8l stock pot, can I BIAB?

[daf]

I really fancy dabbling in all grain, but before I shell out on a big pot, would I be able to brew up a small quantity for my smaller 15l FV bucket (which I got for the Brewferm kits)?

Is it feasible to do a mash/sparge in batches to get 6l of pre-boil, then top it up with chilled water in the FV up to 12l?

 

[fbsf]

Shouldn't be a problem. You'll need to maybe add a few more hops, as their utilisation goes down with thicker wort, but apart from that, it should be fine.

I use Beer Calculus (http://beercalculus.hopville.com) as a quick way of checking things - you can put in all sorts of details and then change them around and see how things result.

 

[Swift Pint]

I do 1 or 2 gallon BIABs in a 3.5 gallon pot.

I think for doing a 1 gallon BIAB (4.5l) my total water in the pot to begin with is 9l. Although I've never tried to brew strong and liquor back.
you might have to do a couple of brews to fill the fermentor. :wha:

Just bear in mind that if you decide to go down the BIAB route and have a big pot then there will be less faffing around with multiply batches, topping up in the FV etc. BIAB is beautifully simple!

 

[daf]

Cheers, nice one. I've just seen that Wilkos have an 18l stock pot for only £15 so this could be my entry level pan. I want to play about and do small batches of Belgian style beers to bottle in 1/2 pint bottles - that way I've less chance of making a 40 pint barrel of bad stuff.

I'll keep the big FV and barrels for fool-proof Wherries and Coopers Stouts, and try BIAB experiments too.