I’m pretty new to brewing with 4 NB kits and one Brewer’s Best kit under my belt since December '14. I recently brewed the NB Irish Red BIAB kit to have an Irish brew ready in time for Saint Patrick’s Day and I was wondering about brewing the Irish Stout kit for St. Pat’s as well. The BIAB process is awesome and I’m totally hooked! At present, I have a 7.5 gallon kettle and propane burner setup (converted fish fryer equipment) to use for doing BIAB. Is it possible to use the NB all-grain Irish Stout kit for making a 3-gallon BIAB brew? By that I mean, can I subtract some of the grain after I receive it to allow for a 3-gallon brew? It might be possible to brew the full 5-gallon AG kit in the 7.5 gallon kettle but I think that would be REALLY pushing the limits of that kettle after the grains and water are added in together.
I was thinking about re-calculating the 5-gallon AG Irish Stout recipe for a 3-gallon brew and then ordering the grain bill individually in those amounts. Has anyone had success with this technique? Thanks in advance for any help!
You shouldn’t have any problem doing this. In fact, I’m doing the exact same thing this weekend with a Belgian dubbel. Just use 60% of the ingredients that you would use for a five gallon batch. :cheers:
Hey! I just started a variation on BIAB, and do it on my stove top. I’ve worked out a nice system where I can do the full 5 gallons, and got about 75% efficiency. I only use a 8 gallon kettle as well. All I do it traditional BIAB method with aprox 1.5quarts/gallon of water. When I’ve completed the mash, I pull the bag out, let it drain. I then slowly poor 170 degree water over it until the kettle reaches 6.5 gallons, then start the boil. It was pretty simple, and the estimated OG was 1.052, and mine was 1.054. You could try this, why waste the ingredients if your going to buy a kit.
[quote=“jeffsmietana”]Hey! I just started a variation on BIAB, and do it on my stove top. I’ve worked out a nice system where I can do the full 5 gallons, and got about 75% efficiency. I only use a 8 gallon kettle as well. All I do it traditional BIAB method with aprox 1.5quarts/gallon of water. When I’ve completed the mash, I pull the bag out, let it drain. I then slowly poor 170 degree water over it until the kettle reaches 6.5 gallons, then start the boil. It was pretty simple, and the estimated OG was 1.052, and mine was 1.054. You could try this, why waste the ingredients if your going to buy a kit.
Jeff[/quote]
Yea I used to do the same in a 9 gallon kettle. You’ can do it but you’ll have to watch the hot break closely in a 7.5 gal.
Wow, that’s a great idea! I never would have thought of that, it’s sort of like sparging to get the appropriate boil amount. I’ll absolutely try that out, can’t wait to see the results. And I’ll be sure to keep an eye on the hot break. I always make sure to keep a spray bottle and some ice cubes on hand in case it starts to get angry! Thanks a million everyone! :cheers:
