First time super bare-bones BIAB

This will be my 2nd batch of beer ever and my first BIAB (brew/boil in a bag)

I'm going to start the process in less than an hour and may need some help so I am getting a thread starter to record this disaster/epic success.

I will be using the "elastic top strainers" for paint from lowes, 2 pack for $4

Description: "Hazy IPA, 6 to7%"

Ingredients:
2lb cali select 2 row malted barley
1/4lb carafoam
1/2lb flaked oats
1/2lb flaked wheat
Citra, Amarillo, Mosaic, Galaxy hops in equal proportions:
1oz at flame off
1/4oz citra + 1/4oz galaxy @ day 4 fermentation (dry hop)

Batch size goal: 1 gallon into the fermenter
Strike water: 3.2 quarts @ 160F
Mash temp: 150F
Sparge water: 3.2 quarts @ 170F

This recipe was made for me by the owner of a small homebrew shop here in California.

My first beer turned out good except for astringency and thin body (both according to the home brew shop owner who tried some).

My procedure for brew day (today!) is:

1. Heat 3.2 quarts water in 3 gal black pot (kettle) to 160F (strike temperature)
2. Install bag into kettle
3. Pour grain into bag and stir
4. Turn off heat and allow mash temperature to drop to mashing temperature (150F)
5. Maintain temperature at 144F to 152F for 60 minutes, stirring and taking temperature measurements at multiple locations, adding heat if needed (which I will probably need to do)
6. Pre-heat additional 4 quarts of water to 170F so its at temperature by the end of the mash.
7. Increase mash temperature to 170F (mashing out)
8. Lift bag and allow wort to drain through grain into kettle
9. Pour 170F sparge water through colander into grain
10. Transfer wort to another kettle and pour it through grain (recirculation)
11. Heat wort to low boil for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
12. Break liquid yeast nutrient pack and allow yeast to start swelling pack.
13. Turn off flame at 60 minutes and add 1 oz hops.
14. Place cooler filled with ice on countertop to allow siphoning wort into fermenter without disturbing trub cone
15. Place kettle into ice bath in cooler
16. Whirlpool wort as it cools to 70F
17. Once wort has cooled siphon some into graduated cylinder and take OG measurement
18. Siphon remainder into fermenter
19. Top up fermenter to 1 gallon mark using tap water (record amount of extra water added so OG measurement can be adjusted and just to know how much wort I ended up with.
20. Pitch 1/3rd liquid yeast into fermenter. Tape yeast pack closed and return to fridge.
21. Dump ice from cooler, dry cooler, and place fermenter in cooler.
22. Install sanitized cap and tubing into fermenter with end of tube in cup of sanitizer.
23. Attach thermocouple to fermenter and set cooler (its a thermoelectric fridge) to 72F
24. Come back in 4 days and add 1/2oz of hops.
25. Come back several days later and start bottling. (will write that procedure later)

I have a feeling there will be a blowout during fermentation. My last batch did not blow out but I was probably a good quart low in the fermenter so there was room for the yeast to do its thing. This time if I top up to the 1 gallon mark, things may get crowded.

 

Mash in progress

Temp seems relatively stable with towel wrapped around kettle but I still have to babysit it

 

Okay its in the fermenter. Started at 3pm ended at 7pm.

OG = 1.072 ... hmm..can the measurement be affected by all the particles in the wort? It was at very close to 70F

Whirlpooling did not work. I think because too small pot, too small volume of liquid, and too much particles. Basically everything that was in the wort went into the fermenter.

Came much closer to 1 gallon into the fermenter this time. Only had to top up a small amount..maybe 1/2" of the 1 gal carboy up near the top where that means alot less.

Looks like my boil off rate is about 0.3 gallons per hour (calcd using ruler liquid measurements and area of pot opening)

I need a better temperature measuring setup. My digital thermometer started freaking out, as I expected, when I left the lid on during the mash to keep things warm and the humidity in there went crazy. I do have a type K thermocouple meter but only bead style probes. They seemed to work okay but I would much rather have an immersion type probe that is mounted in a way where I dont have to take it out and can leave it in at all times.

I also need a way to raise the mash bag up high enough to clear the wort when I sparge. I suppose an actual lauter tun mesh bucket would be perfect $$$. Or just another pot that I put holes in and arrange so it will be stable on top of the kettle.

The towel and lid seem to keep the temperature very stable.

I'll try a week of fermenting and then bottle. I should get nearly 12 bottles this time, so I can sample them every couple days (after mayeb 5 days) to see how it goes.

