Beerdroid All Grain Brewing

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

15 hours ago, Dustin Frothman said:

Happy Sunday Brewarters. A bit of “outdoor” wort cooking again today and sampling a clone of Bentspoke’s Crankshaft IPA at right on two weeks in the taster bottle. Very happy with the colour and head retention on this one. A nice IPA indeed.

Looks spot on as you say @Dustin Frothman. Had my cousin over from NZ this weekend and had a Crankshaft and Sprocket IPA and that pour looks just like what we were having from the can.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Latest all grain out of the Droid.

Called it Kiwi at the Cove as it's all NZ Grain and Hops.

I'm very proud of this one as the colour is just crazy, so thick and juicy. Was some hop burn at the start but now it's more than 2 weeks in the keg, it's just drinking amazingly.

TBH, I'm not surprised there was some hop burn as I used 10g each of Motueka, Moutere and Taiheke in the boil for 10 minutes. Then 40g each of the same in a 20 minute whirlpool at 75°C and finally, 50g of each in a big dry hop. 300g of hops in total.

[Dustin Frothman]

3 hours ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

Latest all grain out of the Droid.

Called it Kiwi at the Cove as it's all NZ Grain and Hops.

I'm very proud of this one as the colour is just crazy, so thick and juicy. Was some hop burn at the start but now it's more than 2 weeks in the keg, it's just drinking amazingly.

TBH, I'm not surprised there was some hop burn as I used 10g each of Motueka, Moutere and Taiheke in the boil for 10 minutes. Then 40g each of the same in a 20 minute whirlpool at 75°C and finally, 50g of each in a big dry hop. 300g of hops in total.

That looks great @Wazza_wantsbeer I can smell it from here!

I've bought the grain to have a go at a few more beers like this now that my kettle can handle larger quantities. Hopefully I can have as much success as you appear to be having with them.

Yesterday's Citra SMaSH is currently fermenting away like an angry volcano at 28 degrees thanks to the Voss Kveik yeast. I expect this should be done in a couple of days and then straight into the keg for the family to drink at Christmas. 🎅

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

2 hours ago, Dustin Frothman said:

That looks great @Wazza_wantsbeer I can smell it from here!

I've bought the grain to have a go at a few more beers like this now that my kettle can handle larger quantities. Hopefully I can have as much success as you appear to be having with them.

Yesterday's Citra SMaSH is currently fermenting away like an angry volcano at 28 degrees thanks to the Voss Kveik yeast. I expect this should be done in a couple of days and then straight into the keg for the family to drink at Christmas. 🎅

Your Braumeister looks taller, what did you do to increase grain capacity?

[Dustin Frothman]

2 hours ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

Your Braumeister looks taller, what did you do to increase grain capacity?

The kettle is still the same size. I've added the BAC Brewing "increase disc" grain basket extender which allows for 126% of the standard capacity so it's now capable of just over 3.5kg of grain.

With this and a better understanding of how to use the pump breaks during the mash (I'm stirring/relocating the grain bed now) I'm getting much better efficiency and better than the recipe numbers stated on Brewfather.

I should probably do as you did and update my equipment profile on Brewfather now.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Brew Day done and dusted yesterday. Had a medical procedure on Wednesday and took Thursday off to rest and recover but was feeling pretty reasonable all things considered so got a "Creamsicle IPA" in the Droid now.

First time using a few items for this brew:

• Lactose, 200g with 10 minutes left in the boil
• Honey Malt, again just 200g as it imparts quite a dark colour with 49.5 EBC
• Bluestone Yeast Co. MICHIGAN ALE YEAST

Full Grain Bill:

1.3 kg - Gladfield American Ale Malt 5 EBC (28.3%)
1.3 kg - Pale Malt, Golden Promise 3.5 EBC (28.3%)
700 g - Gladfield Rolled Oats (BLM) 1 EBC (15.2%)
700 g - Gladfield Wheat Malt 4.2 EBC (15.2%)
200 g - Gladfield Gladiator Malt 7.5 EBC (4.4%)
200 g - Gladfield Lactose (4.4%)
200 g - Honey Malt 49.5 EBC (4.4%)

And in terms of hops, this is all Sabro to get those coconut and lime flavours.

