Simple BIAB Calculator

[lactardjosh]

Any chance you could make a mobile browser version of this? The pop up with the calculations gets cut off and isn't scrollable on Chrome on my phone; the background page scrolls instead.

EDIT: Here's a screenshot.

 

[KIAKillerXJ]

That would be great. Kinda stopped using this, although my favorite, since i do most my work on my iPhone and te page doesn't work correctly on safari either.

 

[mrgstiffler]

Interesting. Thanks for letting me know. I use it on my iPad but the resolution is large enough that I've never seen that issue. I just tried on my iPhone and it looks exactly like your Android screenshot. I'll get that fixed up for you.

 

[lactardjosh]

Cool, thanks.

It works pretty much as expected on my Nexus 7 in portrait orientation. In landscape, the top and bottom of the pop up get cut off (which means the Done button is inaccessible until I go back to portrait).

 

[ishredthecello]

I'm new to BIAB...had a problem with my first attempt and ended with too much water.

what does the mashout entail? Do I pull the grains out and raise the temp of the wort to 170 and drop grains back in for 10 mins? I am confused with the calculator asking me about this?

 

[themox]

hey mate, this is a great tool. i use metric units though and noticed that once you've submitted your details it gives some of the (i think) hard coded answers in F and not C; and inches, not centimetres etc. can this be changed at all?

 

[mrgstiffler]

hey mate, this is a great tool. i use metric units though and noticed that once you've submitted your details it gives some of the (i think) hard coded answers in F and not C; and inches, not centimetres etc. can this be changed at all?

Hm, I'm not sure what's going on with that. I just did a test using metric units and the results still show metric units. Can you give me a screenshot? Or are you referring to the notes at the bottom?

 

[mrgstiffler]

I'm new to BIAB...had a problem with my first attempt and ended with too much water.

what does the mashout entail? Do I pull the grains out and raise the temp of the wort to 170 and drop grains back in for 10 mins? I am confused with the calculator asking me about this?

The mashout is a feature that was added on request. It's for people who are mashing in a separate vessel and want to add water to mashout.

 

[captainkirk83]

Great tool for us BIABers

 

[LabRatBrewer]

how are people calculating the fermentation trub variable?

 

[themox]

Hm, I'm not sure what's going on with that. I just did a test using metric units and the results still show metric units. Can you give me a screenshot? Or are you referring to the notes at the bottom?

was referring to the notes at the bottom on the information page (after you've entered and submitted all your details). i think they were in dark grey colour.

 

[mrgstiffler]

how are people calculating the fermentation trub variable?

That's pretty much everything that you're going to lose between pitching and package.

 

[mrgstiffler]

was referring to the notes at the bottom on the information page (after you've entered and submitted all your details). i think they were in dark grey colour.

Yeah, those are just hard coded suggestions I made. I can add suggestions for metric too.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

That's pretty much everything that you're going to lose between pitching and package.

So, that would be a constant (more less) from batch to batch and the amount would be based on prior brews?

 

[mrgstiffler]

So, that would be a constant (more less) from batch to batch and the amount would be based on prior brews?

Yeah, it's a value that you need to set based on experience. I usually do between .5 - .75 gallon.

 

[yourhuckleberry]

I think I'll be using this often.

I do a hard squeeze, the notes at the end of the calculation say subtract 1 inch or more.

1 inch of the water fill height in the pot?

Is there a way you could include in the calculator the Mash and Mashout amounts for a hard squeeze?

Or have a suggestion of a volume to subtract rather than a height?

Thanks

Andrew

 

[yourhuckleberry]

I will have to experiment more with the wort retention by the grain. Is it as high as 0.125?
I thought it was more like 0.1.
Its not easy to squeeze big bags, but smaller bags can be SCOOBED
For them I wonder if the wort retention is more like 0.075
(Squeeze the Crap Out Of the Bag)

Or perhaps have an option to select your own wort retention rate and suggest a number on the scale (No squeezing to SCOOB)

 

[mrgstiffler]

I think I'll be using this often.

I do a hard squeeze, the notes at the end of the calculation say subtract 1 inch or more.

1 inch of the water fill height in the pot?

Is there a way you could include in the calculator the Mash and Mashout amounts for a hard squeeze?

Or have a suggestion of a volume to subtract rather than a height?

Thanks

Andrew

Yeah, I've been thinking about this lately. I really want to make it more accurate for new users, but I don't want to screw up the calculations for existing users. I think I'll sit down with it this weekend and try to come up with a solution that will work for everybody without adding complexity.

 

[idigg]

Need help. I will be doing my first BIAB ever. I have done 30+ AG batches with a cooler mash tun. Looking to do some BIAB.

