BIAB question

[stquinto]

G'day fellow brewers,

I've just ordered a 27 litre electric brew kettle with a 2000W element. I've got a 25 litre BIAB too.

How big a volume of a brew can I feasibly do ? I seem to remember having read that if it was all grain I could do 2/3 of it (so 19 litres), and that for BIAB you need more volume in your kettle.

Can I risk the same or would I really have to bring down the volume ?

If I ended up with a smaller batch can I just use the same fermentables and top up the FV with water ?

Cheers !

[Aussiekraut]

17 minutes ago, stquinto said:

G'day fellow brewers,

I've just ordered a 27 litre electric brew kettle with a 2000W element. I've got a 25 litre BIAB too.

How big a volume of a brew can I feasibly do ? I seem to remember having read that if it was all grain I could do 2/3 of it (so 19 litres), and that for BIAB you need more volume in your kettle.

Can I risk the same or would I really have to bring down the volume ?

If I ended up with a smaller batch can I just use the same fermentables and top up the FV with water ?

Cheers !

There are a few things to take into consideration. Grain absorption or boil-off rates for example. Unless 27l is brim full, I'd say try to get your boil volume to 27l and you might end up with maybe around 20l in the fermenter. So the 19l is realistic. 

It'll probably take you a few batches to get your numbers right but don't despair. You'll get there eventually. Maybe do a trial run with just water and figure out your boil-off and then fill a FV with what's in the kettle until the tap stops. Realistically, what's below the tap line is mostly waste. If you do a perfect whirlpool, you may get a little more.

[stquinto]

@Aussiekraut cheers AK mate. I'll do a "wet run" with water. My first brew was going to be a half-batch of Duvel so that won't be an issue. Afterwards I was going to try an Old Peculier then maybe a Samuel Adams but I'll have to wait for the temperature to drop as it uses W34/70.

 I haven't got the kettle yet: I bloody hope it's got volume markings inside the pot...

[ozdevil]

i would also get some fermcap  for the boil   it will save on boil over at a high volume

[Shamus O'Sean]

1 hour ago, ozdevil said:

i would also get some fermcap  for the boil   it will save on boil over at a high volume

Hey @stquinto, sanitiser in a spray bottle works well too.  Maybe not as good as fermcap (which I have never used), but I have gone from a "Oh my f*****g god" almost boil-over, to "F*** that was close", not boil over with a spray bottle.

[stquinto]

1 minute ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hey @stquinto, sanitiser in a spray bottle works well too.  Maybe not as good as fermcap (which I have never used), but I have gone from a "Oh my f*****g god" almost boil-over, to "F*** that was close", not boil over with a spray bottle.

 

1 hour ago, ozdevil said:

i would also get some fermcap  for the boil   it will save on boil over at a high volume

Thanks fellas - I can't source Fermcap here. But I do have a spray bottle and sanitiser. I have used plain water and it did keep the b*gger from boiling over, next ime I'll have a go with sanitiser.

.

[Bribie G]

I moved from BIAB in a 40 litre urn and went to a Brewzilla 35 litre. Whilst not a lot of difference on the face of it, I have had a couple of boil overs and find that a spray bottle with just plain water does the job. It's all hot side so no need for sanitisers etc.

Another trick is to drop a few hop pellets into the initial boil, as the hop oils can prevent foaming.

[iBooz2]

@stquinto 

I also suggest you do a trial run.  The kettle will need to be cleaned anyway so throw in some SP and do a test boil to clean off all the manufacturing oils and contaminants etc.

Things to remember are:

The water volume increases by about 4 % when heated to the boil.

You will need at least 150 – 200 mm head space from top of boil volume to rim of kettle to allow for boil turbulence and the initial foam up (tips about spray bottle of water at hand is a good one when using a small kettle size).

I think you will find the 27 L is to the brim calculation and if it has volume markings they will be approximate so it might pay to check them by adding 5 L of water (accurately measured by volume or weight) up the 5 L mark and see if it is close enough.  If it is close then go with the etch markings otherwise make up a SS dip stick or get a SS 1 metre ruler a put markings on that.

Fill it up to a mark you think you will need for a full batch boil, take note of volume then boil it (rolling boil) for 60” and note the remaining volume.  Continue to boil for another 10” and note the remaining volume, continue to boil for another 30” and note the remaining volume.  This way you will have the boil off rates for 60”, 70” and 90” which are the usual boil off times (90" for pilsner malts)  Do some sums from those three and get the average boil off amount per hour which you can enter into your brewing software if used.

Another tip is (if you are not sparging), always add a mash out to your mash schedule as it make the sugars in the grain bed more liquid and the bag will drain quicker.  I always do a mash out at 77 – 78 C for 10” now having noticed this effect with my BIABasket system.

Edited October 6, 2021 by iBooz2

[Red devil 44]

Nice package turned up for me this morning, happy days.

‘First step into AG, BIAB here I come 

[ozdevil]

35 minutes ago, Red devil 44 said:

Nice package turned up for me this morning, happy days.