Hops (200 g total)
First Wort
10 g - Sabro - 13% (20 IBU)
Hop Stand
30 min 80 °C - 40 g - Sabro - 13% (15 IBU)
Dry Hops
Day 0 - 75 g - Sabro - 13% Alpha Acid
4 days - 75 g - Sabro - 13% Alpha Acid

I have to admit, this isn't my recipe, this one was borrowed from the The Electric Brewing company, originally a Pale Ale but I've modified to be an IPA.

https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/electric-creamsicle-new-england-pale-ale

Should be interesting to see how this turns out but the description from the website intrigued me enough to want to make it.

[Rob Courtney]

On 17/02/2023 at 9:31 AM, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

Brew Day done and dusted yesterday. Had a medical procedure on Wednesday and took Thursday off to rest and recover but was feeling pretty reasonable all things considered so got a "Creamsicle IPA" in the Droid now.

First time using a few items for this brew:

• Lactose, 200g with 10 minutes left in the boil
• Honey Malt, again just 200g as it imparts quite a dark colour with 49.5 EBC
• Bluestone Yeast Co. MICHIGAN ALE YEAST

Full Grain Bill:

1.3 kg - Gladfield American Ale Malt 5 EBC (28.3%)
1.3 kg - Pale Malt, Golden Promise 3.5 EBC (28.3%)
700 g - Gladfield Rolled Oats (BLM) 1 EBC (15.2%)
700 g - Gladfield Wheat Malt 4.2 EBC (15.2%)
200 g - Gladfield Gladiator Malt 7.5 EBC (4.4%)
200 g - Gladfield Lactose (4.4%)
200 g - Honey Malt 49.5 EBC (4.4%)

And in terms of hops, this is all Sabro to get those coconut and lime flavours.

Hops (200 g total)
First Wort
10 g - Sabro - 13% (20 IBU)
Hop Stand
30 min 80 °C - 40 g - Sabro - 13% (15 IBU)
Dry Hops
Day 0 - 75 g - Sabro - 13% Alpha Acid
4 days - 75 g - Sabro - 13% Alpha Acid

I have to admit, this isn't my recipe, this one was borrowed from the The Electric Brewing company, originally a Pale Ale but I've modified to be an IPA.

https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/electric-creamsicle-new-england-pale-ale

Should be interesting to see how this turns out but the description from the website intrigued me enough to want to make it.

Can't help but read this and think of how I make beer...

 

"Derp, I put the powders in and push the button"

[Rob Courtney]

Of course in saying that, it was what attracted me to Brewart in the first place, put ingredients inand push a button

[Steve Gyldenvand]

6 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

Of course in saying that, it was what attracted me to Brewart in the first place, put ingredients inand push a button

I tell people it's "paint by the numbers" brewing. And I mean that in a good way. It makes brewing an accessible pastime for people like me with absolutely no experience.

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

The Creamsicle IPA in all its glory.

and with all due respect to all those who do otherwise, this is why I've gone to All Grain. Yes, there is more effort involved, no longer are you painting by the numbers but, you have complete control from start to finish, recipe to glass which is what I absolutely love!

Taste and mouth feel, thick hazy with prominent lime citrus and milky flavour. Very very thick and juicy on the palate and not surprising given this was the highest ever final gravity for a beer I've done... 1.028.

200g of non-fermentable lactose will do that I guess.

 

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Latest all grain out of the Droid. 

Not sure who may have heard of this beer I've tried to clone but it's ridiculously popular in the US and is one of the OG West Coast IPAs... Pliny the Elder IIPA.

