Hi all, I have a newbie question. I have a 22.71 liter pot ( 6 gallon ) kettle. I don't have the dimensions bit it's a stainless steel stock pot style kettle. What most u.s brewers use. I want to get inti Biab but don't have the money for a bigger kettle. What is a good estimate for the maximum amount of grain that I could fit into the kettle for a batch and max gravity without overflowing the pot and making a huge mess. I can always augment wit extract to bring up the gravity . Hope u guys can help.
Any opinions are appreciated, thanks !!
Post #2 made 14 years ago
Hi there belly and welcome to the forum 
I reckon the best way to answer your question would be to check out Ralph's guide here on Mini-BIAB's as he uses a pot of about your size.
He and heaps of others also do Maxi-BIAB's where you can increase the amount of beer you make by adding a second pot and doing a few tricks. This thread by Ralph tells you how to do this.
One of the Mini or Maxi BIABers might be able to give you some actual figures on these two methods using your pot but the above are essential reading I reckon.
PP
I reckon the best way to answer your question would be to check out Ralph's guide here on Mini-BIAB's as he uses a pot of about your size.
He and heaps of others also do Maxi-BIAB's where you can increase the amount of beer you make by adding a second pot and doing a few tricks. This thread by Ralph tells you how to do this.
One of the Mini or Maxi BIABers might be able to give you some actual figures on these two methods using your pot but the above are essential reading I reckon.
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 11 May 2011, 20:47, edited 5 times in total.
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Post #3 made 14 years ago
Hi belly and welcome! 
PistolPatch is right (thanks PP for the plug too, BTW!), there's a method to get more beer out of these smaller kettles, known as Maxi-BIAB as was linked. IMO you would be best doing a Mini-BIAB first though, experience the pure/ conventional BIAB before trying the slightly more complex method.
As far as the amount of grain goes as a Mini-BIAB, the BIABrewer calculator can work that out, but for 1.050 beer, you should get 10L in bottles from 2.7kg of grain at 75% efficiency. When you Maxi-BIAB later, you can basically double the volumes and masses from the same kettle and a simple sparge bucket, while there's a very handy Maxi-BIAB calculator for that too, courtesy of fellow BIABrewer stux.
Stovetop BIAB is a very cheap entry point for all- grain brewing, plus it is very low risk. However it doesn't mean though that the quality is compromised, the principles are exactly the same whether it is in a stockpot on your stove or dedicated mash tun and kettle, competition results are starting to show that as well.
Let us know if you have any hassles!
PistolPatch is right (thanks PP for the plug too, BTW!), there's a method to get more beer out of these smaller kettles, known as Maxi-BIAB as was linked. IMO you would be best doing a Mini-BIAB first though, experience the pure/ conventional BIAB before trying the slightly more complex method.As far as the amount of grain goes as a Mini-BIAB, the BIABrewer calculator can work that out, but for 1.050 beer, you should get 10L in bottles from 2.7kg of grain at 75% efficiency. When you Maxi-BIAB later, you can basically double the volumes and masses from the same kettle and a simple sparge bucket, while there's a very handy Maxi-BIAB calculator for that too, courtesy of fellow BIABrewer stux.
Stovetop BIAB is a very cheap entry point for all- grain brewing, plus it is very low risk. However it doesn't mean though that the quality is compromised, the principles are exactly the same whether it is in a stockpot on your stove or dedicated mash tun and kettle, competition results are starting to show that as well.
Let us know if you have any hassles!
Last edited by Ralph on 12 May 2011, 07:52, edited 5 times in total.
[center]Give me a beer and I will move the world. Archimedes[/center]
Post #4 made 14 years ago
Hi Bellywasher
I would concur from the previous posts i've been doing the maxi-biab (another plug for Ralph's great guide) for about 6 months in a 20 litre run of the mill stock pot and am more than happy with the beer that im making.
As a rough guide for volumes and weights i've found 4kgs of grain (give or take a couple of hundred grams) will give me 20 litres (give or take a litre) of 5% abv (give or take or .1%) of good beer or in other words not much grain for a nice amount of beer.
Give it a go mate and you'll never look back.
Cheers
Jonesy
I would concur from the previous posts i've been doing the maxi-biab (another plug for Ralph's great guide) for about 6 months in a 20 litre run of the mill stock pot and am more than happy with the beer that im making.
As a rough guide for volumes and weights i've found 4kgs of grain (give or take a couple of hundred grams) will give me 20 litres (give or take a litre) of 5% abv (give or take or .1%) of good beer or in other words not much grain for a nice amount of beer.
Give it a go mate and you'll never look back.
Cheers
Jonesy
Post #5 made 14 years ago
Getting into a bit of OT territory here, but thanks jonesy- really appreciate that you've found the Maxi-BIAB guide helpful, that's what I was hoping for as it was evolving. 
If you'll pardon the indulgence, a big thumbs up too for the site's owner, contributors, moderators and members who are doing all this for nothing- we have our moments, however hearing of brewers who are happy with what they're getting out of it just makes the whole shebang so worthwhile, yes?
[warm, fuzzy smiley]!
If you'll pardon the indulgence, a big thumbs up too for the site's owner, contributors, moderators and members who are doing all this for nothing- we have our moments, however hearing of brewers who are happy with what they're getting out of it just makes the whole shebang so worthwhile, yes?
[warm, fuzzy smiley]![center]Give me a beer and I will move the world. Archimedes[/center]
