First all grain brew?

Hello fellow home brewers.

After a few extract batches I'm considering skipping partial mash and heading straight to an all grain brew. I would be using the BIAB method in my 8 gallon kettle. I gather that BIAB is fairly flexible as far as procedure goes. I also gather that my 8 gallon kettle is still somewhat small for brewing this way.

What I'm trying to determine is the best way to go about achieving full boil volume when it comes time for that. The recipe I want to use calls for just a shade under 12 pounds of grain.

After reading numerous "how to's" on the BIAB method, I'm thinking 4 gallons of mash water and 1.5 gallons of sparge water. I know sparging isn't strictly necessary for BIAB, but I figure it will help improve efficiency while also helping me to best utilize my limited kettle volume. Start my boil at 5.5 gallons and top up in the fermenter if necessary.

Comments, suggestions, criticisms? Any would be appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds solid. Your kettle is plenty large for BIAB. I do 7 pound batches in a 4 gallon pot without issue. 9 lbs gets a little messy, but is possible. Given that your kettle is twice the size of mine I imagine you will have no issues with 12 lbs.

You might want to boost your sparge water volume. 12 lbs will absorb about 2.5-3 gallons of water. Perhaps 5 gallons for the mash and 2.5 gallons for the sparge.

Here is my simple setup:
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/09/biab.html

I have a 7 1/2 gallon turkey fryer pot. I do mine with about 6 1/2 gallon mash and almost no sparge, just enough cool water that I can squeeze the bag without burning my hands. I keep a thermometer in the pot when I am bring it up to boil and that lets me know when to turn the burner down to avoid boil overs. As the temperature gets over 200 F. I am watching the pot constantly until after the hot break settles down and the boil is constant. I have measured my efficiency a few time and found it to be about 80% to as much as 85% this way. Just make sure your grain is crushed/ground pretty fine so you can extract as much sugars as possible.

WoodlandBrew said:

Sounds solid. Your kettle is plenty large for BIAB. I do 7 pound batches in a 4 gallon pot without issue. 9 lbs gets a little messy, but is possible. Given that your kettle is twice the size of mine I imagine you will have no issues with 12 lbs.

You might want to boost your sparge water volume. 12 lbs will absorb about 2.5-3 gallons of water. Perhaps 5 gallons for the mash and 2.5 gallons for the sparge.

Here is my simple setup:
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/09/biab.html

Click to expand...

Oh thanks, I hadn't figured in the amount of water lost by absorption.

RM-MN said:

I have a 7 1/2 gallon turkey fryer pot. I do mine with about 6 1/2 gallon mash and almost no sparge, just enough cool water that I can squeeze the bag without burning my hands. I keep a thermometer in the pot when I am bring it up to boil and that lets me know when to turn the burner down to avoid boil overs. As the temperature gets over 200 F. I am watching the pot constantly until after the hot break settles down and the boil is constant. I have measured my efficiency a few time and found it to be about 80% to as much as 85% this way. Just make sure your grain is crushed/ground pretty fine so you can extract as much sugars as possible.

Click to expand...

I'm ordering them milled from NB. Would that suffice or do I need to further crush them somehow?

i brewed one extract kit to pop my cherry (it was a chocolate cherry porter ironically enough) and then went to a stovetop all grain witbier. the process was followed using deathbrewer(i believe its his) link from his signature. from there i bought a cooler and a bigger kettle and went balls to the wall... made a couple "ok" beers before honing down my process and actually making something really enjoyable.

it took me getting away from the crazy high octane beers to get my process correct. i no longer have a need to make every beer i have 9%+ i'm happy with anything from the 4-6% range. i actually just made a 3.7% elderberry beer that is pretty damn good

EDIT: i guess i just went off the title haha. check out the thread here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/easy-stovetop-all-grain-brewing-pics-90132/

this will give you some extra info and assistance during your first AG brew day. It was my bible on the first AG i did

bhfd64 said:

I'm ordering them milled from NB. Would that suffice or do I need to further crush them somehow?

Click to expand...

if you order them milled from NB you will be good to go. no need for anything extra crushing

WoodlandBrew said:

Sounds solid. Your kettle is plenty large for BIAB. I do 7 pound batches in a 4 gallon pot without issue. 9 lbs gets a little messy, but is possible. Given that your kettle is twice the size of mine I imagine you will have no issues with 12 lbs.

You might want to boost your sparge water volume. 12 lbs will absorb about 2.5-3 gallons of water. Perhaps 5 gallons for the mash and 2.5 gallons for the sparge.

Here is my simple setup:
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2012/09/biab.html

Click to expand...

Nice setup. A mesh-type grain bag will absorb less, but otherwise way to go!

I miss brewing on the stove top - but my wife certainly doesn't, that's for sure!

jkendal said:

Nice setup. A mesh-type grain bag will absorb less.

Click to expand...

Thanks. That's actually my first brew bag made out of a curtain sheer. The bag I am using now is made out of cotton voile. The 0.2 that I get is a pretty typical absorption from what I have read. I figure it's better to estimate absorption on the high side in the likely event of processes loss on someone's first go around.

I'm ordering them milled from NB. Would that suffice or do I need to further crush them somehow?

Click to expand...

I think Northern Brewer has things set up for BIAB. Call them and ask. They may have more than one crusher or they might just run them through the mill twice.

WoodlandBrew said:

Thanks. That's actually my first brew bag made out of a curtain sheer. The bag I am using now is made out of cotton voile. The 0.2 that I get is a pretty typical absorption from what I have read. I figure it's better to estimate absorption on the high side in the likely event of processes loss on someone's first go around.

Click to expand...

I know what you mean. My first attempt on my current 10-gallon setup (my 3rd or 4th all-grain recipe at the time) was undershot by about a gallon. It was an IPA I formulated from scratch with 30 pounds of grains and about a pound of hops that I brewed with a buddy - we ended up with about 4.5 gallons each - the OG was about 8 points higher than expected. It was a FANTASTIC brew that my wife and I finished off over Memorial Day weekend back in '08 on a camping trip. Ahh, the memories.....