This clone is based on the 2019 version when the recipe changed to include more fruit forward flavours and it turned out bloody awesome, one of my best beers to date in the now 40 odd all grain brews I've done.

8.25%, lots of bitterness that's well balanced by some more fruit forward hops from the dry hop edition. Not too malty, just very well balanced.

I think I'll have another now...

[Rob Courtney]

On 27/02/2023 at 2:39 PM, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

The Creamsicle IPA in all its glory.

and with all due respect to all those who do otherwise, this is why I've gone to All Grain. Yes, there is more effort involved, no longer are you painting by the numbers but, you have complete control from start to finish, recipe to glass which is what I absolutely love!

Taste and mouth feel, thick hazy with prominent lime citrus and milky flavour. Very very thick and juicy on the palate and not surprising given this was the highest ever final gravity for a beer I've done... 1.028.

200g of non-fermentable lactose will do that I guess.

 

No disrespect taken, it really is the difference between a person who can do things and a craftsman. I mean I'm happy doing what I'm doing but I hang on all of the posts of people who all grain and the results it gets

[Steve Gyldenvand]

4 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

No disrespect taken, it really is the difference between a person who can do things and a craftsman. I mean I'm happy doing what I'm doing but I hang on all of the posts of people who all grain and the results it gets

I agree with Rob on this, 100%. I'm absolutely a "paint by numbers" brewer at this time, and I'm grateful to Brewart for making that so accessible. I'm also fascinated -and intimidated - by the complexity of the all grain homebrewing process. Until I retired, I spent most of my adult life in the firearms business, as a salesman and as a pretty well accomplished "tech." As such, I could diagnose and implement simple repairs on a whole lot of normal function issues, but I always resisted being called a gunsmith. That title was for those craftsmen who had truly earned it. Maybe we need to have another descriptor for homebrewers like myself. How about "beer tech"?

[Rob Courtney]

41 minutes ago, Steve Gyldenvand said:

I agree with Rob on this, 100%. I'm absolutely a "paint by numbers" brewer at this time, and I'm grateful to Brewart for making that so accessible. I'm also fascinated -and intimidated - by the complexity of the all grain homebrewing process. Until I retired, I spent most of my adult life in the firearms business, as a salesman and as a pretty well accomplished "tech." As such, I could diagnose and implement simple repairs on a whole lot of normal function issues, but I always resisted being called a gunsmith. That title was for those craftsmen who had truly earned it. Maybe we need to have another descriptor for homebrewers like myself. How about "beer tech"?

Well if we are painting by numbers, we could be "Beer Artists"

[Steve Gyldenvand]

29 minutes ago, Rob Courtney said:

Well if we are painting by numbers, we could be "Beer Artists"

How about "Brewskis"?

[Rob Courtney]

11 hours ago, Steve Gyldenvand said:

How about "Brewskis"?

Bob Ross Brewers...

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

@Rob Courtney and all... First let me say that absolutely the last thing I ever want to do is to be critical of anyone using the BrewArt BrewPrints and certainly I would never disrespect anyone in this forum as we are all beer enthusiasts.

The great thing about the Droid and BrewArt is it can be as simple or as complex as someone wants and regardless of method, you end up with great beer.

For me personally, I started this journey as a massive craft beer wanker who's favourite types of beer are Hazy/New England IPAs and big bold West Coast IPAs.

Unfortunately, the BrewPrints (as yet) or ingredients don't really do this style of beer justice and if you want to get close like the @Benoz Rocky Ridge Day/Night-Man series, you needed to do extra steps such as steeping oats.

So for me personally, the BrewPrints were like a gateway drug that opened up the world of brewing and I've just dived in head first and am now pretty obsessed with brewing great Hazy/NEIPAs and WCIIPAs (and not to forget Seltzers and Ciders).

