Hi there goldy .

I'll have a crack at working things out for you as best as I can. Being the first one to answer a question here, I will go overboard and explain all my thinking. You'll probably fall asleep soon . I'm sure that future posters will be a bit more "efficient" than I am .

It actually took me quite a while to write in the manner below. In real life, and only because I have done quite a few brews, it only takes a few minutes.

Fingers crossed that the below helps rather than confuses. If it does, just go with the results .

[center]Restrictions on the Result of Your Recipe[/center]

Providing your kettle measurements and shape is the perfect start. I noticed that your post was made before BIABrewer's second post and that he moved it so I am going to assume that you only have a 25lt fermenter. (If you have a 30lt fermenter then you can increase things a bit.)

With a pale ale using US-05 yeast in a 25 L fermenter, you can safely put 23 L of wort into that fermenter. So, our first restriction is...

Volume into Fermenter: Should equal and not exceed 23 L.

Kettle Size: I know from experience that 60 L is more than enough to get 23 L into the fermenter so this is no problem. If I thought there could be a problem, I would keep an eye on the, "Approximate Mash Volume," figure that is provided in The Calculator.

[center]Checking the Recipe Information Provided[/center]

Ingredients: Glancing at your ingredients, I understand all the information you have provided which is great. For example, if you hadn't provided the grain manufacturer's name I might have had to ask what the colour was. You have given the AA%, times and weights of the hops so all is great here as well. (The Galena/Galaxy discrepancy is irrelevant to our calcs.)

Chilling Method: You will rarely see the chilling method described in a recipe. It was great of the source to do so but for all practical purposes, when converting recipes, we can ignore this as some brewers thinks it makes a difference and others dont.

Original Gravity and Bitterness: These two important figures have been provided. This is tops and is often the only information we can work from. Because you have provided a heap of other information goldy, we don't have to rely on these and can be a bit more accurate.

[center]Converting the Recipe[/center]

With all the information you have provided above, any brewing software can be used to scale and convert this recipe. I will use The Calculator seeing as everyone here has access to it.

The Grain Bill

Despite so much information being provided, only two "definite" things can be gained from the recipe at this stage. They are the, "End of Boil Gravity," (OG) which equals 1.046 and the grain bill used to achieve this which equals 4.6 kg.

Opening The Calculator I will first fill in the End of Boil Gravity figure with 1.046.

Secondly, I will change the End of Boil Efficiency figure to 70% as this is the only volume-related figure provided in the original recipe.

Thirdly, I will change the Diameter of Kettle figure to 43.8 cm as provided by you.

Now I will keep changing the Brew Length figure until the Grain Bill Required figure equals 4.6 kg - the total of the original recipe's grain bill.

The result is a Brew Length of 17.1 L.

(Take a note now of the End of Boil Volume figure - write it down!) In this case it is about 21.5 L.

I know though that BIAB is more efficient than 70%. The default on The Calculator at time of writing is 75% though most brewers would find they get better than 75%. As goldy does not know his efficiency figure yet, we will use the default of 75%.

We also know that he can end up with 23 L in his fermenter so let's change the Brew Length figure a few times until "Volume into Fermenter" = 23 L. A brew length of 21.3 L will give us this. So, given Goldy's desire to get 23 L into his fermenter, his evaporation rate (determined by kettle diameter)and his efficiency (default of 75%) we can now see that The Calculator tells us to use 5362 grams of grain for his brew.

So, jumping to the Grain Bill part of The Calculator (the second sheet of the spreadsheet), I will fill in coumn D as no percentages of grain were provided. In other words,

Grain 1 = 3500 g, Grain 2 = 800 g, Grain 3 = 200 g and Grain 4 = 100 g.

On the right hand side of this sheet I can see how much grain that goldy will need to get more beer (23 l in his fermenter versus 17.1 l) at 75% versus 70% efficiency.

Goldy, you need to order...

4080 g of BB Ale Malt
932 g of BB Wheat Malt
233 g of Flaked Wheat
117 g of Munich 1.

The Hop Bill

Moving to the Hop Bill part of The Calculator (Sheet 3) we can type in on the left hand side the original hops used.

Hop 1 was 15 g at 14.9%AA. In column G we type 10 under "Time." Hop 2 was 25 g at 14.9%AA at 5 minutes.

Above these figures in the End of Boil Volume cell you should type in 21.5 L. (This is the figure you were asked to write down above. Don't worry, I forgot too!)

Now on the right, just type in the AA% of the hops you have in your possession.

Now, you will see your adjusted hop weights. Assuming that your hops goldy are also of 14.9%AA then for your brew, you will need...

18.7 g of Galaxy (14.9%AA) at 10 minutes before the end of the boil
31.2 g of Galaxy (14.9%AA) at 5 minutes before the end of the boil.

