Triple Batch Maxi-BIAB in 50L pot

So I had a bit of a brew demo today,

To make it interesting, I decided to do a triple batch, two for me, and one for the host...

And I decided to do a Hefeweizen, because I have a Munich Helles and Munich Dunkel queueing up for the ferment fridge, and it seemed like a good idea...

And just to make it even more interesting I decided to do a Hochkurz mash... because I like it...

So, I picked up 3 more 15/17L cubes from my LHBS for 6$

The plan was to use 12KG of Pilsner/Wheat (50/50), + some hallertau to make a high gravity wort, which i'd cube, and make up to 60L at 1.050 in the Fermenter.

All in a 50L pot... ouch.

So, I was *hoping* for 83% efficiency, which'd give me 47.8L of 1.067, which'd give me an optimizitic cooled cubed volume of 44.8L

And diluting, we get 59.9L

Now... how did it turn out

I have a nice monster mill, and italian burner now... they rock

Also, now have a 2:1 pulley system... definitely a winner

Mash Weapon... awesome.

So, first problem... I think I burnt my drill out... its only running at about 50% now :-\

Wheat Beers... seems to love boiling over , must be the gluten, but it was touch and go the whole boil!!! one time I got distracted, and bang... boil-over, damn

After I pulled the bag, I sparged it *twice*, and at Start of Boil had only 71% efficiency :(

S'okay, I adjust the hop schedule... and proceeded with the boil

partway through the boil I added the concentrated drainings that had come from the grain... was about 1.070, and added another couple of litres of wort....

This brought my efficiency up to 75%, yeay

Added my add backs, and everything according to the calculator... I'm now shooting for 53L or so instead of 60L (because of the 83%->75% drop in efficiency)

Ended up with 3cm of headspace... instead of 2cm... mainly because I couldn't boil enough water in my second pot fast enough...

3cm gives me just enough room to make a good whirlpool, so happy ending... I ended up with

46.5L of 1.062 at End Of Boil,

After cubing, there was 2L of trub, I had expected 1L... but again... more trub from wheat.

So, I cubed 44.5L, which will cool to 42.6L, and I'll be diluting that to 52.5L in the fermenter for 72% into fermenter efficiency...

I then filtered the trube, and managed to recover 1.1L of clarified wort... which I boiled down, and will freeze and use as a starter... should make a good 2L at 1.040.



So, big issues with the maxi technique...

1) 75% efficiency instead of 83% efficiency, which sounds abotu right at this load
2) trub was a bit more
3) my max boil volume was actually less than I thought...
4) wheat is harder because it seems to want to boilover more...

So, now I should be able to make some good changes to the Maxi-Calculator

Oh, and the wort tasted so yummy!!!

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Oh, and the really good news...

I think I might be getting a 98L kettle for Father's Day

Be novel to do triples without maxi-biab

I think I might stick to double batches in the 50L from now on, but with 10KG of grain (no wheat) I did get 83% efficiency last time...

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Yeah, as you probably realise more than any of us, scaling up with any BIAB isn't always straightforward I'm afraid stux, there is usually something we hadn't thought of before which makes life difficult. Low efficiency could be accounted for by the wheat or the scaling, its probably a bit ambitious to expect >80% from a triple. However, there's nothing there which says 'show stopper' to me and the end result is still quite impressive, so well done!

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After cubing, there was 2L of trub, I had expected 1L... but again... more trub from wheat

Hi Stux nice work..

Do you sypon or use a tap, and how clear do you keep your wort, I try and keep mine as clear as possible when syponing but this means I'm leaving more in the kettle. I had about 5L of hops and break material on todays brew(23l batch) but I stop syphoning once it starts going cloudy.

Y

PS.. I use a chiller coil and ferment straight away.

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• • SVA Brewer With Over 50 Brews From Great Britain
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I actually threw all the cubes into the fermenter today

Final results were 41L of wort in the fermenter, which I diluted to 45L at 1.050

Which I imagine will get me only a couple of L more than if I had gone with just my straight double batch maxi-biab

End result, trying to push for more than my normal double batch (2x17 = 34, diluted to 42.5 for 38L packaged) doesn't work

My efficiency fell down to 70% out of the mash, and I only managed 75% into the boil

When I normally get about 85% into the boil.

The loss in efficiency basically meant I will end up with only a L or 3 of beer than I would normally get with a straight 38L maxi-brewlength

Nice to find the limit though

...

I've now created a 38L Maxi-BIAB BeerSmith profile, and a 23L BIAB profile

The only real difference between my 23L profile and the included BIAB 50L/23L one is that due to NC, the kettle losses end up migrating into the fermenter

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• • SVA Brewer With Over 20 Brews From United States of America
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Actually, I just put 60L into it today

I used a blow-off tube this time tho

Should get 3 kegs out of it

http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1326

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