 

Thanks! To answer your questions:

yeast = Wyeast london ale III (liquid activator pack)
bags = bought at lowes in socal, https://www.lowes.com/pd/Blue-Hawk-...trainers-Fits-Container-Size-5-Gallon/1008387

The bag did get a hole in it. Not at the bottom where I was stirring, but up near the top of the pot, on the outside. It didnt affect the brew. I didnt see it happen either. I am not sure how it got it, maybe when I turned on the flame a blast of super hot air hit it and melted it? Either way the bags seem very durable, I cant tear them by hand and the hole didnt seem to really affect the strength significantly in that area. I will use them again.

And yeah I suppose 1.075! Will be interesting to see how much alcohol / FG results

12 hours into fermentation

Seems about twice as vigorous as my last batch (different recipe/yeast).

High amount of small bubbles rising, looks like freshly poured champagne.

1 grape sized bubble a second. (my reference!)

 

I dont really have a plan yet. Looking at it now, seems like it will be a challenge.

Disturbing the trub/krausen.

Maintaining the seal on the airlock after adding the hops (if using a bag)..presumably bag will need to hang out of fermenter unless its suspended internally somehow.

Can I just put the hops in without a bag, and leave them in?

Actually I think there is probably not enough volume in the fermenter for the hops to expand. This will be interesting..

 

Curious though..lets say the teaballs did fit (just for arguments sake)..as the hops expand there would be a problem with them because they are fixed volume and the expansion is huge right?

So at the moment:

Plan A:
Sterlize muslin hop bag
Put hops in bag
Leave alot of extra space in bag for expansion and tie a knot in it.
Cut off excess bag (space is at a premium here)
Slowly lower bag onto trub being as gentle as possible.
Leave bag in there until bottling

Plan B:
Drop the hops straight in, no bag

Plan C:
?

 

Also I dont think the expansion of the hops is a problem as far as fermenter volume right? Because its zero sum? Any hop expansion is just beer so the volume doesn't change (from where it is after dropping in the hops)

 

Something else I noticed..although its a bit sloppy (sorry)

I measured the gravity after about an hour in the fermenter (sanitized hydrometer and dropped in through carboy neck..very easy and fast)

It read something crazy like 1.085!

I'm guessing the added sugar in the liquid yeast pumped it up even higher than pre-yeast..

I'm thinking of measuring gravity this way during fermentation. Its hard for me to see how any significant contamination could occur. All I'm doing is popping the 2" diameter lid off the fermenter for 10 seconds while I drop in an easily and very well sanitized hydrometer to take a measurement. Can it really get infected doing this? I cant afford to take samples in any other way, siphoning is too difficult and wasting beer is too significant on a batch this size. But I would like to monitor gravity, if not for this beer, for the next.

Also this beer smells different than the last one. A different sort of fruity and more muted. Very interested to try this out!!! No boiled hops!

 

Yeah looking at it..its close. I didnt hear it clank. But maybe it hit the trub.

This also means that as gravity goes down its very unlikely I would be able to take a measurement.

Refractometer or shorter hydrometer may be the thing here..

Or just take an FG once its out of the fermenter like last time.

 

43 hours into fermentation

Airlock has slowed somewhat but still going strong.

VERY hazy and beige/yeast colored still. Not like my other beer which was very hazy but looked appetizing. This still looks like protein shake.

Still has rapid tiny bubbles and visible floaters being brought up into the foam.

I am definitely going to let this one take its time to clear, whatever that ends up needing.

Smell is fantastic. Fantasy-fruit

So the part of the recipe that was not specified by the homebrew shop that designed it for me was how long in primary and how long in bottle.

I will at least wait until the airlock activity has dropped to basically zero, but I think I will need to go a few days longer than that to help clear. The yeast is a "high flocculating" so that is what it will be doing even after airlock activity stops right?

How do hazy IPA protein shakes usually clear? I dont see anything resembling "beer color" like I did on my first batch (a very nice orange/tangerine)

Day 4 I will drop in the dry hops.

 

I have a feeling its going to look like this at the very end:

Also alot of beers from shook look like how I think it will be

 

This is reallllly thick though. I'm not expecting clear but this looks like milkshake. But if thats what it is then thats what it is

Yes I do have a hydrometer again!

so how about this for a plan

Wait for airlock to die down to basically nothing.

Wait an extra 24 hours after that

Measure gravity

Wait 24 hours

Measure gravity again to confirm fermentation is over

By doing this I hopefully only have to make two gravity measurements.

Since the trub has sunken quite a bit I think I wont hit it with the hydrometer so I can do this through the carboy neck and not waste beer.