I really want to get into all grain but I cant spend the money at the moment. Is it possible to do the biab into one of the pots and then once its done mashing, split the wort, top both the pots up to around 15l and boil down till I reach 23l? I was thinking that I could just do my hop additions into one of the pots, is this going to work?
Cheers in advance
Aydan
Post #2 made 12 years ago
absolutely doable!
Cube:
fermenter: Sourdough Spelt Ale, Classic Lambic, Oud Brune, Barrel Aged Belgian Dubbel
Kegs: Bob's Black IPA, Blanc Blond, Soda...
to be brewed:
fermenter: Sourdough Spelt Ale, Classic Lambic, Oud Brune, Barrel Aged Belgian Dubbel
Kegs: Bob's Black IPA, Blanc Blond, Soda...
to be brewed:
Re: Using two 17.6l pots to do full batch
Post #3 made 12 years ago
Fantastic, does anyone think this isn't a good idea?
Post #4 made 12 years ago
Hi there Aydan and welcome to the forum 
,
I think what I'd do in this situation would be to simply make two bags and do your "full batch" in two halves at the same time. This is similiar to what you have in mind but much easier. Here's why...
1. Mashing in one pot is going to give you very low efficiency as, at best, only 50% of your water will contact the grain.
2. You can correct the above to an extent by doing a dunk sparge in your second kettle but this is going to be a bit more work and mess and you'll end up with two kettles containing different gravity worts. Trying to equalise these worts, if you wanted to, would be more mess. So two bags means less work/mess and you also end up with both kettles having the same gravity wort.
3. You should also split your hops between both kettles as hop utilisation decreases the more your wort gravity increases.
So two bags should make for a nice simple brew day and easy calculations and repeatability. The only downside I can see is that you need to make two bags instead of one which really isn't a big deal. (Having two bags means you can do two totally different 'half' batches side by side if this takes your fancy occasionally.)
Btw, even with two 17.5 L kettles, you'll probably have to top the brew up a bit. Before you do your first brew, make a post in this thread and we'll help you to make sure you get the right amount of ingredients and start with the right amount of water (and top ups) for your first brew.
PP
,I think what I'd do in this situation would be to simply make two bags and do your "full batch" in two halves at the same time. This is similiar to what you have in mind but much easier. Here's why...
1. Mashing in one pot is going to give you very low efficiency as, at best, only 50% of your water will contact the grain.
2. You can correct the above to an extent by doing a dunk sparge in your second kettle but this is going to be a bit more work and mess and you'll end up with two kettles containing different gravity worts. Trying to equalise these worts, if you wanted to, would be more mess. So two bags means less work/mess and you also end up with both kettles having the same gravity wort.
3. You should also split your hops between both kettles as hop utilisation decreases the more your wort gravity increases.
So two bags should make for a nice simple brew day and easy calculations and repeatability. The only downside I can see is that you need to make two bags instead of one which really isn't a big deal. (Having two bags means you can do two totally different 'half' batches side by side if this takes your fancy occasionally.)
Btw, even with two 17.5 L kettles, you'll probably have to top the brew up a bit. Before you do your first brew, make a post in this thread and we'll help you to make sure you get the right amount of ingredients and start with the right amount of water (and top ups) for your first brew.
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 04 May 2012, 16:36, edited 3 times in total.
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Post #5 made 12 years ago
Thanks heaps for that info that is a great help, this site is great. I could spend hours on here ( which I have already done 
) looking at all of these threads.
) looking at all of these threads.
