BIAB pot size for 2.5 gal batches

[Triocd]

Can I brew higher gravity 2.5 gallon batches in my 5.5 gallon pot without overflowing the mash?

I'm thinking something with like 7lbs of grain. Will it all fit? Thanks...

 

[MalFet]

Check the "Can I Mash It" calc.
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Should be fine.

Edit: FYI, don't use their strike water calc. I've always found it to be incorrect.

 

[dcp27]

+1, remember tho, that calc doesnt account for sparge water if you plan to sparge

 

[Triocd]

Thanks, it looks like I'll have plenty of room...

 

[Triocd]

For sparging, I am either going to
1) Raise the temp of the whole pot to 170 or
2) Remove the grain bag, pour wort into ale pail for a few moments, put some 170F water in the pot, and put the grain bag back in for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the grain bag and dump the ale pail wort into the pot for my full boil.

Thoughts?

 

[dcp27]

1) is a mash out, 2) would be fine for a sparge. if you have a small pot (at least 2.5gal) you could split the batch sparge and use that to sparge in.

 

[MalFet]

For sparging, I am either going to
1) Raise the temp of the whole pot to 170 or
2) Remove the grain bag, pour wort into ale pail for a few moments, put some 170F water in the pot, and put the grain bag back in for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the grain bag and dump the ale pail wort into the pot for my full boil.

Thoughts?

The calculator shouldn't need to account for sparge water if you are doing it in any traditional way, because your mash water, sparge water, and grain shouldn't all be in the same pot at the same time.

(1) sounds fine, but isn't really sparging. That said, what you describe is what a lot of BIABers do.

(2) this is fine (and will net you higher efficiency than (1)) but you don't need 20 minutes. Put the grain back in, stir for five minutes, and remove the grain.

 

[dcp27]

The calculator shouldn't need to account for sparge water if you are doing it in any traditional way, because your mash water, sparge water, and grain shouldn't all be in the same pot at the same time.

right, but I'm assumming the mash pot is going to be used as the kettle as well so to know the calc doesnt account for the total amount going in, cuz while 14lbs would just fit in a 5.5gal pot, it wouldnt leave you any room to add much sparge water

 

[MalFet]

right, but I'm assumming the mash pot is going to be used as the kettle as well so to know the calc doesnt account for the total amount going in, cuz while 14lbs would just fit in a 5.5gal pot, it wouldnt leave you any room to add much sparge water

Fair enough, but I wouldn't consider that a mash problem so much as a boil problem. To brew a beer that big, the limitation would be that you'd end up with way, way more than would be appropriate pre-boil volume for a 2.5gal batch. In any case, you are certainly right that it represents a hard limit to the size of beer that he can brew and is certainly something worth paying attention to.

 

[Triocd]

Ok, so I will shoot for version 2 which sounds like a sparge. Couple questions...

How do I know how much sparge water to use?

What pre boil volume should I aim for if I plan on boiling 60-75 min?

Lastly, do I need to worry about mash ph or just let it be?

 

[MalFet]

Ok, so I will shoot for version 2 which sounds like a sparge. Couple questions...

How do I know how much sparge water to use?

What pre boil volume should I aim for if I plan on boiling 60-75 min?

Lastly, do I need to worry about mash ph or just let it be?

Sparge water quantity is a bit complicated, and it might be worth using one fot he calculators to figure it out. Basically, you want to use however much sparge water you need to get your total runnings to your pre-boil volume, but you need to account for the ~.13gal per lb that the grain is going to absorb.

Every system has a different rate of evaporation. I lose about a gallon per hour in the wintertime.

Leave pH for the time being. You should really only need to futz with water chemistry if your domestic water is in bad shape.

 

[Triocd]

Thanks for the info

 

[RM-MN]

Can I weigh in on this? I've just finished my 4th 2 1/2 gallon brew in a bag. I start with the full volume of water, about 3 3/4 gallons in a 5 gallon kettle. When you put the grain into the bag that is submerged in the kettle, the water will be nearly to the top. Have the water already heated to strike temperature, probably about 160. Stir the grain well, put the lid on and ignore it for 10 minutes and then stir it again. Cover it and leave it for the rest of the time. Remove the grain bag from the water and hold it over the kettle to drain. I've found that a metal colander will fit across my kettle and I slip that under the bag and let the bag sit in that and drain what it will. When it stops draining, squeeze whatever water you can from the bag. This will get most of the sugars out and takes the place of the mashout and sparge. If you have squeezed hard enough, the grain will feel almost dry.

You can start heating the wort for your boil at this point. Watch as it comes to a boil as you will get lots of foam that may want to go over the top of the kettle.

 

[Triocd]

What gravity can you achieve with this method? Would you confirm that I can fit enough water and 7 lbs of grain in a 5.5 gal pot?

Also, what volume of wort do you end up with premium if you use 3 3/4 gal water?

 

[redm18]

I got about 1.065 in a pot thats just under 5 gallons with no sparge last weekend. Ended up with around 3 gallons into the fermenter this was with just under 7 pounds of grain. I started with about 3 gallons of water then poured in my grain then toped of with hot water to fill up my pot and mashed for 90 minutes at about 153. Squezed the crap out of the grain bag then let it sit in a mixing bowl and would periodically pour the runnings back into the boil. I think you would be fine with a 5.5 gallon pot and 7 pounds of grain. Be sure to crush the grain real fine.

 

[Triocd]

I just got 3 gal of 1.065 wort with 7.5 pounds. Everything worked great and I had plenty of room in the pot. I ended up sparging using 1.7 gal of water at 170F. Halfway through the mash I realized I calculated the volume of the pot wrong and it's actually 4.8 gallons instead of 5.5, but like I said plenty of room. I think I could get away with 8-9 pounds and still fit it in.

 

[weirdboy]

I think at the very worst if you wanted to make something super high gravity, you could do a PM and still get most of your gravity from the grain.