Pot & Bag for partial mash or all grain

[pcmax]

Hi there,
New to the forum and brewing but have just made a couple of ales from extracts and grains/hops etc. first was a Red Rattler Ale (from the Coopers site) and the second was a LCPA clone sold in kit form at my LHBS. Still eagerly waiting for both to bottle condition.
Now for the questions;
1- I have a 32L stainless steel pot I intend to use for partial or all grain brewing. Do you think this will be big enough to mash in for a 20-23L wort once the grains are added?
2- where do you guys buy the grain bags for the BIAB method? My pot is 40cm wide x 25cm high.

Cheers
Peter

 

[Fu ManBru]

Hey pcmax

A partial with the 32L no probs but I think you'll have difficulty to get 23L in the fermenter with a 32L pot. You have to take into account absorption by the grains and also evaporation during the boil. I have a 38L pot and I wouldn't go any smaller as I have gotten pretty close to boil overs on a number of occasions.

 

[BrosysBrews]

Agree with Fu but at the same time I would really consider 18lt of all grain is better then 23lt of partial

 

[pcmax]

Hey pcmax

A partial with the 32L no probs but I think you'll have difficulty to get 23L in the fermenter with a 32L pot. You have to take into account absorption by the grains and also evaporation during the boil. I have a 38L pot and I wouldn't go any smaller as I have gotten pretty close to boil overs on a number of occasions.

As I have never done an all grain brew before I was planning to do a BIAB with as much water as possible to bring it up to near the rim, then once the mash is done remove the bag and sparge with enough water to to bring it up to around the 20-23L mark depending on the OG reading. Once that is done I plan to do the boil/hops addition in the same pot.
Any tips on where to buy the grain bags or do you guys sew them up from some form of material?

 

[spog]

My 2 cents worth, I see no problem with using your 32 L pot for Biab perhaps lower your 20-23L batch to 18-20 litres. Just to be on the safe side until you dial your system/ methods and expectations in.
I use a 50L keggle for 22L batches and the left over space in the keggle does allow for overflow and potential boil overs if not monitored.
By adding the grains to your pot ( Biab ) slowly and stirring when doing so will help guard against any over flow, with a pot full of water if you dump all the grain in at once it will over flow before the grain absorbs water and the level settles,once the mash is completed remember that when you remove the bag a " certain amount " of the mash water,wort, is taken with the grain.
The grain is not totally dry when removed ,it retains moisture . So this will lower the level in the pot but then by rinsing to get all the goodies out the level will obviously rise. Ah Ha ! This is where a possible problem could crop up with the boil.

As for the boil all you need is a rolling boil,not a boil that has the contents leaping out of the pot and splashing every where.
Learn to adjust the heat to the pot to maintain a rolling boil,that is the surface is ..well rolling not bubbling and spitting .
Adding the hops to the boil,same deal as adding the grain do it slowly,remember you are trying to work out how you system works .
Adding the hops by simply dumping each allocated addition in one hit is asking for trouble,try adding a 1/4 of each at a time to judge how the boil reacts each time. Again you are dialling your system and methods in.

The material used for Biab bags is Swiss Voile it's a material used in curtain making its available from places like Spotlight or other drapery suppliers or shops,grab a couple of metres of it and sew a bag sized to match your pot or simply stuff it in the pot with the excess hanging over the side ,hold it in place with some bulldog clips and go for it.
Before using the Voile boil it to clean it but don't use ANY detergents or powders of any kind just simply boil it for 10-15 mins to get any nasties off it,never know how many grubby hands have touched it in the shop.
Hope this helps....cheers..spog.

 

[wereprawn]

You can get swiss voile ( spelling ?) from a spotlight type shop or buy one made for around $8 from a hb shop. Check out the site sponsors .

Edit- like spog said.

 

[pcmax]

Thanks to all for your tips and advice so far, I will pop down to my local Spotlight store tomorrow for the voile stuff. Just opened a stubble of my Red Ale after 17 days in the bottle and whilst it popped when I removed the cap it goes flat pretty quick (I'm using a very clean Headmaster glass).
Do you think it needs a bit longer to condition or is should I expect this level of carbonation from the rest of the batch?

 

[wereprawn]

Living down near the arctic may have something to do with it . Put a couple in a warm spot ( above 20c) for a few days and try again.

 

[yankinoz]

No worries. If you fill a bit close to the rim, watch it at first and skim foam--that cuts the chances of boilover. But you shuldn't need to do that.

Further, the only harm in adding water during the boil or after is a slight loss of alpha acid conversion, mainly from your early additions, because the sugar content in the wort was elevated at that point. Many commercial brewers of all sorts go that way. On hop-forward brews I like to add boiled, then chilled water at knockout and lower the temp to 80 for a hop stand.

 

[pcmax]

Thanks for all your replies, one more question, is it adviseable to use an alluminium strainer pot (like a crab pot) to place the voile bag in when using the BIAB method? I was planning to use it to hoist the bag and drain into the pot. I was going to make one and its much easier to work with than stainless steel.

 

[wereprawn]

Can't see why that wouldn't work . For single batches its not really that much effort to gently lift the bag and slide a oven/fridge rack or large colander under it to drain though.

 

[panspermian]

My pot is only 16L.
If making larger batches, I cook the beer then top up with cold water into the fermenter.
I steep grains in bag for 15-20mins then bring wort to boil and add dry extract. Is this a partial or biab?
After 3 years it finally dawned on me smaller batches a better for honing your skill. The more you cook the better you get at the process.

 

[pcmax]

My pot is only 16L.
If making larger batches, I cook the beer then top up with cold water into the fermenter.
I steep grains in bag for 15-20mins then bring wort to boil and add dry extract. Is this a partial or biab?
After 3 years it finally dawned on me smaller batches a better for honing your skill. The more you cook the better you get at the process.

Yeah I think I will start with 18L batches so that I can get about 4 dozen 330ml stubbies out of the batch, allowing for a bit of wastage.
I'm keen to try so many different all grain recipies so I agree that smaller batches are the go for now until I settle on a few favourites. I have downloaded the Beersmith App so it looks pretty easy to tailor any recipe to end up with around 18L in the FV