Want to go BIAB but a few questions

[fiveohmike]

Hey Guys,

I want to make the first step towards all grain and want to do BIAB. My current extract kit consists of:

Outdoor Turkey Fryer stove
8.5 Gallon MoreBeer pot with ball valve + filter
Wort Chiller


Realistically, is this enough to brew 5 gallon batches? I am a fan of Double IPA's, super hoppy IPA's and some brown ales. Or do I need to get a 14 gallon pot?

Secondly, I think I saw a site called www.brewinabag.com that sell what seem to be decent bags, any thoughts on them?

Thirdly, in regards to water/ph ect. If I am using spring water from the store, should I get deionized or just regular mineral water.

If using Deionized water, what are the additives I should pick up?

ThankS!

 

[raysmithtx]

I have an 11 gallon kettle and I'm right at the top of the rim on some 5 gallon recipes.

FYI the following are just rough estimates:
I generally use a mash thickness estimate of 3.25 for BIAB. So, in that case, using your 8.5 gallon kettle the maximum grain bill would be around 9 pounds with about 7.5 gallons of water (less about a gallon for evaporation and a gallon for grain absorption, .25 fro trub and you end up with 5.25 in the fermentor). That's a really light grain bill for 5 gallons.

You could probably get decent results with 4 gallons batches.

I tried making my own bag and tried using paint can liners from HD and Lowes. I ended up ordering a wilserbrew bag and have to say I should have done it sooner. High quality and fast shipping (no affiliation).

I'll leave the water additions to someone with more knowledge than me but I will say that you get a lot more info if you use the paid edition of Brunwater than with the free one.

You will not regret going to BIAB.

 

[mjc999]

I have an 8 gallon kettle and do 5 gallon batches with no problem. Last was an 11.5lb grain APA recipe that came out fantastic. You will need to be vigilant regarding boil overs...use Fermcap.

Would I prefer a bigger pot...yes. But I don't have it now and make what I have work.

BIAB rocks.




Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[wilserbrewer]

I would add that an 8 gallon pot is doable for 5 gal batches, even large beers but may not be as convenient.

There are a few work arounds to using a smaller kettle. Sparging in another pot or bucket, pouring sparge water over / through the grain bag. Ferm cap S will help with the boil overs.

Even topping up the kettle with a bit of water.

Matter of convenience really...

A pot that is way too large can have drawbacks as well.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[btbnl]

As others have pointed out, with a pot that size you won't be able to do pure BIAB, high OG, 5 gallon batches. However you can relax any of those and work around it:
- use only part of the water to mash and top up (or better yet, dunk sparge)
- make lower OG brews, or boost the OG with extract
- make smaller batches

In exactly your position I did a couple of batches using these tricks, and then got a 15 gallon keggle. Of course then I went up to 10 gallon batches and even that was too small, so now I mash in 11 gallons in the keggle and sparge in 4 gallons in the pot, and it works a treat (90% efficiency).

 

[fiveohmike]

Hey GUys,

Thanks for the info I went ahead and ordered the 14.5 gallon kettle

 

[MikePote]

I own a bag from brewinabag.com and love it. They sell them at my LHBS and my wife got me one for christmas. I have never used anything else so I have nothing to compare it to but I love my bag.

 

[DigB]

Two recommendations...
1. A 15g brew kettle is ideal for 5g batches, it leaves some room for boil overs etc

2. BIABrewer.info This website/forum has a bunch of calculators including one called BIABacus This has helped me find out how much water I need plus it is very very easy to scale your recipes to what ever size you need. You can also figure out partial mash sizes if you don't have a big enough kettle.

 

[JohnSand]

I BIAB in a 30qt pot, previously in a 20qt, 5 gallon batches. I mash at 1.3-1.5 quarts per pound, dunk sparge in a separate pot. You really need the most room in the top for the hot break. After that, you watch your boil. I'm comfortable with only 2" below the rim, even 1". If all of the sparge water doesn't fit (it should), add some later as your wort boils down.