11 Gallon BIAB in a 13.5 Gallon Keggle!

I wanted to try a 10 Gallon BIAB but I only have a 13.5gallon Keggle, problem! I figured it was going to be a PITA but I'd give it a shot. I used this recipe, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centennial-blonde-simple-4-all-grain-5-10-gall-42841/
And this is the way I did it.
I added 11 gallons and heated to 156 then added 18.25 lbs grain (I used an extra lb of 2row) ended up with 150, perfect! Mashed for 60mins added heat once. I lifted the grain bag out slowly and put it in a bucket and squeezed, I ended up with 10gal that I brought to a boil, standing by with a squirting bottle for the hot break to control boilover. 20 mins into the boil I added 1 gal of boiling water from my electric kettle and added another gallon at 40 mins. After the 60 min boil I ended up with about 10.5gallon so I added another gallon and chilled. I ended up with an OG of 1.042, pretty good! 20 lbs of grain is about as much as I would feel comfortable with, at least I know that I can do it!

Ha, that's pretty crafty. Good job!

That's a great idea! I'm hoping to do 10 gallons of an amber ale and I use the BIAB method. I also have a keggle for brewing. Mines from a 15.5 gal keg though. I was think about having less then full volume water for the mash and then sparging to my pre boil volume.

What kind of bag did you use??? Tough!

seatbelt123 said:

What kind of bag did you use??? Tough!

Click to expand...

I made one myself out of some pink voile that was on clearance at fabricland made 2 for $3! The Pink was the selling point for me LOL!

christpuncher123 said:

I made one myself out of some pink voile that was on clearance at fabricland made 2 for $3! The Pink was the selling point for me LOL!

Click to expand...

That's funny! Any special tricks in sewing it? My bags would blow up with that much grain but I do want to do larger batches.

seatbelt123 said:

That's funny! Any special tricks in sewing it? My bags would blow up with that much grain but I do want to do larger batches.

Click to expand...

The voile is a very tight weave, I used a thick polyester thread. I set the sewing machine to the tightest stitch and made two rows ow stitching. If you double over the material at the seam before sewing it would be even stronger! Maybe the problem with your material is the color, LOL!

christpuncher123 said:

The voile is a very tight weave, I used a thick polyester thread. I set the sewing machine to the tightest stitch and made two rows ow stitching. If you double over the material at the seam before sewing it would be even stronger! Maybe the problem with your material is the color, LOL!

Click to expand...

Well all of the tough guys in the NFL are wearing it, maybe pink is the new black?

I just did a 3.5 gallon BIAB of this beer!

christpuncher123,
Next time, instead of adding a gallon of hot water at 20 minutes, soak the grain bag in 2 gallons of hot water, and then add that.
You will be surprised how much additional sugar you will capture and how much higher your OG will be.
This is especially true with thicker mashes (higher grain bills)

ArcLight said:

christpuncher123,
Next time, instead of adding a gallon of hot water at 20 minutes, soak the grain bag in 2 gallons of hot water, and then add that.
You will be surprised how much additional sugar you will capture and how much higher your OG will be.
This is especially true with thicker mashes (higher grain bills)

Click to expand...

This worked out at 85%, that's as high as I want it to go! It wasn't hot water it was boiling water to replace what has already been boiled off, since there is only so much room in the kettle.

Here is an idea to make your brew day easier next time you want to do a 10 gallon batch:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/sids-one-vessel-all-grain-brewing-system-360364/