Hi Staffan, glad you found the site. At 15 brews you're probably getting it down pretty good, but there's always a lot to learn!

Welcome ijoshia,

Investigate the site and feel free to start new post to ask questions if you can't find the answer. For sure I would recommend in going larger than you plan on kettle size. It gives more flexibility in batch size and gravity of beer. A new post asking for comments on this site would likely get you some high quality answers. But make sure to let us know some things about you like how large of batches do you plan to brew? Do you want ability to go larger on occasion? Sometimes you don't know at the start... Brew outside, or does it have to be inside? Have ability to attach a hook over your brew kettle for pulley or method to pull bag? Let us know - as much detail as posssible - and we will try to help.

welcome ijoshea. look forward to hearing how you go

BiaB's been fantastic for me and I've never regretted switching from Extract to All Grain BiaB

Welcome, possum 55. You are really going into all grain in a big way with a 20 gallon kettle.
Do try the BIABacus with your new kettle dimensions. I trust that you have a bag that fits your kettle with the best thread count, and that you can lift it when full of wet grains. Read lots of things on this forum and post your BIABacus file for input before you fire it up.
I would stress that the best practice advice here is 90 minute mash/90 minute boil.
Good luck and I hope to hear how things go - you have some great beers in North Carolina! (I visited Asheville a while back.)

Possum55 - a patient lift crane? I bet that's a first among methods to lift a wet grain bag. Engine hoists, ladders and scaffolds, tall tripods, overhead beams/ceilings maybe, but I had not heard of using a patient lift!
In the latest version of the BIABacus there is a tab along the bottom of the spreadsheet for conversions back & forth between English and metric units. If you keep notes on paper for your batch, that can help you use it seamlessly. It is worth it.

Possum55 - once I started using the Biabacus I realized how cumbersome the English measurement method is. Up until recently I was still measuring the total water needed in gallons, but I've started just measuring the head space in the kettle (in inches - I don't have a metric ruler). Anyway, give it some time, you may find converting from metric to English is more of a pain than just brewing in metric (everything is divisible by 10- what a concept).

Cheers sr.arbuso,

And welcome to the forum...! Extracts and kits can be a good way to learn the process. Once you decide you enjoy it - stepping in a little deeper is super fun. Whole grain is more forgiving and gives max ability to brew different beers (normally better beer), and BIAB is the easiest way to brew with whole grain.

Feel fee to start new threads (use the beginner section) to ask advice, equipment, etc. if you can't find it clearly listed. And again - welcome to the forum!

St Beer, Fat Watts, and BobGreaves,

Welcome to the forum! All three of you are Brits... My son is visiting the UK right now.

Bob - On kettle size I would recommend as large as possible... Certainly limits ability having to use a small pot. Outside would be best, to go with a gas burner and a larger pot... But we deal with what we have to.

Lots of information available on this site. Let us know what questions you have, and we will do our best to help.

Hello bluekieran,

Welcome to the forum!

On the choosing a too small pot...yeah, I hear you. Wish you had asked before too. It's a great frustration of mine, and one I almost fell for myself. "By the Grace of God..." I ended up with a larger pot, 16 US gallons instead of 10. Long story that wound up being a goood one. You can always cut your losses and get a larger one with new bag... And maybe sooner is better than later. Sell your new pot to someone else that can use it. Take a small loss now, and be better off later. That's what I would do. With where I'm at now...

Anyhow, welcome again and let us know if we can help.

Fret not if you already have your kettle.
You can still make beer with whatever the scale limitations may be. Indoor Brewers (stovetop) may not have enough space above a taller kettle to lift the bag. Even with a great stove hood (exhaust fan), the evaporation from a larger batch in a big kettle can make a damp kitchen.
For other brewing locations where kettle size can be bigger, Scott makes a good point. Try to match your batch scale, frequency of brewing and consumption rate. It might take a whole year to figure it out.
However, my 38 liter (10 gallon) kettle leads to ~20 L (5 gallon) VIP with OG up to 1.060 without adding sugars outside the bag. If I wanted to make a strong beer (with OG ~ 1.080), I'd use the BIABacus to make a smaller batch that fits my kettle. My local home brew club has backed off from the 8% ABV beers and 14% ABV barleywines because we have to drive home. There are three guys who went in together on larger kit so that they could make big (3V) batches of big beer and divide the results; when I saw how they brew I was glad to have what I have.

Thomasgoffe, welcome to the forum! Listening is good, but asking questions is good too. Roggenbier is an interesting selection for your first BIAB beer - have you brewed this before? Keep the forum posted on how it turns out.

Welcome, Robert!
You have come to the right place for learning to brew in a simpler fashion. Keep researching and you will find that with BIAB you can spend less money; have less equipment to handle and clean; store it in less space; have shorter brew days and still make great beer.
Look back a few posts on this page for kettle size advice and then decide.
Good luck