Condo Brewing V2 - Custom eBIAB Build Thread (120V)

Time to rebuild the brewery from the ground up.

Life happens fast. With another kid now on the way, I’ve lost my “office”/brewery storage and am forced to downsize from my 3V propane-fired HERMS (Condo Brewing V1.. moment of silence) to a more accommodating eBIAB. You can see my previous setup here.. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthr.../www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=619027

Quick plug - I’m parting out the old system. Interested parties in Chicago can PM me.

I’ve researched a few of the turnkey systems, including the High Gravity, Clawhammer, Unibrau, GF, etc. All look good, but each has one or two things that I would change. So I’m building this custom and completely to my specs (within my means).

My requirements / objectives:

- Electric over propane (120V, 20amp)
- Easy setup and tear down (fewer parts the better)
- Minimize cleanup time
- Small storage footprint
- Capacity for up to 5gal
- Fully modular, not dependent on specific vendor parts and pieces
- Clean aesthetics (look of an all-in turnkey system)
- Portable unit for indoor/outdoor brewing (hot and cold months)
- Wireless controller that I can access throughout the house
- Reuse-able components if I ever decide to expand to a multi-vessel kit again

I’m grateful for any feedback or ideas, so don’t hold back. A few folks in other threads had asked for more information on aspects of my kit, so hopefully someone finds this useful. Ask any questions, and I’ll share what I can.

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Current system specifications:

- Custom Spike 10gal kettle with 2250W element
- All welded ports (all TC except one NPT port for the temp probe)
- Press fit diptubes (custom sized)
- Mounted recirculation pump (24V solar pump)
- Custom Arborfab Basket (top solid/bottom 400 micron mesh)
- DIY swing-up supports for basket draining attached to the kettle handles
- Arborfab 6”x12” hop filter (300 micron)
- Detachable (and swap-able) sparge ring and whirlpool return arm

I’ll continually update this post with specs and links to other posts containing more detail as the build comes together.

Pending components to be bought/built:
- Stand with integrated water filter
- Controller (will rebuild an existing CBPi controller)
- Wort chiller (have an immersion chiller but considering other options)
- Steam condenser for boil (maybe?)
- Neoprene sleeve for insulation

Cheers
M

 

Custom Spike Kettle

I ordered a custom 10gal kettle from Spike.

- TC port for element
- TC port for recirculation “out”
- TC port for drain valve
- 1/2” NPT port for temp probe
- TC port for whirlpool at 6” from bottom (likely will not use this port for BIAB but added for future-proofing if I ever decide to use as a BK)
- TC port in lid for recirculation “in” and whirlpool arm

The spec sheet is below.

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You’ll notice that some of the TC ports in the photos are opposite of where they are in the sheet. I was very pleased with Spike’s customer service, and they took care of the issue. In the end, they added an extra 1/2” NPT to make the configuration work.

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I decided to put the element port at 12:00, temp probe at 10:30, and recirculation “out” at 9:00 so that the probe would be in the flow of the wort after it passes the element so that I am measuring the hottest of the wort (at least I think).

The TC port in the lid will have a QD under the lid so that the Locline recirculation ring and whirlpool arm can be swapped for the mash and boil.

I wanted to have the recirculation pump mounted to the kettle for simplicity. I am using a 24V solar pump currently but may switch to a 24V Topslo, if the solar pump is unreliable.

Ball lock style quick disconnects will be used throughout to enable singlehanded swapping of tubes. I had cam locks on the old system.

Parts list:
- Custom 10 gallon Spike kettle
- 2250W element with integrated 1.5 TC fitting
- Recirculation “out” - 24V solar pump; 1/2” half FNPT x 1.5 TC; 1/2” FNPTxFNPT mini ball valve; 1/2” MNPT x Male BL QD
- Drain valve - 1.5 TC x 1.5 TC EZClean ball valve; 1/2” half FNPT x 1.5 TC; 1/2” MNPT x Male BL QD
- Auber instruments 4” temp probe with integrated 1/2” MNPT fitting (DS18B20 for RPi Controller, PT100 for Inkbird controller)
- Recirculation “in” thru lid - 1/2” full FNPT x 1.5 TC; 1/2” MNPT x FNPT 90 deg elbow; 1/2” MNPT x Male BL QD (x2)
- 6 gaskets and clamps for TC fittings

 

Looks awesome. Looking forward to more info.

 

Custom Half Mesh/Half Solid Basket

I’ve read much on these forums about stuck recirculation when using a bag for the mash. Though throttling the speed of the pump will likely limit or eliminate this, I still decided to go with a basket.

With a fully mesh basket, many have noted a drop in efficiency. Potentially due to the recirculated wort running through the sides of the basket and not running fully through the grain bed?

With a solid sided basket, I’ve read complaints of stuck recirculation similar to a bag due to the constriction of the exit path through the bottom of the grain bed.

Without any hard scientific analysis, I decided to try a hybrid approach (mesh on bottom and lower part of sides, solid on the upper part of the cylinder).

