Which urn?

[Mattrox]

I broached the subject of an urn to SWMBO today. I might get one as a Christmas present.

I intend to make a simple 1v recirculating system using a stainless pot as a malt pipe.

Crown, Birko or other. I'd want the 40L version. The Crown is 2cm wider so that seems a plus.

Thoughts?

 

[SBOB]

Birko 40L here and it works well.

 

[Mattrox]

Birko 40L here and it works well.

Do you use a malt pipe or biab?

 

[SBOB]

Do you use a malt pipe or biab?

biab at the moment, using the insert from a bcf crab pot to hold it
Likely moving to a malt pipe setup at some stage once lael's controllers are finished (though might move to a different pot at that time)

I dont think youll find much difference between either crown or birko urns, just find whichever is cheapest or possibly available second hand (thats how i sourced mine)

 

[Mattrox]

biab at the moment, using the insert from a bcf crab pot to hold it
Likely moving to a malt pipe setup at some stage once lael's controllers are finished (though might move to a different pot at that time)

I dont think youll find much difference between either crown or birko urns, just find whichever is cheapest or possibly available second hand (thats how i sourced mine)

Cheers.

 

[Vrtigo]

Birko 40L here as well.

I do BIAB with recirculation to keep mash temperature even and to cool the whole volume with a counterflow chiller. I have thoroughly enjoyed the Birko and would recommend an exposed element as it can barely maintain a boil in the colder weather or with even minimal recirculation. The downside is that you cannot recirculate fully while maintaining a boil. The upside is that you can happily walk away for the entirity of the boil without worrying about a boilover. I would assume that a concealed element would struggle even more.

Love BIAB for it's simplicity, its ability to match a 3-tier system, and it's Aussie enginuity

Cheers,

-Vrtigo

 

[buckerooni]

I've got one of the Apuro/Buffalo 40L urns from www.nisbets.com.au . Modded it to maintain a higher temp boil and use an over-the-side element for faster temp rises. Tempted to get a second for brewday double trouble!

 

[Diesel80]

Love BIAB for it's simplicity, its ability to match a 3-tier system, and it's Aussie enginuity

Cheers,

-Vrtigo

O/T My BIAB way more simples than your BIAB! The complexity is strong with this one (looks awesome btw).

re the boil: have you thought about insulating your Urn? That will help heaps, though difficult giving all the bits hanging off the side of your urn. There were some good examples on here on insulated urns when I was looking at getting one. I went a different route in the end.

Cheers,
D80

 

[Markbeer]

My suggestion would be to get an exposed element. Whichever brand.

 

[SBOB]

Birko 40L here as well.

I do BIAB with recirculation to keep mash temperature even and to cool the whole volume with a counterflow chiller. I have thoroughly enjoyed the Birko and would recommend an exposed element as it can barely maintain a boil in the colder weather or with even minimal recirculation. The downside is that you cannot recirculate fully while maintaining a boil. The upside is that you can happily walk away for the entirity of the boil without worrying about a boilover. I would assume that a concealed element would struggle even more.

Love BIAB for it's simplicity, its ability to match a 3-tier system, and it's Aussie enginuity

Cheers,

-Vrtigo

aaa.jpg

bbb.jpg

What is the connection in the middle of the pot for?
Recently got a pump and plate chiller to go with my urn so always looking for other peoples setups for ideas

 

[Mattrox]

My suggestion would be to get an exposed element. Whichever brand.

What are the benefits of an exposed element over concealed?

 

[Markbeer]

Concealed elements overheat more easily and can fry themselves. People mod them to get a better boil but can mean the element can overheat as half is in contact with air under the unit where the terminals are.

As the sugars settle on the urn concealed element it is sort of insulated and overheats. There are threads about this. Mine is now a hlt but I used to boil wort in it.

Easy to clean though.

 

[Vrtigo]

What is the connection in the middle of the pot for?
Recently got a pump and plate chiller to go with my urn so always looking for other peoples setups for ideas

SBOB the middle barb is a recirculation inlet to the kettle from the counterflow plate chiller. This allows me to chill the ENTIRE volume of wort at once and last time I brewed I got from 100 to 17 degrees C in around 15-18mins.

When I first started BIAB I did a single pass through the chiller into the fermentation vessel however this was leaving the majority of the wort hot in the kettle which can be a bad thing (no cold break coming out of solution, DMS precursers being produced but not blown off due to no boil / steam). I now recirculate back into the kettle which allows me to watch the temperature of the whole liquid mass via my kettle thermometer and also allows me to whirlpool for the time taken to chill as I have put and elbow and a barb on the inlet to promote a whirlpool. I didn't place it at the top of the post-boil volume as I was worried about stratification and thought it would suck if i ended up with less wort than expected. I instead put it about 2/3 of the way up and put the barb at an upward angle to avoid heat stratification at the top.

Below is a pic of the inside of my kettle. All I had to purchase was a ball valve, a couple of elbow joints and barbs and a hole saw to cut through the Birko.

[for some reason I can't post pictures, could be work internet, will post when I get home tonight]

Maybe this will work:
https://carousel.dropbox.com/photos/cc/oRa7P9HxsBr873I

Roasting rack is in there to keep the bag off the element especially when ramping up to mash out, I always take it out prior to boiling..... except for the few times when I have forgotten about it ^.-

The bazooka screen is probably overkill but stops the bag getting stuck in the outlet and preventing recirculation and also does a little bit of filtering as well

Diesel80 I have considered insulating the urn with a yoga mat with parts cut out for my attachments. I would roll it up and unroll on brew day however I am able to maintain a 3-4L/hour boiloff even in cold weather so at the moment I don't think it's worth the fuss.