BIAB setup

[Cheyne_brewer]

I'm thinking of giving BIAB a go. I used to have a Bruheat years ago so am familiar with AG processes. What would be the best way to proceed - insulated plastic bucket or coolbox for mash & metal pot for boil? One metal pot for both? I don't really want to go down the Grainfather-type system due to both price & power consumption. I'll be brewing in the garage and I'm not sure the power feed will support the needs of an electric boiler.

I can find a 19 litre pot pot at a fair price so what's the largest grain bill that I could expect to mash in a one-pot setup? I'd be looking at a grain bag to make sparging easier, ideally ending up with enough wort to fill one of my 23l fermenters. I presume I could add some water to a cooled boiled wort to achieve that - after all, that's what you end up with in kit brewing.

For a heat source - I have a collection of vintage paraffin stoves, the biggest of which would suffice for boiling and a less aggressive one for maintaining mash temperature if in a metal pot.

Your opinions are welcome :)

Paul.

 

[UKSkydiver]

I'm certainly not the most experienced brewer here, so take my words with as much sodium chloride as you like.

This idea with BIAB is that you mash and boil in the same vessel, so mash tun / cooler box won't be needed.

A lot of people don't bother sparging at all. Some might dunk sparge, and some use a small amount to rinse through the grains.

In terms of volumes, you're looking at about 60%, so 19 litre pot will give you about 11.5 litres onto the fermenter. Without checking a calc, I suspect your grain bill would be in the 4kg ball park depending on SG.

Think about getting that volume up to the boil. What is your heat source? Edit: Just re-read your post. Cant advise on the heater. Doesn't sound meaty enough, but that is based on zero knowledge.

For BIAB, think about the total weight of hot and sticky stuff that you will need to raise up to drain / sparge.

To get a full 23 litre volume, you would use more grain and liquor back, but that's not something I've done as I'm only brewing small batches right now.

Hope that helps.

 

[Leon103]

I would check your electrics out. My pot uses a 2kw element. If no electric then you have to go down the gas route which will cost you more than electric. Perhaps wait until homebrewing is within your budget.

 

[Cwrw666]

I'll be brewing in the garage and I'm not sure the power feed will support the needs of an electric boiler.

If you have a power socket then the wiring should handle up to about 6Kw. Brewing boilers are way less than this. Mine is 2.5Kw.

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi @Cwrw666

Can I suggest you edit the max power handling figure you quoted in your post #4 ... I'm no 'trician, but domestic power sockets are generally rated at 13 amp max ... 13 amp at 240V equates to just over 3kW, and I believe that is generally considered max power rating for domestic circuits.

No need to leave "bad" advice around on the forum, when it was just a Sunday morning typo
Cheers, PhilB

 

[Noodlebrew]

I use the BIAB method, but my bag is a stainless steel mesh basket!! I didn't like the bag scorching at the bottom and spilling the grains, or it folding over on itself and struggling to stir it. But that's just me! I use a 30 litre buffalo tea urn, with a foam jacket I made, the basket inside... when mashing is finished, I have an electric hoist above it to lift my basket out. I then do a partial sparge, as a full volume mash would overspill my pot. Also the partial sparge helps me get a few extra sugars. That's my method anyway

 

[Neil1987]

I use the BIAB method, but my bag is a stainless steel mesh basket!! I didn't like the bag scorching at the bottom and spilling the grains, or it folding over on itself and struggling to stir it. But that's just me! I use a 30 litre buffalo tea urn, with a foam jacket I made, the basket inside... when mashing is finished, I have an electric hoist above it to lift my basket out. I then do a partial sparge, as a full volume mash would overspill my pot. Also the partial sparge helps me get a few extra sugars. That's my method anyway

Where did you get the mesh basket to fit in your urn?

 

[Noodlebrew]

Hiya, yeah not cheap unfortunately. I got in touch with Graydon @ utah bio diesels in America. Cost a pretty penny to have it built to my spec and shipped! But I figured as long as I look after it, it will last me years and years I hope.

 

[Neil1987]

I was looking at an urn for biab but trying to keep back of the element is that hard part

 

[Drunkula]

Google "Maxi Biab" for making full size batches in smaller pots. I was doing full size in a 14 litre 'pot'.

Now I do my mash and boil in a plastic fermenter with a bit stainless saucepan lid in the bottom that I put on an induction hotplate. No chance of burning the bag. And I use a poundshop spatter guard as a false bottom that rests on the nut of the tap.

Before anyone asks - NO, it doesn't.

 

[UKSkydiver]

Now I do my mash and boil in a plastic fermenter with a bit stainless saucepan lid in the bottom that I put on an induction hotplate. No chance of burning the bag. And I use a poundshop spatter guard as a false bottom that rests on the nut of the tap.

Before anyone asks - NO, it doesn't.

I've seen you describe this a few times. And it does make perfect sense..... inspired really. I did try a SS saucepan lid in a placcy fermentor as a little experiment (and I was **** scared) - but it didn't really work. I think the shape of the lid and height didn't allow for the magicnetism to do it's thing.

 

[Drunkula]

think the shape of the lid and height didn't allow for the magicnetism to do it's thing.

Yeah, sometimes the induction catches, sometimes it doesn't. With the Buffalo 825 or whatever it's called it doesn't matter if the fermenter is the one with the perfectly flat bottom or the one that has a ring and so the lid is an extra 5mm away or whatever it is. With the wrong induction unit they sent me first the flat worked straight away, the other I had to jiggle until it would like it.

I tried loads of different things that worked. The lid, a really rubbish steel dish from Poundland, a steamer pan - it didn't care about the holes. What didn't work is about 50 pieces of cutlery just dumped in there, I thought that would work, shame it doesn't as that would be awesome.

 

[honeymonster]

I'm currently doing stovetop BIAB in a 19L stockpot.

I aim for 11L into the fermenter which gives me about 10L of finished beer.

The grain bill is typically around 3-3.5KG.

 

[dwhite60]

I have a nineteen liter kettle and get up to thirteen liters in the fermenter. I go short on my starting water to get more grain in the kettle. If I get all the grain in and there's still room I'll add more water, maintaining mash temp. If there isn't more room I'll top up the boil after pulling the grain bag. I do a slow rolling boil too. I take about fifteen liters of wort down to 13 liters in a one hour boil.

 

[Cheyne_brewer]

Thanks for your insights into your BIAB methods. The electrics into the garage are something I wouldn't want to subject to sustained 3kw loads without a safety test - it's old wiring not installed by me. Hours of watching the simmerstat on a Bruheat struggling to get a wort into action while ticking up the meter puts me off the idea of an electric boiler. As I have gallons of paraffin / kerosene at 75p a litre and stoves to burn it in this should hopefully suffice.

My thoughts are developing along two lines -

Firstly, to build an insulated mash tun with tap & bazooka, using a grain bag to contain the grist and facilitate at least a gentle jugged sparge.

Secondly, a genuine BIAB with a large (33litre +) pot if I can find one at a decent price, again using a grain bag or basket and again a tap with bazooka for running off into the FV. I'd use a removable insulating jacket to maintain mash temperature.

Boiling - as I said in my OP I have a pretty fierce paraffin stove rated at around 3KW plus some tamer ones which will serve as the boiler heat source (at least until it is proven a viable option). I can rig a collar to limit convection loss from the base of the pot.

Paul.

 

[Cwrw666]

Hi @Cwrw666

Can I suggest you edit the max power handling figure you quoted in your post #4 ... I'm no 'trician, but domestic power sockets are generally rated at 13 amp max ... 13 amp at 240V equates to just over 3kW, and I believe that is generally considered max power rating for domestic circuits.

No need to leave "bad" advice around on the forum, when it was just a Sunday morning typo
Cheers, PhilB

I'm not an electrician either but I'm pretty sure it's the sockets themselves that are rated at 3Kw while the wiring can take up to 6 Kw. Otherwise if you plugged a domestic kettle in a socket you'd have to run round the house turning everything else off or you'd blow the circuit.

 

[prog99]

Firstly, to build an insulated mash tun with tap & bazooka, using a grain bag to contain the grist and facilitate at least a gentle jugged sparge.

Thats essentially what I do. Cant get much simpler.

 

[PhilBrew]

I'm not an electrician either but I'm pretty sure it's the sockets themselves that are rated at 3Kw while the wiring can take up to 6 Kw.

... well yes, and the National Grid can deliver millions more kiloWatts again, but a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link isn't it? So, perhaps you should have a think about how you're going to get more than 3kW out of a socket that's only capable for 3kW, through a plug that's only rated to 3kW with the highest possible fuse in it being a 13amp one?

And, given all of that, how this is in any way good advice? ...

If you have a power socket then the wiring should handle up to about 6Kw.

... this morning, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that the 6kW number was a typo ... but with your last post you're coming across like a government minister trying to defend the indefensible (Government advisor's Cummings and goings)

Cheers, PhilB

 

[bobukbrewer]

I use a modified burco boiler - about 12 inches of another burco boiler welded on top so I CAN start with 35 litres of water. The bag is pegged into position and every 10 minutes I run 4 litres from bottom to top. I am brewing as we speak, 11.25 lb grain started at 70 deg C and as it is warm here 69 deg c after 25 minutes. After 60 minutes I run it out - very clear - into my other burco boiler for the boil. Normal 3 kw power sockets into a voltage controller make it very simple. I steady the boil just to simmer for last 10 minutes when today I will add 150 gm summit T90 hops.

 

[thesteve]

I'm currently doing stovetop BIAB in a 19L stockpot.

I aim for 11L into the fermenter which gives me about 10L of finished beer.

The grain bill is typically around 3-3.5KG.

I use the 19L pot as well but normally start with around 16 litres of water which is much more safe from a H&S point of view as it gives a fair bit of space at the top to avoid boil overs. Must admit though, I am starting to find it a bit of a pain doing so much work just to to end up with maybe a dozen or so bottles of beer. Starting with 16 litres I get only about 9 or 10 in the fermenter and by the time you get rid of the **** in the bottom of the tub plus lost beer below the tap in the bottling bucket, the final quantity is a bit disappointing when it takes six weeks from start to finish.