Hi All,
I'm sure this has been asked before, but I'm not getting the right search string to find it.
I'm coming from "extract + stove top" direction, so my equipment is modest to say the least: a 24L kettle (although I do now have a decent 7kw burner).
From what I can see using The Calculator my largest "brew length" is 11L for BIAB using my 24L kettle, but what if I want to target 19L (for my cornie)?
Are there any tricks to up the volume? Or would you suggest going with the partial route (i.e. topping up my 11L BIAB work with 8L of water+extract for the boil). My kettle was expensive, so not able to upgrade for a while...
Cheers!
Post #2 made 10 years ago
kirkcaldybrewer, the Only Suggestion I have, is get a 50L Cooler/Esky and a large sheet of Window Curtain/Voile,
You can do two vessel Brewing, Mash in a Cooler, use the Voile as a bag to speed up draining, and transfer most of the 26L to your Kettle to start the Boil and add the remaining "Sweet Liquor" as space allows.
Very messy, and Time consuming, but should make a fine batch of beer.
You can do two vessel Brewing, Mash in a Cooler, use the Voile as a bag to speed up draining, and transfer most of the 26L to your Kettle to start the Boil and add the remaining "Sweet Liquor" as space allows.
Very messy, and Time consuming, but should make a fine batch of beer.
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
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Post #3 made 10 years ago
As Joshua said, mashing in a cooler is an option - often what I do. If you follow this route you are only limited by what you can fit into your kettle for the boil.
Another option is to not do a full volume mash, but add a portion of the strike water after the mash is complete. This will buy you a little space if the recipe you are brewing is close to the limits of your kettle (and you in fact prefer to mash in your kettle).
Another option is to not do a full volume mash, but add a portion of the strike water after the mash is complete. This will buy you a little space if the recipe you are brewing is close to the limits of your kettle (and you in fact prefer to mash in your kettle).
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Post #4 made 10 years ago
[EDIT: flhb's post above done whilst I was writing; the below should cover any discrepancies.]
kirk, a few things...
Josh's suggestion above is a great example of what intrepid waters you can step into when you muck with the solid basic principles of brewing. I agree on the messy and time-consuming bit of Josh's post but, I think it also might imply, that you can get a heap more beers by straying from full-volume, which is a difficult area.
The Calculator has ben superseded by The BIABacus. The Calculator, like other brewing software, worked on fixed, and therefore, false assumptions. The question you are asking, can't be handled by The Calculator or other software. The BIABacus can handle it though, and it does it very well.
[See next post.]
kirk, a few things...
Josh's suggestion above is a great example of what intrepid waters you can step into when you muck with the solid basic principles of brewing. I agree on the messy and time-consuming bit of Josh's post but, I think it also might imply, that you can get a heap more beers by straying from full-volume, which is a difficult area.
The Calculator has ben superseded by The BIABacus. The Calculator, like other brewing software, worked on fixed, and therefore, false assumptions. The question you are asking, can't be handled by The Calculator or other software. The BIABacus can handle it though, and it does it very well.
[See next post.]
Last edited by PistolPatch on 26 Feb 2016, 22:19, edited 1 time in total.
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Post #5 made 10 years ago
If you are wondering where my post above disappeared to, I've ended up writing an answer in the form of an article. Any decent info I had written above appears in the article. One thing I failed to do, yesterday, was give kirkcaldybrewer, a ball-park, safe answer. The article will do that.
Will post back here when it's finished.
Will post back here when it's finished.
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Post #6 made 10 years ago
Guys! thanks for the input (especially pistolpatch for the detailed response). My reaction is that I should probably 'aspire' to a larger kettle. Buying a cooler would be cheaper but I like the aesthetic simplicity of doing everything in one container (and, less cleaning too).
In the meantime, I'll have a play with the BIABacus myself (it's pretty daunting at first glance, but it seems there's plenty of help on here) and see what a non-full-volume mash will get me (recognising there will be compromises).
p.s. I just checked and a 50L kettle would set me back 1600SEK (~$200 US) here in Sweden. I'd previously hunted high and low to find my 24L and it seems stainless is the only option here (possibly there's some Swedish legislation due to the Alzheimers risk with Al???). It's not gonna happen soon...
In the meantime, I'll have a play with the BIABacus myself (it's pretty daunting at first glance, but it seems there's plenty of help on here) and see what a non-full-volume mash will get me (recognising there will be compromises).
p.s. I just checked and a 50L kettle would set me back 1600SEK (~$200 US) here in Sweden. I'd previously hunted high and low to find my 24L and it seems stainless is the only option here (possibly there's some Swedish legislation due to the Alzheimers risk with Al???). It's not gonna happen soon...
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Post #7 made 10 years ago
Lol kirk!
Your original question was a great one, and, it's not an easy one to answer. If you saw and read the answer I posted in this thread yesterday and thought that was long, I've just posted the article I promised here. It took 14 hours to write but will hopefully take a bit less time to read
.
You can get more out of a small kettle, without doubt, but it needs to be done sensibly/wisely/knowledgeably. Your question has always been one of the hardest questions I have found to answer, and I'm not sure that I will ever do much better than that article.
Btw, if you, or anyone else, takes the time to read and understand that article fully, you will automatically be in the top few percent of home brewers who really understand the basic numbers of brewing.
Give me a question on full-volume brewing any day!!!
...
Btw, that article has a lot of pics and files and they will help you with the BIABacus. All of us know that the BIABacus is visually assaulting on a first look, but, with far less time than any other program requires, it will become comfortable for you.
Let us know if you have any questions on where you should go from here and we'll get you sorted.
PP
Your original question was a great one, and, it's not an easy one to answer. If you saw and read the answer I posted in this thread yesterday and thought that was long, I've just posted the article I promised here. It took 14 hours to write but will hopefully take a bit less time to read
.You can get more out of a small kettle, without doubt, but it needs to be done sensibly/wisely/knowledgeably. Your question has always been one of the hardest questions I have found to answer, and I'm not sure that I will ever do much better than that article.
Btw, if you, or anyone else, takes the time to read and understand that article fully, you will automatically be in the top few percent of home brewers who really understand the basic numbers of brewing.
Give me a question on full-volume brewing any day!!!
...
Btw, that article has a lot of pics and files and they will help you with the BIABacus. All of us know that the BIABacus is visually assaulting on a first look, but, with far less time than any other program requires, it will become comfortable for you.
Let us know if you have any questions on where you should go from here and we'll get you sorted.
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 28 Feb 2016, 02:15, edited 1 time in total.
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Post #8 made 10 years ago
PP: "you 'd man!".
It'll take me a good few weeks to chew through that article. I confess I'm a bit of a closet number geek and will enjoy it thoroughly.
It'll take me a good few weeks to chew through that article. I confess I'm a bit of a closet number geek and will enjoy it thoroughly.
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Post #9 made 10 years ago
KirkCaldyBrewer,
If you choose to Mash In A Bag(MIAB) and use Full Volume Brewing.
And your Made of Money, check this Cooler available in Sweden....
http://www.zazzle.com/custom_igloo_beve ... 2475209874
If you choose to Mash In A Bag(MIAB) and use Full Volume Brewing.
And your Made of Money, check this Cooler available in Sweden....
http://www.zazzle.com/custom_igloo_beve ... 2475209874
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
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