BIAB or Cooler Brew for 5.5 Gallon Kettle?

[Oyarsa]

I'm debating my next brew being with grains as opposed to my first two extract brews. The largest pot I have is 5.5 gallons. I do have a cooler I could convert to a mash tun. Which route would you go? BIAB or the cooler? If I go BIAB, I figure I would be making 2.5 gallon batches or so, correct? Would the cooler allow more?

 

[wilserbrewer]

With a simple batch sparge, you can produce plenty of wort with either BIAB in your kettle, or with a cooler mash tun.

After removing your grain bag from the kettle, dunk sparge it in an hdpe bucket, your cooler or anything food grade that holds water.

Heating your sparge water not required, but will save a little time.

Up to you....maybe try a 2 1/2 gallon batch first BIAB.

 

[soccerdad]

You can also easily BIAB a 3 gallon batch of lower gravity ( <1055) beer in a 5G kettle. That's 35 beers - give or take.

 

[Oyarsa]

Sounds like BIAB is the more sensible way to go. Easier cleanup. Any particular benefits of the cooler mash tun method? I haven't really seen anything, myself, if I am able to just sparge the BIAB to get more wort, and considering my kettle wouldn't be able to do much more in any case.

My last extract brew I did, I was aiming 2.66 gallons. If I remember, I used 3 gallons in the boil and I had to pull the kettle off several times for a few seconds to prevent it from boiling over. I think if I had been prepared with a spray bottle of water I would have been fine. I just didn't expect it to boil up THAT much...