Mash Volume

[rtwdonald]

When doing BIAB do you do a full volume mash?
Thanks,
Ryan

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I do.
but I have a 15 gallon kettle.
but, I learned today that 22lbs of grain and 12.5 gallons is my limit.
I could probably do 13 gallons if I support the lobster cage with my lifting cord so i can whisk the grain in 6 inches of water instead of racing to beat the clumps apart before they sink.

 

[Mothman]

I do full volume biab mashes as well.

There are calculators online that can tell you what your kettle volume needs to be to handle the water + grains.

Eg. http://www.biabcalculator.com/

 

[rtwdonald]

Thank you for the replies, I only do 2.5 gallon batches currently, so volume shouldn’t be an issue.

 

[Mothman]

Nice.

Since I started all grain, I've only ever done BIAB, 3.5 gal batches, and it works great, I've got no desire to do anything different.

I use an 8 gal pot and it works out great, with room to spare.

 

[RM-MN]

When doing BIAB do you do a full volume mash?
Thanks,
Ryan

I have but not now. The advantage of a full volume mash is that you only use one vessel for the batch. That makes cleanup simple. The disadvantages are that you need a bigger vessel as it needs to hold full volume of the liquid plus the grains and that that extra amount of water for the mash may require acidification and being full volume, no sparge will get you a less efficient extraction.

I've tried sparging with hot water (brewhouse efficiency went up) and with cold water (about the same result). Cold water sparging increases the time to boil by I don't have to use another burner to heat the water and the wort collected is pretty warm anyway from being added to the hot, wet grains.

 

[dmtaylor]

I mash at anywhere from 1.25-1.75 qt/lb, then do a dunk sparge. Most people don't bother sparging but I like it.

 

[LittleRiver]

I do a full volume mash. With a .025" crush I get about 83% efficiency and have no problems hitting or exceeding recipe targets, so I don't bother with sparging.

 

[tennesseean_87]

I usually hold about 2 gallons out of my total water for a cold pour-over sparge while my element is cranked getting up to a boil. I get a better efficiency this way.