Volume of Water Needed

The "Water Required" field on the first sheet of The Caclualtor tells you that you need 39.88 L for your brew.

There you go* - lol!
PP

* I hope the above is not too confusing but there is really no way around understanding this. In future in this thread, I will try and be a bit briefer .

iijakii - Looks like you have done pretty well iijakii. I just sent a message to Ralph asking him to have a look at your recipe as he should be able to show you how to get some more volume out of your pot. He does mini-BIABs all the time. Good luck mate.

Goldy - have just fixed one error I had on the weight of Grain 2. I had made a typo. Also have added your "Water Required" figure.

Goldy

As I drove off this morning I realised I had made a major error in my calcs. I had put 23L in as the "Brew Length" instead of adjusting the Brew Length until "Volume into Fermenter" equalled 23 L. (Unfortunately 23 L is my usual brew length so I am in the habit of seeing that figure at the top .) I also copied the wrong row of grain figures over .

I hope you weren't scratching your head all day .

I have now re-written the post so all the figures should be right now and improved some of the explanation. I have also completed the template below for you and have attached a copy of your recipe as I have written it in The Calculator.

Fingers crossed I have it right this time. I promise to do my next conversion while not drinking beer .

OVERVIEW

Style: American Pale Ale
Name:
Yeast: US-56
Original Gravity: 1.046
Total IBU's: 16.5 according to The Calculator
Colour (EBC): 9
Efficiency at End of Boil: 75%
Mash Length (mins): 90
Boil Length (mins): 90
Your Vessel Type (Pot/Keggle/Urn): 60 L Pot
Source/Credits:
Notes/Instructions/Comments:

Volumes etc.

Your Vessel Volume (L or gal): 60 L
Your Vessel Diameter (cm or in): 43.8 cm
Water Required (L or gal): 39.88 L
Mash Temperature (C or F): 66 C
Volume at End of Boil (L or gal): 26.84 L
Volume into Fermenter (L or gal): 23 L
Brew Length (L or gal): 21.3 L
Total Grain Bill (g or oz): 5362 g

Grains - Colours - Percentages and/or Weight (g or oz)

Grain 1: Barrett Burston Ale Malt = 4080 g
Grain 2: Barrett Burston Wheat Malt = 932 g
Grain 3: Flaked Wheat = 233 g
Grain 4: Weyermann Munich 1 = 117 g

Hops - AA% - IBUs - Weight (g or oz) at Minutes

Hop 1: Galaxy - 14.9% AA - 18.7 g at 10 min
Hop 2: Galaxy - 14.9% AA - 31.2 g at 5 min

Adjuncts/Minerals/Finings etc

Adjunct:
Mineral:
Finings:

Hi iijakii & welcome!

I'd recommend doing a standard- sized batch to start with to get familiar with the process, so follow the Mini BIAB instructions with about 2kg of malt for the first one, maybe do that a few times unless you're cocky and want to start sparging and farting about straight away.

WRT that recipe, I try not to force a brewing application to conform to BIAB, there's no real need, but that one should work all right I think. The main thing is, keep that pot full to the brim at mashing, if you're following the guide it should be a given. Don't sweat the details though, you have to do something majorly bad to not get decent beer out at the other end!

BTW, minifridges are a PITA, go for a bigger one- you can fit more batches in. My big fridge fits four batches at once if things are busy...

Now, if we're all relaxed and ready (deep breath, because I haven't finished my guide for this process, here beginneth RdeV's oft- loathed essay!), we'll look at a full- sized grain bill, sparging, and over- gravity boils. They're pretty easy to be honest, not overly complex if you've done the straight Mini- BIAB before. It goes like this:
1) Use about 4.5 kg grain bill in a 19 L stockpot (I do this regularly for 21L to 25L batches of ESB).
2) Fill the pot to the brim at mashing, but always under- fill the initial strike volume, add the grain and then top up with temperature- adjustment water. So, about 2/3 fill the pot with water, heat it to mash temp + 4 C and add the grain, then adjust volume and temperature with hot or cool as circumstances dictate. Do not panic if the temperature is not spot on, your beer will still be just fine.
3) Time and temperature stay the same as before- there is no avoiding the basic fundamentals. Start heating your sparge water before the mash is finished though.
4) Lift the bag and drain/ squeeze well, then put the pot on the stove to get it up to boiling (takes a while).
4a) While that's happening, dunk sparge the bag at least once with 1.5 L water/ kg of grain of near- boiling water, so drop the bag in, open it up, stir and leave for 15 minutes (stir as often as you like), lift the bag, drain and measure the runnings, if >1.030, then do it again, you're losing precious SG points if you don't (may need another bucket).
5) Add the sparge liquor to the pot, again, this is when you want the pot as full as possible. Measure the pre- boil SG after you've added the sparge liquor.
6) With the boil underway, add hops as per the schedule. However, if the boil SG is >1.050 (it should be with that grain bill) adjust hops additions for utilisation, which means that for every 0.010 over 1.050, increase the hops additions by 10%. (Nb. Don't sweat over this, it really isn't a biggie, more of a technical detail- our senses are probably not so finely tuned as to notice the difference anyway.)
7) Chill in the sink as per the Mini BIAB guide, but just as the boil finishes, get a sample and measure the post- boil SG. (Nb. In the interests of sanitation, sample this from the still- boiling wort!)
8) When it has cooled to pitching temp, work out the post- boil dilution:
Target SG / Actual post- boil SG * Actual Volume = Diluted Volume
SGs such as 1.050 expressed as 50, so with that as the target, 1.075 as the actual and say 16L as the actual volume in the pot, it would be:
75 / 50 * 16 L = 24 L, so the dilution would be with roughly 24 L less 16 L = 8 L of plain water. Add that to the fermenter, pour in your wort as per the guide, in most cases you'll get the target SG, give or take a few points. Happy days!!!

