Pot Size

[TheFreeman]

Hi guys,

Quick question, I am planning to switch to all grain. I am now deciding which Pot to buy. If I want to boil 20-23L batches how big should the pot be?

23L/36L/55L?

Also what is the purpose of the valve in the bottom?

--

 

[GPP33]

2x to 3x your batch size. The valve is to drain the wort.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Twice the batch size is good is you plan to BIAB (55L is good).
If you mash in a cooler or something, then smaller is fine (36L is plenty).

The ball valve is so you don't need to siphon.

 

[TheFreeman]

Twice the batch size is good is you plan to BIAB (55L is good).
If you mash in a cooler or something, then smaller is fine (36L is plenty).

The ball valve is so you don't need to siphon.

what do you mean by "If you mash in a cooler or something, then smaller is fine"

I might get a 36L then and brew 18L batches thats around 5gal. I think its more than enough.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I can make 6 gallon batches in my 8.5 gallon (32.2L) kettle.
I mash in a 10 gal round igloo.

However this kettle size is too small for full volume no-sparge BIAB (in the kettle).

 

[Bobby_M]

In other words, where do you plan to mash the grain? In the pot or in a separate vessel?

 

[TheFreeman]

In other words, where do you plan to mash the grain? In the pot or in a separate vessel?

I only do not understand this, if you do not mash in a pot where else can you mash?

 

[Hobby brewer]

I only do not understand this, if you do not mash in a pot where else can you mash?

Google mash tun cooler or igloo. That will help some

 

[RPh_Guy]

I mash in a 10 gal round igloo.

 

[Nokt]

Look at this to help:
http://brulosophy.com/methods/diy-cooler-mlt/

 

[MT's AZ Ale Haus]

I have only done 2 batches (both 5 gal.)
I have a 10 gal boil kettle, 8 gal mash tun and a 7.5 gal fermenter

 

[TheFreeman]

Look at this to help:
http://brulosophy.com/methods/diy-cooler-mlt/

But what is the purpose of the mash tun exactly, I found a lot of DIY but what is it used for?

 

[Hobby brewer]

Ok, so if you don't go to BIAB you need to be able to do your mash then seperate your wort from the grain. The mash tun is a good way to do this. Grain stays in the mash tun, wart goes to the kettle for the boil. Does this help?

 

[TheFreeman]

Ok, so if you don't go to BIAB you need to be able to do your mash then seperate your wort from the grain. The mash tun is a good way to do this. Grain stays in the mash tun, wart goes to the kettle for the boil. Does this help?

I have to research this concept, is it similar to sparging? Had a thread asking these questions as I am reading a book and could not understand these concepts.

So to conclude I plan to Brew in a Bag in the Brew Kettle. How big should the pot be? twice the water amount?

 

[bionut]

Yep, go with the 55 liter pot. You will be able to brew up to 30 liters of beer with it. 36 l is also enough but is better to have a bigger one for beers with a big grain bill.

 

[RM-MN]

I have to research this concept, is it similar to sparging? Had a thread asking these questions as I am reading a book and could not understand these concepts.

So to conclude I plan to Brew in a Bag in the Brew Kettle. How big should the pot be? twice the water amount?

I've done a 5 gallon Brew in a Bag batch in a 7 1/2 gallon pot but it was really tight on room and I think I had to sparge to get my pre-boil volume. A 10 gallon pot would be better.

 

[MT's AZ Ale Haus]

I have to research this concept, is it similar to sparging? Had a thread asking these questions as I am reading a book and could not understand these concepts.

So to conclude I plan to Brew in a Bag in the Brew Kettle. How big should the pot be? twice the water amount?

Here is a basic diagram of how the process should go

 

[RPh_Guy]

On a 5 gallon brew day...
I heat treated water to above strike temperature and then add to my cooler mash tun. Next I stabilize it at strike temp and then stir in the grain for an hour or whatever. This is called the mash. The cooler helps maintain temperature.
I then vorlauf and drain the wort into my kettle. After that I add treated sparge water into the cooler, stir, wait a few minutes, vorlauf, and drain it into my kettle. This is called a batch sparge. Sparging rinses additional flavor and sugar from the grain into my wort.
I proceed to boil the wort, add hops, etc.

http://brulosophy.com/2016/08/29/mash-methods-pt-2-batch-sparge-vs-no-sparge-exbeeriment-results/

So to conclude I plan to Brew in a Bag in the Brew Kettle. How big should the pot be? twice the water amount?

Twice the batch size is good for full-volume no-sparge BIAB.

