First All-Grain (BIAB) Recipe - SMaSH Pale Ale

[Prairie Dog]

As the title says, a friend and I are going to brew our first all-grain (BIAB) recipe in the next couple of weeks, and I was looking to get any feedback. We decided to go for a SMaSH beer, so we could get to know the ingredients, and our first goal as homebrewers is to make a killer pale ale.

So, I'm looking for any general feedback. Does this recipe make sense? Did I screw anything up? I included brew day and bottling instructions in the notes, so I wouldn't mess anything up there. Did I forget anything? Beyond Whirlfloc, I don't think I'm going to do much to the water right now. I'd prefer to see what my tap water tastes like in this first beer and then think about treating it in the future.

Thanks all!

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1486350/smash-cascade-maris-otter

 

[Sandy Feet]

SMASH Cascade is a good choice. I would probably make my life easy by doing 60 and 10 additions adjusting your IBUs accordingly. Also, check your alphas when you actually get the hops. 7 would be high for me. I might bump up the IBUs a little too.
Personally, I would add about 1/2 lb Crystal 40, but that is me. If you want to truly get a handle on the hop. SMASH is good. You probably won't ferment that dry with your mash temps. Take that into account with your recipe.

 

[Craigerrr]

As the title says, a friend and I are going to brew our first all-grain (BIAB) recipe in the next couple of weeks, and I was looking to get any feedback. We decided to go for a SMaSH beer, so we could get to know the ingredients, and our first goal as homebrewers is to make a killer pale ale.

So, I'm looking for any general feedback. Does this recipe make sense? Did I screw anything up? I included brew day and bottling instructions in the notes, so I wouldn't mess anything up there. Did I forget anything? Beyond Whirlfloc, I don't think I'm going to do much to the water right now. I'd prefer to see what my tap water tastes like in this first beer and then think about treating it in the future.

Thanks all!

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1486350/smash-cascade-maris-otter

Everything looks good to me.
I would only caution you about your water.
If your water is municipal/city water it will have chlorine, or chloromine in it, you will want to use a campden tablet to eliminate it (1/2 of one would be sufficient for your batch size).

 

[Sandy Feet]

I use bottled spring water (not drinking water, not anything else, spring water) to fix the issue here. Our tap water sucks.
Saw something in those directions that bothered me: If a regular, 5-gallon, no sparge BIAB. I would start with 8 gallons for strike water unless you are in a very dry climate. 8.7 whatever gallons is high.

 

[Minbari]

I commented on your other post.

Same as there, would swap MO for American pale and lower the maah temp

 

[Prairie Dog]

I use bottled spring water (not drinking water, not anything else, spring water) to fix the issue here. Our tap water sucks.
Saw something in those directions that bothered me: If a regular, 5-gallon, no sparge BIAB. I would start with 8 gallons for strike water unless you are in a very dry climate. 8.7 whatever gallons is high.

Thank you for the help. I'm in Denver, so the climate is quite dry. I decided to go with 8.74because this is what BrewersFriend automatically calculated for my strike water. From the other feedback I've gotten here, it sounds like maybe I want to use spring water, but I was curious as to how the beer came out just using my tap water before I spent too much time messing with water stuff.

What temp would you mash at? If I'm understanding you correctly, 155F might make the beer too sweet, correct?

 

[Minbari]

Thank you for the help. I'm in Denver, so the climate is quite dry. I decided to go with 8.74because this is what BrewersFriend automatically calculated for my strike water. From the other feedback I've gotten here, it sounds like maybe I want to use spring water, but I was curious as to how the beer came out just using my tap water before I spent too much time messing with water stuff.

What temp would you mash at? If I'm understanding you correctly, 155F might make the beer too sweet, correct?

I would go 148-150F. This will increase fermentability, which will result in a lower FG

 

[Prairie Dog]

I would go 148-150F. This will increase fermentability, which will result in a lower FG

Thanks for the advice. I decided to go with 155F because when I lower the mash temp on BF to 152F or lower, it ends up with a FG of 1.009, which is slightly out of the range for the style. I know I probably shouldn't worry about this too much, but I wanted to stick within the style parameters since this was my first all-grain brew.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Your recipe looks good. And unless you know your tap water has issues tap water is a good place to start. It's the easiest and cheapest option, so why change that unless you need to? I have always used tap water that has been run though a carbon-block filter. But, as @Craigerrr mentioned, add 1/2 a campden tablet!

 

[NorthCoastBrewer]

I'm looking for any general feedback.

Are you using the boil kettle for the mash (which is typical for BIAB)?

If so, do you have a plan to insulate the kettle (during the mash) to help maintain mash temperature?

 

[Prairie Dog]

Are you using the boil kettle for the mash (which is typical for BIAB)?

If so, do you have a plan to insulate the kettle (during the mash) to help maintain mash temperature?

Yes, I will be using the boil kettle for the mash. I noticed that many people do wrap the kettle in something to maintain temp, but I wasn't sure how important it is. I do have an old sleeping bag that could work (I think?) if wrapping it is crucial for maintaining mash temp.

Otherwise, I was going to put the lid on, keep it on the turned-off burner, and turn the burner back on if it gets too low. Bad idea?

 

[Minbari]

Yes, I will be using the boil kettle for the mash. I noticed that many people do wrap the kettle in something to maintain temp, but I wasn't sure how important it is. I do have an old sleeping bag that could work (I think?) if wrapping it is crucial for maintaining mash temp.

Otherwise, I was going to put the lid on, keep it on the turned-off burner, and turn the burner back on if it gets too low. Bad idea?

