Easy Stovetop All-Grain Brewing (with pics)

[scottsaxman]

You can boil a slightly lesser volume and use top up water to get to a 5 gallon batch size. But yes, at least a 7 gallon pot would be preferred.

 

[ChefBrew]

I suppose he does say 6+ gallon pot, but having done this method of BIAB for a couple dozen batches, I know I couldn't do a 5 gallon batch with a 6 gallon pot. Mashing and sparging would work, but the boil would be trouble. I was brewing 4.25 gallon batches and would need a pre-boil volume of about 5.5 gallons. Boil-off will vary a bit by setup, of course, and deadspace varies, too. But you get the idea. If I were doing 5 gallons into the fermenter, I would've been at the brim or over a 6 gallon pot. FWIW, I boiled in a very cheap aluminum 7.5 gallon pot. Got mine for $28 with shipping. It's the same diameter as my 5 gallon pot, just taller. Not trying to be a buzzkill, just want to share another BIAB stovetop brewer's experience and perspective!

Thanks for the idea. I realized I could get an 8 gal pot at the local Latin grocery. $25 and I'm good to go. Just going to research the method a little more and maybe I'll be BIAB by a week or two.

 

[bionara]

This looks fantastic, thank you for the time and effort that's gone into its documentation. Going to give it a go over the weekend (first all grain brew). Exciting times indeed.

 

[fugazzi]

I've been doing this method for four years. In order to do a full mash, around 1.25 qt/lb for 10lb of grain, and a full boil of 6.5 gallons, I'd highly recommend a 6g pot for the mash and at least a 8g pot for the boil, but that would be stretching it. I use a 10g pot and it's zero worries on boilovers. This 10g pot is the cheapest 10g pot I've found, and it works great. I bought my 6g from a local restaurant supply store. It may have been more expensive than the 10g.

 

[rockharrier]

I've done five partial mashes using DB's partial mashing thread, and I'm going to step up to this all-grain method for my next brew...very excited to try it!

My question is related to which of my available equipment I should use for mashing, knowing that a big key to retaining temperature is to reduce headspace.

I've got a 34 qt kettle and a 40 qt kettle, as well as a 5-gal insulated plastic Coleman drink cooler at my disposal. My brew has 9.25 lb grain, and according to Brewsmith I will need about 3.6 gallons of space for my mash (water volume + grain). Given that my two brew kettles are so large, would it be better for me to throw my grain bag in the 5-gal cooler, screw on the lid, and call it good? And then I would sparge and boil in the 40 qt kettle, which is what I usually use for the boil (I use an outdoor burner).

Sorry if this has already come up (I'm only 52 pages into this thread)...

 

[markowe]

Also sorry if this has come up before, but with this method, isn't it a tad tricky pouring 3 or 4 gallons of wort from one pot into another? Is there any trick here or is it just a case of drafting someone in to help you pour?

I was thinking to make this step a little easier, and also save on the need for TWO pots - once the mash is finished I would place a bucket on the floor (or stool or something) - it could just be the clean fermentor - and syphon the wort down into it and then use the pot for the sparge. Then there would just be one lift - of the bucket with the main wort in, up onto something higher in the kitchen, and I would syphon back into the sparge water for the final boil (and wash the fermentor - though I expect some would insist on sanitising it again - before syphoning the final wort back into it for pitching and fermenting).

Sound like a plan? Only I don't feel like buying TWO pots right now!

 

[rockharrier]

In answer to my own question, yes, the cooler works great. I ended up with 71% efficiency the first try. Got the first beer bottled, and it tasted pretty good at bottling time. Kind of a slippery slope...it's not much harder to do a partial mash than extract + specialty grains...and then not much harder to do this all grain method compared to partial mash. Really no good reason NOT to be doing this, as long as you have two pots. Good stuff.

In answer to markowe, I don't have any problem pouring from one pot to another. I do the mashing and sparge on the floor though, which may help. That, and I have the strength of 10 men.

 

[chuckalhashib]

Is it just me, or are all the pictures from the original posts missing?

 

[Balog]

Is it just me, or are all the pictures from the original posts missing?

It is not just you.

 

[puttster]

it is irritating. A sticky thread with 100 pages based on a post that has the pics deleted.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Another thread updated!

 

[Matt_man]

I already have a 30qt turkey fryer pot and I was wondering which pot I should get to go along with it to make this method work the best? I have access to a restaurant supply store so any size is obtainable. I just fear of going too big. Maybe a 40qt?

 

[Frilock]

I don't know about anyone else, but the list of things needed isn't showing up for me.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Fixed. Stupid links were dead so I just removed them.

 

[MikeMellon]

Really awesome tutorial! I am a fairly new home brewer getting ready to move on from the brew recipe box kits to using raw ingredients. I was wondering if you could tell me how I can calculate how much grain to use to replace a liquid malt extract in a recipe? For instance, if the recipe calls for 6 lbs. of malt extract, how many pounds of grain do I need to use in the mash? What if the recipe calls for 7 lbs. malt extract syrup? There is a different between the malt extract and malt extract syrup, so I am assuming there is a difference in the amount of grain used, correct? Sorry if this question has been answered earlier in the thread, there are just so many responses

 

[DeathBrewer]

Your formula is:

lbs of grain * points per pound per gallon / volume in gallons * efficiency = specific gravity points

Grain amounts are determined by efficiency, but your can assume you will get pretty low efficiency with this method. Assuming 60% efficiency, you could go like this...find the specific gravity you would get from the extract:

6 lbs of dry malt extract at 45PPG (points per pound per gallon) in five gallons is:
6 x 45 / 5 = 54 gravity points

7 lbs of liquid malt extract at 37.5PPG in five gallons is:
7 x 37.5 / 5 = 52.5 gravity points

So grain uses the same formula with an addition for efficiency. For most base malts, you get about 36PPG at 100% efficiency, so for 60% efficiency...this is the backwards formula if you wanted to get 53 gravity points:

53 / 0.60 * 5 / 36 = 12.26 lbs of grain

Or if you start with pounds, you can find the gravity the same way as the top two formulas (with the efficiency addition):

12.25 * 36 / 5 * 0.60 = 52.92 (53) gravity points

EDIT NOTE: I get these numbers from my LHBS. We sell Briess malt extract. The DME tends to be about 45PPG, the LME between 37 & 38 PPG. 36PPG is a very general number for base malt.

 

[MikeMellon]

Ok great. Ill put it to use. Thanks!!!

 

[maxtpower]

Thx DeathBrewer! I did my first all grain BIAG today based on your post. It was a Belgian Wit.

My arms are sore from lifting the 12# of wet grains.

Cheers.
Max

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I've been doing 2.5 and 3 gallon batches in a granite ware canning pot.

 

[fizzix]

This is the most intriguing post I've read here so far.
Ordered a 35-quart stainless pot from Amazon and I'm going to tackle all-grains with this method.
First all-grain recipe is going to be Yooper's House Pale Ale:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/da-yoopers-house-pale-ale.100304/

Excellent, excellent post!