8 Gallon Pot

[Culln5]

Hey Guys,
I'm thinking of moving form extracts to BIAB.... Can I realistically do 5 gallon batches in my 8 gallon pot? What size bags and other equipment would be needed?

George

 

[RM-MN]

Hey Guys,
I'm thinking of moving form extracts to BIAB.... Can I realistically do 5 gallon batches in my 8 gallon pot? What size bags and other equipment would be needed?

George

I do 5 gallon batches in a 7.5 gallon pot. Whether you can or not is a different question. I can use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag in my pot but it might not fit your 8 gallon depending on the diameter of the pot.

Wilserbrewer, a regular contributor and vendor on here makes custom fit bags and customers give him rave reviews.

I use a plastic bowl and a colander so I can remove the bag and let it drain a bit, adding that back into the pot, then squeeze out all the wort that I can and add that back too. If I don't have what preboil volume I want, I pour cold water into the bag of grains, stir it up, then squeeze it out again and add that back to the pot.

With your 8 gallon pot you'll have to be careful not to boil it over, especially just as it comes to a boil as the proteins (hot break) will want to make a cap of bubbles. If you can control the heat that you add so you don't boil off a lot, you'll be fine. If you boil too hard and end up short on wort, you can add a bit more water during the boil.

 

[solbes]

I brew 5 gallon BIAB batches in a 7.5 gallon pot. Max OG I get with my setup is around 1.062 (12-13 lbs grain). Anything higher and I supplement with LME.

A 10 gallon pot would ideal, but an 8 will work fine.

 

[sikkingj]

An 8 gallon pot will not work for larger (1.060+) beers, go with a 10 gallon minimum or better yet a 15 gallon pot from the beginning and save yourself the hassle of managing the boil overs, upgrading in a few months, etc.

I do not recall from your post, but I assume you are brewing inside, if so 8 gallons might be all you can bring to a boil on your stove.m When I moved to brewing outside with propane, I upgraded to a 15 gallon pot. With this size pot I've brewed 1.10 size beers and absolutely love it.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[LLBeanJ]

As other have said, 10g would be ideal, but 8g would work fine. If you do a small sparge you can accommodate larger beers. I have an 8g and have done brews up to 1.090 with room to spare by using a 2g sparge.

 

[RM-MN]

An 8 gallon pot will not work for larger (1.060+) beers, go with a 10 gallon minimum or better yet a 15 gallon pot from the beginning and save yourself the hassle of managing the boil overs, upgrading in a few months, etc.

I do not recall from your post, but I assume you are brewing inside, if so 8 gallons might be all you can bring to a boil on your stove.m When I moved to brewing outside with propane, I upgraded to a 15 gallon pot. With this size pot I've brewed 1.10 size beers and absolutely love it.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

I've brewed a 1.072 beer in a 7.5 gallon pot. Maybe an 8 gallon won't work for you but it would for me.

 

[calvey]

Like the others said, it can be done. I have a small pot and wrote up this calculator to help figure out how much water I needed and how much volume the grain bag and water would take up total: http://biabcalculator.com

 

[wilserbrewer]

An 8 gallon pot will not work for larger (1.060+) beers,

Yes agreed, an 8 gallon pot will be limited if doing a full volume mash. Not to nit pic, but one could mash about 24 lbs of grain in an 8 gallon pot, but then will need to dunk sparge in a bucket.

I have no idea where 24 lbs in a 5 gallon batch will take you gravity wise, but pretty strong and way north of 1.060.

 

[Culln5]

OK, it appears that I can at least get started with my 8 gallon pot and maybe consider going bigger at a later time. My local HBS is offering a BIAB class this weekend that includes classroom instruction, hands on brewing, a BIAB ingredient kit, and tap room samples..... All for $25!.... How can I go wrong?

George

 

[wilserbrewer]

$25, I'd give you that for free if you come here and do the work to make some beer under my instruction....

Just kidding around, sounds like a good value and learning experience.
Cheers

 

[paperairplane]

Right now I have a 7 gal pot and a 9 gal pot. I use the big pot for my BIAB and use the smaller as a HLT. I usually heat about 4 gal in the big pot with another 4 in the smaller. Mash in, stir like a champ - then I put in as much of the water from the small pot in, final stir, make sure I'm at temp and let it mash.

If I need to, I sparge or dunk with the small pot, squeeeeze, drain, combine and boil.

I did a 1078 stout this weekend this way, easy-peezy.

PS - get a ratchet hoist.