Boil in Bag Question

[Redwiggler]

I'm thinking of switching to biab method to save time and space. I have a 15 gallon pot and want to do 10 gallon batches. No more than a 20lb grain weight. What problems will i have doing this. I do it all the time with a 10 gallon cooler-sparge method. thanks

 

[unionrdr]

The only problem I can see with Brew In A Bag of that size is the weight of the wet,spent grains. That'll be a workout for sure.

 

[TopherM]

BTW, you DO NOT boil in the bag! You Brew in a Bag. The mash is done in the bag, NOT the boil

 

[RM-MN]

If you have a location where you can use a rope and pulley to help get the bag out of the pot and suspend it while it drains it will take a load off your arms and make the job more pleasant. I've seen eyebolts in the ceiling of a garage or a step ladder set over the pot to tie the rope to.

 

[Redwiggler]

BTW, you DO NOT boil in the bag! You Brew in a Bag. The mash is done in the bag, NOT the boil

Ooops! Thats what I ment. Sorry. Concerning the weight, i have a collender that fits in side the pot perfectly and plan on useing a hand wench to lift and drain. I can also buy a custom fit bag online. I was mainly worried about volumes and efficentcies.

 

[unionrdr]

As long as the bag allows you to stir the mash,efficiency should be high. Gotta evenly wet the grains & break up dough balls.

 

[TopherM]

I do up to 12 gallon full volume BIAB batches in my 15.5 gallon keggle with up to 22 lbs of grain, which leaves about 0.5 gallons of space in the mash with full water volume.

You'll be able to mash 20 lbs of grain and pull off a 10 gallon batch rather easily. Without doing the exact math, you need about 12 gallons of total water and displace up to about 14.7 gallons, so it should barely fit. If it's too tight, just save a bit of the volume to pour through the grain bed as a "sparge" at 170F following the mash.

 

[acidrain]

You may/will have to do a sparge step in order gather 12 gallons (assuming 2 gallons boil off). It's desirable to do full volume mash, but in your case, I don't think that will be possible.

 

[acidrain]

I do up to 12 gallon full volume BIAB batches in my 15.5 gallon keggle with up to 22 lbs of grain, which leaves about 0.5 gallons of space in the mash with full water volume.

You'll be able to mash 20 lbs of grain and pull off a 10 gallon batch rather easily. Without doing the exact math, you need about 12 gallons of total water and displace up to about 14.7 gallons, so it should barely fit. If it's too tight, just save a bit of the volume to pour through the grain bed as a "sparge" at 170F following the mash.

Ha, beat me to it, but I would never have guessed it would fit.