New Electric BIAB system

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Navy_Brewer

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I have been lurking for a while and have decided to take the plunge shifting to electric brewing. I am setting up an electric BIAB based in the 44 Qt Bayou Classic Pot. Seems to be perfect for my batch size (5 gal into keg) and I have made several great beers so far using it on a propane burner. I am looking at a 240VAC 5500 watt element as I have little patience and may want to move to 10 gallon batches some day.

I have enclosed my wiring diagram and my control panel layout (8x8x6 conduit box from Home Depot) for a sanity check. I may use a .50 cal ammo can instead for the control panel but I have not yet decided or procured one from work.

I will try to document as much of the build as possible for those that are interested in a mid level, BIAB set up.

Thanks and I look forward to contributing here.

Wiring Diagram.jpg


panel 3.jpg
 
Is this going to be a single vessel setup? No sparge full volume style?

Edit to add: Forgot to mention I have the same kettle so I am curious about your build. :)
 
I just finished wiring a .50 cal ammo box for a control panel. The overall size is great. But the opening is small, so you either need a few extra joints in your fingers or very dainty hands to easily get everything in there and hooked up. You end up with components on top of each other, so the stuff on the bottom is hard to get to. If I did it again, I'd go with a box that had a larger opening.
 
Yes this is a single vessel system. The grain is put in a bag inside the boiling strainer basket that came with the pot. That is lowered into about 8 gallons of water heated to strike temp. Mash for one hour then remove basket. Boil remaining 7 gallons as any other batch and cool to 6 gallons for 5.5 in the fermenter.

So far that has made 4 great beers so I am officially getting rid of my keg based 3 tier set up. I will keep my keg fermenter though as I can do a double batch (10 gal) for beers I like or dilute for 10 gallons of a lighter beer.

I got the heater element in the pot last night. A water heater wrench is critical as I could never get it sealed up until I invested in one. I am using Kal's meathod though I put the o-ring inside the pot in the groove of the locknut. Still deciding on a bottom drain or keeping it in the side. i think I will try the side for a couple of batched before I commit to drilling the bottom of the pot.
 
Here is the start of my control panel. It is a 12x12 PVC box from home depot. I tried a couple of layouts on the tape and when I was happy cut using a step bit and dremel tool.

I also tested my pid and found it was not registering correctly. After troubleshooting with auber, it has to go back. Luckily they are sending a new one and it is in the mail already. Very happy with their customer service. Spend the extra $10 and buy from them over chinese junk.

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Well everything is moving along fast. So here it is up and running. I stayed up late a couple of nights to do the wiring once everything came in. Water went from 59 to 152 in 20 minutes. Up to mashout in 10 and to boiling 10 after that. The whole reason for building this was to speed up the brewday and simplify. I think I accomplished that well.

Only problem I ran into was my wiring for the alarms. I wasn't thinking and wired all the alarms to one buzzer and did not realize that when one goes hot to power the buzzer, it reverse powers the other lights/switches. I will either have to split the alarms to individual buzzers or find some way to prevent the reverse power. Is there such a thing as a diode for A/C?

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The system looks great and that is exactly what I plan to do this summer to help save time on brew day. Question: I plan to get the bayou classic 44 qt. with the basket just as you have and I plan to do 5 gal. batches using the (BIAB) method, have you found that the 44 qt. has plenty of room for (BIAB) 5 gal. batches or now that you have brewed with this system would you suggest the 60 qt? Thanks.
 
Depends on the beer style you like. I think I can max out at about 12 lbs of grain, which gets me a 1.060 beer. To go higher means a thicker mash and the resulting efficiency drop (currently 80% for 1.060) and adding water. If you like really big beers then you may want the 60 qt. If I were to do it again, I would probably get the 60 but I found a great deal on the 44.

The big beers I like all use sugar to boost gravity (Belgians and Pliney) so I am ok. The beauty of an electric system is changing pots is relatively easy. I made mine with a 240V 5500 watt element so I am good up to 55 gallon drums. :ban:
 
How do you keep the steamer basket above the heating element?

Also wondering what's the pump used for? Transfer to the fermenter? recirc pump?
 
The steamer basket rests on a lip inside the pot. You can make it out in the picture above. It leaves about 3 inches of space under the bottom for the element, thermometer and drain. I am looking to follow Scuba Steve's lead in getting this closed in to replace the bag but will let him do the research on the best method. I am concidering though using anysizebasket.com though as it would be easier to clean than several pieces of wire mesh bolted together. If I do go this rout I will probably cut off the bottom of the basket and make a false bottom with it to keep the basket and immersion chiller from resting on the element/temp probe.

The pump is for recircing during the mash, whirlpool chilling, and transfer to fermenter. This could be done without the pump except that:
1. This should maintain better temps throughout the mash as I do not intend to insulate, only let the PID fire and maintain temp. Recirculation at the least will provide more uniform temperatures.
2. I had it anyway.

I hope to get the first brew done next weekend. I will take lots of pics and post them.
 
Thanks, I'm really leaning towards your set up. Do you have a parts list for your build? I know there's a few out there for a 3-pot herms, but I'm Lazy by nature if someone has already done the work ;)
 
Thanks for the response. Sounds like the 44 qt. will do me just fine and I plan to use the 240V / 5500 watt element as well. My plan for the steamer basket is to take it to a local metal fabricator and have either 304 or 316 food grade stainless steel mesh screen fitted to the inside of the basket to eliminate the need for the nylon bag and then I can pitch the spent grains, rinse the basket, put it back into the kettle, and then boil my hops in the basket without the worry of "cooking" the nylon. Also the mesh screen will keep the hops out of my pump and fermenter as they will be trapped in the basket.
 
