First attempt at BIAB - too much?

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Monkfish

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Hi guys,

I'm planning my first BIAB (4th overall batch) and have some concerns about the size of my grain bill and the both the capacity of my brew kettle (10 gal) and the ability to extract wort from such a big bag of grains.

This is for a 5 gallon batch of a Ruination clone.

My grain bill is going to be #15 with about 5oz of hops in the boil. I'm planning on adding this to 7.88 gallons of strike water.

I'd be using a 5 gallon paint strainer (no handles) - yeah it will be heavy.

Does any of this raise any red flags to you guys - especially for my first attempt at AG?

Thanks!
Monkfish
 
10 gal should be fine for 15 pounds of grain. That said, I doubt that a 5-gal paint strainer bag is going to fit your kettle - they barely fit my old 5-gallon kettle, and definitely don't fit my new 10.

You'll probably find that the bag's mouth isn't wide enough and that it doesn't reach far enough down into the water.
 
You could go to Walmart and get a voile window panel for less than 5 bucks and then sew up a bag to fit your pot,if you know someone with a sewing machine. You would probably have enough material in that one panel to make 3 bags custom fit to your kettle.
 
You could go to Walmart and get a voile window panel for less than 5 bucks and then sew up a bag to fit your pot,if you know someone with a sewing machine. You would probably have enough material in that one panel to make 3 bags custom fit to your kettle.

2nd. This is the best option. Also I recently (last weekend) did a 13 lb BIAB with a 9 gallon pot.

I didn't really have all the room that I wanted and i got 65% efficiency. What I would recommend doing is if you have a second pot, I would split your grain bill. Because IMHO if you get the wort from multiple pots and are able to have them touching more water, its similar to extract where you add them all together after the mash, and its not as much to lift once its soaked. So like 9 lbs in the 10 gallon pot, and 6 lbs in a 5 gallon pot. It is easier IMO to do the smaller one on the stove.

As for pulling out the bag, i will make a shameless plug for my friend's site www.brewgeeks.com and say that they had a phenominal idea for the straining, they took a mixing tub cut a hole in the bottom and put a grill grate over the hole, so that they could place it and it would drip into the pot:

446028_orig.jpg
 
Thanks guys for the feedback. I did check out the 5 gallon strainers - they do fit over my kettle, but it's a bit snug. I think I'll have my wife and/or six year old sew up a voile panel for me. Much appreciated.
 
2nd. This is the best option. Also I recently (last weekend) did a 13 lb BIAB with a 9 gallon pot.

I didn't really have all the room that I wanted and i got 65% efficiency. What I would recommend doing is if you have a second pot, I would split your grain bill. Because IMHO if you get the wort from multiple pots and are able to have them touching more water, its similar to extract where you add them all together after the mash, and its not as much to lift once its soaked. So like 9 lbs in the 10 gallon pot, and 6 lbs in a 5 gallon pot. It is easier IMO to do the smaller one on the stove.

As for pulling out the bag, i will make a shameless plug for my friend's site www.brewgeeks.com and say that they had a phenominal idea for the straining, they took a mixing tub cut a hole in the bottom and put a grill grate over the hole, so that they could place it and it would drip into the pot:

446028_orig.jpg

I was looking to make something similar for my own setup and was wondering if there was any more info on the mixing tub and grate setup for draining and squeezing the bag. I currently use a 10" mesh strainer but it has slipped off the pot edge on more than one occasion during squeezing the bag. I have 14.1" diameter 10 gallon pot I use for 5 gallon batches. Thanks in advance for any help
 
I went to home depot and got the cement mixing tub, then got the 14 inch grill grate or 12 inch, whatever size you want, Then cut a hole in the bottom of the cement mixing tub that is smaller than the size of the grill grate so the grate doesnt fall through.
 
Thanks for the advice. I went another route. I found a 16" wide colander that fits very well on my Megapot. Should provide good stability during the bag squeeze and drainage. Yet to use it but setup looks ideal. Next weekend a 5 gallon batch is planned. Not sure yet on the recipe.
 
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