stever1000's recirculating e-BIAB

Williams 728
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snowtires said:
I'm having efficiency issues as well with an ebiab system. I am working it out one thing at a time. It's down to crush and old grains and now. I will know exactly what it is in 1 or 2 Brew days. But it is nice to try one thing at a time then you know what it was.
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It's all a part of the fun, isn't it? :tank::D
 
whovous said:
I wonder if you can do better than a pizza pan for your false bottom. Take a look at Bobby's false bottom. That mesh screen allows a lot more circulation than does your pizza pan. More circulation should mean more efficiency. I was able to make my own from a baking screen thanks to my small pot. It might be harder to find something big enough to DIY with your pot, but I suspect your DIY skills are quite a bit better than mine.
Click to expand...

I agree this is likely causing some of my re circulation issues, I'm looking for alternatives locally which will drain faster. I like Bobby's screen, but shipping to Canada is not the easiest

Thanks :mug:
 
Found some deals on new 2.5g kegs and 3gal carboys to allow me to use two different yeasts or two different temperature schedules for a single 5gallon batch

20161207_184120.jpg
 
I brewed Revvy's Belgian Blonde tonight
(https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=202852)

9lbs pils
1 lb munich
4 oz acid malt
3.5 amber(instead of mel.)
5 oz biscuit

8gallons cold water pre-mash (8.25gallon pre mash)
7.25 gallons pre boil (Looks like I need to squeeze a lot more, 1 gallon lost to grain absorption ??)

90min mash @155F (recipe said 158F but I need to check my probe accuracy, kept it on the safe side for this batch)

Preboil gravity: 10.2 brix = 1.0425 sg

I calculated conversion eff = 95%
Lauter eff = 81%
mash eff = 77%

Not as good as the previous batch, but still good.

added 1lb sugar to the boil

5.5 gallons into fermenter
OG: 15brix / 1.064 SG
 
Crush makes a huge difference... I was having some consistent efficience issues lately (70-73%) so I decided to tighten the crush gap... then I brewed a munich Dunkel and an amber ale this weekend both came out at 86% efficiency.

I had a slow recirculation flow on the dunkel so I replaced my smaller bazooka tube with 11" braid below my false bottom with a 30" long coiled stainless braided section... No issues even though I have a lot of four in my crush now.
 
augiedoggy said:
Crush makes a huge difference... I was having some consistent efficience issues lately (70-73%) so I decided to tighten the crush gap... then I brewed a munich Dunkel and an amber ale this weekend both came out at 86% efficiency.

I had a slow recirculation flow on the dunkel so I replaced my smaller bazooka tube with 11" braid below my false bottom with a 30" long coiled stainless braided section... No issues even though I have a lot of four in my crush now.
Click to expand...

What is your new crush gap?

I like the idea of the 30" braided section...I almost bought a bazooka tube but until I figure out my hopping method I haven't committed to one yet
 
Won't be brewing for a few weeks so I packed the kettle away in the closet. Works great for storage of other components too :)

20161211_171749.jpg
 
whovous said:
Be careful with what you put away wet. When I store things that way, I sometimes find mold or something like it weeks later.
Click to expand...

I always have it dried first, whether drip drying or by towel. Haven't had any bad smells yet :tank:
 
stever1000 said:
What is your new crush gap?

I like the idea of the 30" braided section...I almost bought a bazooka tube but until I figure out my hopping method I haven't committed to one yet
Click to expand...

I can barely get a credit card in there... have to turn the crank to help. no feeler gauges onhand when I checked.
 
So, I changed my crush to .35 and I finally got my efficiency I was after. But i got a terribly stuck malt pipe.
 
whovous said:
I've never found a way to dry the insides of all the silicone hoses in the set-up.
Click to expand...

I hang dry them so gravity removes the moisture. Then I put them away. No smells, no problems. I also regularly clean them with oxyclean or PBW :mug:
 
I have a super amount of trub. .. this was brand new Danstar abbaye yeast.
if I screen it on the way into the fermenter would that help? It looks super fine...

20161223_162626.jpg
 
Its over a gallon on trub. .. is that normal? Usually I have ferm buckets so I can't tell the volume of trub
 
Yes of course I always rack the liquid off the top.
I'll split into 4 jars for the future...or maybe a big tripel
 
So I have been away for 5 weeks for work...but I am back and starting to catch up on brewing.

I received a new PWM that is the correct frequency for my 24V tan pump
I also received some fittings to add in a whirlpool port to keep hop particles out of my pump
I also received a light to install so I know when my element is ON or OFF easily...

I plan to pick up some parts soon to be able to switch 120/240 to my element so I am less concerned about localized scorching while maintaining mash temperatures

I have a black IPA, saison, and belgian blonde in my ferm. chamber that I need to keg and bottle.
 