So much so that I recently upgraded my brewery (Hot Side) from the Cheeky Peak Nano 36l to a full on Nano-X 50l Advanced Single Vessel Brewing System (https://cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/2-nano-x-50l-v1-single-vessel-brew-system-coming-soon/)

I found that trying to the big bold beers I love to make and drink was getting challenging as the grain bills kept getting larger (6-6.5kg plus) and would really push the limits of the Intermediate 36l Nano brewery.

So this past Saturday I did my first brew-day using the the new Nano-X 50l producing 23l of Hazy IIPA with a target ABV of 8.5% and I have to say, it was bloody awesome. The bigger 65w pump, the new Nano Boss PID, the dedicated whirlpool arm were just amazing and made everything so much easier and more efficient. You can program your mash profile into the Nano Boss and it does everything automatically so no more having to manually change the InkBird PID to the desired temperature. Also the thermometer on the Nano Boss is so much more accurate than I found with the InkBird.

I also tried for the first time the "no boil" technique where you don't boil your wort but instead, once you have completed your mash and mash out steps, you raise the temperature of the wort to 80°C for the whirlpool and hold it for 30 minutes which will pasteurize your wort without having to boil it for 30 plus minutes. Saves time and energy which is great.

Cheers

[Rob Courtney]

13 hours ago, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

@Rob Courtney and all... First let me say that absolutely the last thing I ever want to do is to be critical of anyone using the BrewArt BrewPrints and certainly I would never disrespect anyone in this forum as we are all beer enthusiasts.

The great thing about the Droid and BrewArt is it can be as simple or as complex as someone wants and regardless of method, you end up with great beer.

For me personally, I started this journey as a massive craft beer wanker who's favourite types of beer are Hazy/New England IPAs and big bold West Coast IPAs.

Unfortunately, the BrewPrints (as yet) or ingredients don't really do this style of beer justice and if you want to get close like the @Benoz Rocky Ridge Day/Night-Man series, you needed to do extra steps such as steeping oats.

So for me personally, the BrewPrints were like a gateway drug that opened up the world of brewing and I've just dived in head first and am now pretty obsessed with brewing great Hazy/NEIPAs and WCIIPAs (and not to forget Seltzers and Ciders).

So much so that I recently upgraded my brewery (Hot Side) from the Cheeky Peak Nano 36l to a full on Nano-X 50l Advanced Single Vessel Brewing System (https://cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/2-nano-x-50l-v1-single-vessel-brew-system-coming-soon/)

I found that trying to the big bold beers I love to make and drink was getting challenging as the grain bills kept getting larger (6-6.5kg plus) and would really push the limits of the Intermediate 36l Nano brewery.

So this past Saturday I did my first brew-day using the the new Nano-X 50l producing 23l of Hazy IIPA with a target ABV of 8.5% and I have to say, it was bloody awesome. The bigger 65w pump, the new Nano Boss PID, the dedicated whirlpool arm were just amazing and made everything so much easier and more efficient. You can program your mash profile into the Nano Boss and it does everything automatically so no more having to manually change the InkBird PID to the desired temperature. Also the thermometer on the Nano Boss is so much more accurate than I found with the InkBird.

I also tried for the first time the "no boil" technique where you don't boil your wort but instead, once you have completed your mash and mash out steps, you raise the temperature of the wort to 80°C for the whirlpool and hold it for 30 minutes which will pasteurize your wort without having to boil it for 30 plus minutes. Saves time and energy which is great.

Cheers

So, I'll ask the dopey questions then

 

Do you do your entire brew in that, or does that just do the grain part of it and you have to then move the wort to another vessel?

Just quietly, this is bloody interesting and I really don't think anyone thought you were being critical, you were making beer, I was making beer, we were making beer, you were just doing it differently. If you could load pics as well that'd be sweet if you have time

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

10 hours ago, Rob Courtney said:

So, I'll ask the dopey questions then

 

Do you do your entire brew in that, or does that just do the grain part of it and you have to then move the wort to another vessel?

