idigg
Well-Known Member
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 
Simple BIAB Calculator
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mrgstiffler
Well-Known Member
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
Well-Known Member
Isn't that calculator for typical sparge style scenarios? What would I put for mash thickness if I'm doing a no sparge BIAB?
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mrgstiffler
Well-Known Member
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
Active Member
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.
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.
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mrgstiffler
Well-Known Member
Do you know the boiloff rate of the setup?
55chevydude
Active Member
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.
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mrgstiffler
Well-Known Member
Yeah, boiloff rate is very important. It varies a lot between setups.
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
Brewer's Friend Software Manager
It's been a year since the last comment, so if he's inactive I made mine specifically for the ability to sparge.
Ok, but the same question applies. Any chance of setting strike water volume based on a ratio of grain to water?
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mrgstiffler
Well-Known Member
I can look at adding a water to grain ratio. In the meantime, you can select mashout. It splits the volume into a mash volume and a boiling water addition for a mashout. You could use the same volumes but don't use boiling water for your dunk sparge.
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