3-in-1 "Boil Kettle, Jacketed Chiller, Conical Fermenter" by Brewha

[JB_Brewing2]

I've never enjoyed better or more responsive customer service than Nathan has provided...even after the sale! Really pleased with my decision to buy from Brewha.

 

[cuda6pak]

I've never enjoyed better or more responsive customer service than Nathan has provided...even after the sale! Really pleased with my decision to buy from Brewha.

100% agreed

 

[JKoravos]

Wow, just saw this thread. Pretty cool concept. I had always stared at my Blichmann and wondered about doing something like this. I didn't realize someone was already doing it.

It's crazy how many options homebrewers have nowadays for full scale near-commercial quality systems. When I started brewing you were the coolest kid on the block if you had a Gott cooler! Damn, I feel old.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

Nathan's offering a water pressure regulator which is out of stock right now. Was wondering if anybody is aware of a water pressure regulator/reducer that would allow one to reduce the pressure down to 3 psi? I'd also like to buy from the USA since shipping is still an issue for him. I've seen some for big bucks but am hoping for a less expensive version. Any one have a suggestion?

 

[NHBrews]

Nathan's offering a water pressure regulator which is out of stock right now. Was wondering if anybody is aware of a water pressure regulator/reducer that would allow one to reduce the pressure down to 3 psi? I'd also like to buy from the USA since shipping is still an issue for him. I've seen some for big bucks but am hoping for a less expensive version. Any one have a suggestion?

I've been looking at well and found this http://www.freshwatersystems.com/p-1403-watts-560-water-pressure-regulator-wgauge.aspx?utm_source=Googlebase&utm_medium=Feed&utm_campaign=Product&utm_term=PRV-560G-1/4-125&gclid=Cj0KEQjwxd6oBRCRoMrWmLOCvI4BEiQAYyZdkX-mdS5FoGabjoSy806mMo1wh-GQxTH9Z8k9VMw4OIUaAp0X8P8HAQ think this should work. Other options I looked at were for poultry watering systems, but they all looked to be lower quality.

I'm planning to buy one over the next week or two, let me know what you decide on.

 

[limulus]

That definitely looks like it would work. All you need are the connections of your choice on each side.

 

[brianpedersen]

I have been thinking, why not do it the other way round.

An alternative to limiting flow, could be to release pressure when it gets to high, using something like a spunding valve. The jacketed boilers they use in industrial kitchens typically have one.

Don't know, just a thought.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

Brian, Good thought! But I think with the BIAC one needs to ensure that the incoming pressure doesn't exceed 3 psi. You are absolutely correct that the outflow should not be impeded. Perhaps a pressure differential may occur from one side of the jacket to the other side, even with unimpeded outflow.

NHBrews, thank you for the reference! I'll be checking that out.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

I'm about to purchase a medium 3in1 and mash colander, and I'm wondering how everyone is chilling and maintaining fermentation temps. I've seen some people with glycol packs, and I'm assuming they can handle the wort chilling and fermentation duties, but for everyone else, how are you doing it? I have a walk in cooler at 40F that I was thinking I could put a reservoir in with water or glycol (any tips there?) and use a pump to recirculate to hold fermentation temps. I'm not sure if the 5-7 gallon volume I am considering is enough for initial chilling though. I have municipal water available for initial chilling, but it seems like it might be a pain to have to switch back and forth, especially if I choose to use glycol for fermentation.

Any thoughts or help?

Thanks,

Joe

 

[jeffreybandel]

For those interested, I posted a thread about my terrible experience with my BIAC and the response from the company. I too thought the customer service would be excellent. Boy was I wrong.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=6806518&posted=1#post6806518

 

[Jimmy82]

I'm about to purchase a medium 3in1 and mash colander, and I'm wondering how everyone is chilling and maintaining fermentation temps. I've seen some people with glycol packs, and I'm assuming they can handle the wort chilling and fermentation duties, but for everyone else, how are you doing it? I have a walk in cooler at 40F that I was thinking I could put a reservoir in with water or glycol (any tips there?) and use a pump to recirculate to hold fermentation temps. I'm not sure if the 5-7 gallon volume I am considering is enough for initial chilling though. I have municipal water available for initial chilling, but it seems like it might be a pain to have to switch back and forth, especially if I choose to use glycol for fermentation.

Any thoughts or help?

Thanks,

Joe

I cool with tap water, and switch to the glycol chiller once it's dropped down to about 80 or 90*F. I don't run glycol in my chiller though, I just use water that is kept at target fermentation temperature and let it constantly recirculate through the jacket.

