Can I go AG with my 7.5 gal pot?

[Psycotte]

I did a lot of reading in here and I see the sticky lays out a path for a 5.5 gal AG BIAB brew using a 10 gallon pot. I have a 7.5 gallon Stainless turkey fryer I have been successfully using to do mini-mash kits at this point. I guess the questions I am finding myself asking are the following:

• Is the grain bill size what limits my being able to use 7.5 gallon pot?
• I have read and I am a little confused as to lbs/qt figure. How do I figure this and can I just adjust to make sure it fits the 7.5 gallon pot.

I know I can’t do Big Beers with large grain bills but it seems like I should be able to do a no-sparge 10 lb grain bill. I’m not at all disappointed with the results my mini-mashes are giving me but I figure things can only get better if I can step it up to AG. Your expert opinions and thoughts would be most appreciated.

 

[RM-MN]

I think you can do a 5 gallon batch in a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer since I've been doing it for a couple years. I've made beers up to 1.070 that way (it was an accident, I swear) but it was through getting very good efficiency instead of extra grains.

I put about 6 1/2 gallons of water in the pot and then stir the grains in when it reaches strike temp. Now obviously this isn't going to be enough water to get 5 gallons after the boil unless I sparge a bit. When you heat the wort for the boil, you have to really watch the hot break or you'll be cleaning the outside of the pot and the burner and when you do achieve boil you have to be really careful to just barely keep a boil or you'll boil off too much to end up with 5 gallons.

You'll really need your own mill for this in my estimation because you need the best efficiency you can get to limit the amount of grains you need. With the bag as the filter you can mill the grains really fine which does 2 thing for you. First is the efficiency. I have come to expect 80% or better on each batch. The second thing which I found that I like is that you can shorten the mash since your grain particles are so small and get wet through really quickly. I've been doing a 30 minute mash and from the results I've been getting I think I could easily shorten the time more yet.

 

[bknifefight]

You should be able mash roughly 15 lbs of grain with that much space.
There is a mash calculator on the Green Bay Racker's site "Can I Mash It?" that I use but I have found that it under estimates a little.
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

 

[PRE66_6TART]

I actually do 5 gallon batches with up to 12 pounds of grain in my five gallon pot (because it fits in my oven). Then I dunk sparge and boil in my 7.5 gallon pot. I think the key is the dunk sparge. Normally with BIAB you're doing a very thin mash, so not that much sugar is left in the bag. With a thicker mash like I do, I think it helps to dunk it up and down for a few minutes in another pot containing the rest of your water, then combine and boil.

 

[wilserbrewer]

You can certainly do 5 gal batches with your 7.5 gallon pot. Big beers will likely require a sparge. Rather than think in terms of mash thickness (qt / lb), I feel it more useful to think in terms of total water needed to reach preboil volume.

from here... http://www.simplebiabcalculator.com/

I played around with the calculator, and basicly for full volume mash w/ 10 lbs of grain for a 5 gallon batch you will be maxing out your kettle.

Now when maxing out your kettle, it is wise to reserve some of the mash water, say mash in with 5 gallons and then top up near the top of the pot...nothing worse than trying to mix 7.5 gallons of mash in a 7.5 gallon pot, it will get messy cause the volume is 7.5 after mixing, grain will be spilled about otherwise Or another workaround is to just mash in with 5 gallons, and then add and mix in the remaining water after the rest.

play around with the calculator if you like...looked useful to me?

 

[Psycotte]

Where am I getting the mash thickness from?

 

[JR_Brewer]

Yup! I too am using a 7.5 gallon BIAB setup to do All Grain. I don't like to do more than 9-10 lbs of grain, it just gets cumbersome to spare and drain the bag at that point. If I need to go higher gravity, I'll do partial mash.

Mash thickness, opinions vary, but generally 1-1.5 quarts water per pound of grain.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

I just did my first BIAB this weekend. The grain bill was 13.5 pounds and it fit pretty well in a 7.5 gallon kettle. The calculator that bknifefight provided is extremely helpful btw.

I mashed in a 7.5 then did a mini-sparge in the 5 gallon, added everything to the 7.5 and boiled away. OG was about 1.060

 

[PRE66_6TART]

Just re-read your post and I can help a little more with your specific questions. Normally with BIAB you just figure out how much total water you are going to need (batch size + boil off + water absorbed in grain + water left in kettle, ect). Since you're going to need a least 6 or 7 gallons or so at the start of your boil, that doesn't leave much room for grain, so you have to just use as much water as you can fit, and add the rest after you pull the grain out. I like to keep that water in a separate pot and dunk my grain bag in it before I add it to the boil kettle. This step is probably not totally necessary, but the thicker your mash is the more sugar is in that bag, and I go down to 1 quart per pound to make everything fit in my five gallon pot, so I think it helps me.

