BIAB - 10 Gallon Batch in a Keggle??

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alcibiades

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Can I BIAB a 10 gallon batch in a Keggle. I'm thinking 23 pounds of grain, no sparge (or I could lift the bag and pour 180 water through it as a sparge...).

For 23 pounds of grain, at 1.5 quarts a pound, I would need 8.6 gallons water. My only worries are 1) grain bag water displacement and 2) getting the huge bag of grain out of the keggle without ripping the bag on the cut top 3) ripping the bag generally.

any experiences trying a BIAB 10 gallon batch?
 
Well, obviously with 23 pounds of grain and ALL of the water to do true BIAB, you wont fit it.

You need 10 gallons of water
PLUS 2 gallons absorption (give or take)
PLUS 2 gallons boil off (give or take)

That alone is 14 gallons of water total... PLUS the grain.

Total volume about 16 gallons: FAIL

So, you CAN do this if you do some sort of a sparge after you pull the grain bag out, or top off the BK prior to the boil.
 
I BiaB for 5.25 gallon batches. No experience with with 10 but it sounds like a lot of grain. Maybe double bag it?
 
I BiaB for 5.25 gallon batches. No experience with with 10 but it sounds like a lot of grain. Maybe double bag it?


Especially if your keggle is dirty.....:)

Seriously though 10 gallons of BIABing is a lot to deal with. The weight alone would be an issue. What type of bag? Who/what is lifting it?
 
i have a huge bag i got from BMW - i think its plenty big for 23 pounds of grain. I'd be lifting it...im a relatively big guy, but i think its gonna push me to my limits.

Yeah, i was thinking either sparge through the bag (id need a partner), or just top off with water if/when i came a gallon short. I don't think I can pull off a beer bigger than 1.055, which is fine.

Its just so tempting to try to fit in two brew days into one..I think ill jump in headfirst - ill post my surefire failures on brewday on this thread when i do.
 
A keggle is pretty much at its limits for a standard 10 gallon batch. But I guess if you are optimistic, throw in a few extra pounds of grain to account for comprimised efficiency, and also come up w/ a method to sparge a few gallons through the bag over the kettle...sure it could be done.
 
i have a huge bag i got from BMW - i think its plenty big for 23 pounds of grain. I'd be lifting it...im a relatively big guy, but i think its gonna push me to my limits.

Yeah, i was thinking either sparge through the bag (id need a partner), or just top off with water if/when i came a gallon short. I don't think I can pull off a beer bigger than 1.055, which is fine.

I don't do the traditional BiaB. For a 5 gallon batch, I mash in with somewhere between 4 and 5 gallons of water, and then just top off with water before I boil. I do this to maximize the amount of grain I can fit in the pot that I use for BiaB (I think it's a 35 qt turkey fryer pot). I didn't see any loss of efficiency from doing it this way as opposed to the full volume mash.

However...

I don't think I'd recommend doing a 10 gallon BiaB mash in a keggle for a couple reasons.

23 pounds of grain will probably weigh over 40 pounds when wet.

If your keggle is like most people's (with a smaller opening than the diameter of the keg), I think that it would be very hard to get the full bag out of the keg with that kind of configuration.

I also think that, with that much grain, you'll have issues getting it to drain well. Just think about the grain in the center of that big mass in the grain bag. I have a feeling that you'll take a fairly substantial efficiency hit because of that. Remember how I said it was going to be heavy? You'll have to hold it for a while.
 
23 pounds
Plus ABOUT 2 gallons of water

That is about 39 pounds of soggy grain, better get a chain fall.
 
So, you CAN do this if you do some sort of a sparge after you pull the grain bag out, or top off the BK prior to the boil.

FWIW, I'm moving to 10 gallon batches with BIAB. I have a 15gallon pot. I'm gonna do partial mashes -- mostly grain, with some DME. I get DME cheap in bulk and it tastes fine. I should be able to make a 1.055 beer with 15 lbs of grain and 5 lbs of DME, for example.
 
The small cutout at the top of the keggle, and the weight of the bag is a problem.

One idea I've been bouncing around is to use a colander with a handle to little by little scoop out the grain, letting it drip dry back into the keggle, and discarding. I could even do this as the keggle is warming up for the boil.
 