Just quietly, this is bloody interesting and I really don't think anyone thought you were being critical, you were making beer, I was making beer, we were making beer, you were just doing it differently. If you could load pics as well that'd be sweet if you have time

To answer your question, which you actually answered for yourself, it is the "hot side" element of brewing which means it's the vessel (or vessels as explained below) that produces the wort that then gets moved into your fermentation vessel (cold side).

The system I've been using and recently upgraded to a more advanced model is a single all in one brewery and that means:

1. Add the water to the brewery and begin heating it up
2. Add water salts to produce the desired water profile to suit the style of beer
3. Bring water to strike temperature
4. Add the grain when at strike temp
5. Mix in the grain to ensure there are no dough balls (clumps of grain) with the idea that every grain is "wet"
6. Hold the temperature at the desired mash temp or use a step mash which means 2 or more steps at different temps for specific times (very complex and I haven't done this yet)
7. Mash out at 75-76°C which kills the enzymes active at the mash temp that convert starch to sugar
8. I then lift the grain (basket) out of the vessel and let drip back into the vessel for a minimum of 10 minutes
9. I then start heating the water up to boil temp
10. Boil the wort for a period that matches the style (modern grain requires less boiling to remove (Dimethyl Sulfide) DME and modern boil is around 30 minutes but some styles still call for a longer boil to help achieve the desired colour as a longer boil produces a darker colour)
11. Cool the wort to pitching temp or
12. No chill the wort which means moving the hot, near boiling, wort into a "cube" to cool down slowly over time
13. Finally, move the wort to the fermentation vessel and for most of us here, that means our awesome BeerDroid!

Now as to what I mentioned above, a significant number of all grain home brewers will use 2 or 3 vessels. 3 vessels is  popular amongst many home brewers as it replicates what most professional breweries use - Mash Tun, Hot Liquor (water) Tank (HLT) and Boil Kettle.

That is, you heat up your strike/mash and sparge water in your HLT.

You use the mash tun to to hold your grain and add the water from your HLT starting with your strike temp (a temperature above your desired mash tempt to take into consideration the cooling effect on the water that the cool grain has) and then steep your grain at a desired temperature for a desired time (a common time is 60 minutes but it can be between 30 and 90 minutes).

When mashing your grain, the lower the temperature, the more fermentable the wort you produce and visa vie, the higher the tempature, the less fermentable sugars in the wort. A good example is that I mash at 65°C when making a west coast IPA and 67-68°C for a Hazy/NEIPA where the style calls for more residual sugar

When mashing the grain, a good way to get greater efficiency is to recirculate the liquor (water/wort) from the bottom of the vessel to the top via a pump so that the grains are continually flooded with liquor.

Once the mash is completed, most will spare which means taking fresh liquor (heated and treated water) and pour that slowly over the grains to wash as much of that sweet sweet sugars hiding in the grains into the wort.

And finally, you move the wort from Mash Tun to Boil Kettle where the boil is done.

And whether single or multi vessel, you still need to move the wort into a fermentation vessel.

I hope this answers your question(s) that maybe you didn't even know you had.

Cheers

Edited May 16, 2023 by Wazza_wantsbeer

[Thagomizer]

This is a fascinating thread.  The significant thing is that the final wort goes into a Droid.  BrewArt spends money supporting this forum and this is an advertising investment.  As long as a Droid or Flo is involved, we are supporting the cause.

Of course, camaraderie, humor and general brewing wisdom also help.

I am looking forward to expanding my skills using Wazza's instructions and information.  This post was valuable.

I had attempted partial grain methods in the past but got less than optimal results brewing in conical fermenters at high room temperatures - 80F (27C).  As the Captain frequently said, the Droid can make good beer from any good wort. 

I am about to bring down my Gigawort steeping vessel from my attic and ordering some more grain.

Eventually, specific partial grain recipes aimed at the 10L Droid will become available.