The result was the following:

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I ordered the custom basket from Arborfab according to the following specs:

- 12.5" diameter / 13" height (excluding legs) basket
- Part solid cylinder (top 9" of basket), part 400 Micron Mesh cylinder (bottom 4" of basket)
- Bottom of basket is 400 Micron Mesh
- 3" legs under basket (total height of basket + legs to be 16"), all legs to be at least 1" from outside edge of basket
- Drain hooks at 3" from bottom of basket (excluding legs)
- Handle flush on top of basket

Overall, very happy with the basket I received.

I decided to go with draining hooks on the side of the basket. A pulley system wasn’t viable for the limited storage space I have. I ordered a U bar for draining, but it takes too much finesse to set it properly on top of the kettle while trying to pick up a heavy basket.

Instead, I decided to install supports on the kettle handles that I could flip up or down when needed. I’ll describe these in the next post...

 

DIY Swing-up Basket Supports

Per my prior post, the U bar is a hassle to setup for draining a mash basket IMHO. Most of today’s all-in-one systems have some sort of support welded to the kettle or attached to the rim.

I didn’t want to weld and I didn’t want something that I’d have to attach to the rim. I’m also trying to limit the number of pieces in my kit.

So I decided to take a few SS wire clamps and some 3mm steel rods and build a support that I can clamp onto the handle and swing up when necessary.

I’ve also rigged up a spring on each to hold the support against the rim of the pot when in use. You can also toggle the support down and it will press against the side of the pot when not in use (no swinging and banging against the pot when being moved).

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Parts list:
- 3mm x 12” steel rod (x2)
- 4mm rod collar (x2)
- 1.5” expansion spring (x2)
- 8mm rubber coated SS clamps (x8)
- 3mm ball bearings (x4)
- 1” angle with two holes (one on each side) (x2)
- M6 bolt and nut (x4)

 

Beautiful setup. How much was the custom basket?

 

$250 for the basket. Extra $30 for the drain hooks and U bar. Per above, I’m not a fan of the U bar. J hooks would be another good option.

 

Very interesting build!
I'm curious about the solar pump's performance in this application. Chugger pump are cool, but I really don't need 7gpm for a 5 gal batch or the extra $100 expenditure.

 

Initial water tests with the pump were fine. Definitely enough flow. My concern is reliability and longevity. I have a chugger pump that I’ll use as backup, but I’m liking the smaller footprint/ lighter weight of the solar pump so long as it works.

 

Small foot print, light weight, and low price....all good.
What, if may, is your power source for the pump?

 

I have a 120V to 24V adapter/plug. The solar pump has a 24V DC power connector. I tested it by just plugging it into a wall outlet.

For the next few months, I’ll use an inkbird-16 pid controller for my element and pump before completing a new CBPi controller for this system.

 

Thanks for the info. BTW, the half mesh basket and spring loaded brackets solution is elegant.

 

Cheers. Hoping to get a brew in this weekend and will post an update on the experience with the new kit.

 

big fan of the build and adapting to life. brewing will find a way...

 

Press Fit Diptubes (Custom sized)

It was brought to my attention that I didn’t provide the details of the diptubes in my kettle. This is actually important given that I needed them sized properly for the custom kettle.

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I bought two of the 1.5 TC press fit diptubes from brewhardware.com sized so that they’d reach the bottom of the kettle and pickup from the side rather than the center.

Given that the TC ports are installed with the center 2” above the bottom lip of the Spike kettle (the lip is about 1/2” tall on its own), the diptube needs to drop ~2.5” down from the center of the port to reach the bottom.

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They turned out great. When pointed straight down, there is a very small gap with the bottom of the kettle that left about a cup of liquid behind during my water test. They also extend just beyond the lip at the bottom of the kettle.

I need to give them a go to see if there’s enough space to keep any extraneous debris from blocking the small gap during the mash (I hope the basket will prevent this, but haven’t been able to brew with it yet). If not, I’ll just turn them up a bit to open the gap.

 

Detachable whirlpool arm and sparge ring

The original pics of the kit show the locline sparge ring threaded into the full NPT (double-sided) TC fitting on the lid. Based on a suggestion in another thread, I added a male BL QD so that I can swap the sparge ring for a whirlpool arm after the mash.

The whirlpool arm is a custom sized and bent 1/2” steel tube using a compression fitting connected to a female BL QD. The whirlpool arm drops 8” from the compression fitting (10” total under the lid after you count the BL QD and the compression fitting). It will return wort at about the 4.5 gal mark.

BL QDs are usually loose enough to allow the fitting to rotate once connected. I’m not sure if it would be an issue or not, but I didn’t want the whirlpool arm spinning counter to flow of the wort given the force of the wort coming out of the tube. To counter this (even if it’s a made up issue), I made the middle segment of the whirlpool arm longer than the shortest distance between the port in the lid and the nearest wall of the kettle. By doing this, if the whirlpool arm were to start rotating backwards, it would eventually hit the side of the kettle and stop.

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Parts list:

Whirlpool arm:
- 1/2” OD steel tube with length of 8”x4”x4” with both bends at 90 degrees (rotated 270 degrees between segment A and C)
- 1/2” OD compression x 1/2” MNPT
- 1/2” FNPT x Female BL QD

Sparge ring:
- Loc-line recirculation tube and sparge ring with MNPT connector
- 1/2” FNPT x Female BL QD

 

Looks awesome, how do you chill?

