Questions for First BIAB

[whoward]

Hi all,

I've done 6 batches of extract brew and decided to try something a little more advanced and wanted to do a BIAB.

First question... I picked a recipe from a LHBS and it includes 12.25lbs of grains. How much water should I use to start? The recipe is for a 5.5 gallon batch.

also should i sparge?

 

[lslbrew]

If you want 5.5 gallons into the fermenter then work back.
5.5 fermenter
+ boil off - you should be able to estimate from your experience with the other batches
+ grain absorption - standard is .125 gallon per pound of grain but many brew in bag get as low as .08 gallons per pound.

This is the total water you should use. If your kettle is big enough for this plus grain you can mash full volume and "no sparge". Or you can use less mash water and sparge. If your kettle is less then you will have to sparge.

 

[bfish]

use priceless calculator for water volume, it works well for me.

sparge isn't necessary, but priceless can help you if you want to do that too.

 

[TheBrewBrotha]

https://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/#Advanced

 

[beernutz]

Another easy BIAB calculator that I use: http://www.biabcalculator.com