Equipment for BIAB

[Joshua Moore]

Ok so i have been all over and found 100s of answers.

Im planning on moving to all grain BIAB

What size kettle will i need for a 5 gallon batches? I have been told 10 and 15 gallon kettles.

The larger kettle, and a a secondary kettle for sparge water should be the only thing i need right? aside from the propane burner

 

[bgmac]

Yes, a 10 gallon is a good size for 5 gallon batches. 15 will work also but you could run into an issue where the water level is too shallow to work with the mash. Try to find a taller kettle with a ratio of around 1.2:1 or so.

I used an 8 gallon Tall Boy for a while but was pushing it during mash and had to watch for full volume boil overs. 10 gallon should give you the extra room you are looking for. Now the 8 gallon is used for sparge water only since moving to 10 gallon batches.

You should be able to get away with a 5 or 6 gallon sparge water kettle if you mash thin in your boil kettle around 2.0 quarts/lb. So lets say 5 gallons of strike/mash water to 10 lbs of grain (adjust based on actual grain bill weight). Then you will only need around 3.75 more gallons to sparge back up to full volume before the boil.

You could look at 44 quart (11 gallons) kettles which is a very common size. That should leave you room for when you want to go with a heavier grain bill.

If you plan to mash thick, you might need a bigger sparge water kettle, or just pour make up water into the boil kettle after sparge.

 

[enkamania]

I use a 15 gallon. I do no sparge. I started with a 10, but it could get tight with some larger beers.

 

[downzero]

I use a 15 gallon brew kettle right now, but I'd get a 20 if I was going to do it all over again, just so I could do some larger batches if I wanted.

 

[RM-MN]

What size kettle will i need for a 5 gallon batches? I have been told 10 and 15 gallon kettles.

Let me step into this mess. You "need" 7 1/2 gallon pot as any less won't work unless you do a concentrated wort and dilute. You "want" a 10 gallon pot because it is big enough to do a full volume, no-sparge batch. You might "wish for" a 15 gallon pot for the extra space if you do a "big beer' and don't have great brewhouse efficiency and need a lot of grain.

If all you have is a 5 gallon pot you are limited to about 3 gallon batches and then only if you sparge. A full volume in a 5 gallon pot limits you to 2 1/2 gallons or less. If you already own a 7 1/2 gallon pot and are willing to either make "small beers" or to do a sparge you can make a 5 gallon batch but it is a minimum size and boil-overs happen very easily. By the time you get to a 10 gallon pot you have room for a no-sparge batch and room to avoid most boil-overs although they are possible.

 

[MikeCo]

I currently use a 10.5 gallon kettle for no-sparge, full volume BIAB, and it works great for 5-gallon batches anything of low to medium-high gravity. A 15 gallon kettle helps if you want to brew batches with grain bills of more than about 18 lb in my experience. The only time I wished I had a 15 gallon kettle was when I brewed a Russian Imperial Stout that had about a 21 lb grain bill. The kettle was big enough to contain the mash, but lifting the bag out caused some spillage because it was so full and the bag wanted to bulge over the edges of the kettle.

I have recently bought a 15 gallon kettle that I've converted to an electric BIAB setup. I haven't used it yet other than testing it with water, but I can see that it will be different from the 10 gallon in these respects:

- There's likely to be a higher boil-off rate. This is manageable by adjusting water levels.
- The built in brewmometer port is higher than the liquid level after the grains are removed. Not a problem because I plugged that hole and added a temperature probe lower in the kettle.
- Boil-overs will be less likely than with the 10. But I've never had a boil-over with the 10.

I bought the 15 for the electric setup, mainly in case I want to use a false bottom above the heating element which will decrease space the kettle has for mashing grains. But I was also thinking it would be useful for big beers.

To summarize, I agree with RM-MN. For 5-gallon batches, a 10 gallon kettle generally works fine; I would go no smaller. 15 is nice to have for big beers.

I'm not sure why you are including a secondary kettle for sparge water; I would recommend doing full-volume, no-sparge. It requires only one kettle which is a key part of the simplicity of BIAB.

 

[Bobby_M]

There are people that add a sparging step to BIAB for two reasons. One they bought too small of a kettle for a full volume no sparge mash to fit. Two, they like the few extra points of efficiency they get. You are currently in a position to negate this so don't plan to sparge, just buy a big enough kettle to do what you want and keep it simple.

For no sparge BIAB, with a 5 gallon packaged batch size, you'll need at least a 10 gallon. The one caveat is that there is a gravity/ABV limit here and it's about 8% comfortably. If you want to push that number in a 10, you'll have to back down the batch size by a 1/2 gallon or goof around with dunk sparging or topping up. Don't plan for contingencies though. If you like big beers, just get a 15 gallon kettle and never look back. In fact, there are hardly any downsides to a slightly larger kettle other than a couple $20 bills.

