Going from my old, simple set up to something more "modern", opinions?

[Surfanarchist]

I've been all grain brewing for some years using the most basic of set-ups. I use propane, a cooler for a mash tune, a 20 gal pot for boil, jaded hydro for chilling, etc. I've made a lot of good beers and a few stinkers this way. I have my system dialed in pretty well and can usually hit my mash temps and batch volume, and I'm getting high 70's in efficiency with a pretty fine grind to my grain. I usually do 10 gal batches but I'm thinking about doing more 5 gal batches so I can rotate through more styles faster. I use a keezer for fermenting with glass carboys and keg in kornys.

Lately I've been thinking of upping, or at least changing, my game, trying some new things. Maybe I'm just getting bored and looking to do something new. I've been looking at adding one of these single vessel brew set-ups like a Brewzilla or Spike solo for 5 gal patches. Some of the advantages I can see are; going to electric, better control of step mashes and some simplicity in having only the one device to clean and maybe saving some time. I've done a lot of reading and it seems like most folks who use these systems like them. I've even heard people say they have gone from 3 vessel HERMs to these single vessels systems! But I also have read about reduced efficiency and stuck sparges. I have no interest in getting a single vessel and then needing to BIAB. What's the consensus here from folks who have moved from a basic set up like what I use to the single vessel set ups? Are you glad you made the switch?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Wayne

 

[Sammy86]

Hey @Surfanarchist let me be the first to say from an original set up similar to yours making the switch to electric was the best decision i ever made.

I went with the Brewzilla 65 L 3.1 and havent looked back. I made some modifications like adding an actual ball valve and got a brew bag to get more surface area for the grain.

I love being able to set it and forget it. I especially love setting it up the night before and having the mash water ready and waiting for my early morning brews (im a dad of 3 young kids).

You will not regret it. If you do decide to make the switch i highly recommend looking at the various threads for the different AIO’s and doing some research.

I would also recommend checking out a forum sponsor @Bobby_M for his E-BIAB system…very nice system.

 

[Beekeeper]

I felt that udgrading to an electic element brew kettle by itself was a big advantage.

 

[kevin58]

Generally a single vessel all-in-one IS a BIAB system. You are mashing and boiling in the same vessel. Just replace the B for Bag with B for Basket.

Efficiency is going to vary from system to system you always can do some fine tuning to increase it. Stuck sparges? Also something that can happen with all systems and also something you take steps to mitigate once you've identified the cause.

I will echo the others that electric is the only way to go. Years ago there may have been one or two systems that were better than the others but these they are almost all on an equal footing.

I have a three vessel electric HERMs AND an all-in-one. My "big" system lives in the garage but it is unheated and not attached to the house. I cannot brew when the outdoor pipes freeze in winter. So I bought the all-in-one for use in the basement so that I can continue brewing when it's freezing outside. I like the both.

 

[passedpawn]

I switched from a 15g 3-vessel electric system to an AIO. I love the new machine and don't miss the old one at all. Not even a little. I got a SS Brewtech SVBS.

 

[Bramling Cross]

I've had the pleasure of helping a few new brewers learn the ropes on their new electric all-in-one rigs. They pack so many high end features into their modest price points and they really are a breeze to clean up. They're amazing and I think it's a joy to get to brew on one of these rigs!

That said, unless you have access to 240v, I wouldn't consider one. Brewing on 120v is a misery of wasted time and materials. I'm sure if I was given a year to work on it, I could get it to sorta work. But brewing is supposed to be fun, don't do that to yourself.

As a three-vessel fly sparger, they impress the hell out of me...but I'm not tempted by them. Frankly, I find them a bit restricting and inefficient. Understand, however, that reasonable brewers can reasonably disagree on this point.

Nevertheless, I think they offer the most cost effective route toward fully automated step mashing, and that's nothing to sneeze at.

They're really, really good. Do it, if you have 240v.

 

[Surfanarchist]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I hadn't thought of the BIAB concept as brew in a basket, that makes sense. I also so have access to 240V in my garage (I'm in SE Virginia and we rarely get so cold that the pipes freeze) so I'm not considering a 110V system. I think I'm going to give the AIO (I didn't know what that meant till yesterday) a try. Just need to figure out which one.

