What size pot for 3 gallon BIAB batches?

[Woodbrews]

This is a question that doubtless has been asked/answered, but seems to defy the search function.

I currently have a 5 gallon pot that we use for canning that has worked well for two extract brews. I'd like to make the switch to BIAB and would like (for now) to keep it small with 3 gallon brews that can be done on the stovetop.

Will my 5 gallon pot work, or should I bite the bullet and get a 10 gallon pot that can, eventually, handle 5g brews?

Thanks.

 

[BlackGoat]

Probably the 5 gallon will work, but not for any big beers. I often make 3-3.5 gallon BIAB batches and I use a 7 gallon kettle, which is perfect for my needs. I think I would be squeezed with a 5 gallon pot, but its doable.

 

[Robar]

One of the pots I have is a tall slim 7.5 gallon turkey fryer pot with lid and basket. Though I have never tried biab in it I'm sure this pot would work great for 3 gal batches. I use it as my second pot on the stove for five gallon full boil batches when I have a two batch day going.

I really should try it for biab as I've been wanting to try it out. Also 3 gallons would be good for the real high gravity bottle age stuff

 

[LLBeanJ]

I have an 8g kettle that I use for both 5g batches on a propane burner and 3g batches on stovetop. It's a bit small for 5g, particularly when doing longer than 60 min boils, but gets the job done with a 1-2g sparge. It's perfect for the small batch stovetop brews, though.

 

[Woodbrews]

Thanks for the advice and experience, folks. I think I can justify a larger pot -- I'll probably go with a 10-gallon to be safe and to accommodate 5 gallon batches in the future. I like the look of the 10g tall boy from NB. Are there other alternatives? I'm also thinking I'd drill it and install a ball valve for draining.

 

[Oginme]

I do 2.5 to 2.75 gallon BIAB batches using a 5.5 gallon brew pot with out any issues. I ferment in a 3 gal better bottle, so I do 2.5 gal batches for larger beers and 2.75 gal batches for session beers. If you are contemplating moving to 5 gallon batches, go for the 10 gallon brew pot now. You can then step up to the larger size when you get the urge to up size without having another purchase.

 

[TheAleMaster]

I use the Bayou Classic 1144, which is 44 quarters (or 11 gallons). I just did a 1.075 beer and still had ample room.

EDIT: If you don't want the fryer basket, the Bayou Classic 1044 is the same kettle.

 

[Robar]

I talked myself right into it! I went down and picked up some stainless bolts, washers and nuts so I could put 1.25" stilts on my fryer basket to give it a bit more clearance from the bottom. It'll be tight but I think I can get a 4 gal batch of 1.050 out of the 7.5 gallon kettle. I'm pretty sure I could get 3 gal of anything. Going to try it next week!

Forgot to mention I bought a mesh bag that fits inside the basket just perfect years ago for this purpose. just never tried it.

 

[mtnagel]

I've done 2.5 - 6 gallon batches in my 10 gallon pot. I'd say don't go any smaller than a 10 gallon pot.

 

[RM-MN]

I talked myself right into it! I went down and picked up some stainless bolts, washers and nuts so I could put 1.25" stilts on my fryer basket to give it a bit more clearance from the bottom. It'll be tight but I think I can get a 4 gal batch of 1.050 out of the 7.5 gallon kettle. I'm pretty sure I could get 3 gal of anything. Going to try it next week!

Forgot to mention I bought a mesh bag that fits inside the basket just perfect years ago for this purpose. just never tried it.

I can get a 5 gallon 1.060 beer from a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer pot, no basket involved. Make sure your grain is crushed/ground super fine so your efficiency is high and you won't need a huge amount of grain in there. Do a small sparge to gain a little more efficiency and control your heat source so you don't boil off a lot of liquid.

Put about 6 gallons of water in the pot and bring it to your calculated strike temperature. Turn the heat off, drop the bag in and secure it to the pot so it stays in place. Stir the grains in really well so you don't have any dough balls, put a lid on and insulate the pot with a towel/sleeping bag/blanket/coat/whatever you have handy. You won't need a full hour mash if the grains are milled fine so you won't lose much heat. I mash for 30 minutes and lose less than 1 degree.

Pull the bag of grains and let them drain for a bit, then move them to another bowl (I use a plastic bowl with a colander inside) and then squeeze out all the wort you can and add this to the boil pot. Check the level of the wort and sparge enough to bring that level to the pre-boil level you want (I usually go for about 6 1/2 gallons). Bring it to a boil, watching carefully for boil-over. Turn the heat down until your have a slow rolling boil.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Typically you want a kettle that is double your intended batch size.

BUT, there are many tricks and work arounds that can allow you to "stretch" a smaller kettle to do larger batches.

1. Topping up a more concentrated wort with water.

2. Topping up your mash after conversion with hot water to the kettle rim. This allows use of the whole pot that wouldn't be possible while adding grain.

3. Sparging, either a dunk sparge of the bag, or gently pouring sparge water through the bag.

4. Reserving a quantity of the sparge wort and adding it back to the kettle during the boil.

5. Using a second kettle to boil some of the wort / sparge.

6. Use of anti foam agents, ferm cap S, or even infant gas drops, Smethicone sp?
Same thing...

7. Double batching and combining in the fermenter.

Likely forgot a few as well.