 

[Red_Scooter]

I just did my first BIAB this weekend. The grain bill was 13.5 pounds and it fit pretty well in a 7.5 gallon kettle. The calculator that bknifefight provided is extremely helpful btw.

I mashed in a 7.5 then did a mini-sparge in the 5 gallon, added everything to the 7.5 and boiled away. OG was about 1.060

I have a 7.5gal turkey fryer with a strainer basket that I use a 5gal paint strainer bag in, and 13.5lbs of grain is about my max in the strainer basket. When I have a bigger grainbill, I will split the mash between the kettle and another cooler or another kettle with another paint strainer bag. And, then i use a 5 gal bucket to sparge in to compensate for the grain absorption.

 

[Psycotte]

Awesome help!! Thank you everyone! So that settles it. I'm going AG for my next brew. If it can be done I can do it.

 

[RM-MN]

Awesome help!! Thank you everyone! So that settles it. I'm going AG for my next brew. If it can be done I can do it.

Want an easier start? Do a half size batch in that 7.5 gallon kettle. You'll have plenty of room for the full volume of water plus the grain plus the boil off. You only get half as much beer but if something doesn't turn out right you only have to drink half as much. I do a number of the smaller batches in my 5 gallon kettle. It's an easy brew morning, easy to chill that smaller amount, and I get to make more varieties of beer to taste. I like variety in my beer. I think I have 16 different beers in bottles or fermenters.

 

[d3track]

Awesome help!! Thank you everyone! So that settles it. I'm going AG for my next brew. If it can be done I can do it.

Good luck, I've done a few in my 30qt pot with little problem. The nice thing I have is the mesh strainer to hold bag to sparge.

 

[Robar]

If you want to do a huge beer just scale the recipe back to 4 gal. Its not like you are going to pound to many 9% beers in one night anyway...

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

I have a 7.5gal turkey fryer with a strainer basket that I use a 5gal paint strainer bag in, and 13.5lbs of grain is about my max in the strainer basket. When I have a bigger grainbill, I will split the mash between the kettle and another cooler or another kettle with another paint strainer bag. And, then i use a 5 gal bucket to sparge in to compensate for the grain absorption.

I didn't use a strainer but I still ended up with a few inches of head space in the kettle...good thing too because I needed to add some hot water to get where I need to be.

Awesome help!! Thank you everyone! So that settles it. I'm going AG for my next brew. If it can be done I can do it.

Good luck! I'm sure you know this already but planning ahead is much more important with all grain than with extract...if your first experience was anything like mine be prepared for a long day

 

[Psycotte]

Well I do have the strainer that came with the fryer so I'm good there. I have been doing mini mashes with ~2.5 grains + DME additions so I kinda have the process. The calculator WilserBrewer put up is just what I needed. Plus I know i always everyone on HBT has my back. Should be easy peasy.

 

[ButcherBoy]

I don't BIAB, but I do All Grain with a cooler mash in a 10G pot. I usually have 7.5-8 G pre-boil, to achieve 5.5G in fermenter. I wouldn't want to try it in a smaller pot. Just my 2 cents.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

I have a 7.5gallon turkey fryer and use it for 5gallon batches all the time.

The biggest recommendation I would make is get some Fermcap S it will save you a lot of headaches watching for the infamous boil overs

 

[NTexBrewer]

I'm trying to figure out BIAB with a 7.5 gallon pot also. Is there anything wrong with mashing with 5.5 gallons of water for a 10lb grain bill. Doing the boil and then topping off in the fermenter to account for boil off.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

I'm trying to figure out BIAB with a 7.5 gallon pot also. Is there anything wrong with mashing with 5.5 gallons of water for a 10lb grain bill. Doing the boil and then topping off in the fermenter to account for boil off.

It will affect your hop bitterness as you will be essentially diluting the beer. If you plan accordingly, I'd recommend some brewing software, You can adjust your hops as to be able to dilute to where you want them to be as opposed to getting the IBUs you want then diluting.
That said though I have no problem boiling 6.5 follows of wort in my 7.5gallon turkey fryer pot. Either use fermcap S and be ok. Or watch the pot like a hawk for boil overs. But it can be done as every 5 gallon batch I've brewed has been in the 7.5gallon pot.

 

[MMJfan]

I'm trying to figure out BIAB with a 7.5 gallon pot also. Is there anything wrong with mashing with 5.5 gallons of water for a 10lb grain bill. Doing the boil and then topping off in the fermenter to account for boil off.