I just did a modified partigyle with my brew group. I did a BIAB tripel (first "runnings") and dubbel (second "runnings"). I'm not a big guy and I did fine with 24 pounds of grains. I held it over the pot while twisting the bag tight until it was mostly done draining. Then I put the whole thing in a rubbermaid bin. I had 8.8 gallons of water to start. We then sparged with 4 gallons of water right in the rubbermaid bin. The water poured in over the grains, I swished it around a little bit then lifted it and twisted the bag again. That wort went into a second kettle. Then I used a lid to squeeze the bag against the side of the bin and got out as much wort as I could. So your scenario is possible (ignoring any possible issues with the smaller hole in the top of your keggle). Max out your water in the kettle, use the remaining required water to mash out in another vessel.
 
update:

I successfully BIABed 25 pounds of grain in my keggle with the smaller diameter top. I got 75% efficiency, which is better than I expected.

I mashed in with a bit over 10 gallons of water, and I had PLENTY of space in the keggle for more grain.

I couldnt lift the bag with all that grain out of the smaller diameter keggle hole, so I had to use a scoop to take out half the grain little by little and put into my sparge vessel (a 6.5 gallon bucket with another nylong grain bag lined into it). I "sparged" twice with a couple gallons of water while my initial runnings were getting to a boil. Honestly, I felt comfortable enough, and I'll try an even bigger beer next time, maybe 28-30 pounds or so. Ive gone 10 gallons and I can't turn back...
 
if you can use a double pully system, or more, to reduce your pull ( I would tink most sporting goods stores 'CHAINS" have the pully systen they use fore deer (is were i got mine for hunting). I have not tried that much grain yet but have considered using my deer pully sustem to lift thet much grain, not in the house (unless you like a hook in you sealing) but would be easy in a guarage or with an A frame outside :drunk::cross:
 
How 'bout a very large (~diameter of keggle, but still able to insert/remove) ss screen-lined stock pot basket with handle? Haul it up with a crank, etc. and you're good to go. Sparge over the top if you want to.....
 
How 'bout a very large (~diameter of keggle, but still able to insert/remove) ss screen-lined stock pot basket with handle? Haul it up with a crank, etc. and you're good to go. Sparge over the top if you want to.....


this would make it easier to sparge, and would solve the bag rip problem, but it kinda defeats the cost savings that go into BIAB....
 
this would make it easier to sparge, and would solve the bag rip problem, but it kinda defeats the cost savings that go into BIAB....

Sure, but time is also a pretty huge commodity and I think it's way easier to just dump a screen lined basket out than to mess with grain getting stuck in the crevices of a keggle (if you use one).

The basket would also double as your "hop bag" for the boil, and will save you time and effort on the back end as well. A lot of people spend a lot of money keeping hops out of their fermenters and chillers. Utilization shouldn't suffer like it does in a nylon bag because the internal area of the basket would contain most of the wort in the kettle.
 
Sure, but time is also a pretty huge commodity and I think it's way easier to just dump a screen lined basket out than to mess with grain getting stuck in the crevices of a keggle (if you use one).

The basket would also double as your "hop bag" for the boil, and will save you time and effort on the back end as well. A lot of people spend a lot of money keeping hops out of their fermenters and chillers. Utilization shouldn't suffer like it does in a nylon bag because the internal area of the basket would contain most of the wort in the kettle.


hmmm, what kind of stock pot? Like the "holed" ones that people use for inserting in a turkey fryer?
 
Exactly. Some people call them steamer baskets....it's basically like a whole 'nother stockpot but with 1" diameter holes even spaced on the sides and bottom. It has a handle that could be used to haul the grain right out. I'd like to get a SS one because I think an aluminum handle might bend.
 
Exactly. Some people call them steamer baskets....it's basically like a whole 'nother stockpot but with 1" diameter holes even spaced on the sides and bottom. It has a handle that could be used to haul the grain right out. I'd like to get a SS one because I think an aluminum handle might bend.



that might work perfectly. My keggle is cut to fit a turkey fryer lid, so im assuming that steamer basked would slip right in.
 
This is a old post but I have question.

I'm looking into doing a parigyle and came across this. I have a keggle and I saw that a 10 gal batch was done. What was the recipe? How did it turn out?
 
My efficiency was terrible doing 10 gallons in a 15 gallon kettle. I think not doing a sparge and also not doing a full volume mash made it suffer. I have now bought a 20 gallon kettle with basket off ebay. The bag took two of us to lift and i didnt enjoy putting that much strain on the bag so the basket will be nice, i think having a full volume mash will help get my efficiency where it normally is.
 
Exactly. Some people call them steamer baskets....it's basically like a whole 'nother stockpot but with 1" diameter holes even spaced on the sides and bottom. It has a handle that could be used to haul the grain right out. I'd like to get a SS one because I think an aluminum handle might bend.

my steamer basket from 40 qt lobster/crab combo barely fits in keggle opening and it will only hold 15 lbs of grain max. There is no way you can fit 23 lbs in it. I do use it perfectly with 5 gal batches though. Works great with 10-13 lbs of grain.
 
I'm planning on using a 15 gallon blichmann kettle when I move to 10 gallon batches. I want to go full volume, no sparging. I may be wrong but I understand from this thread I need enough room for 16 gallons for 10 gallons + boil off and grain absorption? You guys think the 15 gallon is a little small for doing the 10 gallon batches?
 
Mash as much water as will fit with the grain. After the mash, remove the grain bag and put it into an empty fermenting bucket. Add remaining water to grain, stir, then remove and toss grains. Now combine "sparge" water with original mash wort and voila, you have your full boil volume.

I brew 5 gal BIAB in a 5.5 gal pot all the time.
 
tesilential said:
Mash as much water as will fit with the grain. After the mash, remove the grain bag and put it into an empty fermenting bucket. Add remaining water to grain, stir, then remove and toss grains. Now combine "sparge" water with original mash wort and voila, you have your full boil volume.

I brew 5 gal BIAB in a 5.5 gal pot all the time.

I know I can do that, that's not the question. Do I have room in a 15 gallon kettle do 10 gallon batches without any sparge
 
I know I can do that, that's not the question. Do I have room in a 15 gallon kettle do 10 gallon batches without any sparge

A 15-gal kettle probably won't be big enough for a 10-gal no sparge BIAB batch. It will also depend on the OG of your beer. You may want to consider getting a 20-gal kettle.

Check the BIAB water volume calculator here for some ideas about how much water is needed for any given recipe. Then add the kettle space required for 20+ pounds of grain to this figure and you'll see why a 15-gal kettle may not cut it.
 
Search 80 qt pot on ebay. Theres an aluminum kettle you can get with a basket for about 65 bucks shipped, scratch and dent.

I line the basket with my bag, dont trust the voile with 25+ lbs of wet grain.10 gallon batches wont work too well in a 15 gallon kettle without some sort of sparge.
 
I've done 10 gallon BIAB in my 15 gallon kettle a number of times. 24# of grain is no problem, I use a rubbermaid bin to drop the bag into because it is a bit heavy and I don't use a pulley system. I don't know what other people are doing. I sewed up my own bag and have done dozens of batches and it still will do a 10 gallon batch no problem. Check here for mash volume requirements: http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml
 
I've done 10 gallon BIAB in my 15 gallon kettle a number of times. 24# of grain is no problem, I use a rubbermaid bin to drop the bag into because it is a bit heavy and I don't use a pulley system. I don't know what other people are doing. I sewed up my own bag and have done dozens of batches and it still will do a 10 gallon batch no problem. Check here for mash volume requirements: http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Do you do a sparge when brewing 10-gal batches in a 15-gal kettle?
 
Totally depends on the grainbill, volumes, and OG. The 24# one I did was for a partigyle so I needed 7 gallons preboil of Tripel for me, then the bag went in another kettle for 3.5 gallons pre boil of Dubbel from my rig and another 3.5 gallons from another brew rig (this mash was pretty thick for BIAB). The last 10 gallon batch I did was a Centennial Blonde and I did full volume no-sparge. But remember, nobody says you have to put all your water into the mash, you don't even have to sparge with the left out water, you can just top up your preboil volume. Thinner mashes and a mash out do better for BIAB so full volume when you can but don't sweat it.
 
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