How big is my kettle? Advise me on batch size in a 24QT pot.

[whovous]

My setup is EBIAB, single kettle, continuously recirculating mash, no sparge, in a 24 QT Bayou Classic kettle. I've been doing 2.5 gallon batches mostly because converting from the standard five gallon recipe requires me to simply divide everything by two.

I've been thinking about doing somewhat larger batches, but I am not real sure just how much room the grain takes up and how much space I need to keep open for the boil. Or maybe the latter does not matter given that taking the grain out frees up space on its own?

So, if I am using a six gallon pot, doing beers in the 5.5 to 7.0% range, and adding all of my water at the beginning of the process, what is the largest batch size I can comfortably target?

 

[bobeer]

this is a tough question to fully answer because your efficiency can vary greatly and there are too many variables to account for.
Your best bet is to just up it one batch at a time. I suggest investing 30 bucks into beersmith and use the scale recipe tool to convert your recipes into other batch sizes. It's a huge help because IBU's don't really work like you say with doubling everything for 2.5 into a 5 gallon batch. You can get away with doing that with grains but even then it's not a 1:1 ratio necessarily.

 

[ChelisHubby]

I would start with a 3 gallon batch the first time and then if I thought I could do it with out to much difficulty I would go up to a 4 gallon batch.

 

[optimal_pizza]

https://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/

Check out this BIAB calculator, pretty spot on in my experience.

 

[Lefou]

Good question. Everyone's setup will vary.

When I first started out last year, I agonized over what was possible with my means and setup. Using the free Brewer's Friend calculator made things easy, so I bought a simple kit scaled for 5gal. batches. My puny kitchen gas stove puts out just enough heat to make a 3gal. rolling boil, so I scale my grain bill accordingly and adjust water volume for my final wort. Never had problems hitting my calculated gravity with extracts and partial mashes this way, but I'm doing my first all grain BIAB this fall in a 20qt. boil kettle.
I don't think my particular process will change much because my partial mashes were done using grain socks ... as long as I have a hydrometer and thermometer handy, all grain BIAB shouldn't be much different. I'll still have a 3gal. boil, dilute to carboy for 5gal. of wort, check gravity, and pitch.

 

[whovous]

Thanks all. I think I am going to start targeting 3.3 gallon batches and possibly work up from there.