Happy brewing. 😀

Edited May 18, 2023 by Thagomizer
Clarification

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

Haven't posted here for a while so I thought I'd share a few things I've been doing with recent all grain brewing.

A while ago I was challenged by @J P to try using Incognito, the hop oil extract.

I did use it in a couple of brew days and I have to say, using the hop oil extract was quite sticky and messy but I did like the results as I didn't have to use the normal amount of pellet hops.

It is bloody expensive here in Aus so I'm not sure I will use it too often.

One new method I've gotten into is Mash Hopping, that is adding some hops along with the grain to your basket/bag. There are some varietals that work better than others for this and one that is well known to work well in mash hopping is Cascade. So I've used Cascade once in a Hazy IPA along with Amarillo and Simcoe at the whirlpool and double dry hopping.

The Cascade mash hop worked really well, adding more fruit flavour and in particular, aroma to the final beer.

Last brew I also mash hopped but this time with Nelson Sauvin, a personal favourite hop of mine. The reason for using Nelson Sauvin was that I also used another new product for the first time, Phantasm Powder.

For those who haven't heard of this previously, Phantasm Powder is made from the skins of sauvignon blanc grapes from the famous Marlborough region of NZ.

The use of Phantasm plus the mash hopping really lifted those white wine fruit flavours and aroma!

I just kegged that particular beer, calling it Kiwi-tasm as it used all Kiwi Grain as well as hops, using Nectaron and Taiheke.

Another new thing I've been using is the very recently released Non-GMO Thiol producing yeast from White Labs, WLP077 Tropical Yeast Blend.

Those who follow bring might know that thiols are sulfur based compounds that make up less than 1% of the essential oils in a hops cone but are powerful in particular smells like those that occur in fruity white wines such as Sav Blanc, Riesling, etc.

The various yeast makers have been experimenting for a while now including using genetic modifications to allow the yeast to free the thiols with are found not only in hops but also in some grains, just in smaller amounts.

Here in Aus like other jurisdictions, we do not allow genetically modified products into the country so White Labs came up with a number of strains that were found to naturally free thiols and have put them together in their new released Tropical Yeast Blend.

Having used it twice already, I have to say it is now my new favourite yeast as Kiwi-tasm, is now my favourite beer I've brewed which was also my 30th all grain to glass brew.

Here it is, kegged yesterday, a bit of forced carbonation and wow!

Next brew day, I'm planning on doing a Nelson's Oats using only Nelson Sauvin hops, Golden Promise grain and 3 types of Oats, rolled, Big-O malted and golden naked oats. Will be also using the Phantasm Powder, mash hopping and the WLP077 Tropicale Yeast.

Cheers

[Rob Courtney]

On 31/08/2023 at 10:43 AM, Wazza_wantsbeer said:

Haven't posted here for a while so I thought I'd share a few things I've been doing with recent all grain brewing.

A while ago I was challenged by @J P to try using Incognito, the hop oil extract.

I did use it in a couple of brew days and I have to say, using the hop oil extract was quite sticky and messy but I did like the results as I didn't have to use the normal amount of pellet hops.

It is bloody expensive here in Aus so I'm not sure I will use it too often.

One new method I've gotten into is Mash Hopping, that is adding some hops along with the grain to your basket/bag. There are some varietals that work better than others for this and one that is well known to work well in mash hopping is Cascade. So I've used Cascade once in a Hazy IPA along with Amarillo and Simcoe at the whirlpool and double dry hopping.

The Cascade mash hop worked really well, adding more fruit flavour and in particular, aroma to the final beer.

Last brew I also mash hopped but this time with Nelson Sauvin, a personal favourite hop of mine. The reason for using Nelson Sauvin was that I also used another new product for the first time, Phantasm Powder.

For those who haven't heard of this previously, Phantasm Powder is made from the skins of sauvignon blanc grapes from the famous Marlborough region of NZ.

