I'm only 3 batches in, all extract and wanting to take the next plunge. My LHBS has all grain kits and I am wondering if I can do these as BIAB. The recipe I am specifically looking at is 11 lbs 2 row and 2lbs carmel 20l. Says to mash at 150-152 but no mash time. I figure its prob an hour but thats a guess. So my queation is can I do these as a BIAB and if so give me some pointers. I have an 8 gallon pot. Is that big enough? Thanks
Can I Brew in a bag?
- Thread starter indymedic
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Your 8 gallon pot is minimal but I have done several batches in 7 1/2. How about making the step a little lower? Instead of a 5 gallon kit, buy ingredients for a recipe and only buy enough for 2 1/2 gallons. You'll have half the investment in the ingredients and plenty of space in your 8 gallon pot. The traditional mash time is 60 minutes. If your grains are milled fine, you can mash for less time, if the milling is too coarse, stretch that out to 90 minutes to give the water time to wet the particles and leach the sugars back out.
Any all grain recipe or kit can be done BIAB. It's just a different kind of mash tun and the filtering is done with a bag instead of using the grain husks.
Any all grain recipe or kit can be done BIAB. It's just a different kind of mash tun and the filtering is done with a bag instead of using the grain husks.
You won't be able to fit all your water plus grains into 8 gallon pot. What you can do is use less water during mash and add what you need after mash, pre boil.
Yes mash is usually for an hour. You can do a higher mash when mashing in at lower temps but usually it isn't needed. 152 for 60 minutes is good.
Before diving in, I'd suggest reading about all grain. Once you get a few concepts down, it is really simple.
Yes mash is usually for an hour. You can do a higher mash when mashing in at lower temps but usually it isn't needed. 152 for 60 minutes is good.
Before diving in, I'd suggest reading about all grain. Once you get a few concepts down, it is really simple.
Yes, a five gallon batch a little tight but certainly doable in an 8 gallon kettle.
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indymedic
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Ok I have been reading about all grain with plans to start doing full mashes. Then I started looking at biab and thought that was a good transition. I figured it was posible just wanted to get conformation. I haven't talked to my lhbs yet so im sure they can answer a lot of my questions. Main questions would be starting volumes. I have done some biab research but I guess just need some extra advice.
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indymedic
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Great thanks.
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On occasion I have taken a 5G all grain recipe kit and split it into two at 2.5G each
Brew_G
Well-Known Member
This was good advice.
For a point of reference, I have a 9-gallon pot and I've done full-volume, no-sparge mashes with a grain bill of over 11 lbs. It was pushing it, but it worked. The last few times, I've done one-gallon sparges, and that seems to work really well for me. For your pot, you should be able to mash something petty close to mine. There are some good calculators out there that can give you a feel for how much water+grain you can fit into your pot. Once you know that, you can sparge with whatever you need to make up the difference.
Good luck!
A fairly simple calculator specifically targeted for BIAB can be found here: http://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/
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1977Brewer
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I went crazy and ran 14 lbs with a 4 gallon bucket and kettle, and the world's smallest colander. It works but it also totally sucks. I'd imagine an 8 gallon kettle will serve you quite well. Get a big colander. Bigger than the diameter of your kettle, or use a pulley. I'm going the pulley route, I think.
pricelessbrewing
Brewer's Friend Software Manager
Doing a small sparge when necessary to keep your mash volume under control, and using a pulley to drain the grain bag after the mash, will not only make your brew day possible under your conditions but make it easier and less labor intensive. The pulley setups are wonderful and make biab a synch.
If you have any questions, or want me to add something, on my biab calculator, let me know. Thanks doug for the share
william_shakes_beer
Well-Known Member
To answer your question directly: 1 pound of dry grain displaces .08 gallons volume of water.
If you have a 13 pound grain bill, that will displace 13*.08 or 1.04 gallons. That means your 8 gallon pot will be full to the rim with 13 pounds of grain plus 6.96 gallons of water.
Usually I figure how much wort I need preboil and start there. That allows me to mash as thin as possible and do no sparge. If my grain bill exceeds the pot capacity I mash what I can then do a small sparge to make up the remaining volume requirement.
Final to fermenter 5 gallons
boil off 1 gallon
absorption for me negligable because I squeeze the bag. YMMV
If you have a 13 pound grain bill, that will displace 13*.08 or 1.04 gallons. That means your 8 gallon pot will be full to the rim with 13 pounds of grain plus 6.96 gallons of water.
Usually I figure how much wort I need preboil and start there. That allows me to mash as thin as possible and do no sparge. If my grain bill exceeds the pot capacity I mash what I can then do a small sparge to make up the remaining volume requirement.
Final to fermenter 5 gallons
boil off 1 gallon
absorption for me negligable because I squeeze the bag. YMMV
endorphine44
Well-Known Member
indymedic, check out the 3 gal BIAB kits from Northern Brewer: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/recipe-kits/all-grain-biab-kits
I have a 7.5 Gal kettle, so this is what I've started with until I can get a larger 15 Gal kettle. I've done 2 of their Irish Red 3 gal BIAB kits so far and it has worked out great, both have actually ended up with 4 gal in the fermenter to hit the target OG (I squeeze the crap out of the grain bag).
I'm starting with 4 gal in the 7.5 kettle and 1.5 gal in a 5 gal kettle. I'm using the 1.5 gal @ 168f for a 10 minute mash out while the main kettle is working it's way up to boiling(probably not necessary, but it certainly has helped my efficiency)
I'm also using a 5 gal paint straining bag as a grain bag, I assume it's pretty close to the grain bags everyone else is using.
Both times I've had to watch my hot break very close and spray the foam top with starsan to keep it from reaching the top of the kettle (that'll stop your heart the first time you do that in the wife's new kitchen).
I have a 7.5 Gal kettle, so this is what I've started with until I can get a larger 15 Gal kettle. I've done 2 of their Irish Red 3 gal BIAB kits so far and it has worked out great, both have actually ended up with 4 gal in the fermenter to hit the target OG (I squeeze the crap out of the grain bag).
I'm starting with 4 gal in the 7.5 kettle and 1.5 gal in a 5 gal kettle. I'm using the 1.5 gal @ 168f for a 10 minute mash out while the main kettle is working it's way up to boiling(probably not necessary, but it certainly has helped my efficiency)
I'm also using a 5 gal paint straining bag as a grain bag, I assume it's pretty close to the grain bags everyone else is using.
Both times I've had to watch my hot break very close and spray the foam top with starsan to keep it from reaching the top of the kettle (that'll stop your heart the first time you do that in the wife's new kitchen).
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