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BIAB Water Volume Question - Recipe Included

Post #1 made 14 years ago
by scottvin
I am making the following recipe:

Code: Select all

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
12 lbs 8.0 oz         Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM)            Grain         1        93.4 %        
4.0 oz                Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)   Grain         2        1.9 %         
4.0 oz                Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)               Grain         3        1.9 %         
4.0 oz                Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM)                    Grain         4        1.9 %         
2.1 oz                Aromatic Malt (Briess) (20.0 SRM)        Grain         5        1.0 %         
1.75 oz               Goldings, B.C. [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min  Hop           6        29.3 IBUs     
0.25 oz               Goldings, B.C. [5.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min  Hop           7        2.1 IBUs
I only have a 9 gallon brew kettle and BeerSmith says I should use 7.25 gallons of water but what if I only use 6.5 gallons? That much grain and water might not fit into the bk. If I decrease the water to 6.5 gallons, will that affect how many sugars are dissolved into the water? Thanks!
Last edited by scottvin on 02 May 2012, 22:54, edited 4 times in total.

Post #2 made 14 years ago
by PistolPatch
Hi there Scott,

When your kettle is too small for the batch, you have several choices...

1. You can just brew a smaller batch size.

2. You can use more grain to compensate for the lower efficiency resulting from using less water. Add this water in before the boil preferably otherwise add it during the boil or top up the fermentor.

3. You can use a large saucepan on your stove to heat the water you can't fit into your mash to 172 F and at the end of your mash, dump your grain bag into the plastic bucket and pour the water from the saucepan over it and let it soak for a bit. Drain the bag and then add the runnings in the bucket into the main kettle.

4. A mixture of the above.

So there are a few ways to skin this cat.

;)
PP
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Post #3 made 14 years ago
by PistolPatch
Scott, I just edited my post above re uploading the beersmith file. I got your recipe mixed up with another one I had just been looking at :roll:.

If you give us your original gravity and how much you want to get into your fermentor (or the .bsm file) we can help you with adjusting your grain bill if you need it though.
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Post #4 made 14 years ago
by scottvin
I would like to get about 5.5 gallons into the fermenter. My est OG is 1.066.

I think I might go with option #3. So, my question is how much water should I place in my BK?

Post #5 made 14 years ago
by joshua
Good Day ScottVin. I use a 32 quart kettle with 10.5 pounds and use 5.0 gal for the mash, and 3.0 gal for sparge, And boil for 75 to 90 minutes, Depending on air pressure and humidity.
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Post #6 made 14 years ago
by scottvin
joshua wrote:Good Day ScottVin. I use a 32 quart kettle with 10.5 pounds and use 5.0 gal for the mash, and 3.0 gal for sparge, And boil for 75 to 90 minutes, Depending on air pressure and humidity.
how long do you put the grains in the sparge for?
Last edited by scottvin on 03 May 2012, 02:25, edited 3 times in total.

Post #7 made 14 years ago
by PistolPatch
You can let the grain bag sit in the bucket for 5 or 10 minutes (make sure the grain is mixed well with the sparge water) and after that allow the bag to hang in thebucket draining until you approach the start of the boil.

The main problem you are going to have with this recipe and BeerSmith is that because it is a high gravity brew, you need to lower your efficiency which is not an easy exercise in BeerSmith. Basically you are going to have to set up a new equipment profile. (You can't just change the 'Tot Efficiency' figure on the Design sheet.) To work out how to do this, you'll need to study the guide here.

Basically though, for this gravity brew, if you want 5.5 gallons into the fermentor and allow 0.9 gallons of kettle trub,I'd be aiming for 75% BeerSmith 'Mash Efficiency'. This means you'll need to set your BeerSmith 'Brewhouse Efficiency' to about 64.5%.

The end result of all this is that you'll need about 15.25 pounds of grain and about 8.7 gallons of water. (This assumes quite low evaporation rate of 1.2 gallons an hour. You'll have to change that to suit your kettle).
Last edited by PistolPatch on 03 May 2012, 07:04, edited 3 times in total.
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Post #8 made 14 years ago
by scottvin
PistolPatch wrote:


3. You can use a large saucepan on your stove to heat the water you can't fit into your mash to 172 F and at the end of your mash, dump your grain bag into the plastic bucket and pour the water from the saucepan over it and let it soak for a bit. Drain the bag and then add the runnings in the bucket into the main kettle.

PP
It's ok to pour the hot water into a plastic fermenter bucket?
Last edited by scottvin on 09 May 2012, 04:27, edited 3 times in total.

Post #9 made 14 years ago
by joshua
Good Day Scott, If you have an HDPE2 white Bucket, 170F water does not have troubles....230F oil WILL melt it down!
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
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Post #10 made 14 years ago
by scottvin
joshua wrote:Good Day Scott, If you have an HDPE2 white Bucket, 170F water does not have troubles....230F oil WILL melt it down!
I assume the ale pales are HDPE2?
Last edited by scottvin on 09 May 2012, 04:37, edited 3 times in total.

Post #11 made 14 years ago
by joshua
Good Day Scott, The number and "HDPE" should be on the bottom of the bucket toward the center.

Clear PET bottles(Better Bottles) can and do, go soft at 180F. HDPE2 is good for 220F water.
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
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Post #12 made 14 years ago
by scottvin
joshua wrote:Good Day Scott, The number and "HDPE" should be on the bottom of the bucket toward the center.

Clear PET bottles(Better Bottles) can and do, go soft at 180F. HDPE2 is good for 220F water.
thanks again! I will look tonight!
Last edited by scottvin on 09 May 2012, 04:47, edited 3 times in total.
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