Brew in a bag

[buntung483]

Hi. I'm doing a brew in bag brew today. I'm using just over 12kg(26lb)of grain for a evil twin clone. This is a 40L(10.5gal) batch I have a 15 gallon pot but am not sure if its big enough now. Can I pull the bag out let it drain then do a sparge. And also can anyone tell me how much water to use as I cannot find a calculator.
Thanks
Josh

 

[smokewater]

Here is a handy calculator

http://up.jamesnweber.com/_brew/biabcalcs.html

I ran your numbers. Came out to 12.92 gallons of strike water. With grain absorption and boil off you will probably want 12-13 gallons preboil.

You could pull the bag, put it in another pot or 5 gallon bucket and dump some 190 degree water on it if you need more boil volume. I do that all the time as my 7.5 gallon turkey fryer pot only gives me about 5 gallons pre boil. I mash in 6 gallons and sparge with 2 for 5.25 gallons into the fermentor.

 

[buntung483]

Hi thanks for the reply. I'll check it out. I think I'll try sparging just so I'm not absolutely squeezed tight for space
Thanks
Josh

 

[christpuncher123]

http://beerreviewdude.com/biab-calculator/ this is the best calculator I have found. I don' t sparge anymore, due to my efficiency being too high, just mashout at 170 for 10 mins.

 

[smokewater]

http://beerreviewdude.com/biab-calculator/ this is the best calculator I have found. I don' t sparge anymore, due to my efficiency being too high, just mashout at 170 for 10 mins.

I think the problem is a 15 gallon pot will not hold the grain bill and enough water to wind up with 10.5 gallons of wort. I ran his numbers in your calculator and it came out to 14.75 gallons of strike water. Put that in a 15 gallon pot with 26 lbs of grain and you will have a problem. He needs a second vessel for this batch.

 

[jcdouglas]

I think the problem is a 15 gallon pot will not hold the grain bill and enough water to wind up with 10.5 gallons of wort. I ran his numbers in your calculator and it came out to 14.75 gallons of strike water. Put that in a 15 gallon pot with 26 lbs of grain and you will have a problem. He needs a second vessel for this batch.

Agreed. I make 10 gallon batches in my 15 gallon pot, but I only use about 11 gallons during the mash. Then in another pot I heat up water to 170 deg/F. After the mashout, I lift the grains and let it hang over the pot (I use a strainer and pulley system). Then I sparge until I reach my pre-boil volume. I got about 80% efficiency last time I did this.

 

[smokewater]

Agreed. I make 10 gallon batches in my 15 gallon pot, but I only use about 11 gallons during the mash. Then in another pot I heat up water to 170 deg/F. After the mashout, I lift the grains and let it hang over the pot (I use a strainer and pulley system). Then I sparge until I reach my pre-boil volume. I got about 80% efficiency last time I did this.

I generally run 75-80 efficiency with a single LHBS crush.

I batch sparge in a 5 gallon bucket.
Pull bag after mash. Throw it in the bucket. Stir grain each time.

Its about 150F at this point so 2-3 gallons of 190 degree water hits in the 170 range.

I heat my big pot up to 170 while the 5 gallon bucket and bag sits.

Pull the bag again and mash out in the big pot. Pull bag a third time combine volumes and boil.

I usually have a quart or 2 of wort seep out of the bag and collect in the bucket during the boil that I add into the pot to reduce boil off if I need it.

 

[wilserbrewer]

You will need a LARGE sparge vessel...people above keep mentioning a five gallon pail, sorry that won't help w/ 26 lbs of grain! What's that saying, 5 lbs of __ in a...I think you get it. If you don't have a container large enough for a dunk sparge of the bag, you could try and sprinke water through the grain and catch it below.

While the calculators are handy, it is good practice to check during the brew. Once you pull the bag, measure wort collected, the amount required to reach pre-boil volume is your sparge amount required...very simple yet effective approach. Example, if you pull the bag and have 9 gallons of wort and need 13 gal. preboil, sparge amount req'd is 4 gallons...it really is that simple.

 

[smokewater]

You will need a LARGE sparge vessel...people above keep mentioning a five gallon pail, sorry that won't help w/ 26 lbs of grain! What's that saying, 5 lbs of __ in a...I think you get it. If you don't have a container large enough for a dunk sparge of the bag, you could try and sprinke water through the grain and catch it below.

While a larger vessel is preferred you can get just under 3 gallons of water to fit in a 5 gallon bucket with 26lbs of grain. If he mashes in with 12 gallons that will get him close to his preboil volume.

Might need to batch sparge twice in the bucket but it can be done especially if it has a valve like a bottling bucket. Its not really a "dunk sparge". Open the bag and stir like crazy.