jason.mundy
BIAB Purist
Don't expect to go over 1.065 for a 5 gallon batch in a 10 gallon pot. Anything higher will require extract. (or smaller batches)
5 Gal BIAB Kettle Size
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theseeker4
Well-Known Member
Actually, I got up to 1.086 with efficiency in the 60's by using pour-over sparge, with almost 20 pounds of grain in a 10 gallon pot for a 5 gallon batch. It is true that you are quite limited if you use the entire volume of water for the mash, but by sparging the grain you can bump the OG a LOT higher than 1.065 in a 10 gallon pot.
FizzerNoob
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If you can achieve 80% brew house, which many report, you could squeeze a 1.086 beer out of a 10 gallon MLT.
Nice. Not to be a story topper, but to be a story topper
Back in the spring I did a barley wine. 23 pounds in a 10 gallon pot, dunk sparge, 73% efficiency. OG 1.102.This was before I got my overhead hoist rigged up. That was one heavy bag.
wilserbrewer
BIAB Expert Tailor
Nice. Not to be a story topper, but to be a story topper
This was before I got my overhead hoist rigged up. That was one heavy bag.
Ah you should have done a double dunk/batch sparge, maybe next time you could top your story topper haha!
Always a work around IMO cheers!
I've got a 12.5 Concord and have done a few 8.25 batches with it & it was cheap too 5.5 batches are a breeze with it-- When I bought it I thought I'd still be able to pull a bag on the stove top was my reason for buying 12.5 no luck--had to move to the garage last January and regret not getting a 15 gallon had I known I was moving outside I wouldn't have considered anything smaller than the 15 gal.
My neighbor wants a kettle I told him yesterday not to buy anything smaller than 15 gallon--
My neighbor wants a kettle I told him yesterday not to buy anything smaller than 15 gallon--
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jason.mundy
BIAB Purist
Yes you are brewing, using a bag... but it is not BIAB when you add extra sparging steps. At this point, you might want to use a mash tun.
But it does show ingenuity for pushing the equipment you have. Cheers.
I think this is the second time I've heard this in the past week. Please, for those who are new to BIAB, know that this is not the view point a vast majority of us hold. You can call it BIAB, even with a sparge, and we won't judge you.
Edit: looking back, twice in this same thread! What is this world coming to?
theseeker4
Well-Known Member
Maybe a mash tun would be a nice addition, but right now I don't see the need for the extra equipment or to add the extra cost. If from a purist POV it isn't technically BIAB, that is fine, but it is a way to brew, using a bag, and get a lot more than the 1.065 gravity from a 10 gallon pot quoted above. That was the only point of my comment.
I don't get it either. Why anyone would want to restrict their methods to conform to some random definition of a stupid acronym is beyond me.
I brew in a hybrid boil kettle/direct fired MLT with an unblockable post-mash removable manifold. Just rolls off the tongue, no?
I'm disqualified from calling it BIAB if I use step mashes with infusions or decoctions, carry out a pour over sparge or diverge in any way from a single infusion full-volume no-sparge process.
LLBeanJ
Well-Known Member
So, we can shorten it to BIAHBK/DFMLTwUPMRM? I like it!
Yes, you, sir, are a heretic and are hereby from this moment banned from ever referring to yourself as a BIAB brewer. Unfortunately, I incorporate a sparge step in my BIAB brewing and also occasionally do step mashes, so I am, likewise, a heretic and will now institute a self-imposed ban on describing myself as a BIAB brewer. It's okay, though, I have always thought the term "Brew In A Bag" was rather lame as it misrepresents the actual process. More accurate terms would be: 1) Mash In A Bag (MIAB), Mash In A Kettle (MIAK), or my personal favorite, Single Vessel Brewing (SVB).
I will from this day forward refer to my brewing process as SVB so as to not offend any true BIAB brewers out there.
Is there a "SVB unite!" thread?
