BIAB in a 5 gallon kettle?

I'm hoping to try BIAB in my 5 gallon kettle. Is it possible to do a 5 gallon batch and top off in the carboy as I would in extract? If not could I do a 3 gallon batch?

Thanks
Dan

Stick to a 3 gallon batch...and light beers for a 5 gallon kettle

Nope,you don't have to stick to 3 gallon batches & all that. I do Partial Boil/Partial Mash biab myself. I mash 5-6 pounds of grains in 2 gallons of local spring water @ 152-155F,usually 152F for most beers. Maybe 155F for dark beers. Anyway,I put a cake cooling rack in the bottom of the BK/MT to keep the 5 gallon paint strainer bag of grains from burning on the bottom.
When I get the water up to 150F,I stir in the crushed grains till all dough balls are broken up & they're evenly wetted. When the temp comes back up to 152F,I have a winter hunting coat with two pot holders & wrap the covered kettle up in with a floating thermometer in it for the 1 hour mash.
I heat 1.5 gallons sparge water to 165-168F. After the mash is done,I pull the bag & place it in a SS collander on top of the BK/MT to drain. Then slowly pour the sparge water over the grains & let drain again. Pressing on the grain bag a little to get them drained out more.
This gives 3.5 gallons of wort for the boil. I do all hop additions with this,since it's 50% of the fermentables. boil off is usually 1/2 gallon. I add 3lbs of plain DME at flame out. Chill down to 70F,then strain into fermenter. I started using super moss,so you wanna get any excess gunk out. Then I top up to recipe volume with cold spring water out of the fridge (or garage in winter). Pitch yeast starter or rehydrated yeast & seal'er up. I've done 5 & 6 gallon batches this way.

Thanks. I think I will try it this way for my next batch. Are the paint strainers a standard size?

I agree with unionrdr. I do 2.5 gallon size BIAB sessions with a 5 gallon kettle or you can do partial mash and top off the water at the end. I do many smaller 2.5 gallon BIAB sessions on our stove top in order to try out new recipes w/o brewing a full 5 gallons. For fermenting I buy icing buckets from a local bakery (or even Walmart) for about $2.00. Add a 50 cent grommet and I have several cheap fermentors going at one time. Paint strainers for 5 gallon buckets will work just fine. There are also 1 gallon size paint strainer bags so look closely at what you buy.

Thanks for the info. Glad I can do that without buying a new pot right away. The mrs didn't look too pleased when I mentioned getting a new one.

Yeah,no need for a new kettle. Just measure across the top of the kettle to get a paint strainer bag that can be rolled over the lip of the BK. I use twist ties formed into a noose to hang my floating thermometer in the kettle while mashing,covered.

Thanks for all the info. Just finished up a 3 gallon ipa. Worked out great. I am hooked.

williamsdm1111 said:

Thanks for all the info. Just finished up a 3 gallon ipa. Worked out great. I am hooked.

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Get the next one started asap. That 3 gallon batch won't last long.

I do a number of the 2 1/2 to 3 gallon batches so I have a lot of variety in beers to choose from when I want to drink one. I think I only have 18 different beers bottled now.

I am going to try my first BIAB tomorrow in my 7.5 gal turkey fryer. Gonna heat water to 170 then mash for at least an hour. Sparge to get my boil volume, then the rest is cake. Gonna put my bag in the shrimp basket that came with the fryer. Will post my results.

I'm doing 2 - 5 gallon extract batches on sunday with a friend of mine. I really liked the BIAB method though.

BadDeacon said:

I am going to try my first BIAB tomorrow in my 7.5 gal turkey fryer. Gonna heat water to 170 then mash for at least an hour. Sparge to get my boil volume, then the rest is cake. Gonna put my bag in the shrimp basket that came with the fryer. Will post my results.

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I do exactly this! Got my turkey fryer at Canadian Tire for $90! So far it's been a blast. Keep some ice cold water to add to your mash if it ends up too hot after you add your grains. If its too low, just fire up the burner again, watching not to burn your grain on the bottom.

Boy,it took all day till a couple minutes ago to connect to the server for this site from any link at all. Anyway,don't mash @ 170F,or you'll start killing the enzymes that you need from the base grains for conversion. 147F or so up to 160F is the regular,safe temp range for mashing that I stick to. Usually 152-155F,depending on whether it's dark or light colored,medium or heavier bodied.

I got it in the fermenter. Had some problems, which I expected with volumes. I unexpectedly had thermometer problems as well!

Ended up with 5.5 gal to boil. hydro reading at 170 was 1.03 reading. I think I ended up with about 76% efficiency.

Og for the wort ended up at 1.048 with 5.5 gallons.