Have fun and cheers!

 

[Robar]

I can get a 5 gallon 1.060 beer from a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer pot, no basket involved. Make sure your grain is crushed/ground super fine so your efficiency is high and you won't need a huge amount of grain in there. Do a small sparge to gain a little more efficiency and control your heat source so you don't boil off a lot of liquid.

Put about 6 gallons of water in the pot and bring it to your calculated strike temperature. Turn the heat off, drop the bag in and secure it to the pot so it stays in place. Stir the grains in really well so you don't have any dough balls, put a lid on and insulate the pot with a towel/sleeping bag/blanket/coat/whatever you have handy. You won't need a full hour mash if the grains are milled fine so you won't lose much heat. I mash for 30 minutes and lose less than 1 degree.

Pull the bag of grains and let them drain for a bit, then move them to another bowl (I use a plastic bowl with a colander inside) and then squeeze out all the wort you can and add this to the boil pot. Check the level of the wort and sparge enough to bring that level to the pre-boil level you want (I usually go for about 6 1/2 gallons). Bring it to a boil, watching carefully for boil-over. Turn the heat down until your have a slow rolling boil.

I'm 20 min into the boil on B.M's Black Pearl Porter. I'm not sure if I got all that great a conversion even though I did grind it finer than normal and did use the basket and a lot of dunking and stirring. I over shot the temp of 158 by a couple deg. in the beginning of the mash but did get it back down. The wort was not near as sweet as I thought it should be. No iodine to do a conversion test so ... We'll see.

 

[mtnagel]

Good god man, what time did you get up to start brewing?

 

[RM-MN]

I'm 20 min into the boil on B.M's Black Pearl Porter. I'm not sure if I got all that great a conversion even though I did grind it finer than normal and did use the basket and a lot of dunking and stirring. I over shot the temp of 158 by a couple deg. in the beginning of the mash but did get it back down. The wort was not near as sweet as I thought it should be. No iodine to do a conversion test so ... We'll see.

If you milled the grain as fine as I do, your conversion was probably over within the first 5 to 8 minutes. By overshooting your temperature you probably converted to more dextrines. Watch your strike temperature closer for your next brew.

 

[mtnagel]

Interesting. My SOP has been to heat up to 1-2 F higher than what BeerSmith says for strike water and then adding my grains and stirring and then checking temp and dropping it quickly with a few ice cubes. The whole process takes at least 4-5 minutes. Perhaps I shouldn't be doing that??

 

[Robar]

Started at 5:05am

I blew it on this thing.I ended up way over on volume at nearly 4gal instead of 3 gal. I can't remember what the OG is suposed to be on this beer but I ended up with 1.050 which is way low. bummed... Maybe some dme in the secondary to bring it up.

Actually I've been thinking about it for the last half hour and decided since I bought all the stuff to a five gallon batch I could do a mini mash with the rest of the ingredients boild off all but a gallon and bring the grav up. Problem solved!

 

[mtnagel]

Wow, I'm a morning person and even I can't imagine starting that early. Perhaps some more coffee next time.

 

[Robar]

I normally wake up between 5 and 5:30 I had the water in the kettle on the stove ready to go it was just push the button on the coffee pot and turn the knob on the stove.

APOLOGIES to the OP for hijacking this thread.

 

[Jayslay]

Typically you want a kettle that is double your intended batch size.
BUT, there are many tricks and work arounds that can allow you to "stretch" a smaller kettle to do larger batches.
1. Topping up a more concentrated wort with water.
2. Topping up your mash after conversion with hot water to the kettle rim. This allows use of the whole pot that wouldn't be possible while adding grain.
3. Sparging, either a dunk sparge of the bag, or gently pouring sparge water through the bag.
4. Reserving a quantity of the sparge wort and adding it back to the kettle during the boil.
5. Using a second kettle to boil some of the wort / sparge.
!

I use all of these, as well as partial mashing (adding DME), to produce excellent 5 gallon batches of partial mash in a 4 gallon Presto Pressure cooker (no lid obviously). Its a serious stretch, but I have been exceedingly happy with what I've created using limited equipment. I also have a 2 gallon stock pot for heating water at the same time.

 

[carlk47]

I've done 2.5 - 6 gallon batches in my 10 gallon pot. I'd say don't go any smaller than a 10 gallon pot.

Agreed! I currently have a 7.5 gal kettle but am asking for a 10 gal kettle for Christmas. 7.5 works great for 3 gal batches but come summertime I think I'll need to be brewing 5 gal batches! Apparently we are more thirsty during the summer

 

[RM-MN]

Agreed! I currently have a 7.5 gal kettle but am asking for a 10 gal kettle for Christmas. 7.5 works great for 3 gal batches but come summertime I think I'll need to be brewing 5 gal batches! Apparently we are more thirsty during the summer

Good luck on getting the 10 gallon kettle for Christmas but if you don't you can still make 5 gallon batches in a 7.5 gallon kettle. You have to control your heat really well so you don't have a lot of boil off (so you don't have to start with 8.5 gallons) and watch the hot break or it will go over the top. I've done several and the hot break time is nerve racking.