5 gallon BIAB in a 15.5 gallon kettle?

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.

LeverTime

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2010
Messages
171
Reaction score
4
Location
Philadelphia
I am currently doing BIAB for 2.5 gallon batches in my 22 qt kettle. I would like to upgrade to 5 gallon batches, so I need a new kettle.

Eventually, I would also like to be able to do 10 gallon batches, so I'd like to plan for the future and buy a 15.5 gallon kettle for both purposes. Will this be too big to do 5 gallon BIAB? If I clipped a bag onto the sides of one, would it be far enough down into the water to submerge the grains?

If it matters, I'm thinking of the Brewhemoth Penrose Kettle.
 
You could make a bigger bag or come up with a way to let it hang down further into the water. But you ca do a 5 gallon batch in a 15 gallon pot. You need to check how much water you would need to a 10 gallon batch. I think 15 gallon pot would be a bit small for a BIAB.
 
A 15gal kettle isn't really adequate for 10gal brews...

Wow, really? I thought some people did 10 gallon batches in 15.5 gallon keggles...

So, I'll need a 20 gallon kettle? Does it matter if my 10 gallon batches have a low OG? I'm not planning to make 10 gallons of barley wine, it's more likely to be 10 gallons of cream ale or something.

I haven't done all grain bigger than 2.5 gallons, so I'm a bit out of my league here.
 
Yes but I do not think they use BIAB. You can boil the wort for 10 gallons no problem in a 15 gallon pot. But the grain bill and extra water for absorbtion would be a lot for a 15 gallon pot.
 
You could make a bigger bag or come up with a way to let it hang down further into the water. But you ca do a 5 gallon batch in a 15 gallon pot. You need to check how much water you would need to a 10 gallon batch. I think 15 gallon pot would be a bit small for a BIAB.

Sorry, I re-read my first post and it wasn't very clear. I'm not hoping to do 10 gallon BIAB with this, just 5 gallons. By the time I'm ready to do 10 gallons, I hope to have a mash tun, and the kettle will just need to boil my wort.

I just wanted to know if this kettle would be too big for 5 gallon BIAB.
 
I full volume biab 10 gallon batches in a 15.5 gallon keggle. I just have to keep the grain bill under 20 lbs which makes a nice 5.5% beer at around 80% eff.
 
Back
Top