We really need a support group lest we wither and die following our banishment and shunning by the purists out there.
www.BIAHBK/DFMLTwUPMRM.com Gotta be worth a few groats?
jason.mundy
BIAB Purist
Seems fitting.... (10 characters)
SVB, I like it!
brew-bandit
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What is this pure definition stuff? Why not do traditional mash and fly sparge in a bag and ditch the false bottom? Bag, false bottom strainer... What's the difference?
I can sparge with BIAB or multi stage method or I can do full volume do volume and add a pound of grain to make up for efficiency.
Just brew good beer and progress the process, science and art that is brewing!
I can sparge with BIAB or multi stage method or I can do full volume do volume and add a pound of grain to make up for efficiency.
Just brew good beer and progress the process, science and art that is brewing!
pricelessbrewing
Brewer's Friend Software Manager
Yeah, let's not get stuck in redefining stuff like that other forum...
In my mind, if you use a bag then it's biab. What the bag is in, I don't really care. Nor how much of your water you're using for the mash.
I guess in my case it would be single vessel, full volume, no mash out, single infusion biab with the occasional no chill.
Oh yeah, svfvnmosibiabwtonc. Rolls right off the tongue.
In my mind, if you use a bag then it's biab. What the bag is in, I don't really care. Nor how much of your water you're using for the mash.
I guess in my case it would be single vessel, full volume, no mash out, single infusion biab with the occasional no chill.
Oh yeah, svfvnmosibiabwtonc. Rolls right off the tongue.
LLBeanJ
Well-Known Member
No! I'm sorry but this will not stand. It's not BIAB unless you're brewing on the Australian continent and terminate every sentence with "Mate." C'mon now, everyone knows this.
Now you're talkin'. Whatever you do, don't delude yourself into believing THAT is BIAB.
jason.mundy
BIAB Purist
The original question was if he can use a 10G kettle for 5G BIAB batches. If you don't have a definition for BIAB, then it is much harder to understand the answers.
Shawn_Brewin
Well-Known Member
BIAB was designed for Simplicity and to brew with cost savings in mind. When you have to add an extra step to dunk sparge, rinse sparge, or whatever else is out there you aren't doing it to save time, you are doing it to add time to your brew day and save $1.50 on grain! It doesn't add flavour, quality, or easement to your brew day. If getting high efficiency is your goal and you. Wanna brag about your 92% efficiency then get a mash tun and practice your fly sparge technique.
Short of that listen to a Podcast from the originator of the process Patrick Hollingdale and try to understand what it's all about.
http://beersmith.com/blog/2011/02/24/brew-in-a-bag-biab-down-under-beersmith-podcast-10/
Short of that listen to a Podcast from the originator of the process Patrick Hollingdale and try to understand what it's all about.
http://beersmith.com/blog/2011/02/24/brew-in-a-bag-biab-down-under-beersmith-podcast-10/
pricelessbrewing
Brewer's Friend Software Manager
Being a pioneer doesn't mean you're the best at something, or even that you have any say in the definition of a thing not evolving beyond what you original outlined. If people want to eek out a couple more % instead of paying a buck on extra grain then let them. Long as it's consistent, they should happy with whatever process they use.
Example: Isaac Newton, yeah he was a brilliant man but if he saw what calculus has become today he'd need like a week of intro just to definitions and notation. Most of which he would be familiar with, but under different names and symbols.
Example: Cars and henry ford. Again, pretty good idea of adding the assembly line but he would probably have a hard time following modern car design, and production or electric cars for that matter.
Yes I agree, you should keep it simple where possible, but brew however you like.
/smallrant
Example: Isaac Newton, yeah he was a brilliant man but if he saw what calculus has become today he'd need like a week of intro just to definitions and notation. Most of which he would be familiar with, but under different names and symbols.
Example: Cars and henry ford. Again, pretty good idea of adding the assembly line but he would probably have a hard time following modern car design, and production or electric cars for that matter.
Yes I agree, you should keep it simple where possible, but brew however you like.
/smallrant
Shawn_Brewin
Well-Known Member
What are you improving on that makes sense? Things evolve, I Understand that, it's what got us humans to were we are, but to do things that completely contradict the fundamentals of what a process is all about and then to call it "evolving" is incorrect. When you change the process, It's a completely different process, done for its own reasons, not done for its original intent.
