Max Grain Bill in 10 gal kettle?

[Illini_Brewing]

I'm just getting into AG, and picked up a Blichmann 10 gal kettle the other weekend due to a brewing incident that involved a nylon bag, kettle, and hot stove.

I've been trying to figure out what AG recipe I want to do for the next batch, and I've come across a couple stouts that seem to have huge grain bills (20+ lbs). What is a realistic amount of grain to be able to mash in a 10 gal kettle?

 

[WI_Wino]

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Scroll down to "Can I mash it?"

20 lbs at 1.25 quarts per lb is 7.85 gallons (not including space under false bottom).

 

[Illini_Brewing]

Thanks! The recipe i was looking at was the Double-W Imperial Stout at 24.5lbs of malt. 9.62 gal of space! Probably the max of the kettle.

 

[MattyIce]

You will be awful close to the top with that grain bill. I have found that all of my kettles are a bit shy of the capacity that they labeled as.

 

[fleabagmatt]

I guess I should work on my reading comprehension, disregard my comments below.

Thanks! The recipe i was looking at was the Double-W Imperial Stout at 24.5lbs of malt. 9.62 gal of space! Probably the max of the kettle.

Are you asking about BIAB in the kettle with grains and all, or just how much wort it will handle for boiling?

I just made that very recipe a couple weeks ago, the 24.5 pounds of grain mashed at 1.15 qts/gallon pretty much maxed out my 10 gallon beverage cooler mash tun. I ended up somewhere around 8.25 gallons of wort in the pot. I wasn't paying close enough attention when it first hit the boiling point and had a bit of a boilover, but otherwise it worked just fine. Had I been stirring the pot instead of trying to clean my mash tun it would have been fine.

 

[Illini_Brewing]

You will be awful close to the top with that grain bill. I have found that all of my kettles are a bit shy of the capacity that they labeled as.

Yea, I might back off to closer a little closer to 1qt per lb of grain.

 

[MaxStout]

For brewing that close to the brim, get some Fermcap to help prevent boilovers.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Using my calculator, link in the sig then click calculators, I get a mash volume of 10.9 G assuming my standard equipment profile and losses, 1.2 boil off, .5 trub from fermenter, 0 trub from kettle. With that I would mash nearly full volume, saving 1.5G for a sparge after the mash. This will bring the mash volume down to 9.4 gallons which is easily handled in a 10g kettle, you could go with a 1.25G sparge as well and not have to worry too much as the mash volume would be 9.60G.


The post mash volume won't be that high, don't need fermcap at all. The mash volume is however quite large assuming full volume, 10.9G.

 

[Hopper5000]

You could probably do about 25lb in there with a 1.1 strike to grain ratio. That is what I get with my 10lb Gatorade cooler and false bottom.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

You could probably do about 25lb in there with a 1.1 strike to grain ratio. That is what I get with my 10lb Gatorade cooler and false bottom.

A 1.5G sparge would put it at 1.18 mash thickness, a 1.25 sparge would put it at 1.22 mash thickness. Totally doable, just expect a slightly lower efficiency due to the large grainbill.

Again, assuming the same losses as my system. (1.2 boiloff, no trub from kettle, .5g from fermenter, 0.08 gal/lb absorption etc)

 

[Hopper5000]

Ya when I max out my tun I just do a 1.1 ratio and sparge until I reach my boil volume.

 

[apshaffer]

remember you have to stir your grain once you mash in. if its an inch from the top of mash tun, it will either be very messy or not stirred properly.

 

[ArcLight]

First - if some of the grain bill is steeping grains (like the roast barley) you can steep that separately and add the water to the wort near the end of the boil. That will save you at least 2 pounds.


Second -
I think if you do a BIAB mash with a very thick 1.1 ratio , without a dunk sparge, you will probably get poor efficiency.
When I use 20+ pounds of grain for 10 gallons BIAB I mash at 1.25 , then do a dunk sparge with the remaining water, and get 83% efficiency (into the fermentor).

I use a 15 gallon Blichmann.

With 24 pounds of grain, what are you brewing that you need less than 10 gallons of wort? An Imperial stout? 12 pounds of grain for 5 gallons makes a 7.5% - 8% beer if mashed at 149.
If you cut the water to 4 gallons for 12 pounds (8 gallons into the fermentor with 24 pounds) you will get 9 - 9.5% - an imperial stout.


Why not mash at 1.25, and use a second pot for the dunk sparge and pour in the extra water as the wort in the kettle evaporates, so you end up with close to 10 gallons, call it 9 with Fermcap.