Am I a luddite? Bling vs. Simple

[zarniwoop]

Hi All,

I've been on a sprong induced hiatus from brewing for 6 months now and am getting back into it, after reading through a few threads on AHB and noting the emergence of new systems such as the grainfather etc I'm starting to wonder if I'm too low tech or if it doesn't really matter? I'm not trying to start an argument over the various pros and cons of different approaches but just get an idea of if I'm genuinely missing out on beer quality or if the bling is mainly a hobby/convenience thing.

I brew using a large BIAB pot, an over the side element, a plate chiller and a digital thermometer slung over the side. I add heat manuualy when need and don't recirculate. Efficiency is ~88% and beer tastes fine. I have often drooled over various SS and electronic setups people have but despite being an electronics engineer ansd after much drooling decided that as I only brew every 4-6 weeks the time and money I'd spend building anything of any significance would not be worth the time and effort.

So what do other people think? I'm sure the high tech offers some advantages but are there many other brewers out there still using a very basic setup?

Again I'm not trying to start a bun fight and I understand that people will be very proud/protective of their systems but I'd appreciate some genuine input as whether it's really worth it from a production point of view or if it really more qualifies under extension of the hobby?


Cheers

Zarniwoop

Edit. post coffee thought, it may be the increased control and repeatability that attracts some people to the tech, allowing recipes to be fine tuned without having the human cockup factor in it.

 

[Yob]

Keep your coin or spend it on a bigger build, it's the output volume on these things which put me off, just don't have time for single batches, I'm even starting to think my 75lt esky needs to be ~120lt

 

[Rocker1986]

FWIW I just use a BIAB in a Crown urn set up, digital probe thermometer for monitoring the mash, and no-chill in cubes. Have no desire to "upgrade" to a 3V system or anything. I'm more than happy with my beers. Knowing one's system is probably the biggest part of it, rather than what that system actually is. Have an old fridge with STC-1000 connected to it as well for temp controlled fermentation. It's all good!

 

[RdeVjun]

Yes, it becomes difficult to justify an 'upgrade', particularly if you're happy with the beer quality, the productivity and also comfortable with the method. I have similar equipment to you and it knocked out a national comp winner a little while back, I enjoy using it, while it produces more than enough for my needs, so a strong justification for not changing a thing. I don't get all barred up by stainless or electrical/ engineering complexity etc the way some folks do though, they might feel the need to scratch that itch.
I say stick with it as is, its been delivering the goods just the way it is, while it ain't broke so you don't need to fix it.
HTH!

 

[contrarian]

I BIAB in a 70L pot and although I often eye off three vessel systems with pumps and other bells and whistles I love the simplicity of my system an am happy with the beer I am making.

Some people love tinkering and get as much joy from that as they do from brewing. Other people fun that their system isn't able to do things they want it to in terms of high gravity or output volume. They are good reasons to change your system.

Also, the more complex a system becomes the more things there are that can go wrong and the longer it takes to set up an pack up. If you have the time that's awesome but I don't at the moment so don't envisage any changes in the near future!

 

[Kingy]

Definately the output is reason for biggee bling as people have said. i looked at grainfather and brewmeister but i was double biab batching anyway and was brewing regular now i have 2 kids and seem to be going through more beer and brewing less. My now 3 vessell triple batch system with herms is set to turn on digitally an hour or so before i wake up to brew around 5am. Can have it all cleaned up 6hours later with 3 cubes full. About to buy a bigger kettle so i can get 4 cubes from a brew day if needed. Something i never would've got with a brewmeister thingy. I enjoy my brew day a lot more pulling a few valves transferring big volumes around and getting more cubes out of it. But again this system suits me and everyone's needs are differant. You need to work out what you need out of a system and go from there.

 

[Matplat]

I plan on getting a fancy as I can get as a precursor to starting my own brewery :super: that is a little way off yet though......

 

[mje1980]

Spend the money on temp control and stir plates. Extracting brewing sugar from the grain really doesn't take much tech, but fermentation goes much better with healthy yeast fermenting at the right temp

 

[thylacine]

RE: "...So what do other people think?..."

Lovely, me thinks the writer is not a brewing software zealot.

 

[welly2]

> Efficiency is ~88% and beer tastes fine

Then why would you change your system?

 

[Bribie G]

Couple of times I've been at a brew day with a 3v system, to quote a good old Queensland saying the poor bugger has been busier than a one a one armed painter with the crabs.
That's what persuaded me to go single vessel BIAB in urn.

7th Anniversary coming up this year.

As a previous post suggested I've spent most of my cash on improving fermentation, temperature control and serving systems.

