Just brewed an arrogant bastard clone for my first MIAB. Came out great. Numbers are right on. Got a little better efficiency than I expected (going for 70 got almost 80) and I can’t wait till it’s ready.
One question: I used wyeast 1275 due to limitations at my LHBS. Based on wyeasts description, I think I’ll be ok. Should I be ok with the flavors it’s going to leave for the arrogant bastard I’m going for?
Congratulations. MIAB? Mash In A Bag?
What yeast strain was recommended?
1272 American Ale II is the recommended yeast for Arrogant Bastard. At least that’s what my recipe calls for.
Paul
Awesome! WLP007 is the Stone yeast, but if I don’t have it on hand, I just use US-05 instead - comparable attenuation and the Chinook dominates this beer so yeast characteristics don’t have much impact, especially if fermented on the cool side.
I have it fermenting at 68. And I could have used 1272 but I don’t like what it’s done to other beers in the past. So I’ll cross my fingers and keep you posted.
Thanks shadetree for your help on the topic. Definitely made a difference.
Maybe you can help me understand why I got an OG of 1.080 instead of 1.073. Just better efficiency right?
[quote=“HellBound”]Maybe you can help me understand why I got an OG of 1.080 instead of 1.073. Just better efficiency right?[/quote]Better conversion, better extraction of sugar, volume measurements, etc., can all lead to variation in efficiency.
Kinda figured. I did a little dunk-sparging after the protein rest. That helped. At 5 gallons in the primary before I added my yeast, my gravity was 1.099, so I topped off to 6 gallons and came down a few points.
I really think I want to try MIAB. Hellbound - can you give me a general synopsis of your brew day? Where did you get the bags? I have a nice 10 gallon Blichmann pot and if I could just fill with water, heat, add bag with milled grain, wait an hour, dunk a few times, and then remove bag and bring to a boil I might brew more. Less equipment to drag out, my pot has a slightglass for the water measurements. I just think it would be a lot easier. Heating sparge water and all the calculations take time. I may be over-simplifying which is why I am asking.
Not to highjack, but it’s pretty much as simple as you just stated. I do sparge in a second pot which helps with efficiency, but if you just up your grain a little to account for lower efficiency, you can just go with one pot. I experienced 62-70% efficiency when only using one pot with no sparge and was able to get that up to 70-78% with a dunk sparge in a second pot. I have an 18"x32" mesh sack bought from my LHBS. Everyone sells them though. I can mash up to about 13-14lbs of grain, but that limitation is because of my 30qrt pot not the sack. The sack will hold more. With your 10gal pot, you could mash much more than me. Your problem will be straining the wort from your grain sack. Do you have or can you get a big enough strainer? Holding a sack of wet grain to strain isn’t easy. If you have lid for the pot, what you could do is, rest the lid at a 45degree angle upside down on the pot so the lid is 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the pot. Hold the grain sack over the pot to drain using the lid for support. Just a thought.
+1 to dobe
It really is that simple. With the set-up you have, it’ll be really easy, just make sure your water ph is on target, there’s alot of easy to use spreadsheets for homebrewers.
yeah i’ve never had an issue with water. I filter anyways with charcoal and step up when needed depending on the brew. Where do you get the bags? Is there some commercial version I can buy locally that is similar? With that amount of grain and the weight I assume it needs to be pretty sturdy. I think I could cut an hour from my brew day doing it this way. The 45 degree angle with the brew pot lid would work but I was thinking wouldn’t a grate for like a charcoal grill that fits overtop the pot work also? Sort of depends on the bag itself and if it would flop over the edges. I’m less concerned with that piece of it, more concerned with getting the right bag that fits the pot the right way.
This is what I use.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brew ... -x-32.htmlI’m thinking of trying a paint strainer when this bag wears out. I have an extra one from my hop spider build. I’m not sure of the size (it’s for 5 gallons) but the opening is elastic so it will stretch around the top of the pot. The mesh bag (above) isn’t wide enough to fit around my pot. No big deal though. I just hold it open while pouring my grain in.
The most important thing to remember is mixing the grain well in the sack. Don’t put all the grain in the sack then dunk the entire thing at once. You’ll get pockets of clumped up grain. Hold the sack open and add the grain a little at a time. I use a 1qrt piece of tupperware to shovel it in and give it a good stir every few additions. Then a good stir at the end. Should only take a minute or 2 to get all the grain in. I use to give it a good stir 1/2 way through the mash as well (someone’s suggestion), but I haven’t noticed any benefit from that step, so I cut it out. To me it was just another way to loose temperature.
I have good results with limiting the grain to 5lb in each 5-gal paint-strainer bag - plenty of room to stir around inside the bag and then enough material at the top to make it easy to clamp onto the side of a bucket to let it drain out. A 10-gallon kettle is a nice sweet spot with this method - large enough to no-sparge but not so big that you’re having to handle lots of grain.
I bought a bag from my local shop and it’s bigger than my kettle. The beauty of using smaller amounts of grains is that It makes straining easier and lighter. 10-15 lbs of grain that’s soaked with water is a little heavy to just hold for extended periods of time. I found a strainer at wal-Mary that is like 15x12 and like 6 inches deep so it fits well in my 7 gallon kettle. Home depot has 5 gal nylon mesh paint strainer bags that I’ve heard work well.
I loved my MIAB batches. They were a nice bridge into AG. But, they don’t have to just be a bridge - you can make really good beer with MIAB. My first attemp was an Oatmeal Stout that scored a 45 in the only comp I entered it in. Highest comp score I’ve had (so far)!
What was the recipe that you used? I love stouts and have been thinking about doing one.
Here it is. Sorry it took a couple days. Actually “only” scored a 43.
4 lbs 6 row
1 lb flaked oats
12 oz chocolate
12 oz victory
8 oz cara80*
8 oz roasted barley
3 lb northwestern dark LME
1 lb light DME
2 ozwillamette (5.8%) 60 min
wyeast 1084
OG: 1.072 FG 1.024
primary: 10 days secondary 14 days
mashed at 156*