Many 15 gallon kettles have a thermometer port up a little too high for 5 gallons but you'd never put a thermometer in the way of the bag anyway unless you want to rip the side of the bag open. Stop. You have no idea how many times people told me how careful they'll be when pulling the bag and they come back a week later for a new bag and a plug for that thermometer hole.

Hand-held fast read digital thermometers are where it's at for BIAB.

 

[LittleRiver]

I started with a 15gal kettle to do 5gal batches -- one of the best decisions I've made on brewing gear.

I've heard that cleaning up a boil over is a real pain in the arse. But I wouldn't know because I've never had one.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I started with a 15gal kettle to do 5gal batches -- one of the best decisions I've made on brewing gear.

I've heard that cleaning up a boil over is a real pain in the arse. But I wouldn't know because I've never had one.

As far as the boil goes and boil overs, for a "5 gal" batch there is little reason you would need more than a 10 gal pot. If you are boiling hard enough to risk a boil over with 3 gals of headspace, then you are just wasting a lot of propane/electricity.

On the mash side, it is a different story. I can maybe squeeze out about a 1.070 beer in my 10 gal pot, but even in the 1.060 to 1.065 range there is limited headroom for stirring in the grains. If I was shopping for a kettle, I would look for a 12 to 15 gal one.

On the other hand, I brewed a couple batches of Imperial Stout (OG of 1.108 and 1.118). The first was a 4 gal batch (which was about the max my 10 gal kettle would support for full volume mash), the second was a 5 gal batch that I sparged with 2.6 gals of water. The sparge was a bit of a pain with that much grain, but I got 10 gravity points over the prior batch.

 

[brew703]

I do 5.5 gal (into fermenter). I have a 10 gal post that I use when I was using butane. Depending on how big a beer you brew 10 gal will work for 5 gal batches (full volume). Just need to account for pulling out your bag. There were a couple times I had to withhold 1 gal or so during the mash to account for pulling out the bag to prevent any wort from spilling over the sides of the kettle.
I have since moved to electric and use a 10.5 gal kettle with no issues.

I would go with a min of a 10 gal pot.

 

[grampamark]

I do most of my brewing at our farm where I have plenty of space in the semi-finished part of our basement for a 3 vessel system. But, I’m semi-retired, and we divide our time between our farm and a small house in the city, to which we will retire in a few more years. Space for brewing, storing, and serving is at a premium at the city house, so I do 2.5 gal BIAB when I brew there.

I use an 8 gal kettle for 2.5 gal, full volume, no sparge batches. That would scale to at least a 15 gal kettle for 5 gal batches. Buy the bigger kettle. You’ll have room for bigger grain bills and no worries about boilovers. The relatively small price difference is a lot less than buying a smaller kettle and then buying the bigger one you will wish you had a few months later.

 

[Kaz]

I switched from partial mash to BIAB several years ago. I started with a 8 gal kettle...way too small. Moved up to a 10 gal kettle...just barely large enough for medium strength beers. Then moved up to a 15.5gal keggle and haven't looked back. Added a ball valve at the bottom for transfers (eventually added a pump), added a sight glass for volume measurements (hardly ever look at it), and finally added a whirlpool arm (used a lot). I've brewed 13%ABV Imperial Stouts in this thing with no spill over.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

http://www.biabcalculator.com/ I use this one all the time.
A 10g kettle filed with 20# of grain gives you a 9g mash volume. You can probably sneak by with that. A 15g kettle gives you a good margin on even the biggest 5g batch and the option to do 10g batches if you are careful. I use a 15g keggle and it works great. All full-volume, no-sparge.

 

[BuddyBrews]

Keggle

 

[MikeCo]

The only thing I don't like about my new 15 gallon kettle for 5-gallon batches is that I was going to get a Jaded Hydra chiller, but it doesn't appear the coils will be fully submerged with a wider kettle. But Jaded makes custom sizes, so I may be able to get something that will fit.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

I have an 8.5 gallon brew kettle, and I wish I had a 10 gallon.

 

[Cato1507]

Ok so i have been all over and found 100s of answers.

Im planning on moving to all grain BIAB

What size kettle will i need for a 5 gallon batches? I have been told 10 and 15 gallon kettles.

The larger kettle, and a a secondary kettle for sparge water should be the only thing i need right? aside from the propane burner

I use a 10 gal and it works great for 3.5-5 gal batches, though I don't do those "big beers". My normal batches are 5.5 - 6.3% ABV and that's plenty for me.

I do BIAB full volume, so no sparge water needed, just simple with an ekettle. and contoller.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I BIAB full volume also with a Spike Brewing 10gal.
It is plenty big. Zero issues with space with what I brew. Like Cato above, I don't brew high gravity beers. And if I really wanted to, then I would do it traditional AG. I still have all of the equipment.
Unless you are going to do high gravity beers, buy a 10 gal and use the extra money to buy a good burner.
I started out with the good ol' Bayou burner. It was ok for extract brewing, and average for AG... but a bit slow. Several years back I bought an edelmetall Bru Burner https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/edelmetall-bru-burner
You need a good quality burner more than you need a larger kettle. It will bring your 7 ish gallons of full volume water to mash temp in a hurry. As well as bring you to a boil sooo much quicker than the Bayou etc.

