5 gallon all grain beer kits BIAB questions...

[danieldavid39]

I have been doing extract brews for a little while and want to start doing all grain brews but have limited equipment....

I have a 10 gallon megapot that I just received today and a darkstar burner....

My question is, is it possible to do a 5 gallon BIAB with the above equipment? I know this depends on the grail bill so I'm using northern brewers nut brown as an example...

It has 8.5 pounds of grain included in this kit... Would I just bag them grains up and mash in about 15 quarts of water ( 1.5 quarts per pound right?) and then pull the bag out and let it drain into the wort.... Then maybe sparge in two more gallons for a little while then add that to the wort and proceed with hop schedule?

I have never attempted all grain brews and plan to stick to NB's all grain kits that have a lighter grain bill so I can BIAB with them if possible...

Thanks!

 

[Foosier]

Heck yes. I use a 10 Gal pot also. 8.5lbs of grain is no issue what so ever.

That being said, forget about the water to grain ratio. it does not apply to BIAB. You put all the water you will need into the pot, bring it to strike temp, then mash in (put your grains in the bag in the water). There are many calculators which help you figure out the total water you need. I like "simplebiabcalculator" which you can easily google.

Doing it this way, you really just heat the strike water, mash in, let the mash rest (I like to stir every 15 minutes to check temp) then pull the bag and bring to a boil and proceed with the hop schedule. Doing the sparge can be done but is an extra added step which is not truly needed with BIAB. doesn't mean you should not do the sparge, just means many of us don't do it in order to keep our process as simple as possible.

Good luck!

 

[fuzzy2133]

Foosier beat me to it.

Yes you can mash with less and rinse/sparge with 1-2 gallons of 170ish water.

When you decide on a process stick with it a for few brew sessions so you have fewer variables when something goes wrong. Keep track of your volumes and gravity readings for the day you do decide to change your process then you will know if it was for the better.

There is plenty of good info in the BIAB section under all grain brewing.

 

[danieldavid39]

Wow thanks for the fast replies guys... I guess I have no excuse to not try my hand at all grain brewing then...

 

[Hello]

Do it! Did my first BIAB and wish I tried it before all grain with a mash tun. Very nice having just a single vessel to clean too!