The use of Phantasm plus the mash hopping really lifted those white wine fruit flavours and aroma!

I just kegged that particular beer, calling it Kiwi-tasm as it used all Kiwi Grain as well as hops, using Nectaron and Taiheke.

Another new thing I've been using is the very recently released Non-GMO Thiol producing yeast from White Labs, WLP077 Tropical Yeast Blend.

Those who follow bring might know that thiols are sulfur based compounds that make up less than 1% of the essential oils in a hops cone but are powerful in particular smells like those that occur in fruity white wines such as Sav Blanc, Riesling, etc.

The various yeast makers have been experimenting for a while now including using genetic modifications to allow the yeast to free the thiols with are found not only in hops but also in some grains, just in smaller amounts.

Here in Aus like other jurisdictions, we do not allow genetically modified products into the country so White Labs came up with a number of strains that were found to naturally free thiols and have put them together in their new released Tropical Yeast Blend.

Having used it twice already, I have to say it is now my new favourite yeast as Kiwi-tasm, is now my favourite beer I've brewed which was also my 30th all grain to glass brew.

Here it is, kegged yesterday, a bit of forced carbonation and wow!

Next brew day, I'm planning on doing a Nelson's Oats using only Nelson Sauvin hops, Golden Promise grain and 3 types of Oats, rolled, Big-O malted and golden naked oats. Will be also using the Phantasm Powder, mash hopping and the WLP077 Tropicale Yeast.

Cheers

I will never get tired of you explaining how you brew. It is seriously inspiring stuff

[Clayton Bolck]

Your posts are goals. I've just started using the Droid (only halfway through the 1st brew) but have been around friends doing BIAB for a while. I've always been put off because they made it look so time consuming and messy, but your explanations and photos have made me reconsider dabbling into some BIAB with the Droid doing mini batches more frequently.

I'm not planning on upscaling, for both time and money reasons, but for making 10L brews do you think the Nano 22L would be sufficient? Or would you recommend the 36L as a starting point?

Thanks for your tips across the website, it makes it really handy as a newbie to figure things out!

[Wazza_wantsbeer]

On 25/09/2023 at 9:59 AM, Clayton Bolck said:

Your posts are goals. I've just started using the Droid (only halfway through the 1st brew) but have been around friends doing BIAB for a while. I've always been put off because they made it look so time consuming and messy, but your explanations and photos have made me reconsider dabbling into some BIAB with the Droid doing mini batches more frequently.

I'm not planning on upscaling, for both time and money reasons, but for making 10L brews do you think the Nano 22L would be sufficient? Or would you recommend the 36L as a starting point?

Thanks for your tips across the website, it makes it really handy as a newbie to figure things out!

Hi @Clayton Bolck my apologies for not responding directly earlier as it's only just occurred to me that you might have been addressing me specifically?

In terms of the 22l vs 36l Nano or similar such breweries. I would always recommend going bigger than you originally think.

I moved to the 50l vessel because I was struggling to make the big bold beers I like to drink in the 36l.

When looking at what size brewery vessel there are some things to think about.

• The volume of wort you want in your Droid at the start of fermentation
  In my view, you would aim to get 11-12 litres into the Droid as you get a fair amount of trub loss/absorption as well as absorption from the hops you use as all grain wort produces more trub that the BrewArt Ingredients and FWKs.
• Do you want to make average strength beers v higher ABV, i.e. 4-6% vs 7+%
  The bigger the final ABV, the more grain you need to use.
  The more grain, the more water needed in the vessel.
  I quickly found with the 36l Nano that at around 6kg of grain max plus water, was ver near the top of the grain basket.
  I know get about 8.5kg of grain into my 50l Nano X and that makes 23l of wort at around 8-9% 

So my recommendation would be to go with the 36l vessel regardless whether its the Nano or other models out there.

Happy brewing and if you have any more questions about All Grain brewing for your Droid, please don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers