How I brew ten gallons in a fifteen gallon Kettle BIAB

[PersonalBrewer]

The rule of thumb is half the kettle size for BIAB.

My problem is I keg with 5 galllon kegs. After getting tired of having a keg and a half I came up with the following procedure:

I am using a 1.2 megapot from Northern Brewing it's a 15 gallon pot that has some leeway above 15 probably another gallon or so. You may need to adjust volumes and recipes for a different pot

____________________________

Put 9 3/4 gallons of water in 15 gal brew vessel and bring to strike temp.

Put in roughly 30 lbs of grain (be sure you can lift the wet grain bag, I use a pulley.)

Mash as usual

pull bag/basket add about 5 1/2 gals of water (/sparged wort) to about 13 3/4 gals

That's the point where I know I can knock down potential boilovers with a water spray bottle) - after first ten minutes it settles down and I don't really have to stand there worrying about boilovers.

I boil for an hour usually, after about 30 minutes I add 1.75 liter boiling water (because that's the size electric kettle we have.)

Follow your regular routine after boil to put in fermenters.

I usually wind up with about 10.5 gallons of wort in the fermenters.

Works for me.

I have done about 30 batches with various variations this version is what I have been doing for probably 10 or so batches I like high gravity beers and around 7% ABV. Obviously, you can use less grains if you wish.

The basic principle is that you can use 30 lbs or so of grain ( I consistently brew a 30.75 lb recipe) and simply add water or sparged wort to come up to the volume of beer you want to get out.

If you're bottling, probably not for you. but if you're using 5 gal kegs you might want to go this way if you're not doing something similar

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

30 pounds of grain mashed in 9.75 gallons of water, sounds like a really thick mash. What is your grain to water ratio?

 

[MaxStout]

By my math, 1.3 qt/lb. for the OP's method. A little thick.

I do a similar process for 5 gallon batches indoors in the winter in an 8 gal kettle on the stove. But I limit to 10-12 lbs grain in 5 gallons of strike water (ratios of 1.67-2.0 qt/lb.). Then I add the remainder of water after the sacc rest. If I do high gravity brews, I shoot for a 4 gallon batch to keep the mash similarly thin.

For 10 gallon batches ----> 20 gallon kettle. I don't like pushing things.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

For 10 gallon batches in a 15.5 gallon vessel, I do 24 pounds of grain mashed in 12 gallons of strike water at 2 qt/lb thickness, then sparge with 3.5 gallons after removing the grain bag. This gets me up to a 6% ABV beer without having to add extract or sugar to boost the alcohol content while filling two five gallon kegs.

 

[PersonalBrewer]

it's a bit thick, but the extra grains get me to ABV 7%, or so which is right where I like my ABV.

and 1.065 +- specific gravity into the fermenter which also is about where I like my SG

With no extract or sugar.

I've thought about going for a 20 gal kettle, but the increased cost, weight and size have deterred me from doing so.

After having a bag burn and break on me, I had Chad at Arbor Fabricating build me a basket that I have been using for several years. Same thing as bag, just a metal basket instead.

If anybody wants to go that route Chad at the time was manufacturing for several retailers. Anyways the basket full of wet grains is about as much as I want to handle even with a pulley

To increase efficiency I grind the grains smaller, and pour hot water over the grains to rinse them then pout that back into the wort.

It's probably pushing things a bit, but working well for me and beats having a keg and a half every time I brew.

 

[wepeeler]

Get yourself some Fermcap S, and you can safely boil 14.5 gallons in a 15 gallon kettle. I do it all the time.

 

[PersonalBrewer]

I'm going to look into that. I haven't used anything because I'm trying to follow the beer purity laws of Germany :<)

 

[wepeeler]

I'm going to look into that. I haven't used anything because I'm trying to follow the beer purity laws of Germany :<)

If you don't live in Germany...

No harm, no foul!

 

[hottpeper13]

With a lid and a steam slayer and 4% evaporation you can start with less then 12 gal and still end up with just over 11 gal, with 10 gal of clear wort in the fermenter and no boilover.

 

[PersonalBrewer]

Never heard of a steam slayer. Thanks for mentioning. I will check it out!

 

[hottpeper13]

Spike Brewing sells a lid for just this application.

 

[Biggz1313]

Spike Brewing sells a lid for just this application.

Yup, I have one, along with fermcapS and it's amazing. Highly recommend!

 

[u81doughboy]

Curious, does the Steam Slayer reduce your boil-off rate? If so, how much?

 

[Biggz1313]

Curious, does the Steam Slayer reduce your boil-off rate? If so, how much?

