Biab

[msa8967]

Hi there,

Yes, I use the 5 gallon paint strainer bags and I have not had any issues whatsoever. I keep three on hand just in case though I will brew a barleywine next weekend, 5 gallons, 1.115 OG! Should be a good one, will need to use 2 bags and 2 mash tuns.

Any problem with the bag being in contact with the bottom of the kettle and getting to hot while maintaining the mash temps?

 

[Stauffbier]

Any problem with the bag being in contact with the bottom of the kettle and getting to hot while maintaining the mash temps?

It can melt to the bottom of your kettle if you direct fire to maintain mash temp. Try not to let it touch the bottom, or make a false bottom.

 

[enkamania]

Any problem with the bag being in contact with the bottom of the kettle and getting to hot while maintaining the mash temps?

I use a 44 qt fryer basket in a 62 qt pot. Prior to that, I used a small steamer basket, both work well.

 

[kylefree]

Ive been doing kits for 6 months now and I'm ready to start working on my own recipes or at least variations of recipes I find online, BIAB is my best choice as I lack the space and funds for cooler mash tuns, etc.

Would I be able to pull off BIAB in my 8 gal kettle? I ask because I saw a post on a different site's forum that someone did BIAB in an 8 gal kettle.

 

[RM-MN]

Ive been doing kits for 6 months now and I'm ready to start working on my own recipes or at least variations of recipes I find online, BIAB is my best choice as I lack the space and funds for cooler mash tuns, etc.

Would I be able to pull off BIAB in my 8 gal kettle? I ask because I saw a post on a different site's forum that someone did BIAB in an 8 gal kettle.

I don't know if you can but I brew 5 gallon batched in a 7 1/2 gallon turkey fryer. It works better if I don't try to fit in all the water plus my grains for a no sparge. I'm a bit scared when the last of the grain goes in and there is only half an inch above the wort but now I use a little less water and then do a pour through sparge and it works out fine. You will have to be careful to control your heat as you can boil off too much in the hour long boil but if you do see it happening you can add water back to bring it to the right amount.

This morning I did a half size batch in a 5 gallon stock pot. I started with about 3 1/2 gallons of water for the mash, then used about another quart to sparge with and came out with my 2 1/2 gallons in the fermenter.

To do my sparge I put a colander in another bowl and put the bag of grains in there. When I have squeezed out all the wort I can I open the bag and use a big spoon to move the grains around to loosen them a bit. Then I pour cold water in, stirring the grains while I add it, then close the bag and squeeze out the remaining wort. I dump the bowl into the boiling pot from time to time so the bag of grain isn't setting in the wort I squeezed out. the only bad thing this morning is I missed my OG. It was supposed to come out 1.045 and I only got 1.054. :cross:

 

[Foosier]

8 gals should be fine for a smaller grain bill. However, you will likely find a 10 gallon pot allows you to do a lot more.

I have a 10 gal pot and 12 pounds of grain and 7.75 gal of water leaves me with maybe a gal of free space during the mash. 8 gal would obviously not work for that.

You can always mash with less water and then dunk sparge in another vessel (pot or bucket) if your grain bill is too tight for your pot.

 

[RM-MN]

8 gals should be fine for a smaller grain bill. However, you will likely find a 10 gallon pot allows you to do a lot more.

I have a 10 gal pot and 12 pounds of grain and 7.75 gal of water leaves me with maybe a gal of free space during the mash. 8 gal would obviously not work for that.

You can always mash with less water and then dunk sparge in another vessel (pot or bucket) if your grain bill is too tight for your pot.

Isn't it fun to have all these options when you are brewing. I always start with way less water than that but I boil it on my kitchen range (yes I have a burner that will boil 6+ gallons) and have such good temperature control that I can keep a slow rolling boil without boiling off so much.