BIABish question

[thirstymug]

Hi guys. So I'm trying to decide on my next brew, and I have been looking at the different kits Extract, partial, AG. Right now I'm kinda limited by some of my equipment. I have 2, 5 gallon kettles + a selection of coolers. I haven’t set up a cooler yet too be a dedicated mash tun. But I really like what I have read about biab.

Well I was reading through the BIAB stickyed thread and It seems like my kettles are really too small to do a true biab for a 5 gallon batch, but I got the idea why not "mash in a bag"? I'm thinking out loud here but I have a nice cooler that could surly fit the volumes of wart and grain to make a 5 gallon 1060 ish beer. Then I could just pull and drain the grain bag like normal biab, then siphon or just pull the cooler plug and drain the wort into multiple kettles?

This will only be my third brew so I'm wondering if I overlooked some obvious problem with this plan. I'm still trying to pick my kit but I kinda have it in my head that I want some kind of rye beer. I'm definitely not close to being able to lager yet but I had a Hoss rye lager the other day that was real good.

Thanks for any tips!

 

[paraordnance]

Mash in bag in cooler will certainly work, but "drain wort in multiple kettles" confuses me. You still need at least 7 gal kettle to boil your 5.5 gal batch. You can get alluminium pot for $40-50 in restaurant supply store but then the whole cooler idea becomes obsolete since you can mash right in kettle like I do

 

[thirstymug]

Mash in bag in cooler will certainly work, but "drain wort in multiple kettles" confuses me. You still need at least 7 gal kettle to boil your 5.5 gal batch. You can get alluminium pot for $40-50 in restaurant supply store but then the whole cooler idea becomes obsolete since you can mash right in kettle like I do

I guess I'd rater put the 40-50$ towards a 15-20 gal kettle. (I'm kinda leaning towards a keggle) I'm kinda just looking to crutch through till I get a big pot, and at the same time, open the door to more types of beer kits.

 

[onipar]

I've definitely heard of people doing the boil in separate kettles, but it opens up a lot of variables such as hop efficiency, and how to split the two batches up, etc.

You could always just do a BIAB partial mash, or maybe even an AG partial boil...

Oh, and there's also the 3 gallon AG BIAB, that would probably work with the cooler and one 5 gallon kettle. As long as you mash in the cooler, the 5 gallon kettle should be big enough for the boil.

 

[wherestheyeast]

I recently brewed a 2.5 gal BIAB IPA(sg 1060) that required ~4.75gallons of total water with 6.5 lbs of grain. I'm not sure that'd fit in your 5 gal pot, but you could fit what you can and 'dunk sparge' in your other pot, combine the 2 for the boil.

***this was my very first ag/viable attempt, so I may not know what the hell I'm talking 'bout!***

Oh, also - the calculations I was given at biabrewer.info was for 2.5 gals finished product out of fermented.

 

[Genjin]

You can do it, especially if you go with a three gallon batch. That way you can get the all grain experience and get decent efficiency on the grain.

If you want to do a five gallon batch, I would recommend mashing about 6-7lb of grain with extra light/golden extract to get you up to the gravity you wan't and then top up with water after the boil. I have done some really nice batches that way. You have a lot of advantages of mashing (e.g. interesting base malts like Vienna and MO, using adjuncts like oats or flaked grains, etc.) and can still do five gallons with simple equipment.

 

[thirstymug]

Thanks for the replies I figured/worried that I might be over simplifying things, but what the heck, I'm gonna give it a shot. Hell with a little luck I'll have a keggle ready in time to brew.

Right now my short list for the next kit is:
(from northern brewer)
Denny's Wry Smile Rye IPA All-Grain Kit
Rye Stout All-Grain Kit
Oatmeal Stout All-Grain Kit