I have the Spike Steam Lid and it reduces my boiloff rate by 50%

 

[dilvish]

I recently purchased the Spike steam condenser for use with a 20 gallon kettle (Blichmann Breweasy - BIAB). I haven't actually used the condenser yet other than for one test run to determine the boil off rate. Just wondering if any fellow BIABers are experiencing any issues secondary to the thicker mash?

 

[odie]

The rule of thumb is half the kettle size for BIAB.

that's too small. You want a kettle 3x batch size.

That will do any size beer. Even high gravity RIS. At 2x you are only gonna do a normal to mid gravity beer unless you cut the mash water a lot and sparge.

 

[Biggz1313]

I recently purchased the Spike steam condenser for use with a 20 gallon kettle (Blichmann Breweasy - BIAB). I haven't actually used the condenser yet other than for one test run to determine the boil off rate. Just wondering if any fellow BIABers are experiencing any issues secondary to the thicker mash?

Not sure if you're asking if anyone has noticed issues with using the steam hat from Spike, but I have one for my Spike 15g system and love it. Don't notice any difference other than a lower boil off rate and I can run my element at like 35% power and still keep a good boil. I don't notice any mash issues as I don't use it during mash. I just use my normal stainless lid during mash.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Get yourself some Fermcap S, and you can safely boil 14.5 gallons in a 15 gallon kettle. I do it all the time.

I'm going to look into that. I haven't used anything because I'm trying to follow the beer purity laws of Germany :<)

First wort hops do much the same thing...

4.6gal pre-boil in a 5gal pot.

 

[Biggz1313]

First wort hops do much the same thing...

4.6gal pre-boil in a 5gal pot.

In your kitchen none the less. You're a brave soul! Cheers!

 

[CascadesBrewer]

that's too small. You want a kettle 3x batch size.

I get the desire for a larger pot, but I am pretty happy making 5.5 gal batches in a 10 gal kettle and 2.7 gal batches in a 5 gal kettle. With both I can get to about 1.070 with grain. A little more with a 30 min boil. My Belgians often have sugar added to the boil, so those could go higher. Since I moved to BAIB 3 years ago I have done a total of 4 big beers (3 Imperial Stouts and 1 Barleywine). 3 times I just made a smaller batch and 1 time I added in a sparge step to get a full 5 gallon batch. Yeah, if I was shopping for a new kettle I would look to a 15 gal one, but 2x is fine. Actually, I wish that 12 gal kettles were common as that would be a perfect size for my needs.

In any case, the OP is getting 10 gals out of a 15 gal kettle. I have thought about trying to get 8 gals or so out of my 10 gal kettle. That would get me enough to fill a 5 gal keg and enough either for bottling or filling a 2.5 gal keg...or maybe enough to split into three 3-gallon fermenters. I guess I like the ease and predictability of my current setup and I am not sure what to expect if I started adding in sparges, and top up water. I guess I won't know until I try.

pull bag/basket add about 5 1/2 gals of water (/sparged wort) to about 13 3/4 gals

At this step are you sparging? When I make my 5 gal batch of Barleywine (OG 1.118) I moved my grain bag to a bucket, and added the extra water there as a sparge step. It was a bit tricky to get the 23 lbs of grain into the bucket, so next time I might use my old enamelware kettle for that step. Your 30 lbs of grain would need a good sized pot of bucket. A pour-over sparge would work as well, but I wonder how efficient those are.

 

[dilvish]

Not sure if you're asking if anyone has noticed issues with using the steam hat from Spike, but I have one for my Spike 15g system and love it. Don't notice any difference other than a lower boil off rate and I can run my element at like 35% power and still keep a good boil. I don't notice any mash issues as I don't use it during mash. I just use my normal stainless lid during mash.

Thanks for your reply. Like you, I will only be using the steam condenser on the boil kettle. Since the steam condenser decreases the boil off rate by roughly 50%, I’ll need to adjust my existing recipes and start with less water in order to hit the expected gravity. The Breweasy is a RIMS where approximately 50% of the wort is in the MK at any given time and the remaining 50% is in the BK (covering the exposed heating element). Since we add all water up front with BIAB, less starting water means the mash will be thicker. I’m just curious if anyone has found this to be an issue?

 

[Biggz1313]

Thanks for your reply. Like you, I will only be using the steam condenser on the boil kettle. Since the steam condenser decreases the boil off rate by roughly 50%, I’ll need to adjust my existing recipes and start with less water in order to hit the expected gravity. The Breweasy is a RIMS where approximately 50% of the wort is in the MK at any given time and the remaining 50% is in the BK (covering the exposed heating element). Since we add all water up front with BIAB, less starting water means the mash will be thicker. I’m just curious if anyone has found this to be an issue?

