Which BIAB Starter Kit?

[Bob_Loblaw]

Hi All

I've been kit and extract brewing for a few years now and my current setup is as follows:

• Kit or Extract with flavouring hops added in a boil (sometimes will steep some grains beforehand)
• Fermenting Fridge with STC-1000 temp controller
• Keg Fridge using 19L cornelius kegs

I'm looking to supplement the above set up by making a foray into all grain BIAB brewing. The starter kits on the Cheeky Peak Website seem like great value for what is included. These are the kits I'm looking at:

23ltr Complete Starter Kit - $482

http://www.cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/index.php/everything-mashing/all-grain-starter-kits/product/976-23ltr-complete-all-grain-starter-kit-brew-in-a-bag-biab-gas-heated

32ltr Complete Starter Kit - $550

http://www.cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/index.php/everything-mashing/all-grain-starter-kits/product/974-32ltr-complete-all-grain-starter-kit-brew-in-a-bag-biab-gas-heated

I'm only looking to do 23ltr batches as I have 19ltr kegs and the rest I will usually bottle, so the 23ltr kit is quite attractive at that price, but it seems the only (and perhaps significant) difference between the two other than size is the sandwich base. As I understand it the bigger kit has three layers in the base that will potentially stop burning and provide better heat distribution.

I already have a brew area set aside in my shed with a pulley system set up to pull the bag out of the pot, so based on my setup above my thoughts are that a kit is the only thing I need now.

• Is it worth paying the $68 for the bigger kit with the better base?
• Or should I just go for the smaller one knowing that I'll never want to brew larger than 23ltrs and just keep an eye on heating or add a perforated base later?
• Does anyone know of any better deals on BIAB starter kits?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers

 

[Diesel80]

Larger one for sure.
This seems a very convenient but expensive way to get into gas fired biab.

Build your own for the best bang for buck.

If you want I will pm you what I got when I started and will price in today's money for you.



Cheers
D80.

 

[Nurple]

I got this 50ltr kit and love it!

Tho I wish I got a bigger pot than the 71ltr so I could do full volume mashes

 

[Diesel80]

I got this 50ltr kit and love it!

Tho I wish I got a bigger pot than the 71ltr so I could do full volume mashes

How do you even get that boiling? Does it take long?
2200W seems under gunned for boiling a double batch (or does it have 2 elements?)

Cheers,
D80

 

[earle]

Are you committed to gas? If you're happy with 23l batches you could get an urn, a bag and make yourself a copper immersion chiller and still have money left over.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Are you committed to gas? If you're happy with 23l batches you could get an urn, a bag and make yourself a copper immersion chiller and still have money left over.

Definitely not committed to gas. I actually had a look at the 36ltr temp controlled one for this reason:

http://www.cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/index.php/everything-mashing/all-grain-starter-kits/product/1279-36ltr-all-grain-starter-kit-brew-in-a-bag-biab-electric-heated-temp-controlled

The reason I'm looking at kits is because I want something that will be proven out of the box and an almost all in one package. Storage space is a bit of an issue.

 

[mxd]

there is this one as well
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/88340-keg-king-robobrew-35l-single-vessel-brewery/

I would look at "creating" one myself if $$ is an issue.

 

[mosto]

Been a few years since I put my setup together, and I waited until parts came on sale to minimize cost, but a quick look at current prices from all the suppliers I used and the total comes to around $275. Mine is an electric powered 38L pot, which I get 20ish L from.

 

[Nurple]

How do you even get that boiling? Does it take long?
2200W seems under gunned for boiling a double batch (or does it have 2 elements?)

Cheers,
D80

They ended up putting two in, one copper and the other stainless.

I haven't bothered timing how long it takes to get to the boil because its not noticeable.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

there is this one as well
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/88340-keg-king-robobrew-35l-single-vessel-brewery/

I would look at "creating" one myself if $$ is an issue.

This one actually looks pretty good. I might look into this further.

 

[Bribie G]

A 40L Crown urn is a great "turn key" brewery out of the box and handles 23L perfectly. If you want to do double batches it's possible to do two end to end runs in about 6 hours if you have an over the side immersion heater as well (about $120).

That way you can either speed up the temperature ramping of the strike water and the wort doing a single batch, or do a double batch in less time by having strike water ready to go for the second batch.

Gas is great for a quick heat source but from what I've gathered on the forum it's way more expensive than electricity in the long run, I worked it out that if I'd gone gas originally 7 years ago, by now it could have paid for three urns.

 

[hathro]

Grab an urn: http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=80

 

[Diesel80]

Grab an urn: http://www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=80

That bag and awning pulley look familiar!

Cheers,
D80

 

[indica86]

Crown Urn from NHB https://nationalhomebrew.com.au/beer/brewing-equipment-pots-and-hardware/crown-urn-40l-with-concealed-element grab a tap and a bag and some grain and get the strainer with it.
Buy a jerry can, go no chill.

 

[Dazzbrew]

http://www.brewman.com.au/web/showproduct.asp?prodid=926

check out this electric biab kit

 

[Barge]

or do a double batch in less time by having strike water ready to go for the second batch.

I'm probably missing something obvious but how can you get strike water ready to go if the urn is being used to boil the first batch. Wouldn't it just be a case of draining to a cube, refilling the urn and then starting the second batch from the start, with no time saved?

 

[tavas]

I would suggest going as big as you can afford. You will find that spending all that time to make 23 litres is a pain, when for the same time you can make 46 litres (or more).

 

[Bribie G]

I'm probably missing something obvious but how can you get strike water ready to go if the urn is being used to boil the first batch. Wouldn't it just be a case of draining to a cube, refilling the urn and then starting the second batch from the start, with no time saved?

Over the side 2.2 kw element. Although it's around an extra hundred it's a brilliant workhorse if you want to move things along. Normally I don't bother as an extra hour is no problem, but I've done the odd double batch and it's a good backup if time is at a premium.

Couple of Bunnings handi pails for the strike water, if you use hot water system water, it's a fairly quick ramp up. Combined with ramping up the strike water for the original batch then ramping the mash to mashout, then ramping the wort to the boil it's a real timesaver. Then the second lot of strike water can be started during the hour boil.

The urn can handle a rolling boil all by itself but injecting 4600 watts into the system certainly hurries things along

 

[Barge]

I get it. You heat the strike water in the pail using the OTS element.

Bugger. I just built a kettle with 2 big w kettle elements in it. Ramp times are great but no separate strike water for me.

I was thinking about heating some water and running it into an esky to use as preheated sparge water. I could probably do the same but keep for 2nd batch strike water.

 

[Bribie G]

Historical note. In the UK back in the 70s when AG came in we mostly used brew buckets o death.
Being only about 25 L you couldn't do a full mash so you did the sparge water first and ran it into a handy bucket then got stuck into the strike water.

I just used the fermentor but of course an esky would work far better.

You can easily keep the second strike water hot by touching it up with an electric kettle as you're only going to lose a few degrees.

You're not actually saving time if you think about it but what you can do is flick on the boiler early and do something useful rather than being tied up with the system later in the brew.