto]

So much advice, so few functioning brain cells......

BIAB looks like a great transition to AG without the expense. What about the huge grainsock required? Hopsock? Ross at craftbrewer to the rescue?

False bottom - could you just put a raise grill on the bottom of the pot - a lot like one of the tray thingies in an oven/grill?

I *COULD* pinch the old mans monster wok burner and the old ladys stock pot and do a 15L batch to start with......


Damn it again, thinking about it too much. I need a patch to stop the cravings.....

[Hashie]

The recommendation for the grain bag is to use Voile, it's a fabric like fine muslin. ( My mother in-law is sewing a couple for me ) The hop sock is used when boiling the wort and adding your hops at required intervals.

It's my understanding that you only need a false bottom if you are using a Turkey (nasa) burner. An enamelled tin plate will do the job if you need one.

If you need to know dimensions for the grain bag, The easiest way is to cut a rectangle of material twice the height of your boiler + 60cm. The width = the diameter of your boiler + 10cm. Fold it in 1/2 length ways, stitch the 2 sides and away you go. I'm getting the Mother in-law to put a drawstring in the top, for ease of use.

I'll be using a 50 litre 'keg' shaped boiler.

Addictive....I've gone from K&K to being a couple of weeks away from my first AG in the space of a month.

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Voile and plastic venetian blind cord for the drawstring is what I used and it is just fine for the grain bag.

I don't use a hop bag as I pass all beer through a lingerie wash bag as a filter on its way into the fermenter. Hops get filtered out with any other goop that infiltrates the syphon.

I made my grain bag so that the total length of fabric required was just a bit bigger than the circumference of my pot and taller than my pot by half. This allows me to fold the bag over the lip of the pot, making access to the mash real easy, accommodates the seams and stuff and reduced the number of cuts I had to make in the fabric (useful because the edges of the fabric are fray-proof, so I don't have to do fancy sewing).

As for the burner issue, I naturally tend to err on the side of caution in such things.

A 15litre batch could work if you made it real strong and then watered it down into the fermenter. However, it seems that your hopping regime isn't an exact multiple/divisor because there is this weirdness with efficiency that I don't understand and you'd need to be a bit more focussed than I am.

Oooh... Look at that!!! It's shiny...

Errrrrgh... Shiny...

[velophile]

Watch Out!

The Brew In A Bag is a stronger gateway drug than doing partials. You will be addicted to All Grains before you know it.

I just scored a deal at G&G (Grain pushers) pre-pay for 50kg & get the bulk price per kilo.

I can control it,... I really can,... I'm OK,... really....

[SpillsMostOfIt]

Watch Out!
I just scored a deal at G&G (Grain pushers) pre-pay for 50kg & get the bulk price per kilo.

A guy at that place offered me the same deal, but he looked a bit .. oh, I dunno ... 'wired' and his speech was soft and slurred - I could hardly hear him over the noise of his bling clinking and the doof doof of the big subby in the boot of his car.

When he asked me if I was "in the book", I was puzzled and replied that this was my first time and didn't know what he was talking about. He explained the offer with a smile that suggested to me that many had walked this way before. I knew it was a sweet deal, but I just needed my fix - now!

I left with my baggie and went home. I know that I will be back there before week's end. I think the guy knew it too.

[lethaldog]

Spills your a tripper

[SpillsMostOfIt]

As predicted, I made my way back to Grain and Grape today.

Full of shame and loathing I put my name in the book.

It's on again tomorrow - weather permitting.

Interestingly, I wandered into a chemist today to buy a syringe as G&G are out of stock, and they wouldn't sell me one.

Honestly - do I *look* like a drug addict to you?

[OldBugman]

go to the local shooting gallery.

worked a treat for a mate who went on roids.