Also, I was pleasantly surprised with the boost that narrowing the output diameter of the whirlpool arm gave me. It went from a normal hose flow to a power jet, seemed to kick up the spinning faster.

 

I picked up a plate chiller (Duda 20 plate - B3-23A) and was very happy with it the first time I used it this past weekend. I used to use an immersion chiller.

I’ll provide some more detail on my inaugural brew in another post. Overall it went really well, but the whirlpool was the one area I wasn’t entirely happy with. I’ll have to give your recommendation a try.

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Looks really nice! What's the grain capacity of the basket?

 

I think gently removing the wort at the end may be more important than the technique to get it spinning in the first place. Draining by gravity or pumping super slow might also help.

 

@Metzen Found your basket over in another thread regarding solid sided vs. all SS mesh baskets. How's it performing for you? Efficiency, recirc rates, etc.?

 

Any updates on efficiency?

 

First Brew

First brew went really well overall. It was a relatively low grain bill (8.5lbs) with an OG of 1.040.

Mash efficiency was 83%. Brewhouse efficiency was 78%.

I have a Millar’s Pilot mill set near the lowest setting (it has a really wide gap span). I condition the grain before crushing.





During the mash, I slowly ramped up the flow of the recirculation. Doing it this way, I was able to run full throttle with my solar pump (haven’t used a Chugger/March).

The height of the grain bed, once set after recirculation, was right at the point where the mesh turns into a solid wall. For heavier grain bills, this will mean the top of the grain bed will sit just above the mesh and all wort will need to recirculate through at least some amount of grain.




I ended up with more wort than expected and what I was comfortable putting in the fermenter (used an estimated brewhouse efficiency of 72% for the first run). The extra wort has gone towards a couple starters.

Cheers
M

 

Also, I didn’t get a great whirlpool and left more wort than I would normally in the kettle and in my plate chiller/tubing so as to not bring the trub into the fermenter.

For context, pre-boil I ended up with 7.15gal at 1.036 (expected 6.8gal at 1.034 using an estimated mash efficiency of 75%).

 

First beer kegged and ready for drinking. One of the cleanest I’ve brewed. Overall, much happier with the brew day and with the final product than my last few on my old 3V propane kit.

 

I just purchased a Brew Boss and really hope this turns my beers around. I like the design you have here and may incorporate a shield on the top half of my basket at some point. Probably won’t need to though but we will see! Nice looking beer you got there. Cheers!

 

Now that you have used your system, is there anything you would change for the build?

 

Curious, the max output load of the Inkbird 16 is 1650W but you mention a 2250W element. Has 1650W on that element been strong enough to get to a boil in a reasonable amount of time?

 

I have both 1650 and 2250 elements. I use the 1650W element with the InkBird. It is enough to get 7.5 gallons boiling though it’s not going to set any speed records.

I am still planning to build a custom controller which will be able to handle the 2250W element. I just haven’t found the time over the last couple months. I may upgrade some wiring in the Inkbird to allow it to handle 20amps as an interim step. It’s a fairly straight forward DIY upgrade.

 

The whirlpool isn’t very effective. I am going to swap the solar pump for a stainless, mounted Mark II and see if that helps.

I also plan to add a boil condenser per BrunDog’s thread to eliminate the steam. I’ll be ordering the parts this week and hope to get another brew going in the next couple weeks.

Other than that, nothing else I’d change so far. Very pleased with it.

 

Have you tried cocking the pickup tube for the pump to 90 degrees to catch the flow of the whirlpool? Our diptube was so close to the bottom, it wouldn't allow the pump to pick up the volume we needed for good flow. I start out with it cocked 90degree for the whole process until it is time to transfer to fermenter so it will pick up as much wort as possible. You cold also try crimping down the output on the whirlpool fitting to create more of a jet. We did that as well and helped, but our is a cheap copper whirlpool vs a nice stainless unit.

 

Also if you do end up looking for a new pump, I recommend the Steelhead 2.0. It is 24V as well and very quiet. You will need to add a ball valve to limit your output, they can move some wort.

 

Excellent build thread, thanks Metzen. I sent a pm regarding the spring loaded kettle holders as I've been searching for a solution and yours looks perfect...

 

Any updates, especially with regards to switching to the 2250W element and the boil condenser? I'm curious as to what the mash temp to boil time is with the higher power element. Also do you do full volume, no sparge mashes?

What are your thoughts about using a BIAB false bottom like this:

vs. the DYI supports for the basket?

 

I've been trying to debate going eBIAB vs some sort of 2 vessel config, and I just wanted to say your build is seriously inspiring for DIY BIAB. I've looked at those pre-built systems as well, but had various complaints/tweaks for each one.

If you're still following this thread, I'm wondering if you have any updates that would help someone considering a similar route? With the new pump and that custom basket, have you experienced any stuck recirc?

One of the things I'm skeptical of with BIAB in general is recirc/channeling around the grain... so that basket is pretty awesome!

 

Can you provide more details on how you assembled these? Also, where did you source all the parts from?