Converting to BIAB.

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
That's plenty if you are planning on doing smaller BIAB batches (4 gallons or less). You'll notice though that it has one of those detestable "automatic shut-offs" which means that it shuts off after 15 minutes of use. I got my 60,000 btu burner (came with a 42qt aluminum pot) from a Canadian Walmart for the same price. I've since switched to SS pots but the 42qt was great for 5 or 6 gallon batches, but I was using a mash tun.
As far as BIAB goes, I don't think you'd want to be doing 5 gallon batches anyway due to all the grain weight.
 
HopHoarder said:
That's plenty if you are planning on doing smaller BIAB batches (4 gallons or less). You'll notice though that it has one of those detestable "automatic shut-offs" which means that it shuts off after 15 minutes of use. I got my 60,000 btu burner (came with a 42qt aluminum pot) from a Canadian Walmart for the same price. I've since switched to SS pots but the 42qt was great for 5 or 6 gallon batches, but I was using a mash tun.
As far as BIAB goes, I don't think you'd want to be doing 5 gallon batches anyway due to all the grain weight.
Click to expand...

In that case i think illcontinue extract kits until my how to brew book arrives and i study before attempting an all grain batch
 
I can manage all grain BIAB up to about 14 pounds of grain in a 30 qt pot and you can too. It takes some care as you stir in the grains as the pot will be very full and you also have to watch closely as the wort approaches boil as the hot break will be quite near the top and will go over if the heat is too high.
 
Unless you go partial mash biab. That's what I started doing,but I also have to do partial boil. Works quite well so far. I used a midwest pm kit 1st time,2nd time I put together my own mix of grains (5lbs) with a 3lb bag of Munton's plain light DME. It'll be in the FV one week tomorrow. So far it looks to be moving along quite well.
I mashed the 5lb of grain in 1.5 gallons of water,sparging after an hour with another 1.5G. With a 3 gallon boil volume in a 5G BK,I still had enough room for the hot break. Gotta watch the heat though,I got 1.25G boil off this time with the electric burner on "HI". Thought having it wide open,rather than on"9" would give better hop utilization. We'll see next month.
 
RM-MN said:
I can manage all grain BIAB up to about 14 pounds of grain in a 30 qt pot and you can too. It takes some care as you stir in the grains as the pot will be very full and you also have to watch closely as the wort approaches boil as the hot break will be quite near the top and will go over if the heat is too high.
Click to expand...

I too only have a 30 qt SS kettle that I do 5 gallong BIAB's in. But I also have a 5 gallon kettle that I sparge with. I usually mash with about 6 gallons of water and sparge with 2.5 gallons of water. After the 60 minute mash I then sparge the grain bag for 20 minutes at 170°. I then drain/squeeze my bag in a sanitized bucket and combine all the liquid back into my 7.5 gallon kettle to my desired pre-boil volume. I've had great results everytime using this method! :mug:
 
I think a 40 QT kettle is about the minimum if you are looking for something that gives you some flexibility. You can do some relatively larger grain bills but not too large without getting creative.

Check out amazon. You can get an excellent AL pot by WINCO for relatively cheap (around $40 with no shipping and no tax :)). I will vouch for this being a really sturdy pot and an excellent kettle.
 
Its late on a Friday so maybe I am missing something, but I don't see why 36 quarts isn't more than enough for BIAB. I brew using the BIAB method with an 8 gallon kettle and it is fine. I haven't gone any higher than about 13 pounds of grain, but I definitely could if I wanted.
 
I would also add that you can do it all in the 36 quart kettle. I use about 2 quarts water per pound of grain for my mash, then simply heat to 170 to sparge. I then drop the grain bag in my bottling bucket over a colander and squeeze the crap out of the bag to get everything out and then add that to the kettle. After that I will add a bit more water to the kettle to get to 6.5 gallons or so and boil as usual.
 
MrMcPeach said:
Its late on a Friday so maybe I am missing something, but I don't see why 36 quarts isn't more than enough for BIAB. I brew using the BIAB method with an 8 gallon kettle and it is fine. I haven't gone any higher than about 13 pounds of grain, but I definitely could if I wanted.
Click to expand...

I was about to say the same thing, I don't know if anyone actually noticed that fryer comes with a 9 gallon pot. That will certainly handle a 5 gallon BIAB batch.
I've done 11 lb ish grain bills in a 7-1/2 gallon.
My 10 gallon is quite a lot easier but I can't see any reason a 9 gallon wouldn't do the job with a bit of effort
 

Similar threads

Bobby_M
  • Sticky
What BIAB brewing actually is (Mythbusting for traditionalists)
6 7 8
Replies
285
Views
45K
DuncB
D
C
New Jersey FS: Leaving the Hobby - Kettles, Ferms, Keezer, Kegs, Tanks
Replies
6
Views
2K
NJbrewbie
NJbrewbie
Ragman
Make your own beer, they said. You'll save money, they said.
2 3 4
Replies
125
Views
8K
Surly
Surly
T
Pennsylvania PA - 17963 - Various equipment for sale (60qt kettle, 10gal cooler, BIAB filter, and more)
Replies
2
Views
798
sborz22
sborz22
B
Beginner BIAB (no sparge). Why is the ABV of a converted recipe higher?
Replies
6
Views
1K
PADave
PADave
Williams Brewing 300

Latest posts

Back
Top