Don't turn on the heat unless you can keep the bag off the bottom. It will melt

 

[NorthCoastBrewer]

Yes, I will be using the boil kettle for the mash. I noticed that many people do wrap the kettle in something to maintain temp, but I wasn't sure how important it is. I do have an old sleeping bag that could work (I think?) if wrapping it is crucial for maintaining mash temp.

Insulating the kettle using a sleeping bag will help maintain the mash temperature.

Otherwise, I was going to put the lid on, keep it on the turned-off burner, and turn the burner back on if it gets too low. Bad idea?

Toss a bath towel (or equivalent) over the lid to help insulate the kettle.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Insulating the kettle using a sleeping bag will help maintain the mash temperature.


Toss a bath towel (or equivalent) over the lid to help insulate the kettle.

Thanks! Do you recommend stirring it several times during the mash as well? I've heard people say that you should, but I worry that I will lose too much temp.

 

[Sandy Feet]

What you do with the insulation will depend on your ambient temperature. If it is cold, like in the 40s or below, you need something. Otherwise, keep the lid on, turn the heat off, and put a couple of towels on top of the lid. If you are not using crystal, I kind of like the higher mash temp idea the more I think about it. Also agree with the 2 row suggestion. At that mash temp, I think you will be above 1.011. Im thinking 1.013 to 015 as a guess.
Oh, dont do shit. Leave the top on, and let it do its thing for at least 60 minutes. Stir when you put the grain in to keep it from clumping. After that, leave it covered and alone, put some tunes on, and drink a beer.

 

[Prairie Dog]

What you do with the insulation will depend on your ambient temperature. If it is cold, like in the 40s or below, you need something. Otherwise, keep the lid on, turn the heat off, and put a couple of towels on top of the lid. If you are not using crystal, I kind of like the higher mash temp idea the more I think about it. Also agree with the 2 row suggestion. At that mash temp, I think you will be above 1.011. Im thinking 1.013 to 015 as a guess.
Oh, dont do shit. Leave the top on, and let it do its thing for at least 60 minutes. Stir when you put the grain in to keep it from clumping. After that, leave it covered and alone, put some tunes on, and drink a beer.

Thanks! I've heard people say different things in terms of whether to stir or not. I'm a little more concerned with losing mash temp, so putting the lid on with some towels and drinking a beer sounds like a great idea!

 

[Herm brews]

Welcome, with some great questions right off the bat. Your recipe is simple and straightforward, which is a good place to start. Nothing against MO, but I am a regular user of Rahr Pale Ale Malt (probably because it is always available where I purchase supplies). Keep your recipe as is or change it, you can always make it different next time.
My process has always been BIAB. What is the bag that will hold your grains through the mash? There are custom made bags to fit the kettle (like I have now), or the easy to acquire, inexpensive paint strainer (which I used for dozens of batches). I think you could try 152 as a starting temp, and by the end of your mash be 4-6 degrees cooler - certainly a fermentable wort. As others have mentioned, insulate your kettle during the mash. I use a fleece blanket and pullover sweater, with a towel covering the lid. And I stir every 20 minutes, because I like to use my mash paddle to mix (think recirculate), and the refractometer and thermometer to collect data!
Have a plan for your hops additions. You can bag them so that there is less hop material in your finished wort, or let them swim free knowing they will take up some volume that should be left behind upon transfer to the fermenter.
Always try to keep sight that, for the vast majority here, this is a hobby. Hobbies should be fun, so do your best to make it enjoyable.

 

[Zambi]

You're going to get lots of help here, but also find lots of different opionions.
In the end, it's your beer and your decission
I do small batches biab and I found that just a towel on top of the lid gives me a good enough stable mask temperature in summer. I stir when adding grains. Not thereafter.
Sometimes I put the fermenter inside a coolerbox, esp when I am doing a longer mash (for no other reason than that it suits my schedule at times).

Make something you like
Make notes
Than make the same or something similar, maybe change mash temperature and find out what suits you and your equipment
Have fun, it's a hobby and it will be beer

 

[NorthCoastBrewer]

Thanks! Do you recommend stirring it several times during the mash as well? I've heard people say that you should, but I worry that I will lose too much temp.

Stirring during the mash will remove 'hot' and 'cold' spots in the mash. It will reduce the mash temperature some amount (maybe 1F per stir?).

This is your first attempt at a BIAB mash - so it likely won't be perfect. But it likely will come out 'good enough'.

A modern American "two row" brewers will be "more forgiving" than Maris Otter. It will convert faster due to the higher diastatic power (more enzymes). Some brewers will do 30 (or even 20) minute mashes - but let's keep the mash time at 60 minutes for this batch.

1. crush (or double crush) the malts well.

2. start the mash a little warmer (154F) in anticipation of some heat loss

3. add the grains slowly, stirring as you go. You may lose a some of that "heat reserve", but you will also know that the mash temperature is consistent and won't need to stir during the mash. Measure the mash temperature before closing up / insulating the kettle.

4. use a sleeping bag and towels to insulate the kettle. The sleeping bag may not be needed, but it won't cause any harm.

5. Measure the mash temperature (couple of places) after 30 minutes. This is intended to be an "observe, but don't act" measurement. A mash temperature at or above 148F at this point is 'good enough' - so do not reheat (see the comment above about being able to do shorter mashes with American "2 row" base malts).

6. Measure the mash temperature at the end of the mash.

From the three mash temperature measurements, you will have a starting point for improving the temperature consistency of the mash.

 

[Sandy Feet]

I have the local brew store do my crush. I tell them in the notes online that it is BIAB, and they usually crush it pretty fine.