BIAB Brewing (with pics)

The 30 would seem to small IMO, though I have never used a basket. I am curious why you feel you need the basket?

 

30qt = 7.5 gallons and this is a bit small for 5-gallon no-sparge BIAB batches. I'd get the 44qt instead.

 

I like the baskets because the handle provides a convenient and secure lifting point when using a pulley. It also allows you to leave the basket/grain hanging over the kettle so you can take your time squeezing the grain with something like a flat lid while it drains.

Sure it's possible to lift/drain/etc without the basket... but personally I find using the basket a bit easier.

 

the basket size would be fine. the pot size is what really matters. get a 44qt pot and use a 30qt basket. or spend the money on a 44qt basket.. or skip the basket and spend that money on grain.

 

I have only done two AG biab attempts and both times I have ripped or burnt my grain bag. Possibly because of large grain bills

 

I have two 50lb sacks of grain ready to go! I use a keggle that I made

 

I did an IPA batch today with BIAB equipment identical to Seven's at the start of this thread. The grain bill was 14 lbs. Per the recipe I mashed at 152* for 75 minutes. Raised the tempature to 168* for 10 minutes stirring most of that time. I ended up with 67% efficency into the fermenter according to BeerSmith. Now I certainly don't have a problem with that but what kind of things could I do differently to up it a some?

 

the biggest thing will be the crush. If you're using a bag made from voile then you can go pretty fine for a crush. If you have your LBHS crush for you then have them double crush it. If you crush your own then crush it finer.

 

I know the whole idea here is full volume mash but to get better efficiency I do 1.5 qt per pound. Then i sparge with the bag on top of a grate sitting across the top of my kettle. Just pour whatever amount of 170F water sorta slowly in through the top of the bag to reach your desired pre boil volume. While the bag is dripping into the kettle i fire up the burner for boil.

And I crush pretty fine.

 

How is it easy to do 10 gallon batches with the 15 gallon kettle? I had planned to go with a 3 keggle system and do 10 gallon batches, but the cheapest I can find sanke kegs are $100 each, plus at least $100 to ship them to me. This price alone has me considering staying with 5 gallon batches and doing BIAB with a blichmann 10 gallon kettle. If I can do 10 gallons once in a while I'd spring for the 15 gallon...

 

not sure where you live but checking craigslist for kegs can locate several kegs that are $35-55. Or make friends with a bar owner or bartender. a lot of times they'll have a keg or 2 that they can't return to their supplier. they'll either give them to you or sell them real cheap. 10 gallons is very easy in a 15 gallon kettle or a 15.5 gallon keggle. On real big beers you might have to dunk sparge to get enough wort to boil down for 10 gallons but it is very possible.

 

It's near impossible to find kegs for sale on classifieds here. I live in Newfoundland and bars with beer in tap aren't common. While I worked for a grocery distributers I talked to countless bar owners and restaurant owners and nobody would sell me a keg. Closest I can find them are from a recycling company in Ontario. Brewing supplies are very expensive here. Anything out of the ordinary has to be special ordered.
I called the bigger brewing supply store in the area to order a blichmann beer gun and they hadn't even heard of blichmann, and I had to actually explain what the beer gun was. They got some beer guns and 10 gallon kettles in stock now. Beer guns are $129 with the accessory kit and the 10 gallon kettles are $399. Bigger ones have to be ordered. I wish there was a cheaper solution to this but I'm not sure which route I want to go with my brewing because of the lack of supplies and high prices. I'd much rather do 10 gallon batches, but doing 5 mostly and a 10 gallon once in an while would be manageable.

 

You should have no problems doing 10 gallon with a 15 gallon kettle using BIAB.

You might need to topup a little bit after the mash, but that's about it. And if you're topping up, you might as well pour the topup water through your bag and call it a sparge

If you *really* wanted you could produce 10 gallons with a 10 gallon kettle, but you'd have to do sparging, pre, post and boiltime topups and its a big PITA. Lookup Maxi-BIAB to find how

 

Yeah I guess it wouldn't be too difficult. I've done a 6 gallon batch in a 32qt kettle so it would be the same process just more liquid and grains.

How many of you 5 gallon BIAB guys are happy staying with 5 gallons? I'm basically the only one drinking my brew, so maybe I should just stick with 5...

 

what is the largest batch size that can be done with this method?

 

In this "method" Spiedel makes a 200 liter machine. It includes a lift arm to winch up the grain.

 

All you guys out there doing 5 gallon batches, are you happy with that? I'm usually the only one drinking my brew, so I'm starting to think 5 gallon batches will be enough for my needs. How many 5 gallon guys wish they had the equipment for bigger batches?

 

I'm happy with 6 gallon batches. If I don't get two full cases of beer in the end out, it leaves me feeling unfulfilled. Literally and figuratively. If my batch size is only five, I only end up with ~42-45 bottles.

 

I do 5 gallon BIAB batches. Usually brew once a month on average. Enough to keg one batch and then bottle the next batch keeping the pipeline full. If I brewed in larger batches it would be less effort, but I'd get less variety which I don't want to give up.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I'm still doing starter kits, and start with 23 liters/6 gallons, though i always say 5 gallon batches. This usually leaves me with right at, or damn near 5 gallons to bottle. No matter which batch size I decide to use I'll be shooting a little higher to end up with 5/10 gallons into the kegs.
Thats a good point, the smaller batches allowing for more variety in brewing. Great input guys keep it coming!