 

[Cmason]

I read through the post on the damaged BIAC. I still like the concept and plan to purchase a medium, but will take a three step process to avoid a similar situation. I am not sure if root cause was over pressurizing the jacket, or pulling a vacuum during wort cooling, but here is what I plan on doing. One - as part of set up I will inspect the jacket interior with an auto mechanics hand held video bore scope that I have in addition to flushing the jacket to make sure it is clean, two - use a pressure regulator on the in flow to the jacket (watts P60 should do the trick, it is potable water rated, where the one Nathan is selling no longer is due to new lead level regulations in the US), three - use either a vacuum breaker from Brewers hardware or an in line air filter (the same one used on the aeration system) to beak a vacuum at 1.5 psi, or allow clean air in during wort chilling. The vacuum breaker is also a pressure relief, but at 15 psi, damage would be done, no reason to leave it on. A blow off tube set up with vodka would also be used if cold crashing and I might leave the vacuum breaker in place in that case as a safety measure.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

I cool with tap water, and switch to the glycol chiller once it's dropped down to about 80 or 90*F. I don't run glycol in my chiller though, I just use water that is kept at target fermentation temperature and let it constantly recirculate through the jacket.

Thanks for the info, do you need to change out the water in your chiller periodically? I would think it would get a little nasty over time, but maybe its not an issue.

 

[Jimmy82]

Thanks for the info, do you need to change out the water in your chiller periodically? I would think it would get a little nasty over time, but maybe its not an issue.

It hasn't been an issue for me, but I did use RO water to fill the reservoir. I'm sure it would eventually need to be changed, but so far it's been clean.

I also use the chiller to crash cool, so maybe that helps with the near freezing temps every couple of weeks. The reservoir is also closed to light, so it would cut down on that type of thing as well.

 

[limulus]

For chilling, I kept my 40-plate chiller and cart. I know that strays from the self contained system, but I was concerned about vacuums before the incident ever happened and I really can't say that I have read anything about avoiding vacuums on the Brewha site. I took a brewing course last year at a brewery in Colorado and the brewer there told me about vacuums. I'll be using a glycol system to keep mine at fermentation temp now that it is getting warm. I have not decided how I'm going to circulate through the jacket yet. But I do still have a copper immersion chiller that can be hooked up to the glycol system and then inserted into a water reservoir...at least I think I can do that. That water would be circulated through the jacket. The other solution is to just circulate directly from the glycol system. I'm definitely ordering a pressure valve for my jacket and I'm also looking at a vacuum release valve at glacier tanks.

 

[Jimmy82]

For chilling, I kept my 40-plate chiller and cart. I know that strays from the self contained system, but I was concerned about vacuums before the incident ever happened and I really can't say that I have read anything about avoiding vacuums on the Brewha site. I took a brewing course last year at a brewery in Colorado and the brewer there told me about vacuums. I'll be using a glycol system to keep mine at fermentation temp now that it is getting warm. I have not decided how I'm going to circulate through the jacket yet. But I do still have a copper immersion chiller that can be hooked up to the glycol system and then inserted into a water reservoir...at least I think I can do that. That water would be circulated through the jacket. The other solution is to just circulate directly from the glycol system. I'm definitely ordering a pressure valve for my jacket and I'm also looking at a vacuum release valve at glacier tanks.

The following is from their site:

1. Do not put any restriction or closure on the blow-off port in the lid of the 3-in-1 during chilling as a vacuum may form which could pull the walls in. (To prevent blow-off water from being sucked into the vessel, ensure that that volume of water in the trap, is less than the rising portion of your blow off hose can hold—before the water is sucked over into the vessel, air will enter the hose and be drawn into the vessel rather than the water; another preventitive measure is to put a small amount of Star San into the blow off water to prevent microbial growth)

http://brewhaequipment.com/blogs/brewinfo/14329765-preventing-deformation-in-your-fermentor

 

[jamiller]

I have a glycol chiller and I chill down using muni water till 80 and the. I switch to my glycol and recirculate it seems to work well. Only down side is when switching from water to glycol you need to have a bucket ready to clear out the 2 gallons of water so you can fill with your closed system glycol water.

 

[Cmason]

I have read through some of the chiller manuals, and they call for using a glycol water mixture to also serve as a lubricant.

Have there been any issues with regards to lubrication on water only use.

I am planning on keeping the jacket clean so I would not run any glycol through it. I plan on something like a silver serpent coil in a cooler as a resivoir and then reciculate from the resivoir through the jacket.

Has anyone used this method and have you been able to crash chill for lagers?

Thanks

 

[Cmason]

On your exhaust system, the 30 qt bowel, what is the diameter of the bottom? I see that the top is 22 inches, same size as the medium 3 in 1.

I like your set up and plan on doing something similar. I will use an angle ring bolted with high temp gasket caulk assembled to a duct system called gorilla duct, which will exhaust out the garage wall with a fantech exterior wall mount 8 inch duct size fan pulling just over 400 cfm. I will most likely reduce the 8 inch down to 6 prior to the bowel connection.

I will use the window for make up air as my furnace is oil fired and I do not want to backdraft the flue gas.

 

[limulus]

I have read through some of the chiller manuals, and they call for using a glycol water mixture to also serve as a lubricant.

Have there been any issues with regards to lubrication on water only use.

I am planning on keeping the jacket clean so I would not run any glycol through it. I plan on something like a silver serpent coil in a cooler as a resivoir and then reciculate from the resivoir through the jacket.

Has anyone used this method and have you been able to crash chill for lagers?

Thanks

It is a 2.5:1 water to glycol = 3.5gal working solution.

 

[Jimmy82]

I have read through some of the chiller manuals, and they call for using a glycol water mixture to also serve as a lubricant.

Have there been any issues with regards to lubrication on water only use.

I am planning on keeping the jacket clean so I would not run any glycol through it. I plan on something like a silver serpent coil in a cooler as a resivoir and then reciculate from the resivoir through the jacket.

Has anyone used this method and have you been able to crash chill for lagers?

Thanks

I haven't had an issue with mine running water only. Not saying it won't be an issue at some point, but so far no sign of trouble.

 

[Jimmy82]

On your exhaust system, the 30 qt bowel, what is the diameter of the bottom? I see that the top is 22 inches, same size as the medium 3 in 1.

I like your set up and plan on doing something similar. I will use an angle ring bolted with high temp gasket caulk assembled to a duct system called gorilla duct, which will exhaust out the garage wall with a fantech exterior wall mount 8 inch duct size fan pulling just over 400 cfm. I will most likely reduce the 8 inch down to 6 prior to the bowel connection.

I will use the window for make up air as my furnace is oil fired and I do not want to backdraft the flue gas.

I'm not using the bowl anymore - I found it just a touch too small. I'm using a temporary rigid foam hood as of right now, but will be getting one bent from metal at some point.

 

[jamiller]

I am at a 30% glycol to water mix. I have run that fluid mixture down to 18 degrees with no issues. Cools fast. Only downside is it sweats a lot so put some Tupperware under your rig

 

[knotabyte]

Love the BIAC, have made about 12 batches so far. I have a custom controller and I am using a BrewPi to ferment. Couldn't be easier.

-KnotAByte

 

[NHBrews]

Love the BIAC, have made about 12 batches so far. I have a custom controller and I am using a BrewPi to ferment. Couldn't be easier.

-KnotAByte

Looks great, my medium BIAC just arrived yesterday.:rockin: I'm still building my custom controller and debating whether to build a temperature chamber/room similar to yours or going the glyco route. How has fermentation temp stability been in your setup?

 

[knotabyte]

I use a TRUE GDM12 ($500 used) modified to work with the BrewPi. Fermentation temps stay within .2 degrees. Here is a screenshot of an iPhone app I wrote to monitor the temps. Currently I am at day 14 for a nice Belgian IPA 68 degrees.

 

[Owly055]

One of my concerns about the Brewha is having the heating element permanently in place throughout fermentation as well as mashing and boiling. Presumably it's a stainless steel element so my concerns are probably misplaced, but I know how stuff builds up on a heating element, and don't like the idea much.
The jacketed fermenter is in itself a great leap forward for nano brewers. Whodathunkit.... That we'd see a stainless conical for a 5 gallon brewer with a water jacket?? The cost is high, but there is a lot of additional labor and parts in making a water jacketed fermenter where there are ports that must pass through the water jacket into the fermenter. Perhaps a bit more premium than is justified. It's hard to look at the SS 7 gallon conical at $395 without a jacket, and the jacketed one at $1249 and ask yourself if that extra $854 which more than triples the price is worth it for having a cooling jacket?

The answer will be yes for many people...... A conical is NOT something that is highly portable with beer in it. Your un-jacketed conical needs to be in your fermentation chamber before you transfer the wort to it.......unless it is easy to move on wheels, With this you don't even need a fermentation chamber. The sanitation issue of transferring how wort to the fermenter instead of cold wort is also a BIG plus. And of course there is the elegance of the system. Imagine inviting your friends over for brew day and them seeing your 4 Brewha conicals all lined up in a row with solenoid valves hooked up for cooling water!!

The complete system is an elegant solution though it has lots of room for personal improvement to automate it and turn it into a Pico Brew system scaled up with computer controls, solenoid valves, etc, even hop baskets that circulate when the program says to.

I've long thought that a single vessel from mash to fermenter made sense, but in reality you need 3 vessels....... If you are going to sparge. the grain collander IS a mash tun, and you need an HLT if you want to sparge. The HLT may just be a water heater, so in reality you are just combining the boil kettle with the fermenter and chiller......But there really is no way around this..... at least none that I see.


H.W.

 

[limulus]

My pressure regulator and gauge came today. Now I need to find some connections to screw into it. I may just use barbs instead of garden hose connectors.

 

[bhchrist]

My apologies if this has been asked and answered in the thread already. Are those of you with armed and operational Brewha systems using the element for the "hot side" of the temperature control during fermentation with the water/glycol jacket for the cool side? I thought I recall seeing mention of setting the element at 1%. Any issues that have been seen? I am thinking primarily for ramping up at the later stages of fermentation or for Belgian styles that like to finish much warmer.

 

[limulus]

My apologies if this has been asked and answered in the thread already. Are those of you with armed and operational Brewha systems using the element for the "hot side" of the temperature control during fermentation with the water/glycol jacket for the cool side? I thought I recall seeing mention of setting the element at 1%. Any issues that have been seen? I am thinking primarily for ramping up at the later stages of fermentation or for Belgian styles that like to finish much warmer.

I have not, but I know others here have used the element. I was concerned about scorching, but apparently, it is not a problem.