‘First step into AG, BIAB here I come 

Looking good mate

dont forget to clean the manufacturing oils of the digiboil and passivate it

so the kolsh going to be your 1st A.G   mate

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Red devil 44 said:

Nice package turned up for me this morning, happy days.

‘First step into AG, BIAB here I come 

Well done Red best of luck with it, I will have to follow your progress & gradually move in that direction. Cheers.

[Red devil 44]

1 hour ago, ozdevil said:

Looking good mate

dont forget to clean the manufacturing oils of the digiboil and passivate it

so the kolsh going to be your 1st A.G   mate

Yeah Kegland suggest rubbing it with straight Stellarsan ( not diluted, then leave for 24hrs before washing off ) what do you reckon @ozdevil?

[ozdevil]

4 minutes ago, Red devil 44 said:

Yeah Kegland suggest rubbing it with straight Stellarsan ( not diluted, then leave for 24hrs before washing off ) what do you reckon @ozdevil?

i would 1st give it a rinse out with a  chux cloth

then  get some stellasan   and place all  of the inside and let sit overnight

then give rinse and another wipe over empty then rinse again and you will be good to go i reckon

[Red devil 44]

1 minute ago, ozdevil said:

i would 1st give it a rinse out with a  chux cloth

then  get some stellasan   and place all  of the inside and let sit overnight

then give rinse and another wipe over empty then rinse again and you will be good to go i reckon

Yeah I just gave it a wipe with a chux cloth as you said, I will now coat the inside with Stellarsan and leave overnight, cheers @ozdevil

[Red devil 44]

1 hour ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Well done Red best of luck with it, I will have to follow your progress & gradually move in that direction. Cheers.

Cheers @Classic Brewing Co, either throw an AG on tomorrow or Sunday, but keen to have a crack at it for sure. 
‘Pacific Ale is like a S & W Clone, but I might do the Kolsch first up. 

[ozdevil]

for your 1st A.G   dont worry  about the majors  even with the first few brews ,   remember this is a new learning curve.

at the end of it you will have beer  so dont worry to much about the effiencies to start

learn the digiboil  what it can and cant do

i'm looking forward to seeing your first A.G   and i say welcome to A.G club

 

[Red devil 44]

1 hour ago, ozdevil said:

for your 1st A.G   dont worry  about the majors  even with the first few brews ,   remember this is a new learning curve.

at the end of it you will have beer  so dont worry to much about the effiencies to start

learn the digiboil  what it can and cant do

i'm looking forward to seeing your first A.G   and i say welcome to A.G club

 

Cheers @ozdevil, keen to have a crack at the Kolsch tomorrow hopefully, but yeah like a kid on Christmas morning this morning

[stquinto]

30 minutes ago, Red devil 44 said:

yeah like a kid on Christmas morning this morning

You and me both @Red devil 44 mate 

My brew kettle is on the way, I also have a 16 litre pot to try a half batch of Duvel. Then I think the first in the kettle will be an Old Peculier.

[ozdevil]

42 minutes ago, stquinto said:

You and me both @Red devil 44 mate 

My brew kettle is on the way, I also have a 16 litre pot to try a half batch of Duvel. Then I think the first in the kettle will be an Old Peculier.

never chuck that out mate it will make great trial batch before upscaling to bigger batch

[Shamus O'Sean]

6 hours ago, Red devil 44 said:

That'll be handy for heating your sparge water when you buy your 65 litre BrewZilla.

[ozdevil]

6 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

That'll be handy for heating your sparge water when you buy your 65 litre BrewZilla.

I'm thinking of selling my 65l    (already have a possible buyer)

I am looking to either buy 2 new brewzillas g4 versions

or i am going to keep the brewzilla 35l   and get the g40 grainfather

so if my buyer doesnt pull through  someone here  may get a good deal when the time is right

[Aussiekraut]

18 hours ago, Red devil 44 said:

Nice package turned up for me this morning, happy days.

‘First step into AG, BIAB here I come 

It's happening  A new era in brewing is about to start. Good on ya mate. 

[Tricky Micky]

17 hours ago, Red devil 44 said:

18 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Well done Red best of luck with it, I will have to follow your progress & gradually move in that direction. Cheers.

Cheers @Classic Brewing Co, either throw an AG on tomorrow or Sunday, but keen to have a crack at it for sure. 
‘Pacific Ale is like a S & W Clone, but I might do the Kolsch first up. 

Well done Red @Red devil 44 AG and my Fav beer - envious much!

[stquinto]

The kettle turned up yesterday. No internal scale, but by chance 9 litres is 9cm up a metal ruler, 18 litres = 18cm etc. Handy that

The max is 23 litres, according to the line in it. 
Be giving it a spin tomorrow, after determining my boil-loss. 
Cheers for all of your tips I’d invite you for one or a dozen of the end result but it’s a bit far

 

[Hairy]

I used a metal ruler for measuring volume on my old pot. It worked great.