 

[Diver_Alan]

The boil kettle should be at least double the final volume you are trying to produce. You can get by with smaller but why would you want you. If you go smaller there will be times you wish your kettle was bigger. I have never wished my 20 gal kettle was smaller. It is less expensive to get a bigger one now than to get a smaller one and then upgrade to a bigger one later when you get of worrying about boilovers.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I BIAB 1 gal batches with a 5 gal kettle... and I do with it were smaller. The heat loss from the walls is huge.

 

[TheFreeman]

But buyi

The boil kettle should be at least double the final volume you are trying to produce. You can get by with smaller but why would you want you. If you go smaller there will be times you wish your kettle was bigger. I have never wished my 20 gal kettle was smaller. It is less expensive to get a bigger one now than to get a smaller one and then upgrade to a bigger one later when you get of worrying about boilovers.

I fully understand your point but I do not plan to brew more than 18/20L - Getting a 50L for 20L I think will be to much heat loss, not sure though.

 

[Miraculix]

I do 16l biab in a 20l pot. Don't see a reason for this massive oversizing suggested here.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

I have to research this concept, is it similar to sparging?

The idea is you can't have your grains in the boil kettle. So you either use a bag to pull them out when you're done mashing, or use a different vessel entirely(mash tun) to mash them in and then transfer only the liquid to your kettle.

I do BIAB

 

[TheFreeman]

The idea is you can't have your grains in the boil kettle. So you either use a bag to pull them out when you're done mashing, or use a different vessel entirely(mash tun) to mash them in and then transfer only the liquid to your kettle.

I do BIAB

so you are saying, you BIAB in a cooler, then pull bag out and transfer wort to vessel? I am still learning about these concepts thats why I might seem confused.

 

[TheFreeman]

Guys what else do I need?

 

[VirginiaHops1]

so you are saying, you BIAB in a cooler, then pull bag out and transfer wort to vessel? I am still learning about these concepts thats why I might seem confused.

No I use the bag in the kettle to mash, to pull the grains out of the kettle before I boil.

Or you can use the cooler and your grains are never in the kettle, thus no bag needed. You just have to transfer the liquid out of the cooler into your boil kettle.

Some people like the cooler because it retains heat really well during the mash. And some like the simplicity of BIAB.

 

[Sadu]

Guys what else do I need?

So you have a 35L pot, BIAB bag and an immersion chiller. Great start.

Only other big consideration is your heat source. Are you planning to brew this on the kitchen stove or do you have another burner in mind? I started off on the kitchen stove until the wife kicked me out, it worked pretty good. But you may find the 55L pot a better choice because it has a wider base and you can run 2 or 3 elements at the same time for more heating power. Alternately you may find that you need to scale your batch size down a little if the heating struggles. Maybe do a 15L batch the first time and see how that goes.

You'll want a thermometer of some sort - I suggest a reasonable quality handheld digital that can get a reading quickly and is fairly accurate.

Then all the little stuff - hydrometer, ~2L measuring jug, cleaner, sanitiser, kettle finings, campden tablets (removes chlorine from the water), silicone hose for that ball valve, and all your fermentation equipment.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Ahem.

2x to 3x your batch size

Twice the batch size is good if you plan to BIAB (55L is good).

go with the 55 liter pot.

A 10 gallon pot would be better.

The boil kettle should be at least double the final volume you are trying to produce.

you may find the 55L pot a better choice

 

[RPh_Guy]

I do 16l biab in a 20l pot. Don't see a reason for this massive oversizing suggested here.

Full-volume no-sparge BIAB is popular because of the simplicity, and a 60 minute boil. You must be using a different process.

For a 5.5 gal (~21L) batch of mid-gravity beer, I typically need around 8 gal (~31L) of water to cover losses from boil-off (5qt/~5L) and grain absorption (5qt/~5L).
By heating the water to mash temp, it will expand roughly 2%, adding about 1 quart (~1L).
So that's approx 8.25 gal (~32L) of water in the kettle.

Then you add the grain.
12 lb (5.5kg) of grain takes up about a gallon (~4L) of space (displacement).

That's about 9.25 gal (35L) in the kettle. Then you need to put in the mash paddle to stir (which adds a bit of volume) and actually have room to stir without spilling the mash everywhere.

These are rough numbers for an average gravity beer at at average efficiency and everyone is going to have a different profile, but it's clear that you at least need double the batch size for a comfortable full-volume no-sparge BIAB.

 

[TheFreeman]

So you have a 35L pot, BIAB bag and an immersion chiller. Great start.

Only other big consideration is your heat source. Are you planning to brew this on the kitchen stove or do you have another burner in mind? I started off on the kitchen stove until the wife kicked me out, it worked pretty good. But you may find the 55L pot a better choice because it has a wider base and you can run 2 or 3 elements at the same time for more heating power. Alternately you may find that you need to scale your batch size down a little if the heating struggles. Maybe do a 15L batch the first time and see how that goes.