I do BIAB with a 7.5 gal kettle and the first time I tried BIAB I used this method. I just added water to the fermenter to get to my desired 5 gallons and the result wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. What Gil said is correct in that, by just adding water to the fermenter is basically diluting or watering down your beer. I made a Belgian Wit and it tasted very watered down.

After my first BIAB, I went and got a separate 5 gal kettle and I now use that as my sparge vessel. I mash in about 6-6.5 gal of water in my 7.5 gal kettle. I then do a mashout in the 7.5 gal kettle. And while I'm doing my mashout, I heat about 2-3 gal of water in my 5 gal kettle to about 170F and then place my grain bag in there for about a 20 minute sparge. I then combine the liquids from both kettles into my 7.5 gal kettle and that gives me the desired preboil volume I need. I've been doing my BIAB's with this method with great results (efficiencies in the mid to upper 70's) ever since!

 

[Jeff_H]

I do BIAB with a 7.5 gal kettle and the first time I tried BIAB I used this method. I just added water to the fermenter to get to my desired 5 gallons and the result wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. What Gil said is correct in that, by just adding water to the fermenter is basically diluting or watering down your beer. I made a Belgian Wit and it tasted very watered down.

After my first BIAB, I went and got a separate 5 gal kettle and I now use that as my sparge vessel. I mash in about 6-6.5 gal of water in my 7.5 gal kettle. I then do a mashout in the 7.5 gal kettle. And while I'm doing my mashout, I heat about 2-3 gal of water in my 5 gal kettle to about 170F and then place my grain bag in there for about a 20 minute sparge. I then combine the liquids from both kettles into my 7.5 gal kettle and that gives me the desired preboil volume I need. I've been doing my BIAB's with this method with great results (efficiencies in the mid to upper 70's) ever since!

I use a similar method but I rig up the grain bag in a colander over the second pot and pour water over / through it.

 

[divrguy]

You can absolutely do it in your kettle. I did it for years and I also did pretty big beers. Once I plugged in my recipe ( I used Beersmith) I would heat up about 6.5 gallons of water at the temp, add in your grains and top off to the point that I felt comfortable leaving a little space. Then I would see how much I was short after my mash and add in the remainder by sparging. Basically get it to your pre boil volume before you start. I always had a spray bottle near by and I did have a few boil overs when I didn't pay attention, but I also never picked up the drops to prevent it which IMO was pretty dumb...lol.

 

[Psycotte]

Update:

So I went for and did a Brown Ale I tweaked after looking at a Caribou Slobber recipe:

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Brutally Brown

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American Brown Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.25 gallons (ending kettle volume)
Boil Size: 6 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.045
Efficiency: 70% (ending kettle)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.016
ABV (standard): 5.82%
IBU (tinseth): 30.89
SRM (morey): 21.76

FERMENTABLES:
9 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (77.4%)
1 lb - Turbinado - (late addition) (8.6%)
0.75 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 60L (6.5%)
0.25 lb - American - Chocolate (2.2%)
0.125 lb - American - Black Malt (1.1%)
0.5 lb - Franco-Belges Dk. Caramel Munich 80L (4.3%)

HOPS:
1 oz - Kent Goldings, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.7, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 21.57
1 oz - Liberty, Type: Pellet, AA: 3.4, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 6.38
0.75 oz - Willamette, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 5.7, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 2.93

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Infusion, Temp: 153 F, Time: 70 min, Amount: 6 gal
2) Sparge, Temp: 170 F, Amount: 2.1 gal, Dunk Sparge

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 each - Whirfloc, Time: 15 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
1 each - Yeast Nutrient cap, Time: 10 min, Type: Other, Use: Boil

YEAST:
Wyeast - American Ale II 1272
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 74%
Flocculation: High
Optimum Temp: 60 - 72 F
Fermentation Temp: 65 F
Pitch Rate: 0.35 (M cells / ml / deg P)


This recipe has been published online at:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/87611/brutally-brown

Generated by Brewer's Friend - http://www.brewersfriend.com/
Date: 2013-12-03 17:20 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2013-11-30 17:37 UTC

Here is how the numbers shook out according to Brewer's friend:

Conversion: 83.7%
Pre-Boil: 69% 25 ppg
Ending Kettle: 66% 25.5 ppg
Brew House: 66% 25.5 ppg

Not the best. I was happy to get close to the 70% the recipe was gauged at. Smelled incredible and is now sporting a nice Krausen in my fermenter. I'll update once I get the final gravity and a taste of the post fermented product. Thanks again to you all for your guidance!