Personally, I'm really liking this Idea, especially if I spring for the 60qt. The thing that REALLY makes it worth while is the fact that once you outfit the Kettle with your element, drain and temp sensor for BIAB, then it is also perfectly suited for a 10gal BK using a traditional setup. Full setup for 10gals, and a BIAB for 5gal easy beers, without really needing more equipment. sounds like a win win.

Also, since I'm in the process of finishing up my RIMS tube and its controller/pump box, I can use the same controller and pump to control the E-BIAB (with an extra SSR for the 240v), and once again im getting more than 1 use out of a single investment. Swanky.
 
Thanks for the response. Sounds like the 44 qt. will do me just fine and I plan to use the 240V / 5500 watt element as well. My plan for the steamer basket is to take it to a local metal fabricator and have either 304 or 316 food grade stainless steel mesh screen fitted to the inside of the basket to eliminate the need for the nylon bag and then I can pitch the spent grains, rinse the basket, put it back into the kettle, and then boil my hops in the basket without the worry of "cooking" the nylon. Also the mesh screen will keep the hops out of my pump and fermenter as they will be trapped in the basket.

I am eventually planning on the same thing. Scuba Steve has been working on modifying a basket with mesh and I have been following that as it has evolved. My biggest issue is cleaning. The mesh has to be easy to clean otherwise it becomes more of a pain in the ass then a bag. Right now I can rinse tha bag out in the sink and throw in the washing mashine.

There is a website called anysizebasket.com that makes custom mesh baskets for various purposes. A custom made stainless basket appropriately sized is about $140. While that seems like a lot, think about the fabrication, time, materials etc about putting stainless mesh in the existing basket. I am going to stop by a restarant supply store to see if they have any large volume strainers that may work also.
 
Yup...haven't used my latest creation (I cut sections of the basket out to increase flow across the screen). Cleaning can be a pain, for sure....but you don't need to get every husk out before the boil (I also throw my hops in the basket) because they float to the top and you can just skim them off.
 
For what it's worth, I recently went to an electric BIAB setup as well. At first I was concerned with figuring out ways to keep the bag off of the element. I was researching steamer baskets and other methods until I came across some posts stating that there was no need to worry about the bag melting when using a ULWD element. I decided to give it a try and have done 3 or 4 batches since then with the bag sitting right on the element. Absolutely no problems at all. In fact last night I was doing an IPA and was using a nylon hop sack. Well, when I put my IC in, the bag got pinched in between the chiller and the element. I didn't realize this until several minutes later. When I pulled the bag out and inspected it, it was perfectly fine.
 
One more question please: As I said before I plan to use the 44 Qt. Bayou Classic and the 240V / 5500 Watt element. Can you tell me approximately how many inches are left between the end of the element and the side wall of the 44 Qt. kettle after the element is installed? I'm asking because the element appears to be very large with not alot of room left to spare as it appears in the pictures that Kal has for his "Electric Brewery" using the 20 gallon kettles. Thanks P.S. I purchased "Kal's" Electric Brewery Manual today (couldn't resist).
 
Brew52: The Element sits about two inches from the side of the pot. I think mine is a low density vice ULD element. I just bought what was available at Home depot. I'll try to get some pictures of the inside of the pot tonight and post them.

I am ready to try the first batch in my system this week end. My only problem is my brewing schedule calls for a Pliney Clone. I guess if this works on a batch with that much hops, it will work on anything else I want to brew.
 
Great! That helps me alot. I'm not sure when my dream (BIAB) sytem will be finished but I will definately post pics when it's done. I'm looking to build a high-end system with all the bells and whistles with a low-end budget. I'm trying to get most of my parts for free or discounted from friends that I have in the industrial supply buisness. Already got one relay for the element (I'm on my way). Enjoying an Oktoberfest I made a few months ago. It's very enjoyable. Good luck with your batch this weekend.
 
Ok, first electric brew is done. Very happy with the results but some lessons learned that require tweeking until this system is perfect.

1. Not happy with thermometer in a T from the kettle drain. I am not confident with the temp readings I was getting. Part was my fault because though I intended to recirc the entire boil, I had the valve for the pump discharge closed for most of the boil. This made the PID not read 212 and I started to use that difference to calibrate the PID.

2. PID calibration. Temperature was all over the place. Temp overshot the set point by about 4 degrees and even during the mash, seemed to want to keep the mash 1-2 degrees high. After Auto tune it was better, but still kept pushing to 1 degree over set point. I need to play with the settings some.

3. Drain. Definitely going with a bottom drain. Clean up was easy but I want it to be even easier. If I use a full coupling I may screw in a copper 1/2 pipe adapter to raise the drain to help settle out the hops. This can then be removed during cleaning and I get the best of both worlds.

4. Chiller. I am going to need to make a new chiller or change to a counter flow. Current chiller is to tightly wound. When I use the steamer basket to protect the heating element, half the chiller is out of the water. I am trying to decide between a new immersion chiller better suited and maybe with som legs designed in or switching to a counterflow. I like the whirlpool for hops management so I will probably stay with immersion.

5.Basket and pulley system. I rigged a hook over my kettle to pass some 550 cord through to raise the basket after the mash. This worked really nicely except for two things. First the basket must be completely removed prior to getting close to boil or it acts like a lid. Minor boilover but I caught it fast (by the way turning off the element immediately stops a boilover). Second, once I lifted the basket I could move my cart out of the way but had no place the put the basket. Next time I will have the trashbag for spent grains ready and put the basket in that waiting clean up.

And that's about it. As I said overall I am happy but I need a few tweeks to make it perfect.

Clay
 
On your electric biab, how many gallons do you have to fill it to cover your element? I built one using a keg, but it takes 4 gallons of water, which doesn't leave a lot left for the grains.
 
Nice setup, I am using the same box. Where/how did you mount your heat sink?
 
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