My BIAB , stainless steel basket instead of bag, your thoughts ?

[Roosterboy]

SS 400 MICRON MESH BASKET. Diameter = 24 cm , height= 30 cm plus 2 cm legs. Also has a handle .This BIAB system could fit
into a 15 L pot (kmart $16 ) , 19 L pot (BigW $20) or your own bigger pot. Perfect for someone without alot of room and who doesn't
want to spend alot on an AG system.
I have 2 but if there is sufficient demand I'll do a bulk order. The price ; $ 150
SMS me if interested on 043 4875 901 . Let me know where you live also.

Thanks

 

[dkaos]

What is the capacity of grain this can hold? I'm looking at building a new big batch system and would love to use something like this.

 

[micbrew]

hey roosterboy

a few questions

does this have a lid ? to prevent over flow
what volume of grain would it hold ..wet
could it be lifted via a pully , looks a little light

other wise id be interested
thx mick

 

[Topher]

Any bigger sizes?

 

[Roosterboy]

Sorry Clints Gadgets, micbrew and Topher for not getting back to you sooner. I'll answer all your questions. Capacity of grain, well you need a tall pot, 3.0 kg to 3.5
kg of grain is ideal. You can do less but I wouldn't go much past 3.5 kg .There isn't a lid.The basket is less than 1 kg.Grain and water would come to less than 10 kg.
It has 4 bars of 304 SS on the side and bottom to reinforce it. I haven't designed a bigger basket as this one was designed for people who want to start BIAB who
already brew by BIAB , to a standard , to a price point as I don't think people will spend double this, for easy AG brewing and for smaller batches as I think just
brewing larger amounts is less attractive the more you brew. I'll get some photos of it being used to brew.
Thanks
Roosterboy

 

[yankinoz]

Uh, you can't squeeze it, right?

 

[Roosterboy]

Uh, you can't squeeze it, right?

No

 

[yankinoz]

No

I like your crafting but will stick with cloth. Even if one does not actively squeeze a cloth bag, several kilos of wet grain does pull the sides in and a fair bit of squeezing results. When you look at a freshly lifted bag, there is a large flow down the sides. The three-dimensional drainage has its advantages, for example, allowing mashes with very high proportions of wheat malt. Granted, a rigid "bag" has sides a typical lauter does not, but I suspect it largely relies on bottom drainage.

 

[Roosterboy]

I like your crafting but will stick with cloth. Even if one does not actively squeeze a cloth bag, several kilos of wet grain does pull the sides in and a fair bit of squeezing results. When you look at a freshly lifted bag, there is a large flow down the sides. The three-dimensional drainage has its advantages, for example, allowing mashes with very high proportions of wheat malt. Granted, a rigid "bag" has sides a typical lauter does not, but I suspect it largely relies on bottom drainage.

You can't squeeze it but the advantages of a rigid frame is you can jiggle the grain up and down like a tea bag and the wort flows between the grain easily.
Also instead of squeezing when it comes to sparging you can jiggle once again and the wort drains out. The 400 micron doesn't allow hop particles
through so you have a filtered wort .
Roosterboy

 

[yankinoz]

Might make for an intereresting side by side experiment, a battle of the BIABers to see who drains the most the fastest..

 

[Roosterboy]

What do you think. The basket has 2.5 kg of grain in it in the photo. It can fit up to 3.5 kg.
It's a 13.5 L vol cylinder made of 304 grade stainless steel. Rigid sides mean you can jiggle the grain up and
down to drain and to help in the mashing process. The 400 micron mesh acts like a filter so NO large bits
of grain or hops get into your wort.

 

[Nizmoose]

This looks like an awesome alternative to a bag, easier to clean probably, bit easier to handle, no scorching or burning holes in it. Did you make it or buy it?

 

[Roosterboy]

I spent several weeks talking with manufacturers, both local and overseas . This is the end result , designed by me but they made it.

 

[Diggs]

I'd pay money for that!

 

[Dan Pratt]

What are the dimensions?

 

[Black Devil Dog]

That looks great. If it was able to hold 5kg of grain and fit inside a Crown Urn, there might be quite a bit of demand for them.

All depends how much they would cost of course.

 

[Fylp]

I was searching for a bigger version of something like this. I could a place in QLD that would manufacture it to my dimensions. I'm going to get a quote when I get a chance. Out of interest was it expensive ?

 

[Roosterboy]

What are the dimensions?

diam = 24 cm wide. Height = 30 cm plus 2cm legs.

 

[Roosterboy]

The crown urn is a good idea. This will fit in it. But if your looking for a bigger one , there's a few things to consider. SS mesh is expensive. A bloke in my town
told me it costs him $ 400 a sheet. So the less baskets you can get out of a sheet, the more expensive. Local manufacturers basically told me your looking at
more than $300 to make this basket. Overseas could make it cheaper but our dollar against the US dollar is crap , and they all deal in US dollars. Then the
freight is high , but goes down the more you can fit in box. The bigger the basket, fewer baskets in a box , once again the cost goes up.
I'm asking $ 140.
Freight to most of Australia is $15 .

