Question about Maxi-BIAB

[Kineticus]

Greetings everyone,

I've brewed a few 1 gallon BIAB batches with 70% efficiency, including a 9% DIPA. However, I'm limited to a single 2 gallon fermentation bucket and a 3 gallon stock pot for boiling.

I've been reading about the Maxi-BIAB process where you calculate the recipe for twice the gravity and bitterness during the boil and then water it down to the desired gravity in the fermentation vessel which can effectively double your productivity.

My question is- Can you add the (sterilized) water AFTER the fermentation is complete in the bottling bucket? This would allow me to keep using the same 2 gallon fermentation vessel and 2 gallon bottling bucket. Or will this create a terrible tasting watery beer?

If no one has tried this before I'm thinking of testing it with a double strength version of Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde recipe.

Let me hear your thoughts!

 

[chrishanson]

I can't comment on the chemistry questions but my question is how would you mix in the beer and water to get a good homogeneous mixture without aerating the crap out of it?

People have enough problems getting a good mixture when they topping off the fermenter when doing partial boils and you don't need to worry about aeration at that point (in fact it's a good thing). I can't imagine you can get a good mix by watering it down after fermentation.

 

[ArcLight]

>>My question is- Can you add the (sterilized) water AFTER the fermentation is complete in the bottling bucket? This would allow me to keep using the same 2 gallon fermentation vessel and 2 gallon bottling bucket. Or will this create a terrible tasting watery beer?

Yes you can BUT ... you are making a HIGH GRAVITY beer. This is stressful to the yeast so you need to use an Oxygen want, yeast nutrient, and pitch a lot of yeast.

Once it's fermented you can water it down.


>>same 2 gallon fermentation vessel

Sounds like a Mr Beer vessel.
My suggestion is you buy a fermentation bucket, lid, air lock for $17.50, and ferment the entire 5+ gallons.

 

[Kineticus]

My plan for mixing it was to add the priming sugar to the gallon of water and then stir it into the beer in the bottling bucket. I'm using white 2 gallon plastic tubs- the ones that bulk icing and such come in. I'm living in Florida in a 600 sq ft apartment with a roommate, so space is at a premium. The apartment is also kept around 80* so it's important that I can fit the fermenter into the fridge for a few hours at a time to get the temp down to about 62*, then take it out and wrap a towel around it. This way I'm able to keep the temps between 60 and 70 for the first 4 days. I didn't do this on my first batch and it tasted like a Belgian beer.

Since I do already have 2 of these fermenters I suppose I could make a double strength wort and equally divide it between both and top them off with water. I was just wondering if there was a way to do this and only occupy one fermenter at a time. This would allow me to have another beer aging and not have to sanitize so much.