Double BIAB or 3v Systems

[Hillsey]

Hi,
I have been using fresh wort kits for the last 18 or months or so and I would like to upgrade to something that I have more control over the finishing product.
I know people are saying to go straight to the Grainfather system but time is not on my side. It would be good if the GF did enough for 40l of wort. So I'm thinking of either a BIAB or 3v system but I would like it to produce 40l of wort.
Can anyone give me any suggestions of a system to buy or build? How big does a BIAB or 3v sustem need to be to produce 40l of wort?
Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[micka80]

I do big batches, last one was 52L into cubes at 1.054 with 12.5 kg marris otter. I lose around 7 litres each brew. I use a 88 litre pot and a 56 litre pot as a malt pipe, two keg king 2200w elements and a block and tackle to hoist the spent grain. I got the 88l pot from living styles and the 56l one from ebay, cheap as. You can as big as you want you just may need gas when you go any bigger.

 

[contrarian]

70L pot will give you 40L into cubes or fermenter fairly comfortably. That's what I use for my biab setup and it works well. If you start there you can get brewing with a minimal amount of fuss and if you decide you want to go 3V then you can buy a few more pots.

I have a craftbrewer pot. They're not the best but they're good for the price and do the job fine but any 70L pot will do the job. Get a decent burner with a medium flow reg, a bag and you are away!

 

[mstrelan]

If you do double batches BIAB you'll want to get a pulley system going.

 

[Coldspace]

Double batch grain father, gives you 1046 to 1048 wort at around 42 ltrs.
Same time as biab.

Biab works well. I've done that in past.

 

[damoninja]

I was always 3v but the great thing about it is you can chop and changing things a lot easier. I recently upgraded to a 100L pot from 40L, glad I did as I can now squeeze out a triple batch if I squint really hard and chant the right phrases.