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

[MeetsCriteria]

Just ordered a small BIAC with a chugger and aerator! Thanks all for your posts here - it really helped make the decision.

@MeetsCriteria - I see you are also in Madison. Perhaps we could meet up sometime and share notes?

Now to plan out the first brew. Luckily only a bit over a week to get here.

Congratulations!

Unfortunately, (though I am sure no one will feel sorry for me) I just moved to San Diego so won't be able to meet up. But be sure to post your experiences!

As for me I need to figure out a new cooling solution as I don't have the advantage of a 65f basement anymore.

Looks like lots of great solutions on this thread though, plus brewha just announced their new chiller...decisions decisions!

Good luck and cheers again on your purchase!

 

[b1v1r]

Congratulations!

Unfortunately, (though I am sure no one will feel sorry for me) I just moved to San Diego so won't be able to meet up. But be sure to post your experiences!

As for me I need to figure out a new cooling solution as I don't have the advantage of a 65f basement anymore.

Looks like lots of great solutions on this thread though, plus brewha just announced their new chiller...decisions decisions!

Good luck and cheers again on your purchase!

Haha. I moved *from* San Diego. Oh well, too bad. Enjoy San Diego!

 

[b1v1r]

Just ordered a small BIAC with a chugger and aerator! Thanks all for your posts here - it really helped make the decision.

@MeetsCriteria - I see you are also in Madison. Perhaps we could meet up sometime and share notes?

Now to plan out the first brew. Luckily only a bit over a week to get here.

Arrived today. Was very well packed. I thought I'd share just how much comes with this system - the inventory list on the site just does not do it justice. In addition to the vessel on the floor, *everything* on the table was included (Extras: 2 hop baskets, the chugger pump and an aeration stone). That is a lot of parts. Doing a water test now.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

Arrived today. Was very well packed. I thought I'd share just how much comes with this system - the inventory list on the site just does not do it justice. In addition to the vessel on the floor, *everything* on the table was included (Extras: 2 hop baskets, the chugger pump and an aeration stone). That is a lot of parts. Doing a water test now.

Enjoy!

I just did my 2nd batch on my medium on Sunday, woke up terribly hung over from a party so I didn't get started at the time I originally intended. Still powered through a brew day in about 3.5 hours though. So nice to be able to dough in, set the pump, and go lay down and not worry about babysitting it.

 

[MeetsCriteria]

Haha. I moved *from* San Diego. Oh well, too bad. Enjoy San Diego!

That is amazing! What a coincidence!

Madtown is great. Lots of amazing breweries. Will miss Capitol brewing, Ale Asylum, New Glarus, among many others. Check out Brasserie V....you won't regret it!

Again, cheers!

 

[limulus]

b1v1r:
Great photo! It is such an impressive package and the quality of the equipment is as good as if not better than ANY other homebrew system I've seen and it is the most turnkey system you can buy.

Since you are in Wisconsin, you'll not have too many problems with heat. You can probably diy some kind of cooling system that will work well for you. I will recommend that you use a small bucket of water/sanitizer and a blow-off tube on the floor during fermentation. I live in the Atlanta suburbs and it has been in the 90s for maybe two straight weeks. I use a glycol chiller designed for chilling keg lines and it works quite well. But, when you decide to crash cool in the conical, there is some vacuum and I see the water/sanitizer solution in the bucket being sucked up the blowoff tube. I use one of the ball valves on the second port on my lid and I give it a quick purge to release that vacuum. My tube is about 5-6 ft long so it probably won't ever suck up into the fermenter, but I do keep an eye on it. I may just buy a vacuum release valve and I would buy Nathan's but the shipping from BC is ridiculous for something so small.

I think I may start dropping the temp to about 45 for a day and remove trub. Then keg the beer and use my garage fridge to crash into the 30s.

 

[cuda6pak]

b1v1r:
Great photo! It is such an impressive package and the quality of the equipment is as good as if not better than ANY other homebrew system I've seen and it is the most turnkey system you can buy.

Since you are in Wisconsin, you'll not have too many problems with heat. You can probably diy some kind of cooling system that will work well for you. I will recommend that you use a small bucket of water/sanitizer and a blow-off tube on the floor during fermentation. I live in the Atlanta suburbs and it has been in the 90s for maybe two straight weeks. I use a glycol chiller designed for chilling keg lines and it works quite well. But, when you decide to crash cool in the conical, there is some vacuum and I see the water/sanitizer solution in the bucket being sucked up the blowoff tube. I use one of the ball valves on the second port on my lid and I give it a quick purge to release that vacuum. My tube is about 5-6 ft long so it probably won't ever suck up into the fermenter, but I do keep an eye on it. I may just buy a vacuum release valve and I would buy Nathan's but the shipping from BC is ridiculous for something so small.

I think I may start dropping the temp to about 45 for a day and remove trub. Then keg the beer and use my garage fridge to crash into the 30s.

It really is an impressive system, the quality is outstanding. Even after looking at a few other "turnkey" systems that have entered the market, I don't think any even compare to the BIAC in terms of simplicity and "all in 1" capability without sacrificing quality of brews.

I recently heard Brew Strong podcast where Jamil recommended for crash cooling in a concial to dip a clean towel/rag into starsan and place it over an empty triclamp hole/port. I used to use my threaded triclamp piece and plug loosely tightened but now I have that used up with my keg post for transferring. I think I'll try Jamils method and put a triclamp cap on top of the rag as well.

And with crash cooling I wouldn't be surprised if it sucked starsan up 5 ft

 

[b1v1r]

It really is an impressive system, the quality is outstanding. Even after looking at a few other "turnkey" systems that have entered the market, I don't think any even compare to the BIAC in terms of simplicity and "all in 1" capability without sacrificing quality of brews.

I recently heard Brew Strong podcast where Jamil recommended for crash cooling in a concial to dip a clean towel/rag into starsan and place it over an empty triclamp hole/port. I used to use my threaded triclamp piece and plug loosely tightened but now I have that used up with my keg post for transferring. I think I'll try Jamils method and put a triclamp cap on top of the rag as well.

And with crash cooling I wouldn't be surprised if it sucked starsan up 5 ft

I was thinking that I would just pressurize it a bit with co2 before dumping the trub or crashing. Anyone tried this? Just need to figure out how to connect the co2 - probably will see if I can find and airline quick connect. Don't see a good way to connect a corny keg gas in post.

 

[NHBrews]

So I finally fired up my Medium BIAC and brewed 10 gallons of Berliner Weiss. After mashing I kettle soured the wort by setting my PID to 114F with 3% max power. BIAC held temperatue well and was down to a ph of 3.6-3.7 within 24 hours (I pitched a handfull of grain into the kettle for the lacto innoculation). Boiled afterwards and transferred to two 5gal fermentors as I'm going to brew an IPA later this week and want to add coriander and add salt to make half the berliner a gose.

Was very happy with how everything went except my mash PH was 0.3-0.4 lower than I was expecting based on Brun Water and EZ Water. I have brewed the exact same recipe with my old BIAB setup and was within 0.1 of those spreadsheets. I use RO water and made the same additions I previously made, so a bit perplexed by this. Has anyone experience a similar issue with your BIAC? I can't think of any BIAC-specific reason this would cause a large difference vs BIAB.

Only thing I can think of is the grain was pre-milled by morebeer and was very coarse (they are known for this). My efficiency sufferred too (59%), not sure if it was the PH or the grist. Primary yeast has not started bubbling yet (18hrs since pitching), so hoping i didn't ruin it with the low mash PH. For the IPA think I'll shot high (5.6-5.7) and add Gypsum/Cal Chloride if i'm too high.

 

[MeetsCriteria]

I was thinking that I would just pressurize it a bit with co2 before dumping the trub or crashing. Anyone tried this? Just need to figure out how to connect the co2 - probably will see if I can find and airline quick connect. Don't see a good way to connect a corny keg gas in post.

I probably wouldn't pressurize it in those situations. In the case of dumping trub (say 4 days into primary fermentation) it's already positive pressure. In the case of post boil after cooling, I use the sanitized rag over the inlet method. The exposure of the chilled wort to the "open air" is minimal compared to when I used a regular brew kettle. Certainly the exposure is less than in the commercial setting where the wort goes to a sanitized ginormous fermenter full of room air.

If you seal it after boiling (which I also wouldn't do), before cooling, you'll quickly end up with a positive pressure situation as well.

If I were compelled, I guess I'd hook up a regulator at 3 psi and leave it hooked up during the crash. I just don't think this is necessary myself.

When dumping trub (say on day 4), I have a blow off that feeds to the floor and I've never gotten close to sucking in sanitizer from the bucket. That's about 4-5' of line. Yours would be less as you are using a small system.

As far as having a corny keg connector, I think the thing to do is utilize the 1/4" female MPT / tri-clover adapter (is it the third down from top on the left of your picture?) and order an Cornelius Keg Post adapter (1/4"MPT x 19/32"-18) from a place such as this (though many suppliers are available):

http://www.chicompany.net/index.php...d=1146&zenid=2e654c460e580b548f2b7db438f695b3

Then just add the traditional gas in fitting, such as http://www.chicompany.net/index.php...d=1137&zenid=2e654c460e580b548f2b7db438f695b3 and be off to the races.