 

[dochawk]

I've heard that cleaning up a boil over is a real pain in the arse. But I wouldn't know because I've never had one.

uhm . . .

long ago, in the distant past . . .

I had never used anything but a gas stove, for anything.

I visited a friend, and we made a batch.

He killed the heat, and we went down to the basement for something or another. Leaving the kitchen, I put the lid on the pot, so that dust, etc., wouldn't get in and spoil it as it dropped from sterile temperatures.

Uhm. Err.

It seems that electric stoves have a *lot* of residual heat in the coils.

And then deliver enough to cause a boiler.

And then the cleaning chemicals he had about, well, err, removed the labels and calibrations on the stove . . .

He was *not* happy about this . . .

 

[jdudek]

I use a bayou classic 11 gallon kettle for 5G batches (5.5 into fermenter). I find the extra gallon (11 vs the usual 10) perfect. I've not tried a 10G kettle but based on my experience with an 11G vessel, i think i would feel a little tight with 10G, though it would certainly work.

 

[beernutz]

I use a 15.5 gallon keggle to BIAB 10 gallon batches. If I'm going to mash more than 20 lbs or so I will do a pour-over-the-bag sparge to get the volume up to an appropriate starting point.

I use generic Fermcap and never have boilovers. I've considered getting a nice 20 gallon SS pot but the keggle has worked well for 7 years and I'd rather spend the money on ingredients.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

As far as the boil goes and boil overs, for a "5 gal" batch there is little reason you would need more than a 10 gal pot. If you are boiling hard enough to risk a boil over with 3 gals of headspace, then you are just wasting a lot of propane/electricity.

On the mash side, it is a different story. I can maybe squeeze out about a 1.070 beer in my 10 gal pot, but even in the 1.060 to 1.065 range there is limited headroom for stirring in the grains. If I was shopping for a kettle, I would look for a 12 to 15 gal one.

On the other hand, I brewed a couple batches of Imperial Stout (OG of 1.108 and 1.118). The first was a 4 gal batch (which was about the max my 10 gal kettle would support for full volume mash), the second was a 5 gal batch that I sparged with 2.6 gals of water. The sparge was a bit of a pain with that much grain, but I got 10 gravity points over the prior batch.

I agree with this except for one caveat. For really big RIS I did (1.128OG) I did a sparge and collected 9.5G. I actually left about a gallon behind because there wasn't room for it in the boil. This was a 5G batch and I wanted an extended boil for several reasons. One, I wanted to "boil down" to increase efficiency and two, I wanted a stout with a nice thick mouthfeel. I would have really liked a 15g kettle that day both for capacity and for potentially faster boil off. I boiled that batch for 3 hours.

 

[Cato1507]

I'm good with 10 gal size kettle and when, though rare, I want a bit higher gravity I keep a few of those 3.3lb canisters of LME in the fridge. Very easy and convenient to take a 1.056 batch of BIAB and after mashing ratchet that gravity right on up.

Using Beer Smith its easy to fit into the recipe and I always keep the amber, golden light, and wheat canisters on hand.

 

[Odin's_FJ40]

The only thing I don't like about my new 15 gallon kettle for 5-gallon batches is that I was going to get a Jaded Hydra chiller, but it doesn't appear the coils will be fully submerged with a wider kettle. But Jaded makes custom sizes, so I may be able to get something that will fit.

How did the Jaded Hydra chiller work out?

 

[MikeCo]

How did the Jaded Hydra chiller work out?

I still haven't gotten one. I'm still using my lower-cost stainless immersion chiller.

 

[RufusBrewer]

There is what you need and what you want. There is no perfect answer to this question in the OP.

If you size to satisfy the extreme example, but rarely brew such s batch, then the majority of your brew days not be so convenient. What do you brew most of the time? If you size for that what does an extreme brew dah look like?

Often overlooked in this discussion, if you want to brew a big ass beer, but do not have space for all the grain, fortify your wort with DME.

Or use half the grain in two different mash runs. Not perfect, takes more time, but it works. If it is the rare big ass batch, live with it

 

[odie]

3X batch size will cover any situation (big beers). 15 gal is only slightly dimensionally bigger than a 10 gal...all my equipment stores inside the kettle.

 

[Ninoid]

The larger the empty space in the pot, the faster the temperature is lost during mash, which is not a problem if you have temperature regulation. I use a 7.5g pot (the 15g one do it too big for me, and I couldn't find the 10g one) so I add top-up water before pouring it into the fermenter and my efficiency is about 75% (no sparge, no thermostat).