Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

1 Gallon Brew in a bag beer

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
This is a sticky topic.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • 1 Gallon Brew in a bag beer

    I'll start by saying this isn't the only way to make beer, there are better, more equipment heavy ways to do it. Hopefully though, you will have most of the equipment already for this, and for a small outlay be able to experiment with making some beer whilst the wine ages. I've made a few this way, mainly to try odd recipes, and it was suggested that a write up would be good for other people to try it. The Aussies have been doing it along these lines for a while, and have an informative forum for it here.

    I'll post the recipe/method below and a word doc to download with tick boxes.

    Karl can put a recipe bag together with all the ingredients in, just the postage is high because of the weight, good time to order a few more bits really! Drop him a PM and see what you can get.

    Quick cut 'n' paste on sanitation and beer..

    Be sure that all of the equipment you are going to use is as clean as you can get it, and as sanitised as it is possible for you to make it, a lot is said in Homebrewing about sterilising things, it is difficult to achieve perfection as we cannot eliminate all living organisms, we can however sanitise things, and we should make the effort to do it as well as we can (you can't ruin good wine/beer by being too clean)

    So we need to first get rid of all of the dirt (visible dirt) by cleaning in hot water, give everything a good wash, don't scrub plastics hard though we don't want scratches.

    There are products labelled steriliser available from home brew shops, and they work, but require a lot of rinsing afterwards.

    You can also use baby bottle sterilising stuff (Milton etc) but again repeated rinsing is the order of the day.

    A lot of winemakers use bleach, I wouldn't recommend it, and if you do decide to use it be certain that you rinse twice as much as you think you need to, and then do it again, and never use scented bleach.

    There are also some none rinse sanitisers available. Follow the instructions to the letter!

    I personally have been using a few different ones, either 'oxy clean' which is great at lifting stuck on dirt if left soaking overnight. Also Peracetic Acid, which is nasty stuff but kills on contact and requires no rinsing.

    All your equipment has to be clean to make a good beer, but you have to be exceedingly careful with the post boil wort, as it could very easily be infected from then on.



    This recipe/method is still a bit of a work in progress, I have some pictures to upload and some more bits to show in detail.


    Draft of 1 Gallon Beer #1 Cascade Ale OG 1.049

    Equipment:
    10 litre brew bucket or equivalent. (To primary ferment in, you could use your stainless stockpot)
    10 litre stock pot (how big is that steam juicer pan?? Approx, mine is not quite 10litre)
    Straining bag
    Timer/clock
    Demijohn & airlock (For later part of ferment)
    Length of hose
    Proper Sanitiser (not Sodium Met!)
    Thermometer
    Colander, funnel and sieve (Not so essential)
    5 litres worth of bottles
    Crown caps,
    Crown capper
    (or some clean pet screw top bottles)

    Shopping list:

    Ingredients:
    ------------
    Amount Item Type % or IBU
    1000.00 gm Pale Malt (2 Row) UK MO (5.0 EBC) Grain 90.91 %
    100.00 gm Wheat Malt, Ger (3.9 EBC) Grain 9.09 %
    14.00 gm Cascade [5.90 %] (60 min) Hops 36.1 IBU
    10.00 gm Cascade [5.90 %] (10 min) (Aroma Hop-SteepHops -
    14.00 gm Cascade [5.90 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-SteepHops -
    1 Irish moss/protofloc clearing tablet
    1 Beer yeast


    Method:

    □ Put about 7.5 litres of water in your big pan and get it warming up on the hob. Experience with your own kit will get this figure more accurate.
    □ Boil full kettle (might be needed shortly)
    □ When the big pan achieves 74c remove from heat. (Strike temp)
    □ Place large straining bag into pot
    □ Carefully ‘dough in’ your crushed grain into the water/bag. This involves mixing the grain and water so there are no lumps/clumps or dry grain. (The water is in your pan at ‘strike heat’ the bag is in your pan too, carefully/slowly pour the crushed grain in and mix it up so there are no dry clumps. A helpful assistant is good here.)
    □ Measure temp again. We are aiming for approx 68c here, if it’s too cold add a little boiling water from kettle, if too warm add a little cold until you get the desired temp.
    □ Temp is now correct, put the lid on the pan, and insulate it well. I use old coats, towels etc.
    □ Leave it alone for an hour. (Some people do a 90 minute mash, choice is yours really. I find an hour is fine.)
    □ Remove all the coats/towels from the pan and put them somewhere where you won’t trip over them (Koomber, keep a towel handy..)
    □ I now give the grain a stir again, then gather the bag up and carefully remove from the pan.
    □ Either let it drain naturally, or twist the bag carefully to remove the excess (It is hot, some gloves would help those with a lower pain threshold.)
    □ We’re aiming for a pre boil volume of around 6.5 litres (The 1.1kg grain will have absorbed approx 700ml+ of water, the hops will take up some more, then you’ll also lose some to the trub)
    □ Hic.. Don’t drink a whole bottle of wine whilst brewing this, and writing it up.
    □ Bag of malt now removed, approx 6.8 litres of wort in the pan, get it back on the heat to boil up.
    □ Whilst the wort heats up weigh out the hops you are going to add.
    □ We’re using Cascade hops, 14g for the full boil (60mins or so). (Hops give the beer it’s bitterness, if you choose some more Bitter hops use less. Less bitter hops use more hops)
    □ When the wort has achieved a rolling boil, add the full boil hops.
    □ Ensure it doesn’t boil over (give it a bit of a stir, stop the surface being covered in any gunk)
    □ Boil for 60 mins (set a timer) (Do not cover whilst boiling)
    □ Tidy up some of the mess
    □ In the last 10mins of the boil, add more hops, Cascade again, but just 11grams. Also for the last 10 mins, add your protofloc or Irish moss. (If it’s a tablet, crush it well and sprinkle it in.)
    □ 60 mins now up, remove the wort from heat.
    □ □ Turn off heat.. add flameout hops, (14g of cascade) leave to steep for 30 mins. I leave the lid off, that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Then cool. You may find that swirling with a sterilised spoon will amass the hops and break material in the middle so you can get the beer out easier (depends if you are siphoning off or tipping it out.) I tip it out as to now aerate the wort so the yeast do better.
    □ Cool down to pitching temp, either by leaving overnight with lid on (in a cool place) or in a sink of cold water until it’s 20c. Helps if you change the water a couple of times if you’re in a hurry.
    □ Strain off from pan into your 10 litre bucket through a colander or similar. You are after aerating the wort now a lot to assist the yeast.
    □ Measure and record your start SG (Aprrox 1.049 hopefully, If it’s way over this and you haven’t got 5 litres, top up with cold water. )
    □ Follow directions on your yeast and pitch. No need for nutrient , the grain has all that.
    □ I’m using some yeast I prepared earlier, but S04 will be fine. Rehydrate as per the instructions and pitch the whole pack.
    □ After 24hrs or so, you should have a good head (Krausen) on the beer.
    □ Try to keep it somewhere where the temp will be stable, 20c ish. Beer can be sensitive to temp.
    □ I left mine in the kitchen at ~20c
    □ After 2 to 6 days the krausen will drop.
    □ Mine had dropped in 2 days. (lots of yeast, and 20c)
    □ Rack into a demijohn and leave under airlock for another week or so.
    □ Check your SG, should be around 1.008 to 1.015 when finished
    □ Sterilise 5 litres worth of bottles, tubing, racking stick etc.
    □ Rack from demijohn back into your 10 litre bucket with 10 grams sugar dissolved in a small amount of water.
    □ Rack from bucket into your bottles and cap (sterilised bottles and caps).
    □ Leave in a warm place for a week or two so that the extra sugar can make it carbonated.
    □ Chill standing upright in fridge or a cold place for a week or two until clear.
    □ Uncap, pour carefully and enjoy.

    I'll update this thread with pics etc over the next couple of days I hope. Until then, it'll be locked.

    Thread for questions, experiences and general chit chat

    I also hope to put up an old speckled hen type clone, soon as I've tried it to get the figures right.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Rich; 28-02-2011, 08:43 PM.

  • #2
    Beer #2

    Old Speckled hen type clone,

    Method as above, different ingredients,


    Recipe: Mature Dappled Duck
    Style: English Pale Ale/Strong Bitter
    TYPE: All Grain

    Recipe Specifications
    --------------------------
    Batch Size: 5.00 L
    Boil Time: 60 Minutes

    Ingredients:
    ------------
    Amount Item
    900.00 gm Pale Malt (2 Row) UK MO (5.0 EBC)
    100.00 gm Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (130.0 EBC)
    10.00 gm Challenger [7.60 %] (60 min)
    5.00 gm Challenger [7.60 %] (10 min)
    5.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.22 %] (10 min)
    125.00 gm Sugar, Table ((Mix in during boil)
    1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04)

    Comment


    • #3
      Water on to warm, this was just short of 7 litres, and came up way short in the final amount!

      Strike temp nearly.


      Then mixing in the grain. (no dry lumps allowed!)
      Attached Files

      Comment


      • #4
        Mash temp close enough for me now.. (Was slightly adjusted with some boiling water)


        All wrapped up to keep the temp for an hour.


        Hour up, then out to drain.
        Attached Files
        Last edited by Rich; 28-02-2011, 09:44 PM.

        Comment


        • #5
          Hops added as soon as it looks like boiling. Note the thick froth at the side, this gets worse as it approaches boiling. If you are on the limit of your pans capacity it can help it boil over.


          Boil underway, hops all mixed in.


          Cooling down in a sink of cold water.
          Attached Files

          Comment


          • #6
            Hops strained out, these will retain a fair bit of the wort. I have been known to squeeze them a little if short on wort.


            Fermentation starting..

            Unrelated BIG leek pudding that I also made (Pre baking)
            Attached Files

            Comment


            • #7
              Racking and bottling pics to follow shortly.

              Comment

              Working...
              X