Help for a BIAB set up

[rich1985]

Hi there,

I'm looking to move from an extract set up to all grain. I've been recommended trying boil in a bag mashing.
I currently only have a 19l pot so to make a 20l batch I pre boil 10l of water, put it in the primary and then add the 14l wort after it has chilled.
I want to continue to make 20l batches so I assume I will need a new kettle. Does anyone have a recommendation for size (33l or 50l) or a place to get it from? It will need to be one that I can heat up on a standard four burner gas hob.
Is there anything else I'll need bar the mesh bag. Would obviously like to do this as cheap as possible.
Thank you in advance!

Richard

 

[DavidHatton]

Hi there,

I'm looking to move from an extract set up to all grain. I've been recommended trying boil in a bag mashing.
I currently only have a 19l pot so to make a 20l batch I pre boil 10l of water, put it in the primary and then add the 14l wort after it has chilled.
I want to continue to make 20l batches so I assume I will need a new kettle. Does anyone have a recommendation for size (33l or 50l) or a place to get it from? It will need to be one that I can heat up on a standard four burner gas hob.
Is there anything else I'll need bar the mesh bag. Would obviously like to do this as cheap as possible.
Thank you in advance!

Richard

Just bought a 33l for BIAB and all grain! 33l should be enough if you are sticking to 20l. i bought mine with a hole cut for a ball valve! make sure you think about what bits you will need if you choose like me! if not have a tap :thumb: Doing my first brew today! finally no leaks :whistle:

I am a newbie by 3 months but i did have a good think about the step up from a 20l pot to this. mine cost roughly �£70 with all the parts.
Got mine from Angel Homebrew, good solid pot Light but for that price which was £56 cant grumble. if i think of anything else i will post it.

D

 

[rich1985]

Just bought a 33l for BIAB and all grain! 33l should be enough if you are sticking to 20l. i bought mine with a hole cut for a ball valve! make sure you think about what bits you will need if you choose like me! if not have a tap :thumb: Doing my first brew today! finally no leaks :whistle:

I am a newbie by 3 months but i did have a good think about the step up from a 20l pot to this. mine cost roughly �£70 with all the parts.
Got mine from Angel Homebrew, good solid pot Light but for that price which was £56 cant grumble. if i think of anything else i will post it.

D

Thanks David! I'd be really keen to hear how it goes with a 33l pot. How much grain did you use? Are you using a normal gas hob ?

 

[DavidHatton]

Thanks David! I'd be really keen to hear how it goes with a 33l pot. How much grain did you use? Are you using a normal gas hob ?

Hi, just doing a small batch today, 9 litres, as a test batch, total grain was 2.2kg also still have the old Brew bag it fits around the pot but doesnt touch the bottom!
eventually i will use it as a boil pot, just i finished collecting bits for a mash tun cooler! 34l that was about another £60.
regarding the pot, it got to mash temp in 25 mins on my largest ring on a four ring gas hob!! which is the front on mine, the pot is 35cm by 35cm so maybe measure yours to see! luckily it over hangs a little, so far so good. let me know if you are gonna buy one from Angel homebrew, i would have a bigger hole fitted to suit the bulk head they do, i just sent them an email asking about the hole! he did ask if i had a ball valve! but i would defo recommend having the bulk head fitting. royal pain in the ass getting mine to stop leaking. all tight now!!

D

 

[rich1985]

Sounds like there's plenty of room in there. Really want to get it right as I want this to be the last bit of equipment I buy for a while! Is this the same as what you ended up getting?

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=387

 

[DavidHatton]

Sounds like there's plenty of room in there. Really want to get it right as I want this to be the last bit of equipment I buy for a while! Is this the same as what you ended up getting?

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=387

I would say thatsa good price, i noticed that the Angel brew pots are German! thats what swayed me, but where Z Germans got them from i don't know, but i trust the germans make good quality! so went for it on simple quality reasons mine is coming to temp nicely... the malt miller pot looks fine! work it out which is best, you'll need a barbed hose fitting and the hop filter!! maybe?

 

[rich1985]

Thanks David. I'm going to sleep on it!

 

[Ajhutch]

Sounds like there's plenty of room in there. Really want to get it right as I want this to be the last bit of equipment I buy for a while! Is this the same as what you ended up getting?

