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**wilserbrewer** · 12-29-2012, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trainwreck

I have a 20 gallon and filled my pot with 7.5 gallons pre-boil and after we were done I only ended up with around 3 gallons of beer.

Yea that's how it goes w/ a 20 gallon pot for a five gallon batch, lucky you got 3 gallons and not just a stain at the bottom of the kettle...haha cheers!

**mathin** · 12-29-2012, 07:13 PM

I did a 5 gallon batch last weekend. 10# grain in a 15 gallon pot. I started with just under 8 gallons of water, squeezed the bag pretty good, and ended up with about 5.5 gallons in the fermenter. I need to record my pre- boil volume next time so I have a better idea about what my absorption and boil off volumes are.

**241** · 12-29-2012, 08:14 PM

I posted a review of a cheap (but great) BIAB bag from More Beer here:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/29-x29-morebeer-biab-bag-5-50-a-376435/

Mysticmead · 12-29-2012, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 241

I posted a review of a cheap (but great) BIAB bag from More Beer here:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/29-x29-morebeer-biab-bag-5-50-a-376435/

nice price for a bag. not as fine weave as voile but it'll get ya started. as far as trub in kettle/primary. don't worry about it

**241** · 12-29-2012, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mysticmead

nice price for a bag. not as fine weave as voile but it'll get ya started. as far as trub in kettle/primary. don't worry about it

I never do. I dump almost everything in and don't really fuss with siphoning. I do not secondary either. I cold crash

Antler · 12-30-2012, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilserbrewer

Yea that's how it goes w/ a 20 gallon pot for a five gallon batch, lucky you got 3 gallons and not just a stain at the bottom of the kettle...haha cheers!

What do you mean by this?

Grain absorbs same amount of water regardless of pot size lol

**SpacemanSpiff** · 12-30-2012, 02:14 PM

It's more to do with pot geometry and pot volume than the grain absorption. In a wide mouth 20 gal pot, 5 gal of wort has a pretty high surface area to volume ratio and that will mean a lot of boil off.

I did a 2.5 gal batch this summer and instead of going back to my old 6 gallon pot for it I decided to go ahead and use my new 10.5 gal pot. I think I was lucky to wind up with about 1.75 gallons in the end.

**HBngNOK** · 12-30-2012, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpacemanSpiff

It's more to do with pot geometry and pot volume than the grain absorption. In a wide mouth 20 gal pot, 5 gal of wort has a pretty high surface area to volume ratio and that will mean a lot of boil off.

I did a 2.5 gal batch this summer and instead of going back to my old 6 gallon pot for it I decided to go ahead and use my new 10.5 gal pot. I think I was lucky to wind up with about 1.75 gallons in the end.

I'm new at this, but if you do some boiling trial runs, you can get a good idea of how much you'll boil off, then it won't matter what pot size you use.

Using the previously mentioned formula for a 2.5 gallon batch:

Quote:

batch size + absorption + boil off +trub loss = water needed.

, I started with 4 1/2~3/4 gallons of water, and have ~ 2.7 gallons in my fermentation bucket now.

johns · 12-30-2012, 04:31 PM

Interesting thread. I think BIAB is a good go between from extract/partial extract brewing to all grain tri-keggle system.

For the sake of argument. Is there any advantages or disadvantages between sparging the grain bag with a gallon of water on a 10 gallon batch? Is the sparge necessary or would it be a silly extra step that really did not matter?

**SpacemanSpiff** · 12-30-2012, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johns

Interesting thread. I think BIAB is a good go between from extract/partial extract brewing to all grain tri-keggle system.

For the sake of argument. Is there any advantages or disadvantages between sparging the grain bag with a gallon of water on a 10 gallon batch? Is the sparge necessary or would it be a silly extra step that really did not matter?

I would disagree with calling it a go between. After a dozen or so BIAB batches I see no reason compelling me to go to the classic 3 vessel system.

To your question though, I think you'll find a pretty good split. There's been some research saying that the sparge adds so little that the extra effort isn't worth it. I do a sparge but I haven't done anything empirical yet to say whether I'm getting a few extra points or not. My main reason for doing it is volume though. Keeping that gallon out of the mash and reserving it for the sparge makes me more comfortable with the room in my pot. Depending on the grain bill, I've come very close to the rim if I try to put all of the water in from the start.