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

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Thanks all...seems like a great system but the whole 1500 watt element causes me concern. I am at sea level and suspect I w2uld struggle getting a boil in the garage on a winter day.....the whole electronic control side seems to be lacking on the Small BIAC. I sure would expect to get a temp controlled, pump, and power control as part of the package.....looking at the website it is confusing what comes with it.....I have emailed Nathan.


The Brau Systems BIAC seem to be a much more complete system....

http://brausupply.com/collections/pro-systems

I emailed them with some questions yesterday and have yet to hear back....
 
I looked at both Brewha's systems and Brausupply's and decided to go with a Brewha medium BIAC. It's an incredible system and I have had no disappointment. I was hoping to brew beer that was at least comparable to my 3 vessel gravity system. The brews I'm making now with the BIAC far surpass what I was brewing before in all aspects. If you can swing the extra dollars for a medium BIAC you'll never regret it. System quality and customer service are really incredible.
 
Thanks for the response....the more I look at it the more I might try and swing a medium BIAC...

so what did you see as the advantages of the Brewha over the BrauSupply that swayed you toward it...

Thanks again for your time and thoughts...
 
Wow, I had never even seen the BrauSupply system. I really do like my medium BIAC, but it does take some time to get it dialed in as far as mash-in volumes and strike temps. If you want a small electric system, I think the GrainFather looks pretty interesting for $890. It is not an all in one system like the BIAC. But it does look like a very nice indoor countertop system.
 
I emailed BrauSupply with some questions yesterday and kinda surprised that I have no response as of yet....just emailed again.
 
Thanks for the response....the more I look at it the more I might try and swing a medium BIAC...

so what did you see as the advantages of the Brewha over the BrauSupply that swayed you toward it...

Thanks again for your time and thoughts...

Certainly the thorough and fast responses I received to my, what one could construed as "nagging", questions (how much to ship, where's the delivery dock, how much lead time, etc.) helped but the actual system itself sold me. I wasn't wild about having to lift that cooling coil attached to the lid into a large quantity of boiling wort. While the jacketed system may have a time disadvantage to the cooling coil, it hasn't been an issue for me and its convenience outweighs its disadvantage. I use Brewha's "kink resistant" hose (came with my unit) on the inlet and outlet to the jacket and haven't had any issues. I just finished brewing a 10 gallon Oberon clone recipe and from the end of the boil to pitching temp was 45 minutes (53 degree F ground water temp). That may seem like a long time to some but it gives me some time to tend to other things (clean the colander of spent grain, empty hop baskets, and prep the blow off jar with StarSan). I'm sure Brausupply's system is good too. I just found Brewha's more to my liking and the support has been unlike any I have experienced. Hope this helps.
 
Not much that I can add for one vs the other. As mentioned, the service from Nathan at BREWHA has been fantastic. I've been brewing on mine for just over a year now and I'm still loving it. Easiest, worry free brew days that I have ever had.
 
I too have noticed the service...Nathan has been quick and precise in answering questions.

A couple of items that I like about the BrauSupply system:

1) Conical rated to 10 PSI
2) Includes very nice controller and pump. Still trying to sort out what is included in Brewha.
3) Like the immersion coil for cooling and temp control. Simple and it can withstand full household water pressure.

Concerns so far:

1) Radio Silence....several emails and an inquiry form on their website have gone unanswered. Not sure if this is typical or a unique situation (vacation, website problems, etc.)

I will keep you all posted once I get responses....
 
I concur with the speed and thoroughness of Nathan's responses to questions. I do like the cooling coil idea and that is why I kept a plate chiller. Around here in summer, the water is probably around 80F. At a certain point, I have to switch over to glycol to reach fermentation temps. I'll be having some Saturday and Sunday brew sessions in the autumn season and will use my two conical SSBrewtech Brew Buckets for fermentation along with the BIAC. I'll be able to go directly from BIAC to BrewBucket using my plate chiller and I can do it much faster. As winter moves in our water will return to the 50F or colder temps and my BIAC cooling will work much better. Don't get me wrong, it works pretty darn well right now, but when your ground water is 80F, it takes longer and even a plate chiller can only do so much when the water is 80.

I do have to wonder if the lid for the Unibrau Pro would fit my medium BIAC. In the photos, they look very similar...as if they are made in the same factory.
 
I too have noticed the service...Nathan has been quick and precise in answering questions.

A couple of items that I like about the BrauSupply system:

1) Conical rated to 10 PSI
2) Includes very nice controller and pump. Still trying to sort out what is included in Brewha.
3) Like the immersion coil for cooling and temp control. Simple and it can withstand full household water pressure.

Concerns so far:

1) Radio Silence....several emails and an inquiry form on their website have gone unanswered. Not sure if this is typical or a unique situation (vacation, website problems, etc.)

I will keep you all posted once I get responses....

If you buy the medium or Large BIAC, they come with about everything you need. That includes controllers and pump and stainless coils. I don't run any kind of pressure reduction on my BIAC. When I chill, I use full force. The key is to keep the port open on the lid. I use a starsan soaked cloth over the port when it is open. But water pressure at your house may be much stronger than mine.

The BREWHA BIAC package includes:

3-in-1 Boil kettle / Chiller / Jacketed conical fermenter*
Mash Colander (When brewing with Medium or Large BIAC, raising the mash colander is easily accomplished with a friend or by using a an overhead hoist such as shown here (Canadians can purchase one here). Or email us for ideas for building an overhead pulley and electric hoist system.)
Heating element assembly (1500W with 7 gallon; 5500W with 20 gallon; two 5500W with 55 gallon system)
Temperature Control Valve for regulating chill/warm water into the 3-in-1 jacket (it is recommended to have a high quality Kink-Resistant Hose attached to the jacket exit port, and a Water Pressure Regulator attached to the hose on jacket inlet, so that pressure does not build up in the jacket and damage the vessel. Care still needs to be taken to ensure pressure does not exceed 3psi in the vessel body or 5psi in the vessel jacket.)
Electronic Temperature Controller for precise regulation of mash and fermentation temperature
Chugger Pump System with highest quality braided silicone hoses and fittings for best performance, longevity and easy disassembly
Power Control Box (NOT included with Small BIAC system; one is included with the Medium BIAC system, and two are included with the Large BIAC system)



Click here to go to BIAC product page
http://brewhaequipment.com/pages/biac-benefits-and-specifications#biaccontents


Accessories for the BIAC:

(Basic and Complete Accessories Kit include the following three items)

Hop Baskets make containing and removing whole leaf boil hops super easy as well as providing an easy means for sanitary dry hopping (added to fermentor after primary fermentation is complete for improving the hop aroma in beer); two Baskets are included with the Kit
Water Pressure Regulator can help protect your investment by limiting water into jacket to 5psi; (needs to be adjusted to 5psi; never restrict jacket exit in any way)
3psi and Vacuum Safety Relief Valve is attached to one of the two lid ports on the 3-in-1 and relieves pressure above 3psi and breaks a vacuum inside the main portion of the vessel prevent damage (Warning: DO NOT use in place of a blow off hose as krausen may plug the vent)



(The Complete Accessories Kit also includes the following items)

Hose Float helps the hose returning wort into the Mash Colander to stay floating at the top and not sink down into the grain bed
Keg Racking Hose for racking beer from the 3-in-1 to a keg
Kink-Resistant High-Temperature Food-Grade Braided Silicone Hose for taking water away from the jacket. If a hose kinks, it can cause pressure to build up in the jacket, deforming the vessel (3m/10' of 0.5"ID hose is included).
Mash Colander Lifting Cables when used with an overhead hoist can make removing the Mash Colander from the Medium and Large 3-in-1 super easy
Wort Aeration Stone when used with an air pump or oxygen cylinder to add oxygen to wort prior to pitching yeast



(Optional accessory not included with either kit)

Neoprene jacket helps insulate the vessel; especially useful during lagering as it will reduce energy consumption and help reduce 'sweating' (condensation that forms on the cold 3-in-1 and drips on to the floor)
 
Hi to all who've been reading. I'm terribly sorry for any radio silence that occurred, as I care about the customer experience and pride myself on replying in short order. I actually took the family on a much needed vacation Aug 19 and dragged the new trailer along and left the laptop at home:) Actually, bringing it wouldn't have done me good as we were on the Gulf Islands where there was no Wifi or Data for us to use. In hindsight, I should've posted this on my homepage on the site and will do so in the future. I did reply to all emails sent in my absence today and if any one has any questions for me on the forum, I'm happy to answer them.

Cheers
Steven
 
has anyone with a medium tried to create a whirlpool for a long hop stand? I know technically we don't really need a whirlpool with a conical bottom. I'm looking to add late hops for a 30-60 min post boil hop stand and it needs to be whirlpooling.
 
has anyone with a medium tried to create a whirlpool for a long hop stand? I know technically we don't really need a whirlpool with a conical bottom. I'm looking to add late hops for a 30-60 min hop stand and it needs to be whirlpooling.

I whirlpool while I'm chilling to speed up the process and equalize the temp throughout the wort.
 
Perfect! I almost bought that same arm several months ago.

I will say - I purchased that arm based on a recommendation in this thread. It does work, but it's REALLY close to the wall of the conical when you have it in a horizontal position. If you're trying to pull wort at the same level as the racking port, there's a good chance you will be pulling hops/yeast/etc that are sliding down the cone. I'd really like to find a longer racking arm - one that sticks out further into the center of the vessel.
 
I will say - I purchased that arm based on a recommendation in this thread. It does work, but it's REALLY close to the wall of the conical when you have it in a horizontal position. If you're trying to pull wort at the same level as the racking port, there's a good chance you will be pulling hops/yeast/etc that are sliding down the cone. I'd really like to find a longer racking arm - one that sticks out further into the center of the vessel.

Hmm, I'm wondering if I could fabricate a long stainless tube with a bend at the end that could be inserted from the top...
 
Jimmy do you do any special cleaning for the pump and hoses before or after? Boiling wort for 20min should take car of it, but what about after? Notice trub dump being easier at all?
 
Jimmy do you do any special cleaning for the pump and hoses before or after? Boiling wort for 20min should take car of it, but what about after? Notice trub dump being easier at all?

Nothing special to clean the pump. I spray it out with a hose after each use, and let it air dry.

-I hook it up to the BIAC on brew day, while heating strike water and recirculate the whole time to help mix in my salt additions.

-During the boil, I recirculate boiling wort a few times for 20-30 seconds to sanitize the pump and lines.

-After the boil, I recirculate the whole time while chilling. You need to be careful not to clog the pump when brewing hoppy beers. I find it's not really the pump that is the issue, but instead the silicone tubing & fittings. As the wort recirculates, the hops tend to clog as they get to the tri clamp barb inside of the tubing (smallest opening in the loop). Start with the bottom port wide open, and the racking port just open a crack. Once you get things recirculating, and the hops evenly distributed in the wort, it tends to be less problematic.

I don't really notice a difference in dumping the trub, but it significantly reduces the cooling time (and eliminates uneven temperatures in your wort).
 
I cannot seem to find the final results to this in this huge thread. I was hoping to avoid it, but looks like I need to get a grain mill as I am having issues with stuck mashes when I load my small up to capacity. I tried a second slotted false bottom and this let less through, but still sticks. For those with 2 and/or 3 roller mill I see that .045 seems a good starting gap, but is this what you settled on?

I will probably go with a 3 roller to hopefully get a better crush and leave more hulls in tact, but anyone have experience with both a 2 and 3 mill crush on the biac that has any more info on a 3 roller working better?

Cheers!
 
A grain mill is good to have regardless to eliminate another variable and fine tune your system. With my new MMPro-2 I'm dialing it in but the last brew at 0.043 was great. I'll see how it works going forward. I debated back and forth on the 2 vs 3 roller but decided I wanted to use my current 20V Dewalt instead of building a whole standalone setup with a motor and gear reducer, etc.

I have not had much luck with slotted false bottoms in the past, however my Jaybird false bottom on my old 3 tier setup was just about flawless and could sparge basically wide open. I think a low mount version of it on top of the mash colander would be a sure win. I'll see how my next 2-3 brews go and decide if I do or don't need it.
 