 

Batch size is what you end up with, not what you start with, so you are saying it right.

 

I do 5.5 gallon batches and it's perfect for us because we don't go through it very quickly. I think I'd get bored drinking the same beer over and over if I did 10 gallon batches. Plus, I enjoy the brewing process so brewing smaller batches more frequently is enjoyable to me.

 

A 5 gal batch is 2 cases of beer. And unless you are into light beers i think 2 cases a month is enough. Though i wish i had case of Saison everyday..

 

It would be enough if my father-in-law, wife, three friends, and co-workers weren't into my beer!!

 

I choose to only do 5 gallons at a time and I personally am very happy with that. I drink most of it myself and my wife will have a few pints here and there. It takes me about 5 weeks to finish a keg. I need to get one more corny and then my system will be dialed in!

 

.

 

I also do "5" gallon batches for variety reasons and since it is plenty for my own consumption (wife won't drink beer, but now she has me doing hard cider since I've got all the gear). It does make it a bit more tricky for the times that you are needing to brew for occasions where you are entertaining others. My particular challenge is our annual 4th of July get together where last year I had to time things out so I had about a barrel kegged and ready to go for 2 days of fun- while still having brew to consume durring and in between all that brewing (helps that I have 8 - 5gal corny kegs, and a 3 gal in my inventory so I can celler things and stock up).

Hind sight being 20/20 and needing a reason to upgrade the brewery is all fine and dandy, but if your just starting off from BIAB scratch, I would suggest springing for a brew kettle that will allow for 10 gal batches (so you need at least a 15 gal). You can easily do 5 gal batches in that for when it's just you, but you can also do a double batch when you have to keep the friends and family happy. That said, you will need to consider how to approach your fermenting set up (do you go with a big vessel for the big batches, or do you split it into two smaller ones).

When I got back into brewing I swore off pails and carboys and went stainless conical, and considered getting a large enough conical to do 10 or 15 gal batches, but it was pointed out by the equipment pros that once you go to the bigger vessels (this includes kettles), there's no moving them once they are filled (at least not by yourself) so you either need a crew to help, or you will need to spring for pumps etc.

I would say ideally (and what I'm working towards as upgrades) would be a "10" gal batch kettle with 2 "5" gal batch conicals (have one, so I "need" a second conny) so you can do a big batch when you need to and split it into the two fermenters, and all the other time you can have two different brews alternating between the two fermentors in which you can do big beers that need more time to finish for yourself, while pumping thru session brews in the other fermenter for all your "home brew groupies"


best of both worlds.

 

I saw some discussion on the earlier pages of this thread but it didn't seem to go into detail of where people were getting their voile bags from. I just got a 15 gal keggle and would like to move from extract to BIAB method. Is there someplace that creates these voile bags? I don't even want to attempt sewing one myself, that would turn out very poorly. Thanks for any help!

 

Brew in a Bag - Brew In a Bag - Home

These are excellent bags. He makes them to perfectly fit keggles.

 

Ok, I'll get my equipment to do 10 gallon batches so I won't have to upgrade later! Now to find a sanke, rather than spend $500 on the 15g blichmann kettle, lol

 

Tyring to get the equipment together to get started on BIAB and save a few bones at the same time.....Has anyone purchased one of the cheaper stainless steel 15g pots (or other size) on amazon (or elsewhere) and added the no weld ball valve themselves? Any issues with this?

Is a regular turkey fryer burner okay to use? I know they are not the sturdiest structures in the world, but I already own one...thanks

 

This^^ x2.

Jeff makes a quality product that I can personally vouch for (been using mine for over 2 years now).

DO a quick search, I believe there is another member (or two) here that sells bags.

 

Yes people add valves to both aluminum and stainless pots. Be advised that having a valve is a matter of convenience, you can also siphon out of the kettle when cool.

 

Good point about the siphoning....thanks

 

Thanks cowgo, that is exactly what I was looking for. As soon as I get my keggle and new burner I'll be placing an order for one of these. I don't know how I am going to rig up a pulley system in my backyard, I may just be holding up the bag with grains by hand for as long as possible before passing out from exhaustion! :cross:

 

Tall ladder straddling the pot. Google Alton brown good eats turkey fryer episode.

 

Put a step ladder over your rig to provide something to hoist/hang the bag from.

Oops, typing too slow again.....sfrisby beat me to it.

 

I've been using a turkey fryer burner and a 10 gallon aluminum pot for years. In fact I just recently up-sized to a keggle so I could do huge beers or 10 gallon batches. The keggle I added a weldless ball valve too.. the Aluminum pot didn't need it. After cooling either siphon it or dump the entire thing into a bucket primary. I could have siphoned from the keggle and that would have been one less headache to deal with (to a while to get it to not leak).

 

That may work, I'll have to atleast give it a try.

 

+1

Except for the SS conical

I use a couple of pales, and find the only way to keep up with demand for the bug summer parties and groupies is to more or less continuously ferment ale batches (2 every 3 weeks)

I now have a 26 gallon pot so can do very large batches and a 15 gallon fermenter. But it's a pita compared to the 7 gallon pails