I am guessing you didn't listen to the Podcast. If you. Are gonna associate your self with BIAB then learn the process. You don't see people changing the rules on decoction mashing do you? So why can't you just leave BIAB alone?
I am guessing you didn't listen to the Podcast. If you. Are gonna associate your self with BIAB then learn the process. You don't see people changing the rules on decoction mashing do you? So why can't you just leave BIAB alone?
iijakii
Well-Known Member
Maybe you are different, but pouring a gallon or two of water from a pitcher over the bag isn't too complex to me. Maybe extract would be much to your liking?
Sparging BIABers, unite!
theseeker4
Well-Known Member
One person says you can't get over 1.065 gravity using a ten gal pot for
BIAB, others comment on getting 1.1+ gravity by adding a sparge step, and you are asking "what are you improving on that makes sense?" Sounds to me like you are a little too hung up on semantics and dogmatic definitions, but what do I know, I didn't listen to the podcast...
jmpreiks
Well-Known Member
I thought this thread should have been a pretty simple Q&A.... where the hell are we going here???
Shawn_Brewin
Well-Known Member
So u just turn you tap to hot, fill a pitcher and let her fly??? Sure hope I get get try one of your beers one day...
We are getting drastically off topic here, Op I you want to brew BIAB style 15 Gal. Is what you need, you can do it in a 10 Gal. But you are going to need to add an extra step.
iijakii
Well-Known Member
So u just turn you tap to hot, fill a pitcher and let her fly??? Sure hope I get get try one of your beers one day...
We are getting drastically off topic here, Op I you want to brew BIAB style 15 Gal. Is what you need, you can do it in a 10 Gal. But you are going to need to add an extra step.
Educate yoself son http://braukaiser.com/blog/blog/2009/05/12/cold-water-sparging/
10-11gallon pot works fine for full-volume no sparge brewing. No extra-steps needed. Extra-steps may be however desired for a variety of reasons. Step-mashing, decoctions are all quite doable and fun with a bag as a manifold via single vessel brewing. Extra-steps are definitely not needed. The image I posted earlier in the thread is very typical of a 1.050 ish beer with a full volume mash in my pot.
If you too aspire to be a "BIAB purist" and only do full-volume no-sparge mashes (I have done many with good results) 10 gallons will work just fine.
You definitely do not need a 15 gallon pot. If however you favor bigger beers 1.070+ a 12-15 gallon would certainly make things simpler if planning 5-6 gallon batches.
I usually make 1.040 to 1.060 beers and my 11gallon pot (nominal 10gallon) is optimal in my view.
For a very large beer, for sure, I would need to digress from the traditionalist's approach and incorporate some form of sparge with warm or cold water. No problemo
If you too aspire to be a "BIAB purist" and only do full-volume no-sparge mashes (I have done many with good results) 10 gallons will work just fine.
You definitely do not need a 15 gallon pot. If however you favor bigger beers 1.070+ a 12-15 gallon would certainly make things simpler if planning 5-6 gallon batches.
I usually make 1.040 to 1.060 beers and my 11gallon pot (nominal 10gallon) is optimal in my view.
For a very large beer, for sure, I would need to digress from the traditionalist's approach and incorporate some form of sparge with warm or cold water. No problemo
Shawn_Brewin
Well-Known Member
I was trying to make a point there, guess that flew over your head. There is more to it then "oh just poor some water over your grain" I know I am not as technical as you guys, all I am saying is the gain you get from adding your extra step is minimal, you don't gain anything from it but a couple points on efficiency. Your wasting your time for $1.50 in grains.
iijakii
Well-Known Member
And that's a fair point to make. But people saying that's not BIAB are just bonkers.
I agree that BIAB should be kept very simple. All I'm saying is that pouring some water (yes, it is that simple) over a draining bag really isn't adding any complexity or effort besides lifting a pitcher of water. Worth a couple bucks per brew to me, but that 100% fine if you'd rather not do that. But also this simple method can keep someone from unnecessarily upgrading to a larger pot, which saves more money and effort.
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