Ahhh, ok, totally following you now. I use beersmith and have used both my Spike basket for batches, and also a brew bag for batches (and also a combination of the two) and haven't noticed a difference. I just use the standard BIAB mash profiles in beersmith and they haven't steered me wrong yet.

Edit: Also, super jealous of that brewery my man. That looks amazing, nice work!!

 

[dilvish]

Ahhh, ok, totally following you now. I use beersmith and have used both my Spike basket for batches, and also a brew bag for batches (and also a combination of the two) and haven't noticed a difference. I just use the standard BIAB mash profiles in beersmith and they haven't steered me wrong yet.

Edit: Also, super jealous of that brewery my man. That looks amazing, nice work!!

Thanks for that info. I use Brewer’s Friend but I can adjust my boil off rate in the software which should do the heavy lifting for me with respect to the math. I’ll have to adjust my water additions as well, but that shouldn’t be a big deal. Most importantly, I’m glad to hear you haven’t encountered any issues owing to the fact that you’re starting off with less water. I’m anxious to try my first brew with the new condenser - and keep all of that steam from going into the drywall.

And thanks for the compliment re: my garage brewery! Much appreciated!

 

[odie]

In your kitchen none the less. You're a brave soul! Cheers!

brave indeed...

 

[PersonalBrewer]

I get the desire for a larger pot, but I am pretty happy.....

In any case, the OP is getting 10 gals out of a 15 gal kettle. ..


At this step are you sparging? .........A pour-over sparge would work as well, but I wonder how efficient those are.

After having a bag break on me, I had a stainless basket made.

When I pull the basket out (with a pulley, that sucker is heavy) I first let it drain for 20/30 minutes I then swing it over to a cooler with a stainless grate in the top - just happened to have it on hand and it makes a perfect fit.

I then pour 150 degree (roughly, very roughly) water heated on the stove top through the grains. I have two pots that I use and use one of them twice.

After pouring heated water through the grains I then press much of the water out (equivalent to squeezing the bag?) using the lid of a plastic five gallon bucket. Almost a perfect size.

Then I pour what is collected in the cooler into the kettle and boil.

This usually gets me post boil around 1.07 SG and 7% or so ABV.

While I do like higher ABV beers, I like drinking them so much that I when I do I usually wind up walking funny. So I generally brew in the 7% ABV range.

The only negative about this that I've been aware of is that if you don't care for a recipe very much you still have to drink ten gallons of it. So far that's not been much of an issue.

 

[RufusBrewer]

After having a bag break on me, I had a stainless basket made.

When I pull the basket out (with a pulley, that sucker is heavy) I first let it drain for 20/30 minutes I then swing it over to a cooler with a stainless grate in the top - just happened to have it on hand and it makes a perfect fit.

I then pour 150 degree (roughly, very roughly) water heated on the stove top through the grains. I have two pots that I use and use one of them twice.

After pouring heated water through the grains I then press much of the water out (equivalent to squeezing the bag?) using the lid of a plastic five gallon bucket. Almost a perfect size.

Then I pour what is collected in the cooler into the kettle and boil.

This usually gets me post boil around 1.07 SG and 7% or so ABV.

While I do like higher ABV beers, I like drinking them so much that I when I do I usually wind up walking funny. So I generally brew in the 7% ABV range.

The only negative about this that I've been aware of is that if you don't care for a recipe very much you still have to drink ten gallons of it. So far that's not been much of an issue.

You could put the sparge water in cooler and place the bag of grains in water. Stir the grains, water a few minutes and then lift the bag up and drain bag a second time. BIAB batch sparge. Depends on if your bag hoisting apparatus allows you to hoist up a bag of wet grains above the cooler.

If 10 gallons of beer is a chore to consume, brew less. Brew 5 gallon batches twice as often. Or give away your extra homebrew. Nothing requires for you to brew at 100% capacity.

 

[PersonalBrewer]

Thanks for the comment.

I enjoy brewing, but I enjoy drinking it more. Only had one ten gallon batch that took a while to get gone. It's simple, just don't brew that recipe again.

 

[PersonalBrewer]

I haven't tried to delete this thread, but it would suit me fine if HBT administrators decided to do so.

I will no longer be brewing in this manner, it simply introduces too much oxygen into the beer. Didn't have a problem for the three years plus that I brewed in this manner. However, when I tried to build up some full kegs so I wouldn't be brewing in the heat, I had a couple of kegs oxidize on me. Not badly, but enough to not make me happy.

I will only be brewing in a low oxygen manner in the future

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forums/low-oxygen-brewing.282/