What size brew could i make in a 30 litre tea urn?

[The_blue]

My 1st BIAB question.

I've spotted a 30l tea urn and wondered what size batch i'd end up with from it?

I'm hoping to fill a cornie so 20 litres would be ideal.

[pas8280]

A 30 litre boiler is an ideal size for 23 or 25 litre brew do that's a cornie and a few bottles

[The_blue]

Thanks. Just what i wanted to hear

[The_blue]

Well I got the urn.

Just ordered a black sheep clone to give it a try with.

Will ponder whole sacks of grain after i've tried it out.

[jmc]

Well I got the urn.

Just ordered a black sheep clone to give it a try with.

Will ponder whole sacks of grain after i've tried it out.

You're clearly already on the slippery slope...

[The_blue]

Very true!

Just picked up the urn. It clicks off and holds at 97-98c. Is that going to be ok?

[Kev888]

Not really, assuming the thermometer is right anyway; it needs to achieve a good rolling boil rather than a gentle simmer. But this isn't unusual and in many cases people have to remove or bypass a thermostat or similar, occasionally its possible to hack the control knob/gubbins a bit. It seems that almost all urns (and even some boilers) - are designed to keep the water at 'almost' boiling rather than pour energy into actually boiling it.

There are all sorts of threads on the forum about this type of thing - often people mention the brand, so posting or searching for that may help.

Cheers
kev

[The_blue]

Thanks for that.

turns out is holds at 90, not 97.

I'll bypass the innards.

its a signature branded urn

[The_blue]

There she boils! Bypassed the tripout unit and shes boiling her head off!

[i_am_ed]

I use a 37 litre pot. I can't mash in the full volume of liquor, so I have to sparge about a gallon extra in another bucket (I use the kettle).

I thought the 37 litres would be just enough for 23-25 litre brews but wish I'd got 50 litres now.

[jmc]

I use a 37 litre pot. I can't mash in the full volume of liquor, so I have to sparge about a gallon extra in another bucket (I use the kettle).

I thought the 37 litres would be just enough for 23-25 litre brews but wish I'd got 50 litres now.

37 L should be fine for a 23-25L brew length.

I can't mash in the full volume of liquor

Forgive me if I've misunderstood you, but it sound like you're adding all the liquor to the mash.
Typically you add mash water at a ratio of about 2.5 time weight of grain, so 4kg grain would have 2.5 x 4 = 10L of mash liquor.

Are you using pot/urn for mashing too?

[i_am_ed]

I use a 37 litre pot. I can't mash in the full volume of liquor, so I have to sparge about a gallon extra in another bucket (I use the kettle).

I thought the 37 litres would be just enough for 23-25 litre brews but wish I'd got 50 litres now.

37 L should be fine for a 23-25L brew length.

I can't mash in the full volume of liquor

Forgive me if I've misunderstood you, but it sound like you're adding all the liquor to the mash.
Typically you add mash water at a ratio of about 2.5 time weight of grain, so 4kg grain would have 2.5 x 4 = 10L of mash liquor.

Are you using pot/urn for mashing too?

Hmmm, you've got me thinking now. Thank you for the reply.

To clarify: After adding the grain my pot is full to the brim (about 32L of liquor allowing room for the grain), but if I don't sparge with extra liquor after pulling the bag (or simply add extra liquor to the pot) I'll end up with a short brew - about 19-20L.

My bag isn't ideal - part of it has a very coarse mesh so I might be getting excessive solid into the boil. I certainly get quite a lot of trub after running the wort into the fermentor. Perhaps a new bag will make the difference, although I'm not sure it will - the grain will still carry away a similar amount of liquor with it. I might try weighing the spent grain next time, to measure how much liquor I'm losing with the grain and work out exactly what is going on.

[jmc]

My mistake.

Forget the 2.5:1 ratio I forgot this was a BIAB question
I'm no BIAB expert so I'll leave it to others to advise.

Sorry for any confusion.

[i_am_ed]

No problem! I'm actually tempted to try a traditional ratio mash in my pot, with a batch sparge in a bucket. It'd be a bit of a palaver and kitchen electric kettle isn't an ideal HLT, but it might be fun!

[RdeV]

I've just bought a 36L kettle and burner and plan to do MaxiBIAB doubles (after two years of Stovetop brewing I think I've done enough 19L singles!), hoping to yield around 50L of 1.050 in the fermenter from about 10kg. I'll report my findings in a few days when I get around to brewing with it.