BIAB-RIMS concept setup

[Jari Kenter]

During my internship I received the assignment to design a complete beer brewing setup.
The base of the assignment was to make a movable 75L beer brewing setup.
This had to work as automatically as possible by combining the BIAB and RIMS brewing methods.
During the design process we have made steps upon the setup, which eventually led to the following concept.

The base of the product lies with a 50L barrel. This barrel will be supported by four legs and a plate extension to reach 75L.
The wheels on the bottom of the legs make sure that the setup is movable, where brakes are necessary to secure the product.

On the next picture you can see the concept assembly again. In this case a table is added which provides information about the parts.

The setup is provided with an inner basket. This basket has holes for the wort to flow out of the grain.
This inner basket hangs in a slot in the outer basket. Due to the possible heavy weight of the inner basket with malt,
a lift has been added to the product. This will give the user the comfort of lifting the inner basket out of the construction.
The size of the lift can be minimized by folding the arm and lowering the post into the leg it is placed in.

The product is provided with a RIMS-tube on the other side of the barrel. This part is accountable for the heating of the wort.
Before the wort enters the RIMS-tube, it is being moved through a pump, ball valve and a three way valve.
With the ball valve and three way valve, the flowing speed and direction can be regulated manually.
The flow direction decides whether the wort is being cooled or heated.

In addition to the cooling, a counterflow chiller is being used. This part rests on the bottom of the setup on a supported plate.

At last, the setup is provided with an insulation layer. This can simply be placed against the outer basket structure.
The two lower legs make sure that the insulation layer can be placed around 180° degrees of the basket. Therefore, 2 insulation mats will be needed.

All metal parts of the concept are made of stainless steel. The connections are made of silicone tubes, provided with the corresponding couplers.
In this way, the complete setup is food grade, which is essential for beer brewing.

For questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment.
Therefore, I can already express my appreciation for reading this forum and even more for elaborating on the concept.

 

[Bobby_M]

How are you boiling the wort?

 

[Jari Kenter]

How are you boiling the wort?

The wort will be boiled with the RIMS-tube.

 

[madscientist451]

Wow, very thorough drawings and explanation. However, I just don't think its going to work. You need a heat source at the bottom of your vessel to get that much liquid up to a boil and to maintain a boil. The heat source can be either internal or external to the vessel. Once you provide a heat source at the bottom of your vessel, the next question will be why do you need a RIMS? A RIMS system is for maintaining temperature of your mash. There's no point in re-inventing the wheel. There are plenty of existing BIAB systems you can look at an adapt to your specific needs.

 

[k-daddy]

Looks interesting. As I've aged, I'm looking to simplify my brew days. After a bout with the Covid over the holidays, I finally finished up my new BIAB rig based on the Brewhardware, Bobby_M design. My previous 2 kettle rims setup was nice to look at and kept me focused but I have to say it was WAY too much trouble, especially the cleanup. Instead of retrofitting one of my Spike kettles, I pulled my very first brew kettle from the dust heap, a MegaPot 10 gallon with no ports installed. Seemed like the perfect place to start. A BIG shout out to Bobby @ Brewhardware for all of his videos and knowledge base that he generously shares... I would've been flying blind without it. I ended up doing the flare out, pull in (FOPI) method for the TC fittings after trying it on the lid with success. I'm now tweaking my Auber Cube temperature controller to better match my new setup. Just waiting for Brewhardware to re-stock the 90 degree, 1/2" hose barb, 1/2" male NPT fitting to ease the tubing bend at the lid and I'm done. Can't wait to give her a go.

 

[PCABrewing]

Who did you have add the ports to the Megapot?

 

[k-daddy]

Who did you have add the ports to the Megapot?

Did it all myself.

 

[Bobby_M]

The wort will be boiled with the RIMS-tube.

Yeah, that's not really going to work. In order to put enough energy in to boil the wort and compensate for all the heat loss in the kettle, the odds of scorching is near 100%. Put the element directly in the kettle. It works great.

 

[Nick Poggetti]

@yorkeken

That all looks fantastic, very nice work. Although the mix of ball lock QD and Camlocks makes my eyebrow twitch.

 

[k-daddy]

@yorkeken

That all looks fantastic, very nice work. Although the mix of ball lock QD and Camlocks makes my eyebrow twitch.

Thanks! I've got a surplus of cam lock fittings from my prior 2 vessel setup. I actually like the cam locks better but for the recirculation portion, that will be on and off more often that the whirlpool side, the ball locks seemed the likely choice.