FreddyMar3
Well-Known Member
This is why and how I went from 3V to eBIAB. Maybe it will help someone else if they make the same decision.
TL;DR? Pics at the end.
Pt1: The System:
A few years ago I bought a B3 Tippydump system off Craigslist. I liked the rig but it would take 6-7 hours for brew and cleanup even with prep the day before. Also, having to haul it out in the dead of winter and brew in the freezing cold sucked. I was sick of dealing with my chilling hose freezing in the snow. Eventually, I tried out stovetop BIAB with a spare kettle I had. It was a great solution for winter brewing and I soon fell in love with the simplicity of BIAB and the comfort of brewing indoors. Eventually I stopped using the Tippydump altogether. Problem was, I had to haul all my gear in from my detached garage to brew. It was still too cumbersome.
I decided to overhaul of the garage and settled on an eBIAB setup, hoping to make brew days as quick and easy as possible. Timing couldnt have been better, with so many prefab systems hitting the market. I looked at them all in depth: BrewBoss (BB), High Gravity, Grainfather, Colorado Brewing, etc. They all have great features, but the BB won me over with the price, automation, and customer service. The COFI design is slick and running the brew from a tablet looked like fun.
I am fortunate that the garage was a blank slate for planning a brewery: a stand-alone, 180 sq ft block structure 80 ft. off the back of our property, but with no water and only 120v electric. It was being used for storing my brew gear, but I always wanted to turn it into a proper brewhouse. I figured if I could sell all my old gear, I could make this happen without breaking the bank.
I almost pulled the trigger on the BrewBoss but realized that its grain capacity restrictions would limit flexibility on gravity and volume. What I wanted was a system that could brew anything from 5-10 or more and be able to crank out big RISs and Quads at those same volumes. As far as I can tell, that didnt exist. So I built my own. Well, I didnt really BUILD much of anything on my system. I just did a bunch of research and calculations to come up with something that met my ideal brew system wishes.
Controller, Element, Temp Probe
I didnt want to build a controller so I stuck with the BB controller as its reasonably priced, has built in automation, wifi, and comes pre-wired with the 5500W element and temp probe for a marginal increase in price.
Kettle, Fittings, Pump
This was the most difficult part of designing the system. I wanted welded ferrules but wasnt going to do that myself. Unfortuantely, there is no prefab kettle out there with all the welds in the right place. Also, in order to brew anywhere from 5-15gal, the kettle would need to be tall and narrow but most 20 gallon kettles on the market a have a wide footprint. With eBIAB the grain capacity is limited by the element because the basket/bag needs to sit above the element. This means the water level must reach a certain level to cover the grains and is the reason why the standard BrewBoss COFI filter would not work for me.
One vendor checked all of these boxes: Brewers Hardware. Another supplier with fantastic customer service. The BH 20 gal kettle has an uncommonly narrow 15.75 inch footprint, making the water reach a higher level in the filter basket. They also will weld in custom ferrules.
I bought almost all of the fittings and the pump from Brewer's Hardware as well. They really are a great vendor.
I wanted to get the kettle with the whirlpool tangential inlet but you couldnt get that version without a temp port, which I couldnt use with the basket in there. Instead of just capping that port, I got a TC sample valve. That way I can easily take PH and gravity readings without opening the lid. I had the guys there weld in custom ferrules for the Element, temp probe, and recirc arm. They did a fantastic job.
Basket
Getting a custom stainless brew baskets means you are probably going to Utah Biodiesel (the same company as Arbor Fab). These guys were top notch as well. I must have a 45 email long thread with Graydon at UB talking through designing the perfect basket that fits JUST over the element & dip tube and JUST inside the walls of the kettle. It came out perfectly. I also added the hanging brackets for so i could set the basket on the rim for pressing and sparging (if i want to). My math says it holds around 45 lbs of grain but I havent tested the max capacity yet
Sparge Arm
This is the only part of the kettle I actually built myself. I couldnt bring myself to settle for just a sparge ring after seeing the COFI so I tried to engineer something similar and this is what I came up with:
I purchased a 5 ft length of ½ OD copper, 4 caps, and 3 Ts and and a few other parts to fit it onto the ferrule. The idea here is that you get a little sprinkling on top plus infusion in the middle.
I bought a cheap induction burner to heat a separate kettle of sparge water. Once the basket is in place on the hooks, I can disconnect the winch and put the lid back on with the recirc arm attached, recirculate the wort for a minute to create a grain bed, then switch the hose over to the sparge kettle for a quick 5-10 minute rinse.
Press plate: Non-stick, deep dish
Thats it for the system Certainly not the most economical option but buying the kettle and controller prefab saved me tons of time figuring it out myself.
Pt. 2: The Brewery
With the system figured out, it was time to get working on the infrastructure to support it. Many people on here build electric systems in their basement. Our house is over 100 years old so our basement is pretty much a glorified dirt pit under the house. On the plus side, we have the garage mentioned above.
In order for this to become a legit home brewery, it needed alot of work:
Water - no more running a hose to the garage and having it freeze.
Electric - going to need some serious power, beyond just the element.
Flooring - the current floor was falling apart; very uneven and porous.
Waterproofing - I would find out after relaying the floor that the old porous concrete was hiding some serious drainage issues.
Ventilation - need to get rid of all the moisture from brewing
Misc - Fix cracked block, frame/insulate/drywall, replace doors, install attic.
Basically a total gut job. I DIYd it all except the drywall, which was a mistake. I ended up with a terrible contractor that held me up for months.
