I have a 3 vessel system with herms and was thinking of trying BIAB .my kit includes a 100 ss stock pot ,a 70 ss stock pot a gas burner a 38 litre thermopot mash tun and my herms pot/pid/pump
my questions are what is the max size you recommend for BIAB I have been brewing 25 litre batches but need to brew bigger and that is why ss pots were purchased,and do people use recirculation to keep mash temp up.Im thinking about maybe using one of the ss pots and herms pot to BIAB and save some of the cleaning up /space needed for 3 vessel
I realise I would need a bag for grain but if I recirculate during mash I guess I wouldnt need something to keep bag off of base of boiler
anyone with thoughts please let me know
thanks Paul
thinking of trying biab
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jaberry
Re: thinking of trying biab
Go to the biabrewer website and you'll find plenty of info there including calculators. The only limits are the size of the pots and even then you can get a lot more out my doing maxi-biab (basically concentrating the wort and diluting at the end)
Re: thinking of trying biab
Your main limitation is going to be how much wet grain you can lift and squeeze without investing in either pulleys or lifting equipment.
Fermenting: Nowt
Conditioning: Black Cross Stout
Drinking: GW London Porter, 'Use it Up' Bitter
Conditioning: Black Cross Stout
Drinking: GW London Porter, 'Use it Up' Bitter
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RdeV
Re: thinking of trying biab
As per TonySan, with your 100L kettle the limit will be how much you can lift unaided unless you invest in a lifting aid for lautering. Depending upon your own particular physique of course, I'd guess that's around 8- 10kg grain bill without any assistance, beyond that is only limited to your budget and imagination for lifting aids. That can be as simple as a rope over a convenient beam, use pulleys if mechanical advantage is required while some folks use an electronic hoist, even the garage bicycle storage lifts have been used. I only use a rope on a double batch (see below), IIRC Bribie should have a photo of his simple bag lift gear in a thread around here?
To answer your main query, in the 100L kettle, unaided about 50L of 1.050, with stock BIAB only about 60- 70L aided, perhaps 110- 120L with MaxiBIAB methods and aided lifting.
Most BIABers rely on passive insulation to maintain mash temperature, this is just so simple with single infusion mashes but decoctions and multiple infusions aren't too hard to conquer either. As far as recirculating BIAB goes, TBH I'd suggest trying the basic stock BIAB method first, perhaps with a smaller pot. As you have probably already experienced with your 3V kit, configuring a manifold for the liquor return is not a simple thing, while throttling pump discharge, false bottom and even finding a suitable bag material (for recirculating that is) can be challenges to overcome, none of this would be an issue in the stock BIAB method. Afterwards, by all means go to recirculating BIAB when you're comfortable with the process (presume that would be quite rapid, particularly if the rest of your brewing technique is done and dusted) as you probably have most of the required kit, but I always recommend folks try the stock variant and reflect upon just how good the results are from the simplest and most basic BIAB process before making it any more complex.
FWIW, I have a 36L kettle, by doing double MaxiBIABs I can just squeeze out 2 * 23L of 1.050 in the fermenter, so if you really do need to economise on space then perhaps consider that technique as well. Again though, I'd still recommend a stock BIAB tester first before opening up the throttle like that.
Finally, I'm not wanting to sound like a LMGTFY smart *rse, but do cast around google for recirculating BIAB, there's quite a load of resources out there from folks who have done it (they seem to be fairly good at documenting stuff like this!), one other tip is the term "Ghetto Braumeister".
Hope that helps!
To answer your main query, in the 100L kettle, unaided about 50L of 1.050, with stock BIAB only about 60- 70L aided, perhaps 110- 120L with MaxiBIAB methods and aided lifting.
Most BIABers rely on passive insulation to maintain mash temperature, this is just so simple with single infusion mashes but decoctions and multiple infusions aren't too hard to conquer either. As far as recirculating BIAB goes, TBH I'd suggest trying the basic stock BIAB method first, perhaps with a smaller pot. As you have probably already experienced with your 3V kit, configuring a manifold for the liquor return is not a simple thing, while throttling pump discharge, false bottom and even finding a suitable bag material (for recirculating that is) can be challenges to overcome, none of this would be an issue in the stock BIAB method. Afterwards, by all means go to recirculating BIAB when you're comfortable with the process (presume that would be quite rapid, particularly if the rest of your brewing technique is done and dusted) as you probably have most of the required kit, but I always recommend folks try the stock variant and reflect upon just how good the results are from the simplest and most basic BIAB process before making it any more complex.
FWIW, I have a 36L kettle, by doing double MaxiBIABs I can just squeeze out 2 * 23L of 1.050 in the fermenter, so if you really do need to economise on space then perhaps consider that technique as well. Again though, I'd still recommend a stock BIAB tester first before opening up the throttle like that.
Finally, I'm not wanting to sound like a LMGTFY smart *rse, but do cast around google for recirculating BIAB, there's quite a load of resources out there from folks who have done it (they seem to be fairly good at documenting stuff like this!), one other tip is the term "Ghetto Braumeister".
Hope that helps!