BIAB

J

JoeParke

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Afternoon all!
This may be an obvious answer to the experts among us but I am certainly a novice, but I'm asking anyway..... I want to go from extract kit to biab brewing. I can't afford an electric kettle boiler as yet but do have access to a 24litre stainless steel pot.
A - can I BIAB in a pot, on a gas stove?
B - What's the biggest grain bill can I fit in that size pot?
C - What size brewing bag should I get?
Many thanks in advance!
Cheers and here's to the beers!
 
howdy! i know this is in imperial units, but i think i've got a similar setup as you.

you can absolutely do it in your current pot and stove. I still have my 5 gallon kettle from when i first started and use that on a gas stove. i want to eventually upgrade to a bigger pot and propane burner, but that's fine for now.

I can fit about 11 lbs of grain (and subsequent water) comfortably, with just enough room to stir. However, i generally try to stay around 10 lbs. To get around this limitation, you can supplement with some extract to hit your numbers, top off with some water (like with extract brews, I do this), and/or be a bit particular about what you brew vs how much. For instance, i could get about 2-3 gallons of a strong barleywine or 5 gallons of a moderate abv blonde ale.

I forget the size of my bag, i think the store only had the one. I think ive heard people using 5 gallon paint strainer bags from the hardware store. I'd err on the side of too big, as long as it's not draping near the flame on the stove. You can always tie it off to the pot handle or something.

one of the things that really got me to look at and choose BIAB is that i just had to spend $10 bucks or less to get what i needed. everything else came with my original kit when i started with extract
 
jmcnamara said:
howdy! i know this is in imperial units, but i think i've got a similar setup as you.

you can absolutely do it in your current pot and stove. I still have my 5 gallon kettle from when i first started and use that on a gas stove. i want to eventually upgrade to a bigger pot and propane burner, but that's fine for now.

I can fit about 11 lbs of grain (and subsequent water) comfortably, with just enough room to stir. However, i generally try to stay around 10 lbs. To get around this limitation, you can supplement with some extract to hit your numbers, top off with some water (like with extract brews, I do this), and/or be a bit particular about what you brew vs how much. For instance, i could get about 2-3 gallons of a strong barleywine or 5 gallons of a moderate abv blonde ale.

I forget the size of my bag, i think the store only had the one. I think ive heard people using 5 gallon paint strainer bags from the hardware store. I'd err on the side of too big, as long as it's not draping near the flame on the stove. You can always tie it off to the pot handle or something.

one of the things that really got me to look at and choose BIAB is that i just had to spend $10 bucks or less to get what i needed. everything else came with my original kit when i started with extract
Click to expand...
Brilliant! Thanks very much, buddy! Excellent advice and help. Cheers!
 
You're very welcome, hope everything turns out for you

Oh, and one more tip for BIAB, when you take the bag out of the kettle, squeeze it like it owes you money to get all that sugary goodness out of there
 
jmcnamara said:
You're very welcome, hope everything turns out for you

Oh, and one more tip for BIAB, when you take the bag out of the kettle, squeeze it like it owes you money to get all that sugary goodness out of there
Click to expand...

That's interesting! Because the recipes I've read say Not to squeeze and I always wondered why not.....
I'm a massive fan of high abv beers. I think the next beer i want to do is a Imperial Stout. Something soul-searingly dark!
 
Haha, good luck!

I think why some say that is because it could extract tannins from the grain. That causes astingency, like sucking on a tea bag. Might be good for women but not for beer
I'll let Nosybear or someone else here go into the science, but it's basically agreed upon now that it's based on ph, not the squeezing itself. I'd bet those are older recipes or books that say that
 
I've been looking for a Ten Fidy clone, that beer is black and thick like motor oil, but so good
 
jmcnamara said:
Haha, good luck!

I think why some say that is because it could extract tannins from the grain. That causes astingency, like sucking on a tea bag. Might be good for women but not for beer
I'll let Nosybear or someone else here go into the science, but it's basically agreed upon now that it's based on ph, not the squeezing itself. I'd bet those are older recipes or books that say that
Click to expand...
Grand! Maybe I progress from gentle squeeze up to strangulation!
 
Would this recipe work as a BIAB in a 24 litre pot?
  • Grain Bill is 9.34kg
  • 23.3 Litres of strike water at 72.5 degrees
  • Mashing for 90 minutes at 66 degrees
  • Sparging 4.7 Litres
  • Boil size of 28 Litres
 
i think those metric squirrels have messed with things :eek:

your numbers for kg and litres look like they're for gallons and quarts. for instance, your grain bill would be about 20 lbs, no way that'll fit into a pot that size, not even considering the strike water.

plus, you're boiling 28 litres in a 24 litre pot. sounds a little messy ;)

try roughly halving those numbers
 
for mash thickness, i usually go for 1.25 qts per lb of grain. so that'd be roughly 2 litres per kg for you

and im just doing some rough math and rounding, so im a little off
 
jmcnamara said:
i think those metric squirrels have messed with things :eek:

your numbers for kg and litres look like they're for gallons and quarts. for instance, your grain bill would be about 20 lbs, no way that'll fit into a pot that size, not even considering the strike water.

plus, you're boiling 28 litres in a 24 litre pot. sounds a little messy ;)

try roughly halving those numbers
Click to expand...
That recipe is a ready made grain kit that i can buy but it's designed for a 33 litre kettle boiler. The recipe is for 23 litres of finished beer at 10%.
I just wondered if I bought it (its a great price!) can I adapt it to make the beer in a 24 litre pot....? Or am I just smegging nuts?
Cheers!
 
ohh, ok gotcha. yeah, with boil off and transfer losses, that makes sense

you could always do two mashes / boils, just split all the ingredients in half. then either blend them back in prior to pitching the yeast, or you could experiment and do something different with one of them. like oak chips or bourbon or coffee or chocolate or ...

if it's a good price, go ahead!!

you also made me think of Red Dwarf there at the end, thanks!
 
jmcnamara said:
ohh, ok gotcha. yeah, with boil off and transfer losses, that makes sense

you could always do two mashes / boils, just split all the ingredients in half. then either blend them back in prior to pitching the yeast, or you could experiment and do something different with one of them. like oak chips or bourbon or coffee or chocolate or ...

if it's a good price, go ahead!!

you also made me think of Red Dwarf there at the end, thanks!
Click to expand...

Smegging love The Boys from the Dwarf! Yep two mashes sound like a plan!
Cheers Smeghead!
 
Smoke me a kipper, i'll be back for breakfast!

you gotta report back on that beer once it's finished
 
Spin my nipple nuts and send me to Alaska! Will report back asap, Goalpost head.
 
Joe find yourself a comercial keg cut off the top and it will reduce your hassles.
 
11L is slightly smaller than my 15Q pot, and I can do up to 8.5lbs at once. I prefer to stay around 6lbs, so that's more like 3kg of grain. Paint strainer bags fit this pretty well and they can be dirt cheap.

The steps for that setup will be different than a standard recipe. Your boil size should be no more than 9L and to get there from 3kg will use a thick mash and not much sparge water. Your efficiency will be fairly low so take extra steps to get the most out that you can. Pay attention to pH, use longer rests, stir frequently, and either squeeze the bag or allow lots of time for it to drain over a sieve.
 
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