Upsizing BIAB - Seeking advice

[dropbear85]

So I since having my first kid six months ago I have really struggled to find the time to brew and have reverted to fresh wort kits to get me through.
When I did have the time I was doing BIAB in my 50L keg with NASA burner but now I can’t justify the time for a single batch.
Now the plan is to upsize and go electric so I can do double batches and not have to worry about running out of gas halfway through a brew. If im going electric I might as well throw in a little brown pump to help things along.

I’ve done a bit of research on the whole Brau clone vs return at the top options and im leaning towards the latter for simplicity and cost. Would love to get some feedback on the following parts as I am sure others are on their 3rd or 4th gen 1V recirculating setup and may be able to save me from going down the wrong track.

This is what I’m looking at

Cheapo 82L SS pot from ebay
2x2400watt elements from 5 star with the element guards. Ferrules silver soldered to the pot
Little brown pump
Temp control via STC 1000 running one of the elements to maintain mash temp. The other one will just be manual and only used to ramp the temp at the start and boil.
Drilled pizza tray to keep the bag off the elements.
And I’ll probably just stick with a bag and not worry about a pot to begin with.

So what do you think? One thing I am not sure about is the elements. 2 x 2400watt 5star elements will cost me $200 but I know they will be quality and ill also be able to use them for my “water purifier” which is also gas ATM and scares the **** out of me!
Will I be able to get away with a couple of kettle elements on a pot this big? Or maybe someone else could recommend another cheaper option other than Keg King.

Any help will be appreciated

Cheers,
Dropbear

 

[Fents]

The biggest drama with upscaling BIAB is the bag all of a sudden gets really heavy with 3 times the amount of grain in it so you will need some sort or pulley system...or use two bags. Other than that go forth and multiply.

 

[dropbear85]

Yeah I've already got the pulley sorted out from my current setup so thats all sweet.

thanks

 

[Bribie G]

QldKev used a double bag in a large kettle.
I can do a double batch using an urn and an esky.

Mash in Urn as usual in bag #1
Mash another grain bill in an esky in bag #2 - start this one off a bit later, giving you a "window"

Pull #1 and start boil while draining
Run #1 into cube / chiller

Meantime #2 will be hoisted, drained and waiting its turn in the boiler

Clean urn and jug #2 into it for boil.

Combine both worts.

I find this adds around an hour to a brew day, maybe 90 mins at most, but it's quite an efficient use of time as the cleaning up jobs can be done as you go along.
Most single batch BIAB days consist of a lot of waiting around anyway.

 

[1974Alby]

do you need to go electric? I would think that a NASA will happily boil a double or triple batch!

 

[dropbear85]

do you need to go electric? I would think that a NASA will happily boil a double or triple batch!

electric is more of a want, and convenience really. The NASA is really good but I reckon 2x2400w elements will cut a off a little bit of time in reaching boil and give me more control in maintaining mash temps with the STC.

I've decided I'm going to grab all the gear and throw it on my 50l keggle. If all goes well I'll buy the cheapo 80l pot and go for double batches.

I'm not really aiming for big beers but I'm hoping to get 2xkegs of 5% beer from the 80L pot. Does this sound reasonable?

typing this on the train back from my Christmas drinks and let's just say I've been quite sociable so sorry if this post is talking rubbish

 

[thebigwilk]

go a bigger pump and have two return lines coming back into the kettle one on top of the mash of course, and then have the other one below the false bottom with an elbow 90 degree fitting on it so the wort is being circulated past your heat elements. I am brewing on a home made system with this set up its only a 36 litre pot and the pump is doing about 15 litres a min. and at that rate its perfect for this smaller system the brown pump might be a bit small for your bigger system.

 

[dropbear85]

would a bigger pump not just pull more water from the bottom?

 

[thebigwilk]

Have a close look at the second photo you will see a small tap on the bottom fitting you can adjust it to control how much goes on top of the grain but you want plenty of wort movement around your heat elements that's were you want most of the flow to go.
Plus I was looking at doing a bigger system myself I found these type of heat elements which are the same brand as the one in my system but mine is only 2200 watt it hasn't missed a beat with over 40 brews . http://back-2-basics.com.au/2400-Watt-Element-with-cord

 

[dropbear85]

don't get me wrong. I completely agree with having 2 returns just not sure how much benefit there will be in have a bigger pump. I should just be able to control the flow over the elements using a couple of valves.

thanks for the heads up though. I'll keep a eye out and make sure my elements aren't running dry

 

[thebigwilk]

Cheers mate would be great to see some photos when its all done. the bottom return on my system is more to do with making sure there is not a concentration of hot wort just around the element it helps to stir the wort up below the grain bed to insure there is an even heat wave going up through the mash as heat rises.

 

[Eagleburger]

Lil brown pump is 12v. Do you have a supply to run it? The green pumps are only 60bux I believe. I was doing BIAB till the bag got a hole. then I just got the 38L pot from the same place as the 82L. I paid $50, delivered for mine, so make an offer to the seller. I think you be happy with your plan anyway.

Before I automated mine, I would just do manual temp adjustments. Fire till 68degC, turn off, when it hit 62 I would turn on theelement till it got back upt to 67-68. It only needed cranking two times for an hour mash. Noone complained with the results.

So I since having my first kid six months ago I have really struggled to find the time to brew and have reverted to fresh wort kits to get me through.
When I did have the time I was doing BIAB in my 50L keg with NASA burner but now I can’t justify the time for a single batch.
Now the plan is to upsize and go electric so I can do double batches and not have to worry about running out of gas halfway through a brew. If im going electric I might as well throw in a little brown pump to help things along.

I’ve done a bit of research on the whole Brau clone vs return at the top options and im leaning towards the latter for simplicity and cost. Would love to get some feedback on the following parts as I am sure others are on their 3rd or 4th gen 1V recirculating setup and may be able to save me from going down the wrong track.

This is what I’m looking at

Cheapo 82L SS pot from ebay
2x2400watt elements from 5 star with the element guards. Ferrules silver soldered to the pot
Little brown pump
Temp control via STC 1000 running one of the elements to maintain mash temp. The other one will just be manual and only used to ramp the temp at the start and boil.
Drilled pizza tray to keep the bag off the elements.
And I’ll probably just stick with a bag and not worry about a pot to begin with.

So what do you think? One thing I am not sure about is the elements. 2 x 2400watt 5star elements will cost me $200 but I know they will be quality and ill also be able to use them for my “water purifier” which is also gas ATM and scares the **** out of me!
Will I be able to get away with a couple of kettle elements on a pot this big? Or maybe someone else could recommend another cheaper option other than Keg King.

Any help will be appreciated

Cheers,
Dropbear

 

[wynnum1]

What power will this setup need is it over 15 amps .

 

[QldKev]

My 1V evolved along the lines of what you are looking at, a BIAB with pizza tray and later moved to an internal bucket. It works great. I'm with thebigwilk, go for at least a green pump running the 2 returns. I'm actually running the mp-20 on my single sized brew, which is the big brother to the green pump (mp-15).

 

[dropbear85]

where do you get the green pumps from?

Also power for the elements isn't a problem. I had an extra circuit put in the garage so each element will be on a separate circuit.

 

[wynnum1]

Extra heavy duty circuit in the garage if getting new house built could be a good investment .

 

[Mattwa]

I can do a double batch using an urn and an esky.

I'd be interested in hearing more about your method Bribie. How do you heat the strike water for the esky?

 

[Tahoose]

Over the side element.

Another way is assuming that the 19ltr big w pots are cheap and you might just have one. You can heat your strike/top up water inside utilising the stovetop and hot water tap.

 

[QldKev]

Most home brew shops should have the green pumps

Here's a couple
http://craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=4270
https://nationalhomebrew.com.au/beerbrewing-equipment-pots-and-hardwareother-pump-high-temperature-magnetic-drive-pump

 

[micbrew]

i used an element from Neville ..its a beauty 3.6kw for my 70 litre pot and ..requires 15 amp though
much better than two kk and peace of mind as well

i would highly recommend laels control box as well ... approx. cost $270 ...not confirmed yet ...worth the dollars though

my pump is a little green /blue type same same ...and it works a treat