I’m in the process of building an EBIAB system. As of right now, all I brewed are 5 gallon batches. Eventually I will move up to 10 gallon batches in the near future. I’m planning on purchasing a 20 gallon Spike kettle. My question is. Is a 20 gallon kettle too big for 5 gallon batches? I want the option to be able to 5 and 10 gallon batches.
BIAB kettle
- Thread starter Joon1975
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If you are going to be doing predominantly 10 gallon batches, I would go with the 20 gallon kettle, but if you will predominantly be doing 5 gallon batches, the 15 is a better fit.
20 is a lot of kettle if your typically brewing 5 gallons, and would be inconveniently large imo for 5 gallons.
20 is a lot of kettle if your typically brewing 5 gallons, and would be inconveniently large imo for 5 gallons.
It is too small for high gravity 10s but think hard about this. Generally youd make 10 gallons of session beer and 5 gallons of high octane. It lasts longer.
The spike kettles in particular have the element port up pretty high and you wont enjoy doing 5 gallons in there.
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
Get the 20 and dont look back. Youll need every bit of it for 10 gallon batches. 15 is not going to work. You have it keep in mind when you move to 10 gallons your doubling your grain. 25 pounds will be your average. I'l takes up alot of space in the pot. I'm around 4 inches from the pot after adding grain.
14 gallons water was exactly 12 gallons in the fermenters....maybe a tad less but close enough.
At aprox. 1 gallon an inch ( on my poy anyway) that would only leave you 1 inch before overflowing on a 15 gallon pot. And thats BEFORE adding grain....no chance it will work.
I've never done 5 gallons in my pot but 7 gallons I'm over the element. Scorching the bag with that little water is my concern.
For the few times I've wanted to do experimental 5 gallon batches I would never go back.
10 gallons is the EXACT same amount of work with twice the beer...its a no brainer
14 gallons water was exactly 12 gallons in the fermenters....maybe a tad less but close enough.
At aprox. 1 gallon an inch ( on my poy anyway) that would only leave you 1 inch before overflowing on a 15 gallon pot. And thats BEFORE adding grain....no chance it will work.
I've never done 5 gallons in my pot but 7 gallons I'm over the element. Scorching the bag with that little water is my concern.
For the few times I've wanted to do experimental 5 gallon batches I would never go back.
10 gallons is the EXACT same amount of work with twice the beer...its a no brainer
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Many people think they want to brew 10 gallons until they do it a few times. I was one of them. It's not about time efficiency for me. If 10 is better, why not go full barrel? That's probably only an extra hour of work for six times more beer. I just don't drink enough for it. A good way to test if you can handle the upgraded volume is to brew 5 gallons and every time you keg, go buy a similar commercial sixtel. It's going to slow your brewing down by half (or double your drinking). I personally rather brew more often. You can pull off the occasional 10 gallon batch in a 15-16 gallon pot. 13 gallons of water and 30 pounds of grain comes in at 15.25 in the kettle. Something like the Brewer's Beast 16 gallon pot can handle that and you get about 7.5% ABV.
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
I'm not so sure this is a good example. MANY people brew 5 gallons at a time and have keezers with 5 or taps. Granted its for different beer but its still beer drinking non the less
If you are ok with a pitcher or two of water to do a pour over sparge, 15 should be good.
I did a 10 gallon DIPA that was roughly 9% in my 15.5 Bayou, the only struggle was lifting that much grain even with the locking pulley was a bit awkward.
I did a 10 gallon DIPA that was roughly 9% in my 15.5 Bayou, the only struggle was lifting that much grain even with the locking pulley was a bit awkward.
I have a 20 gallon Spike kettle I had them make up for eBIAB. I had this setup for the exact reason you're mentioning. I haven't gotten to use it yet as I'm still finalizing getting the space setup. Here's a picture of what I had built. There's 4 TC ports on the bottom for element, temp probe, kettle drain, and whirlpool. One TC port on the top of the kettle for the steam slayer.
In this picture you can see where the bottom ports are located relative to the volume. With aroudn 6.5-7 gallons of water the 5 gallon batches are going to be interesting.
In this picture you can see where the bottom ports are located relative to the volume. With aroudn 6.5-7 gallons of water the 5 gallon batches are going to be interesting.
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
I would definitely get a false bottom to cover the element. Especially for the 5 gallon brews to keep the grain and bag from scorching.....might just be the saving grace for small batchesI have a 20 gallon Spike kettle I had them make up for eBIAB. I had this setup for the exact reason you're mentioning. I haven't gotten to use it yet as I'm still finalizing getting the space setup. Here's a picture of what I had built. There's 4 TC ports on the bottom for element, temp probe, kettle drain, and whirlpool. One TC port on the top of the kettle for the steam slayer.
In this picture you can see where the bottom ports are located relative to the volume. With aroudn 6.5-7 gallons of water the 5 gallon batches are going to be interesting.
I think I’m going to go with the one that BrewHardware has. First brew I was going to try doing a mash without the element on once it’s at strike temp.
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
I havent left the power on during the mash in a couple years.
My way brew day is to add water. Set PID to 154. While its heating up I mill the grain. Once at 154 I dump grain stir real good, cover pot and kill the power to the element. If the Temp drops below 152 while dumping grain due to the cool grain I flip on the power to the element for a minute or 2 at the most while stirring.THe 5500w element heats the water real quick, By killing the power you never have to worry about overshooting the temps. It only drops a few degrees over an hour with the power off. Most will say all the conversion happens in the first 15 minutes anyway and with the power off after 15 minutes I'm still at 152 so it really doesnt matter anyway.
Get your self a cheap handheld Themometer off Amazon for like $12. My pid reading is notoriously off by at least 8 degrees and thats after auto tuning. I could find and link the thermometer if your interested. I really dont even look at the temp on the pid because I know my cheap thermometer is dead on..its lasted me a few years and still going strong and we use it for cooking BBQ everything....best $12 homebrew investment I've made....cheers
I've got a handheld thermometer I can use. I just ordered the false bottom with 4.5" legs and will shorten them as needed. Probably won't be until a month or so that I actually get to brew anything on my new system though.
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
Ok heres a link anyway. Instant read is nice when your holding it over a hot kettle.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IHHLB3W/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