 

[Chetbrews]

Hey @Surfanarchist let me be the first to say from an original set up similar to yours making the switch to electric was the best decision i ever made.

I went with the Brewzilla 65 L 3.1 and havent looked back. I made some modifications like adding an actual ball valve and got a brew bag to get more surface area for the grain.

I love being able to set it and forget it. I especially love setting it up the night before and having the mash water ready and waiting for my early morning brews (im a dad of 3 young kids).

You will not regret it. If you do decide to make the switch i highly recommend looking at the various threads for the different AIO’s and doing some research.

I would also recommend checking out a forum sponsor @Bobby_M for his E-BIAB system…very nice system.

I too have 3 young kids and the switch to an electric all in one with BIAB from batch sparging made for quick and a lot easier brewdays. I appreciate the delayed timer feature so I wake up to hot strike water. I have a gigawort system but do all grain. 2.5 gallon batches are easier for me to handle.

 

[wdavis2003]

If you want to up your game then invest more in the cold side by getting rid of the glass carboys. You can play around with pressure fermentation with a Fermzilla all rounder and not end up broke doing so.

If you're bored and want a shiny new toy then go for an AIO but don't automatically assume you will crank out better beer. You might see a big dip in efficiency. I have a similar hot side setup with a cooler mash tun and see great efficiency as I'm sure you do as well

 

[Bobby_M]

I personally prefer using a bag with a false bottom rather than a basket system. I can grind my grain considerably fine for fast and thorough conversion and you recover more wort out of the grain. Your system wattage is going to depend on the amperage limit of your 240v circuit. If you have a 30 amp, you can do a single vessel with a 5500 watt element. If you have a 20amp or less, then the Brewzilla 240v or Anvil Foundry 10.5 is on the table at a slower heating time cost.

It's funny that you say that you've heard of people changing from 3 vessel to single. More than 70% of my homebrew club has done that and is never looking back. The best brewers I know are running single kettle BIAB.


I agree with wdavis2003 about working on the cold side either instead, or alongside an electric conversion. I would say electric makes the day better for the brewer and cold side improvements make the beer better. Any fermenter that has a more aggressive seal and can be used to pressure transfer with CO2 should be priority number one.

 

[pvpeacock]

I switched from a propane, 3 vessel set up to a Grainfather G40 a year ago and am glad I did. The investment was well worth it including the electrician cost to install a 240v plug in my garage.

• No more propane and open flames which means I can preheat the strike water in the garage
• I can remote start the preheat or set a timer to start heating while I'm still in bed
• quicker heating and boiling
• More control over the mash temperature
• recirculation pump for mash and whirlpool
• No more lifting heavy bottles/buckets of water and wort to gravity transfer liquids
• Easy cleaning
• Smaller footprint in my garage

 

[Surfanarchist]

There is a lot of good feedback here. I've long thought of getting away from carboys because of the weight, lifting them in and out of my keezer and generally moving them around. I've seen pictures of what can happen if you drop one of those things. In fact one of my main reasons to move to some kind of AIO is I don't like lifting kettles. In my 10 gal batches I cannot get the wort up on the table to rack unless I have someone to help me which is not always the case.

I've done some thinking on the conical fermenter side but what's discouraged me was the cost of a chilling solution like a glycol chiller. I've read some things on building a DIY glycol chiller with an old 5k btu A/C. That looks promising so now I'm thinking about fermenters!

I personally prefer using a bag with a false bottom rather than a basket system. I can grind my grain considerably fine for fast and thorough conversion and you recover more wort out of the grain. Your system wattage is going to depend on the amperage limit of your 240v circuit. If you have a 30 amp, you can do a single vessel with a 5500 watt element. If you have a 20amp or less, then the Brewzilla 240v or Anvil Foundry 10.5 is on the table at a slower heating time cost.

It's funny that you say that you've heard of people changing from 3 vessel to single. More than 70% of my homebrew club has done that and is never looking back. The best brewers I know are running single kettle BIAB.


I agree with wdavis2003 about working on the cold side either instead, or alongside an electric conversion. I would say electric makes the day better for the brewer and cold side improvements make the beer better. Any fermenter that has a more aggressive seal and can be used to pressure transfer with CO2 should be priority number one.

Question to bobby_M on the BIAB setup; do you sparge?

 

[Bobby_M]

I've done some thinking on the conical fermenter side but what's discouraged me was the cost of a chilling solution like a glycol chiller. I've read some things on building a DIY glycol chiller with an old 5k btu A/C. That looks promising so now I'm thinking about fermenters!

Conical or any other pressurizable fermenter in a dedicated second hand fridge is a very good solution. Fermzilla All Rounder, corny keg or here's me demoing the Megamouth 6 gallon torpedo keg as a fermenter with a 2" TC in the lid for dry hopping and a floating diptube for clean pressure transfers.

Question to bobby_M on the BIAB setup; do you sparge?

No, it's a full volume mash so I pull the bag, give a couple squeezes and get it out of there. Boil down to volume and chill. Sparging increases your efficiency a few percent, but I'd rather adapt to lower efficiency and save the fiddliness of sparging.

 

[SFC Rudy]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I hadn't thought of the BIAB concept as brew in a basket, that makes sense. I also so have access to 240V in my garage (I'm in SE Virginia and we rarely get so cold that the pipes freeze) so I'm not considering a 110V system. I think I'm going to give the AIO (I didn't know what that meant till yesterday) a try. Just need to figure out which one.

All AIO units do the same thing, it’s just how many bells and whistles you want to pay for.

Best advice I can give is to buy what you can afford and learn how to use it. Don’t ask “what is the best one” because 99% of the replies will be “this is the best one because it is what I own.”

I have two Mash & Boil units and I love them. With my steam slayer and some cheap pumps from Amazon I can brew two different 5 gallon batches with a batch sparge in six hours. I have about $800 in my system. Is this the best? It is for me.

 

[Bobby_M]

All AIO units do the same thing, it’s just how many bells and whistles you want to pay for.

Best advice I can give is to buy what you can afford and learn how to use it. Don’t ask “what is the best one” because 99% of the replies will be “this is the best one because it is what I own.”

I have two Mash & Boil units and I love them. With my steam slayer and some cheap pumps from Amazon I can brew two different 5 gallon batches with a batch sparge in six hours. I have about $800 in my system. Is this the best? It is for me.

I can't disagree much with this, though since I'm also a vendor I have brewed on a lot of the AIOs without the burden of buyer's bias because they just get sold off as demo units right after. There are SOME legit pros and cons across the major players but for the most part, as long as you're getting a current model it's got all the good stuff.

I only brewed on the first gen Mash and Boil, before they had integrated pumps. Underpowered in my opinion, but that holds for any 120v/1500 or 1600w units.

The Brewzilla V4 arguably has the better controller with blutooth and wifi integration if that matters.

The Foundry has a mid controller but the metal lid is distilling ready, the kettle is double wall for built in insulation without extra jackets, and it's dual voltage (for the smaller 6.5 and 10.5 gallon sizes whereas Brewzilla is locked into whatever voltage you buy).

The Grainfather seems to be the most expensive without much justification.

 

[Brewdog80]

Used a three tier keg - propane fired for decades. Bought a 10.5 Anvil foundry a couple of years ago. Love it. Yes 240v use is a must. Bought a 5 gallon conical from them a few months after. Love the Two. I've kegged for years and it all works so much cleaner, faster and cheaper. No need in having to insure propane tanks are full. One vessel to clean at brew time. No plastic or glass....

 

[JeffersonCoastal]

All AIO units do the same thing, it’s just how many bells and whistles you want to pay for.

Best advice I can give is to buy what you can afford and learn how to use it. Don’t ask “what is the best one” because 99% of the replies will be “this is the best one because it is what I own.”

I have two Mash & Boil units and I love them. With my steam slayer and some cheap pumps from Amazon I can brew two different 5 gallon batches with a batch sparge in six hours. I have about $800 in my system. Is this the best? It is for me.

@SFC Rudy - which specific systems do you have?