First time BIAB question

[flashburn66]

Hello Everyone,

So I have 3 extract brews under my belt and want to test the waters of All Grain BIAB. I was going to try and do my first AG BIAB this weekend. I am getting a Dark Star Burner for a good deal, I have the Bag that I picked up from a local home brew store and I found a Pliney The Elder recipe kit and got the grain for it. I usually make 5 Gallon batches with the Extract kits. I want to do a 5 Gallon AG BIAB batch. I am still using the cheap 5 gallon brew pot/kettle that came with my extract kit. My question is how much water do I need to make this work. I have maybe another gallon pot in the kitchen. I was going to fill up the Brew pot that I have as much as possible and have the other pot in the kitchen on the stove to give myself more water to sparge with after I pull the bag. to bring me back up to the 5 gallon mark. Is this an ok way to go about it, Or do I need to really get a bigger Brew kettle. I may be able to get an 8 Gallon kettle. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[balrog]

If you plan to end up with 5G into fermentor and you have typical boil off rate, you will want to boil 6 gallons with some headspace for hot break when boil starts. The 5G pot will be somewhat small for that. I've known some who will do two small pots, and divy up the hop additions and all, but with one burner, you'll be better off getting a 40Q brew pot.

As for sparge, there is much discussion about whether or not to sparge a BIAB or let drip (the method I use), or the whole religious fervor inspiring argument about squeezing.

Bottom line is you need a bigger pot.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Bottom line is you need a bigger pot.

If you WANT to brew this weekend, I think you could likely jump through a few hoops and brew a 4 gallon batch with what you have at hand. You will need to sparge the bag, perhaps top up the kettle, perhaps boil in a secondary pot etc etc....

Where there is a will, you can find a way lol

Ideally we all should have a lot of things, but I wouldn't want to discourage you from trying.

Likely get a nice beer, perhaps not perfect but isn't that what learning is all about...cheers!

Edit....Perhaps sparge in a bucket, then boil in what you have available. Run as much water thru the grain as possible to the limits of what you have
If gravity is high top up fermenter with a little water...

Lots of work arounds, but it may be tricky for a first timer....that was my disclaimer lol

 

[cbier60]

Honestly, to brew 5G of a big beer like a Pliny clone, you probably need a 12G kettle, but as wilserbrewer said, don't let that discourage you or keep you from brewing. Mash with your kettle filled to the brim, and then sparge with additional water to get more like 7 instead of 6 gallons of wort going into the boil (which I realize is more than your capacity). If you can borrow an 8G pot, you'd be much better off.

 

[fun4stuff]

If I were in your shoes, I'd wait until you have a big enough kettle.... Or scale the recipe down to 2.5 gallons (and brew it twice). Don't make your first biab harder than it should be. In general you want a kettle that's 2x the size of the batch you plan to brew... If it's 5 gallons, then 10 would be minimum, but I'd go with something a little bigger like 12-15 gallons in case you want to brew higher gravity beers (like pliny) that have more lbs of grain.

 

[davemattb]

Good advice about not making your first batch harder. A 36 qt bayou classic is $34 at amazon. While I think the 44qt is better for 5g batches you could definitely make it work. The Pliney kit can't be cheap. So don't waste that, I think you'll be disappointed. Maybe go to the LHBS and pick up grains to make your own smaller recipe. Then you can harvest the yeast slurry to help your pliney kit. I'm sure it'll need the extra yeast to properly ferment.

 

[violinguy]

I agree that you should use a bigger kettle for a 5g batch. Unlike extract, BIAB is usually a full volume boil without top-off. I brew 3 gallon BIAB batches in a 21-quart kettle. I mash with 18 quarts and then sparge to get my boil volume back up to 4.5 gallons. It's a little tight and I have to watch hot break like a hawk (18 quarts in a 21 quart pot), but it works for me. I would invest in the biggest kettle you can afford - 8g or more for your 5g brew plans. Kettles can be spendy, but it'll last a long time, and you'll be glad you got the bigger one.