Limited space all grain

HI guys, first of all I would like to say thank you for all the advice this forum has given. I would like to brew an all grain batch recipe however I only have a five gallon pot and two three gallon pots to work with. I have read on here that it is possible to top off an all grain batch but am not exactly sure of the exact process. This will be my fourth batch ever so please excuse my ignorance. The recipe is as follows:

6.5 lbs 2 row
5.5 wheat malt
.5 lbs crsytal malt
1oz hallertauer
2.5lbs raspberrys in secondary

I calculated this in beersmith and it will fit in my pot for biab the problem is obviously i cant do a full boil. I simply changed the top up water setting beersmith to two gallons to get my other volumes. obviously my effeciency is going to suck however its still way cheaper then extract. do I just need to increase my hops by about twenty percent to accomodate the top off?

Another Idea I had was to keep a pot of boiling water and add as it boils off so that the hop effeciency isnt as depleted from topping off

I know the best solution is to get larger equipment however i live in a one bedroom apartment and cant brew outside nor do i really have the storage space in here for bigger equipment

I just did it two weeks ago for an IPA. That's how I brew in the winter.

I've posted these detailed instructions several times.

I don't know the answer but this pot is about the price of an extract kit: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CHKL68/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I do 2.5 gallon brews that way I can do full boils

Revvy said:

I just did it two weeks ago for an IPA. That's how I brew in the winter.

I've posted these detailed instructions several times.

Click to expand...

Thanks revvy I saw you mention it in another thread but couldn't find the guide

I have the same sized pot and I do 2.5 gal BIAB batches also due to space constraints. I like the 2.5 gal size because it gets you 1 full case of beer, and then you have an excuse to brew more and the more you brew the more you learn and the better your beer gets.

+1 to the 2.5 gallon BIAB batches. I started out AG (2 months ago, lol) with a 2 gallon pot, a 4 gallon pot, and a 5.5 gallon pot, and did about 5 3 gallon AG batches. I just upgraded to a 7.5 gallon ported kettle, but I still do a fair number of 2.5 gallon batches. (I've done a total of 18 brews since the beginning of the year - I think I have a problem. )

Half batches are awesome because you get about a case worth, and you can do lots of different things provided you have the fermenter space - I have 2 6.5-gallon buckets, 3 3-gallon glass carboys, and (now) 2 5-gallon white Lowes buckets. AG takes a fair bit more finesse to hit your mash temperatures and gravities, and practicing with smaller batches is absolutely worth it.

I've actually only done one 5-gallon AG batch, and that one I decided to split it and do two half batches with different yeasts - I made a Schwarzbier and a Black Saison (I call them Arnold and Jean-Claude :fro. I've done 3 5-gallon partial mashes, where I got half or more of my fermentables from grain, supplementing with extract as needed.

I'll probably switch to a more "standard" cooler-mash-tun, partly because I feel like that's a better long-term option than sticking with paint strainers forever, but the paint strainer bags are definitely one of the best and cheapest pieces of equipment I have. I have 2 48 quart rectangular coolers, so I really have no good reason *not* to build a real mash tun. In terms of speed and effiency, though, I really have no complaints at all.