You'll note that there's a few opportunities to take SG and volume measurements. The important ones are pre- boil SG (to adjust hops additions, which is optional anyway), sparge runnings SG (decide to re- sparge), plus post- boil SG and volume.
Also, if the boil is losing lots of water to evaporation (it should lose 5% or more per hour), top it up with either more sparge liquor from the second sparge or just boiling water. When the boil is finished, the more you have in the kettle the less you'll lose to trub (through a lower concentration).
It doesn't really matter what the actual post- boil concentration is though as you'll be diluting it later anyway, so there's no need to fuss over 'hitting targets' etc. This diluted or target SG is the most important part, all of the other SGs and volumes are just for 'guidance' whereas the post- boil SG and volume dictate what goes into the fermenter. That's why I don't put much emphasis on getting the software to behave or focus on the actual SG or volume values up until that point, they are not really as important as those values.

Sorry, that was probably a bit too much detail (I really should finish that guide!), but I'm happy to clarify. Feel free to post in the MiniBIAB forum.

Hope this helps!
RdeV.

Top work iijakii, I'm sure it will be the best beer you've made so far

Well done Goldy.

the thing that I was most surprised with on my first BIAB was how easy it was.

I no longer bother with any finings or whirlpooling, I still get clear beer so why add things that don't need to be there?

Good on you iijakii and Goldy. Pleased to hear all went well. After a few brews you'll be able to tune up your volumes etc and things will get a bit more predictable.

Top stuff!
PP

Stop worrying and start smacking your lips iijakii . As hashie said, all should be great! We'll look forward to hearing how it tastes.

iijakii, don't panic, the beer will be FAB. Just relax, there's every chance this beer will blow your mind, even if it didn't quite go to plan, that's the beauty of AG- it is very forgiving!
One of the main factors to remember with a sparged stove- top method is to fill the pot to the brim at mashing. Then, (in my 11L bucket) I usually sparge once for a smaller grain bill (so < 4 kg) and twice with a larger one, occasionally a third (particularly when I'm low on yeast starter wort ). A smaller grain bill also allows for more first sparge because of its lower volume and anywhere from 3.0 kg to 5.5 kg is do- able, at least in my experience.
More sparge is better than not enough, you can always keep any surplus for yeast starters. With sparged stove- top, the last thing you want to do is toss out precious specific gravity points with the spent grain.
However, the really important, levelling factor with this particular method is that it will be diluted later anyway, so the volumes are not really that important. Our main aim is to get as much of the sugar out of the mash, so we can sparge as much as we like (within reason, fellas!) and because it is concentrated, we can adjust it to the right density later.
Also, it is important to remember too that specific density targets are a thing of the past as well, they are largely inconsequential, which lessens the burden on the brain. This is a good thing, yes???
Also, fermenters are poorly calibrated so don't rely on them- one of my Coopers' is about 4 L out. In bottles or a keg is probably better.

Aye, JB, the AG beers genesis is actually quite rapid and profound after hitting the final vessel IMO. It is very difficult, for me at least, to pick the ball- tearer when young (say < 2 weeks). I can pick faults and obvious errors with the really poor ones, but there's the rest which while young are so- so but then the odd batch comes through which just lifts the lid on everything else when given a few more weeks to condition. Sadly, it doesn't ever last long enough after that though... :(
Congratz on knocking out a winner BTW, there will be plenty more, I can assure you! :D

Enjoying hearing how your brew is progressing iijakii. Please taste it in 2 weeks instead of 4. I can't wait that long to hear the result .