just a few biab questions

[smeggedup]

hi

looking at doing a biab setup as soon as funds are ready.
the setup im looking at basically has :-
a 33 litre clear fermenting bucket (used for the boiler)
a atc 800 to control the temp
a tesco value kettle element
and a bottom tap to ease racking off the hot wort
a grain bag

doing i need anything else ?
if so have you any links to them ?

can i use two elements with a atc 800 or just the one ? (are relays needed)

do i have to sparge ? if so what do i need

looking at a normal 23 litre brew so what volume do i need to start off with ?

any one got any easy recipes to do for a biab ?

i realy appreciate anyones help on these very open questions

cheers

smeggedup

[oz11]

I only have one BIAB under my belt so don't feel qualified to answer your q's (only 10L brew length with no sparge), but.............

if you haven't already discovered it then take a trip over to http://www.biabrewer.info/

It's an aussie based forum but they are the fountains of all knowledge when it comes to BIAB. There are some recipes there and I can recommend the NRB amarillo apa as that was my first brew and very tasty it is.

Good luck with it

[EoinMag]

Why would you want an ATC-800 to control temps? Invest a lot less money in lagging your bucket to make a mashtun out of it. There are lots of cheap materials you can use to lag the bucket, even an old quilt or ski jacket will do, have a look on the biabrewer forum for some ideas as mentioned above.
The problem with maintaining heat with an element is that you will kill off some enzyme activity and are also in danger of melting holes in your bag.

[Twistedfinger]

+1 for the biabrewer web site

[smeggedup]

a very interesting thanks
will be checking it out over next few days

[aleian]

+1 to the above.

Have a really good read through the BIABrewer site and go through the small effort of registering properly, it might seem a bit convoluted but it's well worth it. If you've not done all-grain before then I'd give the mini-BIAB a go. I started brewing from kits less than a year ago and quickly decided that I wanted to go AG but couldn't justify the expense of the equipment on what might be a short-lived hobby. As far as I see it the whole ethos behind BIAB is making great beer with no unnecessary expense or effort. I bought a 20 litre stockpot (about £25), a couple of yards of voile (about a quid) and some grain (about a tenner) and I had enough with my existing kit equipment to give it a go. I did my first brew (the same one as oz11) last weekend and everything went great - hit all my targets exactly as predicted and it was a lot easier than I'd expected. I insulated with towels, a sleeping bag and some bungee cords so no expense there. Now I've got 10 litres of lovely smelling beer on the go that I've made from scratch with enough ingredients left to do another couple of brews. Result!

Try this nice simple method first and if you decide to step it up then buy the rest of the kit and at least you've got a good soup pan for the future!

Cheers,

Ian

[Twistedfinger]

+1 for the mini BIAB. Athough a 33L boiler won't be big enough for a 23l brewlength unless you Maxi (sparge)
I'd read up on the BIABrewer site as said above and pick a receipe. Scale it to your boiler (use the calculator) and your away.
You can even post your receipe and someone will check it for you, they really are a great bunch of guys.