Graduated to BIAB, struggling with efficiency

Minbari · Aug 17, 2023

Bigbre04 said:
So I did a bit of reading about the enzymes. I dont think that they will really benefit me as my brewhouse is very odd. The max total weight i can put into a "tube" is 100#s. So I always have to mash in twice (usually 60-96#s per tube). I always include atleast 4#s of dextrin malt in every recipe.

The biggest difficulty is that the temp of the mash within the tube is fairly inconsistent. when the bottom of the tube is at 178F the top is at 170F. The volumes of the liquid are also a pain. first tube mashes in at 16 inches and then i sparge it up to 18 inches. then the second tube mashes in. and it sparges till kettle full. The double mash means that my first tube has a lower pH the second. its a very annoying system to work with. Also VERY slow.

sorry if this was rambling, doing a bunch of things at once.

You aren't mashing at that temp?

Blackmuse · Aug 18, 2023

GDubs said:
Thank you all for the feedback.....
After reading Sandys comments, I went back and revisited my original recipe. By removing the the oats from the fermentables and editing the efficiency percentage, I hit my actual starting gravity at an efficiency of 75%.
I am planning a simple all grain pale ale for my next brew, I will use the same mash ratio and sparge techniques to see if I get anywhere close to 75%. At the very least, that should help me isolate the impact of the oats and the need for enzymes.... from there I will try a finer crush.

This is a great plan! If you haven't locked in your brewing equipment and technique then you will consistently get different results. Change one thing at a time and use it as an excuse to brew more!
If you like the Pale Ale recipe then stick with it and brew it repeatedly until you have locked in your equipment and technique.

(and yes, the double crush is your best friend in the BIAB world! - Investing in your own mill and buying grain in bulk is probably your next step

- it was mine).

Bigbre04 · Aug 18, 2023

Minbari said:
You aren't mashing at that temp?

No No my strike water is 158-156 and my setpoint is usually 149-151. I know this is realtively high for drier beers, but i had a hard time with sticking the mash when i went lower than that. plus there is a fairly large gradient of temps between the top and the bottom of the tube.

That is my mashout temp. it takes forever for the temp to rise through all of the mash. So by the time that I end up with 170 at the top the bottom has hit around 178. This brewhouse is a giant pain in the ass.

Honestly i am not super well versed in this type of setup(basically a fancy XL BIAB setup) so any advice is welcome.

Bigbre04 · Aug 18, 2023

Trialben said:
Novazymes Ondea Pro is the liquid enzyme blend I've been using
https://www.novozymes.com/en/products
Is there Web

This low carb enzyme might help you in attenuation if that's what your struggling with rather than Amylase.

https://matesratehomebrewsupplies.com.au/product/low-carb-enzyme-deltazyme-amg/

I use thier Amylase Enzymes Deltase Hi temp stable Alpha Amylase stable up to boiling point.

I'm in Australia

Edit that Amyloglucosidase might be the same stuff you linked above you can use that in the mash or fermenter I've not used it yet but be careful . Edit could be a packaging nightmare

Ya Im gonna give the LD Carlson stuff a swing. Ill order it today and try it out next week!

Sandy Feet · Aug 18, 2023

Blackmuse said:
This is a great plan! If you haven't locked in your brewing equipment and technique then you will consistently get different results. Change one thing at a time and use it as an excuse to brew more!
If you like the Pale Ale recipe then stick with it and brew it repeatedly until you have locked in your equipment and technique.

(and yes, the double crush is your best friend in the BIAB world! - Investing in your own mill and buying grain in bulk is probably your next step - it was mine).

I wanted to learn some things, and I can't brew as often as I would like. I tried different recipes in the beginning, but I tried to use the same hops and yeast for a few i.e. a Brown, a Pale Ale, and a Porter with S-05 and Cascade. Then I did a few English ones, etc.
On most of them, I got significant improvement the second time around.