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Personally, I'd prefer something that drops in from the top and doesn't require recirculation. The recirculation is just one more step, and more cleaning. Having something that you can drop directly into the wort from above seems like the most simple method to me.

I haven't really thought about it too much as of yet - I use mostly dry yeast so aeration isn't necessary. With that being said, I would like to have something geared up to pump o2 into the wort and I'm just thinking some sort of triclover with an extension down to wort level with a diffusion...

I clean by hand with a scrubbing pad. I usually spray it down to get most of the crud off and then dump it. Then I scrub it down the the scrubbing pad and some PBW, spray it down and dump again. Then I usually spray it down and dump a final time. It's about 5-10 minutes total from the time I...

I've used the olive oil method and haven't found it to negatively affect the final product. My plan is to gear up a triclover connection that extends from the lid, down into the wort with a diffuser stone. I'll have a connection on top to attach o2.

I don't have the racking arm, but would guess it's about 2-4 liters without it. It's typically all hop sludge (I throw my pellet hops directly in the beer and don't use the baskets). I haven't "required" the racking arm, but it could likely be a nice addition if you wanted to buy it. I'll...

I just ran it in with the probe that was built into the glycol chiller. I modified the wiring slightly to bypass the built in probe and utilize the STC probe instead. On the chiller I have, there are lots of spots you can pop a probe through to have it sitting in the reservoir. There are...

No check valve installed and I have the jacket full, plus the reservoir full. If the power goes off on the chiller it doesn't flow back into the reservoir (if that's what you're thinking of?) I'm honestly not sure of the model of the chiller - couldn't find much for markings on it.

I use the STC-1000 only to monitor the chiller bath, not the wort temp. I use the Ranco that comes with the BIAC to monitor wort temp, but it doesn't adjust anything..just displays the actual temp. Even at the peak of fermentation, the temp never budged even a degree over the 10 or so batches...

You don't need a reservoir larger than the jacket because you fill the jacket, plus the reservoir. Following my boil, I do the following: 1)Connect the solenoid to the input of the jacket, and connect tap water to chill hot wort. I let the tap water chill to about 80*F and the solenoid...

Now you have me wondering on the actual capacity of the glycol chiller. It may be a bit smaller than I guessed - hadn't actually measured it. I don't think you need much as it's constantly circulating at ferm temp (at least if you use it the way I am). You don't see a huge difference in the...

I'm guessing it's about about 15 or 20 gallons. I got a really good deal on the glycol chiller, so it wasn't so bad. I haven't really noticed much of a difference with the electric bill - I don't think the pump uses much power TBH. I haven't had any issues with the pump running constantly -...

I was concerned with this at first as well. After brewing a couple of batches I'm fairly confident that the hops aren't ending up down there during the boil (or if they are, it doesn't seem to affect the hop utilization). There isn't really any way for me to tell by looking at it, but based on...

My worry with the basket was more about hop utilization. I brew a lot of hoppy beers - the IPA I have fermenting has about 26oz of pellet hops in it. When those pellet hops take on liquid, they absolutely explode. I figured throwing hops right into the BIAC would be my best option, and dump...

The 2 valves for comparison:

I'll likely be able to let you know in a few weeks. I've got a batch of IPA that I still have to dry hop before I'm able to test out the new valve. There's a bit of debate on which would be better as the ball valve has 1" of full opening, whereas the butterfly has 1.5" opening, but the "disc"...

I still do a pressurized transfer, but instead of feeding it into the keg through the post (with the keg transfer line), I put the larger 1/2" tubing inside of the keg. I can fill both kegs in 5 minutes or less. Yes, I'm using pellet hops. I don't use the stainless basket for hops..it would...

I have the kegging line, and though it's a nice piece of equipment, I find it too slow for transfers (nothing to do with the design, I think it's just the flow rate through the ball lock that is the limiting factor). I've started to use 1/2" silicone tubing that I boil before transfering. I hook...

The water volume stick is great. It hangs on the side and makes volume readings simple.

That may be the case, but I'd think recirculating would help with that (you may be able to keep the grain bed more saturated). For my most recent 10 gallon batch I did an IPA, however, I upped my volumes by a couple of liters to make up for loss to hops. There was about 29.5lbs of grain and 61...

I'm honestly not sure what the maximum grain bill is with the colander..that's something Nathan @ BREWHA could likely answer.