Nothing special to clean the pump. I spray it out with a hose after each use, and let it air dry.

-I hook it up to the BIAC on brew day, while heating strike water and recirculate the whole time to help mix in my salt additions.

-During the boil, I recirculate boiling wort a few times for 20-30 seconds to sanitize the pump and lines.

-After the boil, I recirculate the whole time while chilling. You need to be careful not to clog the pump when brewing hoppy beers. I find it's not really the pump that is the issue, but instead the silicone tubing & fittings. As the wort recirculates, the hops tend to clog as they get to the tri clamp barb inside of the tubing (smallest opening in the loop). Start with the bottom port wide open, and the racking port just open a crack. Once you get things recirculating, and the hops evenly distributed in the wort, it tends to be less problematic.

I don't really notice a difference in dumping the trub, but it significantly reduces the cooling time (and eliminates uneven temperatures in your wort).

Sounds pretty slick. Do you completely empty all the tubing after the mash and then reassemble for the boil? I'd be leary of having a few cups of unboiled wort in the lines if kept hooked up after the mash, guess you could recirculate during the whole boil bit that seems like a waste.

My biggest fear would be whirlpooling at 160-180 and have the pump/tubing clog.

I do agree it would even the temps during cooling and def cool it down way faster.

How many hops have you been able to successfully whirpool without clogging?

After my last debacle with too many rice hulls in a pumpkin batch I'd like to avoid ever clogging up the system again :drunk:
 
Sounds pretty slick. Do you completely empty all the tubing after the mash and then reassemble for the boil? I'd be leary of having a few cups of unboiled wort in the lines if kept hooked up after the mash, guess you could recirculate during the whole boil bit that seems like a waste.

No, I don't empty it. I'll recirculate a few times throughout the boil, so it homogenizes anything in the lines/conical.


How many hops have you been able to successfully whirpool without clogging?

My standard IPA has about 14-18oz of hops between the boil & flameout. It can be a bit of a pain to recirculate and it takes a bit of getting used to. You need to start recirculating while it's still boiling, then cut the heat. If you don't do it that way, the hops are settled to the bottom of the cone and you'll just suck a bunch of hops into the pump. If you do it before cutting the heat, the hops will be mixed throughout the wort pretty good. It's also important to start with the return port closed quite a bit until you get things recirculating smoothly.

I've completely clogged it recirculating before. In the end, it didn't hurt the beer. It just meant a longer wait time while chilling.
 
Has anyone tried a kettle soured beer on the system yet? I've always avoided aours in fear of infecting everything but seems like kettle souring could be the ticket as you boil and kill off everything as the ph drops to where you want it. I guess you'd have to be careful with the lid though afterwards?
 
Has anyone tried a kettle soured beer on the system yet? I've always avoided aours in fear of infecting everything but seems like kettle souring could be the ticket as you boil and kill off everything as the ph drops to where you want it. I guess you'd have to be careful with the lid though afterwards?

I've been brewing a Berliner Weisse using this method quite frequently (I actually have a batch of it fermenting right now). My recipe/process is shown below.

As for the lid - it's likely full of lacto all of the time anyway (until you sanitize it). On every brew that I do, I always throw the lid on the boil for the last minute or so, to help kill anything off.

The BIAC is the perfect setup for brewing kettle soured beers. It allows you to remove the grain easily while leaving the wort behind, you can maintain temp with your heating element, and then you simply boil it afterward.

It's the cheapest beer that I brew, and it's also easy to do 15 gallons with the medium BIAC.

Stats:
OG:1.031
4.5 IBU
2.8% ABV

Mash:
56.8% Pilsen Malt
40.3% Wheat Malt
2.9% Acid Malt

-Mash @ 150*f for 60 minutes
-Remove grain, and raise wort temperature to 180*f for ~15 minutes
-Chill wort to ~110-115*f

Souring:
-Add unmilled malt to wort (I use the stainless hop tube that comes with the BIAC to easily remove the malt later. A mesh bag would work as well). I use a ratio of .5 lb Acid Malt & .5lb 2 Row per 5 gallons of wort.
-Run CO2 through wort to purge O2 from wort & vessel. You want to eliminate as much O2 during the souring phase as possible. I use the bottom port on the BIAC for this.
-Hold at 110-115*f until desired pH has been reached. Most information you read will suggest something like a pH of 3.2-3.6..the lower you go, the more sour it will be and the harder it is on your yeast. Expect to hold at this temperature for 24 hours or more to reach the desired pH.

