Planning my first BIAB. A few questions.

[Grateful Dan]

I have been learning alot and have been upgrading my equipment as I go. I recently starting kegging and will move from extract to BIAB next. I plan on using a 10gal igloo cooler with a bag. Miab? I have a new 8 gal mega pot that allows me to boil 6 gallons. I just have to keep a water spray bottle close. I have been reading up on all grain and biab and hope I can get some help. How much grain and water can I fit in my 10 gal cooler? I want to make a neipa with a og of 1.060 - 1.065. I would like to start with the full amount of water. Also I cannot use the water at my house (it's horrible ) so I use distilled water. Will I definitely need to adjust the water? If so can someone give me a simple addition I can do to distilled water for a neipa / ipa. I am learning so much as I go and learning water chemistry is on my to do list.
This is what I was planning as a simple mash using brewers friend. Will it work?
10 lbs 2 row
2 lbs flaked oats
1 lb white wheat.

I am ordering from a place that offers double milling.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

If your pot is new I would return it and get a 10 gallon pot. Then you can do full volume mashes without issue. You going to be around 7.25 gallons strike water.

Forget the cooler. Thats the beauty of BIAB. One pot...thats it. THe grains go in the bag IN the pot. Pull the bag and start the boil....very easy.

So with 7.25 water PLUS the grain volume your 8 gallon pot isnt going to work. You'll be overflowing.

You can use distilled with additions. Many Many do.
I just started using Costco Poland Spring and it makes a great IPA. $1 a gallon. Dump it in and I'm done...I like easy.

Concord makes a great pot thats doesnt break the bank. You can find them on EBAY. If the 10 gallon and 12 or 14 are close in price I'd go even bigger....cant hurt

 

[McKnuckle]

Use 0.08 gal/lb to estimate the volume displacement of grain in the mash. So 13 lbs of grain are going to take up about 1.04 gallons. You'll be able to mash easily in your 10 gallon cooler with that and the full volume of water for a 5 gallon batch (which I assume is your target).

Regarding the boil... My 14" diameter 8 gallon kettle boils off about 0.85 gal/hr indoors. If your kettle is similar and you boil for one hour, you'll need a little over 6 gallons, let's call it 6.25. This would give you 5.4 at the end, perfect for trub and waste to keg 5 gallons at the end.

If you want to boil for 90 minutes, it could be tight, but still doable, depending on your level of attention to things. Obviously a larger kettle makes things more "relaxed."

 

[LittleRiver]

... 8 gal mega pot that allows me to boil 6 gallons. I just have to keep a water spray bottle close....

Keep your cleaning supplies close as well, and don't brew in any location where you can't tolerate a boil over.

As others have mentioned, the joys of having a large kettle are many. If you can, go with 2-3 times the volume of beer you want to package. I love my 15gal kettle for brewing 5gal batches.

There are ways to use a smaller kettle, but it's always a workaround, and you'll always have a higher risk of a boilover. A full volume single vessel no sparge BIAB is a thing of beauty.

... I cannot use the water at my house (it's horrible ) so I use distilled water...

Start out using bottled spring water instead. Don't try to take on too much at once. Learning about water chemistry can come later.

...This is what I was planning as a simple mash using brewers friend. Will it work?
10 lbs 2 row
2 lbs flaked oats
1 lb white wheat.

The recipe looks fine.

Check out the Priceless BIAB Calculator. It will give you more information than you need, but it's easy to pick out what you do need, like water volumes, strike temps, etc.

 

[Grateful Dan]

If your pot is new I would return it and get a 10 gallon pot. Then you can do full volume mashes without issue. You going to be around 7.25 gallons strike water.

Forget the cooler. Thats the beauty of BIAB. One pot...thats it. THe grains go in the bag IN the pot. Pull the bag and start the boil....very easy.

So with 7.25 water PLUS the grain volume your 8 gallon pot isnt going to work. You'll be overflowing.

You can use distilled with additions. Many Many do.
I just started using Costco Poland Spring and it makes a great IPA. $1 a gallon. Dump it in and I'm done...I like easy.

Concord makes a great pot thats doesnt break the bank. You can find them on EBAY. If the 10 gallon and 12 or 14 are close in price I'd go even bigger....cant hurt

Thanks JONNYROTTEN.
I have to brew outdoors so I was thinking the cooler would hold temps better than a kettle with blankets. I will eventually move up to bigger kettle, I have been upgrading on a budget and have very limited space to store my equipment.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Thanks JONNYROTTEN.
I have to brew outdoors so I was thinking the cooler would hold temps better than a kettle with blankets. I will eventually move up to bigger kettle, I have been upgrading on a budget and have very limited space to store my equipment.

Thats whats nice about BIAB..one pot. My ENTIRE electric Brew setup INCLUDING the IC ..One pot in the corner till I'm ready to brew again.

You only need to wrap the pot in the winter. I dont even leave the power on during the mash. It only drops a couple degs and most/all of the conversion is done in 10 minutes anyway.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

For a simple calculator, there is the "Can I Mash It?" one here: https://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

The following is a pretty decent one for calculating rough volumes: http://www.biabcalculator.com/

Note that I find that BeerSmith's calcs are more accurate, mostly because it accounts for the volume shrinkage between near-boiling temps and fermentation temps (which is somewhere around 28 oz for 5.5 gals).

Using your cooler is a fine option. You could also mash in your 8 gal pot and work in a sparge (pour over or dunk). That might be easier than transfering your cooler...but probably not too much.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Start out using bottled spring water instead. Don't try to take on too much at once. Learning about water chemistry can come later.

I would second this. I am just getting my feet wet with water chemistry and additions after 25 years of brewing. From what I can tell, NEIPA likes a fairly balanced water profile (not the high Sulfate water of a typical IPA). Distilled/RO is not great for all-grain since it lacks minerals/ions and has little buffering capacity. I am not positive where the typical Spring Water fits in, but probably pretty good for an NEIPA.