Cue 80s montage music:
TL;DR? Pics at the end.
Pt1: The System:
A few years ago I bought a B3 Tippydump system off Craigslist. I liked the rig but it would take 6-7 hours for brew and cleanup even with prep the day before. Also, having to haul it out in the dead of winter and brew in the freezing cold sucked. I was sick of dealing with my chilling hose freezing in the snow. Eventually, I tried out stovetop BIAB with a spare kettle I had. It was a great solution for winter brewing and I soon fell in love with the simplicity of BIAB and the comfort of brewing indoors. Eventually I stopped using the Tippydump altogether. Problem was, I had to haul all my gear in from my detached garage to brew. It was still too cumbersome.
I decided to overhaul of the garage and settled on an eBIAB setup, hoping to make brew days as quick and easy as possible. Timing couldnt have been better, with so many prefab systems hitting the market. I looked at them all in depth: BrewBoss (BB), High Gravity, Grainfather, Colorado Brewing, etc. They all have great features, but the BB won me over with the price, automation, and customer service. The COFI design is slick and running the brew from a tablet looked like fun.
I am fortunate that the garage was a blank slate for planning a brewery: a stand-alone, 180 sq ft block structure 80 ft. off the back of our property, but with no water and only 120v electric. It was being used for storing my brew gear, but I always wanted to turn it into a proper brewhouse. I figured if I could sell all my old gear, I could make this happen without breaking the bank.
I almost pulled the trigger on the BrewBoss but realized that its grain capacity restrictions would limit flexibility on gravity and volume. What I wanted was a system that could brew anything from 5-10 or more and be able to crank out big RISs and Quads at those same volumes. As far as I can tell, that didnt exist. So I built my own. Well, I didnt really BUILD much of anything on my system. I just did a bunch of research and calculations to come up with something that met my ideal brew system wishes.
Controller, Element, Temp Probe
I didnt want to build a controller so I stuck with the BB controller as its reasonably priced, has built in automation, wifi, and comes pre-wired with the 5500W element and temp probe for a marginal increase in price.
Kettle, Fittings, Pump
This was the most difficult part of designing the system. I wanted welded ferrules but wasnt going to do that myself. Unfortuantely, there is no prefab kettle out there with all the welds in the right place. Also, in order to brew anywhere from 5-15gal, the kettle would need to be tall and narrow but most 20 gallon kettles on the market a have a wide footprint. With eBIAB the grain capacity is limited by the element because the basket/bag needs to sit above the element. This means the water level must reach a certain level to cover the grains and is the reason why the standard BrewBoss COFI filter would not work for me.
One vendor checked all of these boxes: Brewers Hardware. Another supplier with fantastic customer service. The BH 20 gal kettle has an uncommonly narrow 15.75 inch footprint, making the water reach a higher level in the filter basket. They also will weld in custom ferrules.
I bought almost all of the fittings and the pump from Brewer's Hardware as well. They really are a great vendor.
I wanted to get the kettle with the whirlpool tangential inlet but you couldnt get that version without a temp port, which I couldnt use with the basket in there. Instead of just capping that port, I got a TC sample valve. That way I can easily take PH and gravity readings without opening the lid. I had the guys there weld in custom ferrules for the Element, temp probe, and recirc arm. They did a fantastic job.
Basket
Getting a custom stainless brew baskets means you are probably going to Utah Biodiesel (the same company as Arbor Fab). These guys were top notch as well. I must have a 45 email long thread with Graydon at UB talking through designing the perfect basket that fits JUST over the element & dip tube and JUST inside the walls of the kettle. It came out perfectly. I also added the hanging brackets for so i could set the basket on the rim for pressing and sparging (if i want to). My math says it holds around 45 lbs of grain but I havent tested the max capacity yet
Sparge Arm
This is the only part of the kettle I actually built myself. I couldnt bring myself to settle for just a sparge ring after seeing the COFI so I tried to engineer something similar and this is what I came up with:
I purchased a 5 ft length of ½ OD copper, 4 caps, and 3 Ts and and a few other parts to fit it onto the ferrule. The idea here is that you get a little sprinkling on top plus infusion in the middle.
I bought a cheap induction burner to heat a separate kettle of sparge water. Once the basket is in place on the hooks, I can disconnect the winch and put the lid back on with the recirc arm attached, recirculate the wort for a minute to create a grain bed, then switch the hose over to the sparge kettle for a quick 5-10 minute rinse.
Press plate: Non-stick, deep dish
Thats it for the system Certainly not the most economical option but buying the kettle and controller prefab saved me tons of time figuring it out myself.
Pt. 2: The Brewery
With the system figured out, it was time to get working on the infrastructure to support it. Many people on here build electric systems in their basement. Our house is over 100 years old so our basement is pretty much a glorified dirt pit under the house. On the plus side, we have the garage mentioned above.
In order for this to become a legit home brewery, it needed alot of work:
Water - no more running a hose to the garage and having it freeze.
Electric - going to need some serious power, beyond just the element.
Flooring - the current floor was falling apart; very uneven and porous.
Waterproofing - I would find out after relaying the floor that the old porous concrete was hiding some serious drainage issues.
Ventilation - need to get rid of all the moisture from brewing
Misc - Fix cracked block, frame/insulate/drywall, replace doors, install attic.
Basically a total gut job. I DIYd it all except the drywall, which was a mistake. I ended up with a terrible contractor that held me up for months.
Cue 80s montage music:
