How Much Water?

[Radobrewer]

How much water should I brew with? I'm doing a full boil. My grain bill for my IPA is 11 lb. of Two Row and 1 pound of Crystal 40 with about 5 total ounces of hops added during the boil. No sparging, just straight BIAB. 5 gallon batch.

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

 

[aiptasia]

If this is for a five gallon batch, i'd guestimate around 8 to 8.5 gallons. Figure on losing about 3 to 3.5 gallons between grain absorption, boil off and angel's share. Knowing your equipment and how much you lose, on average, from boil off is invaluable and unique to every brew rig.

 

[Radobrewer]

Cool- thanks. I just downloaded the trial version of BeerSmith and it's telling me 8.55 gallons, so I'll go with 8 1/2.

 

[Radobrewer]

Oh man- I just realized my pot only holds 8 gallons so I would need to start with 7. Do I just add more after mashing? If so, how much

 

[the_trout]

This is where knowing your boil off rate comes into play. Mine is just over 1G/hr. Knowing that I know I need to have a preboil volume of just over 6G for a 5G yield. I personally target 6.5G for a 5.25G post boil volume. What I would do if I was you is fill your kettle up to 5G and mark that level on your mash paddle then add another Gallon and mark that. After mash top off to the 6G Mark and boil for 60min. If you think your going to end up below 5G add more water. If you think your not going to get down to 5G boil longer before your late hop additions.

My process starts with 1.5qt/lb grain, mash, pseudo sparge by adding heated top off water thru draining grain bed, boil, hops, etc...

Good luck!

 

[Rdom]

This is where knowing your boil off rate comes into play. Mine is just over 1G/hr. Knowing that I know I need to have a preboil volume of just over 6G for a 5G yield. I personally target 6.5G for a 5.25G post boil volume. What I would do if I was you is fill your kettle up to 5G and mark that level on your mash paddle then add another Gallon and mark that. After mash top off to the 6G Mark and boil for 60min. If you think your going to end up below 5G add more water. If you think your not going to get down to 5G boil longer before your late hop additions.

My process starts with 1.5G/lb grain, mash, pseudo sparge by adding heated top off water thru draining grain bed, boil, hops, etc...

Good luck!

Good advice.
That sleestak as your avatar is awesome, the_trout!

 

[Jeff_H]

My process starts with 1.5G/lb grain, mash, pseudo sparge by adding heated top off water thru draining grain bed, boil, hops, etc...

Good luck!

I'm guessing that should be 1.5 quarts per pound?

 

[newnick]

http://www.simplebiabcalculator.com/

 

[the_trout]

I'm guessing that should be 1.5 quarts per pound?

Yes, thanks. Good catch. I'll edit my post so as not to pass along bad info.

 

[boondocksaint]

Radobrewer, do you have a second pot you can heat a couple gal of water in to do a sparge over a colander or something? Or maybe consider a 3 Gal batch? I just did my first BIAB yesterday & mashed in w/7.5 Gal which gave me 6.5 Gal pre-boil after I squeezed the bag "like it owed me money"! (Sorry, don't remember who I'm paraphrasing but that makes me chuckle every time

After a 90 min boil & a bit lost to trub in the kettle, I've got 4.5 Gal in primary. (I didn't want to top off as I hit my OG dead on.)

Anyhow, +1 on knowing your boil off rate. I didn't check mine prior but know it now! Good luck & happy brewing!

 

[Radobrewer]

Thanks all. Yep- I'll measure out my water per the Trout's rec and sparge a bit over a colander.

 

[Squad1Guy]

...after I squeezed the bag "like it owed me money"! (Sorry, don't remember who I'm paraphrasing but that makes me chuckle every time

That is from Yooper...I just read it today and it made me laugh too