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=387

I've got a very similar pot, that's a decent price too. My personal view is for a full volume (i.e. no sparge) BIAB, b batch size of half your pot volume is about right. It obviously depends on the strength of beer you target and therefore your grain bill size but for flexibility I go with that. I have a 30 litre pot and make 15 litre batches. For my setup, a 1.056 OG (5.5%+ ABV) beer requires a malt bill in the region of 4kg and around 22 litres of water to mash, which makes the pot pretty full but with room to stir the mash. I am pretty conservative so you could probably go higher

 

[rich1985]

I've got a very similar pot, that's a decent price too. My personal view is for a full volume (i.e. no sparge) BIAB, b batch size of half your pot volume is about right. It obviously depends on the strength of beer you target and therefore your grain bill size but for flexibility I go with that. I have a 30 litre pot and make 15 litre batches. For my setup, a 1.056 OG (5.5%+ ABV) beer requires a malt bill in the region of 4kg and around 22 litres of water to mash, which makes the pot pretty full but with room to stir the mash. I am pretty conservative so you could probably go higher

Thanks! So do you think I could get away with a 33 to do 20 - 23l? Could do what to do but then sparge the rest? Happy to get a 50l pot but concerned about it going on my cooker top.

Sorry if these are stupid questions still trying to get my head around all grain!

 

[Ajhutch]

They aren't stupid questions at all and you're asking them at the right time.

So you could absolutely sparge, many BIABers do a dunk sparge. which is pretty much what it sounds like, heat some water, put it in an FV and dunk your grain bag for a few minutes. I used to do this, but when my second pot ceased to be usable (I got an induction hob) I had a think and decided I was happy with smaller batches so stopped it. Obviously if you're going to do a sparge you need a vessel to warm this water during the mash and it will add a little bit of time to your brew day, though not a lot. You can use your electric kettle to heat sparge water but if you treat your water (which you probably will in all grain) it's a pain.

A kitchen stove might not get a full rolling boil on a 23 litre batch, regardless of pot size. My pot has an internal element, 2.4kw and in winter it's a struggle to get up to the boil but it will hold it once it's there (I brew outside). I would be alive to the possibility that you may feel like upgrading to a gas burner outside in future. If you don't have an outside, I strongly recommend considering a pot with an electric element.

You could definitely produce 20 litres from a 33 litre pot, either by sparging or by producing as much as possible and diluting the wort at the end. This isn't traditional and if you read many American books on home brewing they'll tell you you can't do it, but you can!

 

[rich1985]

They aren't stupid questions at all and you're asking them at the right time.

So you could absolutely sparge, many BIABers do a dunk sparge. which is pretty much what it sounds like, heat some water, put it in an FV and dunk your grain bag for a few minutes. I used to do this, but when my second pot ceased to be usable (I got an induction hob) I had a think and decided I was happy with smaller batches so stopped it. Obviously if you're going to do a sparge you need a vessel to warm this water during the mash and it will add a little bit of time to your brew day, though not a lot. You can use your electric kettle to heat sparge water but if you treat your water (which you probably will in all grain) it's a pain.

A kitchen stove might not get a full rolling boil on a 23 litre batch, regardless of pot size. My pot has an internal element, 2.4kw and in winter it's a struggle to get up to the boil but it will hold it once it's there (I brew outside). I would be alive to the possibility that you may feel like upgrading to a gas burner outside in future. If you don't have an outside, I strongly recommend considering a pot with an electric element.

You could definitely produce 20 litres from a 33 litre pot, either by sparging or by producing as much as possible and diluting the wort at the end. This isn't traditional and if you read many American books on home brewing they'll tell you you can't do it, but you can!

Thank you. This makes sense! I think I'll go with a 33l. In my extract brew we only make 14 or so litres of wort and dilute with ten litres of boiled water.
Could I do a similar process with all grain? So use enough grain to get the required sugars out of the mash in the BIAB but only make 14l of wort then dilute?
If not any recommendations as to where to get a pot with an element? I'm useless at DIY so that's not an option.

Thanks again!

 

[Fil]

email the german supplier of SS stockpots and thermopots that sells on ebay.fr directly for a quote delivered to a UK address. pay via a paypal invoice and deliver takes 3-4 days

[email protected]

if you want to browse ebay.fr for suppliers directly "innox marmite 33l" is french(ish) for stainless steel stock pot 33l..

just be ready to check the pot for transit damage with a box cutter before signing accepting delivery, If there is any transit damage other than minor dings that can be popped out it will save about a week of elapsed time with the replacement if you dont accept delivery
(If you do have a problem, a photo and email is usually sufficient to start the return/replacement procedure rolling..)