So what did you end up with for a PWM? Curious about the specs as I'm looking for one right now.
Thanks.
 
stever1000 said:
This is the thread for my e-BIAB recirculating apartment rig. It is (and has been) a work in progress for quite some time, but now I feel I have made enough progress to post it to the forums… I went the BIAB route because I have limited space to work with


20161009_114258.jpg




Some quick details:
16 gallon pot with a mixture of welded and weldless fittings
5500 Watt ripple element with DIY stainless element enclosure
homemade BIAB bag
pizza pan/false bottom
24V tan pump
recirculating to the lid through locline – camlock connections so I can remove the lid and still recirculate for whirlpool

Control panel (using P – J diagram for single element BIAB)
“Enclosure” is a clear storage container (temporary until I can go to the US and get a proper enclosure for <30USD)
MYPIN TD4
120V to 24V converter
SSR, contactor, etc
80mm fan for cooling of SSR
Pump, power and element on/off
E-Stop

Recirculation:
Ball valve, PT-100 RTD probe, 24V tan pump with PWM voltage control.
Silicon tubing and female camlocks for all hose connections
mixture of male/female camlocks on equipment
Locline for recirculation through lid, or whirlpool

Chilling:
Counterflow chiller with camlock connections
outlet gauge to monitor chilled wort temp (to recirculate in pot or to transfer to fermenter)

Future/planned:
RIMS for mash consistency
motorized barley crusher

I would like to thank the entire HBT forum for the help since I started brewing 2 years ago. This site has a wealth of information, and I hope by posting my build I can contribute in some way.

Longer story:
I live in an apartment and can’t brew on my balcony with gas, and I have quickly out grown my 5 gallon stovetop setup. My apartment is a rental so I have no control on the stove/range and how old and inefficient it is. So I decided to go the route of electric BIAB.
I started collecting parts in Nov 2015, but with a new job and busy schedule, I didn’t start building it until August 2016. With a long time acquiring parts I was able to get great deals on most things (through eBay, LHBS sales, or amazon) and I had a lot of time to think about things too.

I bought the 16gallon pot first, knowing that I would do primarily 5 gallon batches. The larger size meant I could also do 10gallon batches with a combination of partial volume BIAB and some sort of sparge to get to the full boil volume required.

Misc
I like buying discounted or recycling things, and have used that idea for several projects so far (control panel, ferm. chamber, stir plate, etc). I have a stir plate built from an old lunch container, which funny enough fits the edge of my 2L Erlenmeyer flask perfectly. I also have a 5L flask, but I haven’t used that yet. I have found several things from garage sales (i.e. 8 balllock kegs for <$200 CAD) or from local homebrewers (10gallon keg and full c02 setup for $30) as well.

I couldn’t find a cheap enclosure for my panel, so I used a suitable sized plastic storage container. It’s not pretty but it does what its supposed to do…

Fermenting
I have a fermentation chamber (insulated wood enclosure and old fridge cooling system) which I can hold 2-3 buckets and 1 carboy (or a mixture) and control the temperature year round.

Beer
For packaging I have a 2 tap kegerator for serving, four 5gallon kegs (to naturally and force carb) and also over 100 bottles for bottle conditioning, depending on the type I brew. I enjoy all styles of beer, but particularly love IPA’s, saisons, and Belgian styles.

Pics to follow in the next few posts...
Click to expand...


Hello,

Are you using a stainless steel pizza pan? If so where did you buy it? If not is aluminum ok?

Thanks!
 
stever1000 said:
Brew basket...

20170125_210719.jpg


20170125_210729.jpg
Click to expand...

You may have already read about this but if your planning on recirculating your mash with this basket I hope your aware that theres a good chance a lot of the wort will take the path of least resistance out of and around the sides vs a bag or false bottom where the wort is evenly forced through the grainbed. one of the indicators your getting a good recirculation through the grainbed is the clarity of the mash... it should become clear by about half way through the mash cycle..
 
augiedoggy said:
You may have already read about this but if your planning on recirculating your mash with this basket I hope your aware that theres a good chance a lot of the wort will take the path of least resistance out of and around the sides vs a bag or false bottom where the wort is evenly forced through the grainbed. one of the indicators your getting a good recirculation through the grainbed is the clarity of the mash... it should become clear by about half way through the mash cycle..
Click to expand...

I just ran my first recirculating eBIAB brew on a very similar system with (probably) the exact same basket. My experience: 65% efficiency with a 0.030" crush gap. The level of the mash in the basket always remained significantly higher than the wort below/surrounding it. This was with a ~1.050 grain bill. I think it is both a function of the basket dimensions vs. my kettle dimensions and also possibly my recirc rate vs. flow rate through the mash and down to my pickup. The pump was running with a ball valve on the outlet, set to about 25% open (?). So fairly slow recirc.

So my own experience was that I don't love the basket. Next up will be to try a very similar brew using the bag and false bottom approach. My only worry with that is the flow issue when recircing causing dry firing of the element. I'll open up my mill gap to see if that solves it. This would really be my preferred method so we'll see how it goes.
 
augiedoggy said:
You may have already read about this but if your planning on recirculating your mash with this basket I hope your aware that theres a good chance a lot of the wort will take the path of least resistance out of and around the sides vs a bag or false bottom where the wort is evenly forced through the grainbed. one of the indicators your getting a good recirculation through the grainbed is the clarity of the mash... it should become clear by about half way through the mash cycle..
Click to expand...

Yes I am aware - I got a good deal on it so I'm going to experiment with the two types of mashing and see what works best for my set up :mug:
 

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