rack04

Recipes 

Can you tell me what size of knockout punches you used for the for the heating element, ball valve, and sight glass? I'd like to use the harbor freight punches but I'm not sure how the size relates to actual inner diameter. Thanks.

aubiecat

Recipes 

I don't remember off the top of my head but this is the kit I used and it had the right sizes for the job. It will work just fine for those three holes.
Ball valve and sight glass holes are the same size. I think they are 7/8" and 1-1/4".

__________________
Blake
Electric BIAB Build | BIAB Mesh False Bottom | Controller/Fermentation Chest

P-J

Recipes 

Harbor Freight punch sets are "Electrical Conduit Punches" & punch a hole for the conduit fitting.

Here are the stated sizes and the actual hole size:

Die - Actual Hole
1/2" = 7/8"
3/4" = 1-3/32"
1" = 1-11/32"
1-1/4" = 1-11/16"

So, with that stated, be very careful.

P-J

aubiecat

Recipes 

Measure twice, cut once

__________________
Blake
Electric BIAB Build | BIAB Mesh False Bottom | Controller/Fermentation Chest

kzimmer0817

Recipes 

Blake,
Thanks for answering my questions in post 103. Question about brewing in your 11 gallon kettle.

My 1st 4 batches (extract + steeping grains) were done in a 7.5 gal kettle. In anticipation of going all-grain BIAB, I've researched kettle size. I was concerned that 5 gallon batches would get lost in a 15 gallon kettle - the one BIABrewers seem to recommend - so I've wondered about the 10-11 gallon kettle. Meanwhile, my son was given a dented up keg by his boss, which I cut and made into a keggle. Nevertheless, I think I'd like to get a kettle and have something a little dressier, so I'm still wondering about size.

I "think" my first all-grain - as well as first BIAB - brew went well last Sunday.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/my-first-all-grain-biab-no-chill-356409/.
The keggle I made ends up being about the equivalent of a 14 gal kettle the way I cut it. I found that the volume isn't lost at the end of the boil, nevertheless, I still want to ask about your experiences with your kettle.

I plugged some gravity figures into the calculator on the BIABrewer forum. The B3 Stout kit I brewed in my little kettle has an O.G. of 1.083. Plugging this into the calculator shows that my starting volume (full volume BIAB) would be 8.8 gal and mash volume (grain + water) would be 10.11 gallons.

The pumpkin ale I just brewed by BIAB had O.G. of 1.065 requiring starting volume of 8.5 gallons with mash volume of 9.5 gallons. After pulling the bag, the start of boil volume at 212* is estimated at 7.9 gallons.

So, I could brew this pumpkin ale in the 11 gallon kettle. But, the Stout would require me to hold back some of the water and perform a dunk sparge. Apparently, the start of boil volume would still be 7.9 gallons.

To cut to the chase, what O.G. beers are you brewing in your kettle, and do you find yourself wanting for a larger kettle? Have you brewed any beers for which you could not start with the full volume?

Thanks - and sorry for being so long-winded.
Keith

__________________
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/keiths-cut-keggle-353760/
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/my-first-all-grain-biab-no-chill-356409/

aubiecat

Recipes 

I can't mash anything over about 12-13 lbs because of the water volumes.
The Belgian Dark I just brewed was 1.100 but that was due to the addition of 1 lbs. of corn sugar and 2 lbs. of candi syrup.
For me to brew a beer that big getting the sugars from malt only would require me to do partial mash.
I have considered getting the larger kettle because I want to do some larger beers without having to use malt extract.

__________________
Blake
Electric BIAB Build | BIAB Mesh False Bottom | Controller/Fermentation Chest

jeffmeh

Recipes 

I was able to brew a BIAB Russian Imperial Stout, 6 gallon batch, in a 15 gallon pot, with 26 lbs. of grain and 12 gallons of water. That was the absolute limit.

aubiecat

Recipes 

That is sort of where I was going next. I have a SN Big Foot in mind but I can't attempt it unless I get a 15 gallon kettle.

__________________
Blake
Electric BIAB Build | BIAB Mesh False Bottom | Controller/Fermentation Chest

kzimmer0817

Recipes 

You'd have to do what the guys on the Biabrewer forum call Maxi-BIAB - how to brew when you can't fit it all in the kettle. You mash as usual in the single vessel, but don't use all the water. When you pull your bag, you perform 1 or 2 dunk sparges with the hot water you initially set aside. If your kettle is small enough that you can't quite fit all your pre-boil volume, you add the runnings throughout the boil. So you're still doing a full volume boil, as opposed to simply adding plain top-off water to the fermenter.

"My" concern about a 15 gallon kettle is that I might want to do some small batches: 2.5 - 3 gallons. I'm not sure how much more $ I want to invest in this keggle since it really belongs to my son. So, it might be best for me to get a 15 gallon kettle so I could do almost any 5 gallon beer I'd ever want. For the smaller batches, I could electrify my 7.5 gallon kettle and build a 120V controller for it.

Enjoying reading about your build. I did find the 12x12x6 Carlon PVC box at Home Depot and purchased it. I'll start my e-build when we get moved.

Thanks,
Keith

__________________
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/keiths-cut-keggle-353760/
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/my-first-all-grain-biab-no-chill-356409/

jeffmeh

Recipes 

If I do get the opportunity to build out an e-BIAB system, I will likely go with a 20 gallon kettle to be able to do some 10 gallon batches. I figure that with that I could fairly easily mash 25 lbs. of grain with full water volume.