Boil:
-Once you've reached your desired pH, remove the grain and boil for 15 minutes
-4.5 IBU of Spalt Select @ 10 minutes
-Chill to 68*f

Fermentation:
-Ferment with US-05 @ 68*f
 
So it's a holiday in Canada and I decided to ask Nathan a question fully expecting to hear from him tomorrow or the next day. Two hours later he responds to my question in depth. I've never had better customer service.

On top of that, my brews with the medium BIAC have surpassed the quality of any brews I have made and I started brewing in 1997. (Some of the credit for improved brews goes to this web site, too.)
 
I want to re-raise the question about efficiency and recipe formulation for the BIAC.
Are most still seeing 65-75% efficiency?
How are you formulating recipes ot account for efficiency?
I have BeerSmith and I have used it some, but I still have not figured out the best way to use it with my medium BIAC,
 
How do you guys dry hop? Lift the lid and toss loose hops? Bag it? I'm a little concerned about plugging the lowest valve.
 
How do you guys dry hop? Lift the lid and toss loose hops? Bag it? I'm a little concerned about plugging the lowest valve.

I just toss them in loose (pellet hops).

I've added as many as 16oz of dry hops this way, and haven't had an issue. You may need to add a little pressure to push the hops through the bottom valve, but it will come free with a little time.
 
I just toss them in loose (pellet hops).

I've added as many as 16oz of dry hops this way, and haven't had an issue. You may need to add a little pressure to push the hops through the bottom valve, but it will come free with a little time.

Thanks Jimmy82! :mug: I'm wondering if going with whole leaf might be more problematic? or less problematic than pellets? I only ask as I usually use whole leaf.
 
How do you guys dry hop? Lift the lid and toss loose hops? Bag it? I'm a little concerned about plugging the lowest valve.

I use one of these. I have two of them but one has been plenty large for dry hopping. It will hold a lot of pellets and an oz of whole hops. I sanitize it, fill it and drop it in. I only use pellets. I stopped using whole hops because you can wind up with grassy flavors. That could just be the Cascade hops I was using but I never wind up with grassy off-flavors (just aroma) when dry hopping with pellets
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004X4LGIO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I wouldn't toss leaf hops in loose - I suspect that would lead to a blockage pretty quick.

If I were using leaf hops, I'd use the stainless tubes that BREWHA sells for hopping. You can toss the whole thing in the fermenter during dry hopping, instead of hanging it off the side.
 
Thought I would provide a status on where I am at in getting my 3 in 1.
The hoist is in. The old 3 wire dryer wire has been replaced with 4 wire and a gfi spa disconnect. An 80 quart mixing bowl has been turned into a vent hood with a three speed hydroponics vent fan. The 24 by 24 inch SS sink with pre-rinse faucet is installed. The cold water SS manifold that will feed the washer, the SS sink, the carbon ceramic filter with one additional take off to feed a potential Buckeye hydro RODI system is almost complete.

I still have to decide on a chilling process for crash cooling and lagering.

My goal has been to have all the other "stuff" and systems in place so that when I get the medium BIAC I will be ready to rock and roll.

Just about there, I am making a list of what I might be missing, there can't be much left, at least I hope so.

I have one odd question, has anyone recirculated during wort chilling to even out temps and possibly speed the chill time?

Any suggestions on other stuff I could use would be great.

Thanks,

Chuck
 
Hi Cmason,

1) several systems recommend recirc to aid in chilling.

2) Sounds like you have a VERY nice setup in the works...

3) Curious why you chose the Breha unit over the Brausupply unit ( http://brausupply.com/ )? Pros? Cons?

Thanks
 
Back
Top