I have a 10.5 gallon kettle. I'm looking to see how much grain I could put in a 10.5 gal kettle with the water. Any calculator for that? Will I be okay with say 14lbs of grain and 8.5 gallons of water for an IPA during the mash/rest? TIA

Justin

 

[Vellum]

You have to think about the size of the pot. A 10 gallon pot holds 1280 oz. 1 pound of dry grain has a volume of 10 oz. Now work backwards. You want 5 gallons of beer or 640 oz water + expected boil off amount per hour (can assume or measure) * length of boil + grain absorption (you can measure this to be more accurate but assume .25 gal) = total water required. Total water required + grain bill lbs * 10 oz = total volume required (hopefully smaller than your pot).

I made an excel spreadsheet with these formulas so that I just entire my pot size, grain bill, batch size, and boil time and it spits out the water I need. It is set up for my system, what I have measured as boil off and grain absorption but could be modified. I also had it set up when I only had an 8.5 gallon pot to check of it would fit and if it didn't, it would calculate how much water to start with and then tell you how much water to add after the mash to hit my pre boil volume. I hope the math makes sense, typed it on my phone. If you pm me your email address I can email you my spreadsheet.

 

[idigg]

I'm horrible at math. I can't figure this out. Say I want to start out with 7.25 gal of water in my 10.5 gal kettle, would I be able to mash 10lbs of dry grain in that kettle? I could use your excel spreadsheet Vellum

 

[mrgstiffler]

I'm horrible at math. I can't figure this out. Say I want to start out with 7.25 gal of water in my 10.5 gal kettle, would I be able to mash 10lbs of dry grain in that kettle? I could use your excel spreadsheet Vellum

For that, you can use the "Can I Mash It" calculator here:
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

 

[idigg]

For that, you can use the "Can I Mash It" calculator here:
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Isn't that calculator for typical sparge style scenarios? What would I put for mash thickness if I'm doing a no sparge BIAB?

 

[mrgstiffler]

Isn't that calculator for typical sparge style scenarios? What would I put for mash thickness if I'm doing a no sparge BIAB?

It's for strike water and grains. You said that you want to have 7.25 gallons of strike water and 10lb of grain. That's 29 quarts of water to 10lb of grain. 29/10 = 2.9 mash thickness. That calculates out to just over 8 gallons of space.

 

[55chevydude]

Ok, so I am tackling Pliny the Elder in a few weeks. Massive hop bill on this one. I would like to try out BIAB style with it. I have a question though based on Vinnie's recipe:

Ingredients For 6.0 gallons (22.7 L) [Net: 5 gallons (18.9 L) after hop loss]
13.25 lb (6.01 kg) Two-Row pale malt
0.6 lb (272 g) Crystal 45 malt
0.6 lb (272 g) Carapils (Dextrin) Malt

So thats the basic grains. Later he says to collect 8 gallons of runoff and begin the 90-minute boil. Using the Simple BIAB Calculator , however, it tells me I should be starting my boil with 6.07 gallons. Thats a huge difference. Anyone have an idea of which is correct for BIAB? I have access to a commercial kitchen and will be using their jacketed steam kettle which produces significant boiloff.

 

[mrgstiffler]

Ok, so I am tackling Pliny the Elder in a few weeks. Massive hop bill on this one. I would like to try out BIAB style with it. I have a question though based on Vinnie's recipe:

Ingredients For 6.0 gallons (22.7 L) [Net: 5 gallons (18.9 L) after hop loss]
13.25 lb (6.01 kg) Two-Row pale malt
0.6 lb (272 g) Crystal 45 malt
0.6 lb (272 g) Carapils (Dextrin) Malt

So thats the basic grains. Later he says to collect 8 gallons of runoff and begin the 90-minute boil. Using the Simple BIAB Calculator , however, it tells me I should be starting my boil with 6.07 gallons. Thats a huge difference. Anyone have an idea of which is correct for BIAB? I have access to a commercial kitchen and will be using their jacketed steam kettle which produces significant boiloff.

Do you know the boiloff rate of the setup?

 

[55chevydude]

I'll have to test it this weekend. The cooks tell me it's a 26" diameter pot which, at full power, will boiloff nearly 3 gallons an hour! I think at a steady boil, top open, it will probably work out closer to 1.5 - 2 gallons an hour. If I punch those numbers in I get much closer to Vinnie's 8 gallon suggestion. Usually right around 8.2 - 8.35 pre-boil volume. So that's probably it.

 

[mrgstiffler]

I'll have to test it this weekend. The cooks tell me it's a 26" diameter pot which, at full power, will boiloff nearly 3 gallons an hour! I think at a steady boil, top open, it will probably work out closer to 1.5 - 2 gallons an hour. If I punch those numbers in I get much closer to Vinnie's 8 gallon suggestion. Usually right around 8.2 - 8.35 pre-boil volume. So that's probably it.

Yeah, boiloff rate is very important. It varies a lot between setups.

 

[Homercidal]

Any chance you could add a grain to water ratio to determine strike water volume for those who need to (or want to) dunk sparge?

 

[pricelessbrewing]

It's been a year since the last comment, so if he's inactive I made mine specifically for the ability to sparge.