You'll want a thermometer of some sort - I suggest a reasonable quality handheld digital that can get a reading quickly and is fairly accurate.

Then all the little stuff - hydrometer, ~2L measuring jug, cleaner, sanitiser, kettle finings, campden tablets (removes chlorine from the water), silicone hose for that ball valve, and all your fermentation equipment.

Thermometer, I have 2, Thermapen and ThermaQ with probes. The rest I have as well, I just need to buy the ones above then!

 

[TheFreeman]

Full-volume no-sparge BIAB is popular because of the simplicity, and a 60 minute boil. You must be using a different process.

For a 5.5 gal (~21L) batch of mid-gravity beer, I typically need around 8 gal (~31L) of water to cover losses from boil-off (5qt/~5L) and grain absorption (5qt/~5L).
By heating the water to mash temp, it will expand roughly 2%, adding about 1 quart (~1L).
So that's approx 8.25 gal (~32L) of water in the kettle.

Then you add the grain.
12 lb (5.5kg) of grain takes up about a gallon (~4L) of space (displacement).

That's about 9.25 gal (35L) in the kettle. Then you need to put in the mash paddle to stir (which adds a bit of volume) and actually have room to stir without spilling the mash everywhere.

These are rough numbers for an average gravity beer at at average efficiency and everyone is going to have a different profile, but it's clear that you at least need double the batch size for a comfortable full-volume no-sparge BIAB.

Understood, so a 36L for 18L batches would be perfect. If in the future I decide to go bigger and start struggling I can then do batch sparging in coolers and transfer my wort to the kettle, since to grain will be in the kettle a 36L should be quite future proof.

 

[RM-MN]

Understood, so a 36L for 18L batches would be perfect. If in the future I decide to go bigger and start struggling I can then do batch sparging in coolers and transfer my wort to the kettle, since to grain will be in the kettle a 36L should be quite future proof.

Sparging can be done in a bucket if you have an extra. It doesn't need to be a cooler nor does it need hot water to be effective. Pull the bag out of the kettle, set it in a bucket and pour in the water (or the reverse). Dunk it up and down a few times, pull the bag of grains out to drain and you're done. Pour the collected wort into your kettle for the boil. You can do a double sparge for a little more brewhouse efficiency if you need the extra amount of water.

 

[Miraculix]

Full-volume no-sparge BIAB is popular because of the simplicity, and a 60 minute boil. You must be using a different process.

For a 5.5 gal (~21L) batch of mid-gravity beer, I typically need around 8 gal (~31L) of water to cover losses from boil-off (5qt/~5L) and grain absorption (5qt/~5L).
By heating the water to mash temp, it will expand roughly 2%, adding about 1 quart (~1L).
So that's approx 8.25 gal (~32L) of water in the kettle.

Then you add the grain.
12 lb (5.5kg) of grain takes up about a gallon (~4L) of space (displacement).

That's about 9.25 gal (35L) in the kettle. Then you need to put in the mash paddle to stir (which adds a bit of volume) and actually have room to stir without spilling the mash everywhere.

These are rough numbers for an average gravity beer at at average efficiency and everyone is going to have a different profile, but it's clear that you at least need double the batch size for a comfortable full-volume no-sparge BIAB.

You are correct sir, I use indeed a different process. I mash with ten to 12 l water, squeeze the bag out, add water till I reach my desired og and then boil. I also ferment in the same pot and use the kitchen sink as a chiller. It cannot get much simpler than this

 

[TheFreeman]

Sparging can be done in a bucket if you have an extra. It doesn't need to be a cooler nor does it need hot water to be effective. Pull the bag out of the kettle, set it in a bucket and pour in the water (or the reverse). Dunk it up and down a few times, pull the bag of grains out to drain and you're done. Pour the collected wort into your kettle for the boil. You can do a double sparge for a little more brewhouse efficiency if you need the extra amount of water.

When you refer to sparging in your comment you mean rinsing right? So I start BIAB in the Pot/Kettle then I pull the bag out and "rinse" it in more water in a bucket.

 

[RM-MN]

When you refer to sparging in your comment you mean rinsing right? So I start BIAB in the Pot/Kettle then I pull the bag out and "rinse" it in more water in a bucket.

Exactly right. Which is easier to say, sparging or rinsing the wort out of the grains after the mash is done? That's where a lot of specialized words come from, a shorter way to say things.

 

[TheFreeman]

Exactly right. Which is easier to say, sparging or rinsing the wort out of the grains after the mash is done? That's where a lot of specialized words come from, a shorter way to say things.

Understood, thanks for your help. Just wanted to make sure I am understanding you correctly.