Brew Kettle, 25 Gal SS too big for 5 Gal BIAB?

[cannman]

I love shopping...

I'm considering buying a 25 gallon Stainless Still brew kettle which I will fit to have a valve and false bottom for about $200. I'm considering such a large pot because (one day) I will hope to have a 14 gallon conical to brew about 10 gallons at a time (but I can do two 5 gal batches in the mean time with this equipment in glass carboys).

Calculations for a 10 gal batch via BIAB require 21.25 gallons in Mash Volume. So we know the 25 gal kettle is good for this.

BUTTTTTT

When I want to brew 5 gallon batches BIAB, will this product be too large for that application? 5 Gal batches require about 12.53 gal of mash space.

The dimensions are apx 19.5"x19.5"x19.5" over a 13" 30k BTU propane burner.

Thank you for your input!

 

[cannman]

Bump for the east coast waking up? . Wash your empties!!

 

[ram5ey]

I'm trying to figure out where your numbers come from. I do 5 gal biab and will usually have about 7.5 gal for a typical 1.055 batch which easily fits in a 10gal vessel. Why so much water?

 

[cannman]

I'm trying to figure out where your numbers come from.

From a BIAB calculator. I can send it to you if you'd like (keep in mind, this is an all in one BIAB with no separate sparage:

 

[ram5ey]

Yeah I don't buy it. Does your actual experience prove that it's right?

 

[cannman]

Yeah I don't buy it. Does your actual experience prove that it's right?

I've only done partial mash and a 5 gal batch pretty much took up a 6 gal tub. I was using that calculator to help buy the right sized pot for my desired 10 gal batch. The calculator is also new to me. I'm honestly looking more toward a 16 gal for this application, but once again, the calculator is telling me that the pot's size might be exceeded in a full mash.

 

[ram5ey]

Yeah. I wouldn't bee too worried about the larger vessel especially if you are planning to go bigger in the future. Pulse you could also pull off really big beers for biab since you have all that extra volume. I try to hot the 2.3-2.6 qt/lb ratio in most of my brews, but obviously I'm limited by my 10 gal vessel on bigger beers. I also squeeze the bag (which can be avoided by letting it drain from 30 minutes, but I'm not that patient.

 

[ram5ey]

Just another thing but the boil off rate on that seems a bit excessive.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I have a 24 gallon kettle, it is huge!
While I'm sure it could work for a five gallon batch, I think it would be inconveniently large, or ridiculously large....jmo.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[Rockn_M]

I've done 5 gallon batches in a 10 gallon pot without any problems. If you plan on doing 10 gallon batches that would work.

Also looking at the boil off rate over 3 gallons is a bit high. I typically get around 1 gallong per hour.

 

[Alt]

I'm not sure the 3 gallon evaporative loss estimate over a 86 minute boil is that far off. A 19.5" diameter kettle has twice the surface area of a typical 10 gallon kettle at 13.5". Factor that with a boil time that is almost an hour and a half, and the loss to evaporation should be about 3 times that of a typical 10 gallon kettle.