 

[DavidHatton]

Thank you. This makes sense! I think I'll go with a 33l. In my extract brew we only make 14 or so litres of wort and dilute with ten litres of boiled water.
Could I do a similar process with all grain? So use enough grain to get the required sugars out of the mash in the BIAB but only make 14l of wort then dilute?
If not any recommendations as to where to get a pot with an element? I'm useless at DIY so that's not an option.

Thanks again!

To mention, the 33l pot i bought was in fact Bergland no fancy etching, but says it on the box, and after my first brew today was very impressed after a 60 min boil the base had no discolouration or burns. and it heated up pretty quickly on the domestic gas ring. about 30 mins to 100c from 64c and about 25 mins to get to mash temp of 71c i can live with that :thumb:

 

[Ajhutch]

Thank you. This makes sense! I think I'll go with a 33l. In my extract brew we only make 14 or so litres of wort and dilute with ten litres of boiled water.
Could I do a similar process with all grain? So use enough grain to get the required sugars out of the mash in the BIAB but only make 14l of wort then dilute?
If not any recommendations as to where to get a pot with an element? I'm useless at DIY so that's not an option.

Thanks again!

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk...er-with-Tap-Hop-Strainer-and-Thermometer.html

I have this 30L pot which came pre-drilled and all you had to do was screw the element in. Price-wise this is similar to the Malt Miller pot you posted previously allowing for the fact it is a little smaller but has an element.

There is quite a bit of information around on the forum about techniques for making a more concentrated wort, search for "Maxi-BIAB" and there's some excellent threads by @myqul and others.

 

[Spapro]

I bought a 33l and 50l pot from the maltmiller - both pots are Bergland - very nice pots:
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=387
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=389

I have cut holes in mine and added Peco elements - Maltmiller will cut holes for a little extra, but don't supply Peco elements which if required can be purchased here:
They show out of stock, but ring and check as I've always found they have them: http://www.pecoservices.co.uk/spare-element-mashing-bin---eb5-21-p.asp
Plus this lead: http://www.pecoservices.co.uk/uk-13aiec-power-supply-cable-28-p.asp

I added one element to the 33l pot and two elements in the 50l

 

[rich1985]

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk...er-with-Tap-Hop-Strainer-and-Thermometer.html

I have this 30L pot which came pre-drilled and all you had to do was screw the element in. Price-wise this is similar to the Malt Miller pot you posted previously allowing for the fact it is a little smaller but has an element.

There is quite a bit of information around on the forum about techniques for making a more concentrated wort, search for "Maxi-BIAB" and there's some excellent threads by @myqul and others.

Found a really good demonstration of maxi BIAB. Think I'll give this a try while I debate between which kettle to go with. Thanks you've been really helpful!

 

[rich1985]

I bought a 33l and 50l pot from the maltmiller - both pots are Bergland - very nice pots:
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=387
https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=389

I have cut holes in mine and added Peco elements - Maltmiller will cut holes for a little extra, but don't supply Peco elements which if required can be purchased here:
They show out of stock, but ring and check as I've always found they have them: http://www.pecoservices.co.uk/spare-element-mashing-bin---eb5-21-p.asp
Plus this lead: http://www.pecoservices.co.uk/uk-13aiec-power-supply-cable-28-p.asp

I added one element to the 33l pot and two elements in the 50l

Think this is the final question I have before I've got all the information. How easy is it to fit an element if you've got the holes pre drilled? Also if you choose to use the gas burner as opposed to the element one day (i.e. if i brewed outside )assume that's ruled out with the element fitted in?

 

[DavidHatton]

Found a really good demonstration of maxi BIAB. Think I'll give this a try while I debate between which kettle to go with. Thanks you've been really helpful!

wouldn't mind having a look at that about maxi biab please!
would save me time hunting.
cheers.

 

[Ajhutch]

wouldn't mind having a look at that about maxi biab please!
would save me time hunting.
cheers.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=66951

 

[Spapro]

Think this is the final question I have before I've got all the information. How easy is it to fit an element if you've got the holes pre drilled? Also if you choose to use the gas burner as opposed to the element one day (i.e. if i brewed outside )assume that's ruled out with the element fitted in?

Easy to fit the element(s) once the holes are made - just insert and tighten up a backnut, job done. If you buy a Peco plastic boiler it comes typicially with the element loose and needs to be inserted and nut tightened up.

Ideally you need to decide if you want leccy or gas - I wouldn't want any stray heat/flames from a gas burner licking up the outside of my pot and melting the outer connector of the installed element.