 

[kaiserben]

I brew in my apartment's tiny kitchen. I was doing stove top full volume BIAB in a 19L Big W pot, with handheld thermometer,and no-chilling. I was getting sick of constantly monitoring temperatures, worrying about holding mash temps, lifting the bag with a ~600mm clearance between my stove and my rangehood, and what to do with the bag without it dripping everywhere. At bottling I had batches of only ~ 10L.
I wanted >20L volumes. That was the biggest thing for me. But I also wanted it to be easier, not to have to constantly stick a thermometer in the pot. Plus I needed any new equipment to not take up too much room either on brew day or while stored away in-between brew days.

I looked at getting a Crown Urn for ~$350. But I decided that if I was going to spend $350, I might as well spend $1000 and get a Grainfather. (EDIT: Oh, and I scored a free stainless steel fermenter with my order).

More than 20 brews later and I'm really happy with the GF.

 

[rude]

I use 2 trestles 3, 4x4 jarah roof beams, round esky for mash tun , 2 keggles 4 ring burner

I really need a pump to transfer wort as I lift 34L in the keggle up onto the trestles :blink:

Beers have been coming out crystal clear have stir plate, temp fridge & keezer

Takes 6 hours to get 1 cube so more for the same time would be nice

I do like the bling but a bit cash strapped,

My wish list would be stainless fermenters , single vessel recirc system ( going to build my own ) ,
hopefully to fill up 2 cubes but will see 1 might be enough

The reason for recirc would be for space repeatability & I love building fiddling

 

[mje1980]

Couple of times I've been at a brew day with a 3v system, to quote a good old Queensland saying the poor bugger has been busier than a one a one armed painter with the crabs.
That's what persuaded me to go single vessel BIAB in urn.
7th Anniversary coming up this year.
As a previous post suggested I've spent most of my cash on improving fermentation, temperature control and serving systems.

Yep, at a brew club event I watched side by side brews, one a biab and one a herms type Blingy thingy with pump. One brewer enjoyed beer after beer while occasionally checking temp, the other spent a lot of time stuffing around with this and that. Bought myself a bag after that, and after the first biab, the 3v was gone.

 

[Rocker1986]

One brewer enjoyed beer after beer while occasionally checking temp,

That sounds suspiciously like my brew days. :lol: I love it, it's relaxed, less cleanup, great beers. No reason to change it.

 

[michaeld16]

I like shiny things

 

[Bribie G]

I bought a bottle of SS polish for my urn.

 

[stux]

An interesting question...

three reasons to change your equipment

1) to make it easier
2) to make better beer
3) to make more volume... which in away, is about #1

another reason, is because you just like bling, or fiddling.

Anyway, I went from a single batch biab, to a double, then triple batch biab.

Triple Batch (ie 60L) gets me the volumes I need... I can ferment 60L in one go in a 60L fermenter, and fill 3 19L kegs...

BUT, the amount of dickin about I had to do to do a 60L batch with BIAB, with a sparge, and pulleys and whatnot... meant that it was time to get a mashtun.

Thing is, as volumes scale, things get harder.

A big mashtun, then meant it was time for a pump.

The pump is awesome. it makes it really easy not manually lifting up large weights, and volumes etc... and now, i'm a convert to re-circulation. it really does improve the beer! damn.

But I found temperature control/steps difficult on that volume of mash... so then its time for a HERMS.

The problem is this... my investment is now far greater than if I had just bought a braumeister

(or at least close).

So, evaluate where you think you might be headed... recirculation, bigger volumes... etc.. and decide if it wouldn't just be better to buy a pre-made system which does that, rather than taking the long and possibly expensive road there...

OR NOT, depending on if you actually want to build this rig, that you might end up with

 

[zarniwoop]

Thanks all, some useful responses.

I do like the simplicity of the BIAB, as a couple of the above said I do worry about the messing around that would go with a more complex system. My brew day mainly consists of glancing up to my thermometer whilst drinking coffee at my laptop to see if I need to add more heat and wondering if I can clear the kitchen of family before the cooling and all important "STAY AWAY FROM MY COOLED WORT AND YEAST KIDS!!!!" 5 minute period begins.

As for volume I took the advice of one AHB member who was very helpful in his advice several years ago (I can't remember his name lived in Mt Gambier IIRC) and bought the biggest pot I could so I have a 60L pot which if I'm careful is good for 40L post fermentation. So I guess I'm good there.

I think I'll save my money for a stir plate and keezer as temp control during fermentation is sorted.

 

[TimT]

I like simplicity and get a kick out of working out simple solutions to brewing problems. I kind of feel you should be able to do most brewing stuff with ordinary kitchen equipment. Personally I feel you can get good results with whatever system you have, so long as you have a bit of experience and knowledge behind you.