 

[CoxR]

$400 a sheet? I think they might be pulling your leg.

 

[nala]

The crown urn is a good idea. This will fit in it. But if your looking for a bigger one , there's a few things to consider. SS mesh is expensive. A bloke in my town
told me it costs him $ 400 a sheet. So the less baskets you can get out of a sheet, the more expensive. Local manufacturers basically told me your looking at
more than $300 to make this basket. Overseas could make it cheaper but our dollar against the US dollar is crap , and they all deal in US dollars. Then the
freight is high , but goes down the more you can fit in box. The bigger the basket, fewer baskets in a box , once again the cost goes up.
I'm asking $ 140.
Freight to most of Australia is $15 .

Could this be made as a flat pack,joined as a circle by stainless steel screws ?
Much easier to transport and less costly.

 

[Roosterboy]

$400 a sheet? I think they might be pulling your leg.

I don't know if he was spinning me crap but a well known Stainless steel manufacturer in South west Sydney quoted me $330 not including transport
to my place.

 

[Burt de Ernie]

http://utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php

 

[Roosterboy]

Could this be made as a flat pack,joined as a circle by stainless steel screws ?
Much easier to transport and less costly.

all the connections and the mesh is welded to the supports, so no it can't be flat packed but I am considering making the basket more cone shaped
so they can fit one inside the other to reduce freight. It will make the volume smaller , but I guess i could increase the height.

 

[Roosterboy]

http://utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php

Get a quote off them including freight , I say no more.

 

[Bribie G]

I'd say you would do best to have a model that would fit a Crown or Birko urn and capable of holding about 5 kg. Anything smaller and you are really going head to head with the infamous BCF 39L crab cooker that sells for around a hundred bucks, plus mesh of some sort to line it.

Another point is that the Gas BIAB mob seem to go for bigger pots such as 70L and the design you showed in your OP has a lot of water around the outside that could affect mash efficiency - you really want all the grain and liquor in as close contact as possible.

Apart from the "turn key brewery" solution that an urn gives you, I'd guess that most people also buy an urn because they don't want to spend heaps on Nasa burners, gas bottles etc.

However we urnies are always looking for useful tweaks, note the recirculating BIAB systems based on urns that are always on the forum, so an urn sized basket should hit the spot perfectly.

 

[Burt de Ernie]

What do you think. The basket has 2.5 kg of grain in it in the photo. It can fit up to 3.5 kg.
It's a 13.5 L vol cylinder made of 304 grade stainless steel. Rigid sides mean you can jiggle the grain up and
down to drain and to help in the mashing process. The 400 micron mesh acts like a filter so NO large bits
of grain or hops get into your wort.

I don't BIAB, but it looks kind of small which blows out you grain to water ratio or do BIABers not sparge the grain?

 

[Roosterboy]

I'd say you would do best to have a model that would fit a Crown or Birko urn and capable of holding about 5 kg. Anything smaller and you are really going head to head with the infamous BCF 39L crab cooker that sells for around a hundred bucks, plus mesh of some sort to line it.

Another point is that the Gas BIAB mob seem to go for bigger pots such as 70L and the design you showed in your OP has a lot of water around the outside that could affect mash efficiency - you really want all the grain and liquor in as close contact as possible.

Apart from the "turn key brewery" solution that an urn gives you, I'd guess that most people also buy an urn because they don't want to spend heaps on Nasa burners, gas bottles etc.

However we urnies are always looking for useful tweaks, note the recirculating BIAB systems based on urns that are always on the forum, so an urn sized basket should hit the spot perfectly.

The pot in the photo isn't ideal , there is a 19 L POT IN bigW that would be better ($20).

 

[Bribie G]

Another point to consider is that even if you recirculate, once you hoist a voile bag, the whole grain mass shifts, doesn't form a grain bed such as you get with HERMS or BM, and leads to cloudy wort in the kettle.
The use of a sturdy basket allows a grain bed to form and if it's lifted gradually the resulting wort in the kettle should be clearer .. especially if one of the recirc systems is used.

I don't believe that trub gives problems with the quality of the resulting beer, but it does rob volume .. having seen BM in action they do get more clear stuff into the fermenter.

 

[Roosterboy]

I don't BIAB, but it looks kind of small which blows out you grain to water ratio or do BIABers not sparge the grain?

BIABers do sparge , you can get 15 L from this system , home brewers tend to think the more beer you make in a run the better,
it's a good argument to say how much money your saving.But some brewers like making smaller batches just because they like brewing.