Hope this helps!

 

[jeffcosgrove]

I just use the idea behind the foam stoppers for yeast starters for the cooling stages. My mom gave me some foam that she buys at fabric stores that appears to be the same as those you buy from midwestsupplies but thinner so that I can wrap 2 layers around the blowoff hose and I attach them with one of my daughter's hair rubber bands. I haven't had any issues after about 7 batches. You could probably cut out one of these and stick it into the hose:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/foam-stopper-35-45mm.html

I made a DIY chiller based on this:

http://byo.com/brown-ale/item/1877-build-your-own-glycol-fermenter

I have the medium BIAC and bought a 5000 BTU AC and have not had any problems chilling to 33 deg in my basement.

I used this old aquarium pump that I had to run the system and drilled holes through the lid of the cooler:

http://www.aquacave.com/sen-700-water-pump-by-won-brothers.html

I think the pump is discontinued but you should be able to size another one based on its flow and head specifications. I have run it without any valve restrictions and had no issues. I have 3/4" inlet and outlet braided tubing on the inlet and outlet. I currently have one of the BREWHA valves on there trying to optimize the control cycle for lager fermentations and have it about half way open.

 

[jeffcosgrove]

I meant to add to my previous post that this is what I use to pull the mash colander out of the unit:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BXJVNC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Seems to be an inexpensive alternative that I just attached to one of my floor joists and have not had any problems pulling the colander out with 35# of grain and the associated wort in it.

 

[limulus]

Two summers ago, I built a 4x4x4 fermentation cabinet in my garage using a new 5000 BTU A/C unit and an STC-1000 with the probe in a sealed bottle of water. I considered buying a Coolbot, but the STC-1000 continues to work just fine. I still use it to store grain in plastic totes inside at 68F. I also kept two SS Brewtech conical fermenters and a Speidel Braumeister fermenter so I can do a double or triple brew weekend with my BIAC. It has been over 90 a lot the last month and the glycol chiller had to work hard to crash the medium BIAC in my garage. I crashed my last brew down to 45F for a couple of days and then transferred to kegs and put them in my garage fridge and then the keezer. That was a lot less stressful for my glycol chiller.

I just use the idea behind the foam stoppers for yeast starters for the cooling stages. My mom gave me some foam that she buys at fabric stores that appears to be the same as those you buy from midwestsupplies but thinner so that I can wrap 2 layers around the blowoff hose and I attach them with one of my daughter's hair rubber bands. I haven't had any issues after about 7 batches. You could probably cut out one of these and stick it into the hose:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/foam-stopper-35-45mm.html

I made a DIY chiller based on this:

http://byo.com/brown-ale/item/1877-build-your-own-glycol-fermenter

I have the medium BIAC and bought a 5000 BTU AC and have not had any problems chilling to 33 deg in my basement.

I used this old aquarium pump that I had to run the system and drilled holes through the lid of the cooler:

http://www.aquacave.com/sen-700-water-pump-by-won-brothers.html

I think the pump is discontinued but you should be able to size another one based on its flow and head specifications. I have run it without any valve restrictions and had no issues. I have 3/4" inlet and outlet braided tubing on the inlet and outlet. I currently have one of the BREWHA valves on there trying to optimize the control cycle for lager fermentations and have it about half way open.

 

[cuda6pak]

I meant to add to my previous post that this is what I use to pull the mash colander out of the unit:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BXJVNC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Seems to be an inexpensive alternative that I just attached to one of my floor joists and have not had any problems pulling the colander out with 35# of grain and the associated wort in it.

Nice and cheap. I may go this route instead of spending the $150-$200+ for an electric hoist.

Two summers ago, I built a 4x4x4 fermentation cabinet in my garage using a new 5000 BTU A/C unit and an STC-1000 with the probe in a sealed bottle of water. I considered buying a Coolbot, but the STC-1000 continues to work just fine. I still use it to store grain in plastic totes inside at 68F. I also kept two SS Brewtech conical fermenters and a Speidel Braumeister fermenter so I can do a double or triple brew weekend with my BIAC. It has been over 90 a lot the last month and the glycol chiller had to work hard to crash the medium BIAC in my garage. I crashed my last brew down to 45F for a couple of days and then transferred to kegs and put them in my garage fridge and then the keezer. That was a lot less stressful for my glycol chiller.

Finally crashing today with the new 1/3/hp TK2000, we'll see how it does.

 

[limulus]

Nice and cheap. I may go this route instead of spending the $150-$200+ for an electric hoist.



Finally crashing today with the new 1/3/hp TK2000, we'll see how it does.

any results to report?

 

[limulus]

grain mill gap settings: I know this has been discussed but there are a lot of pages and I could not find it. I had been keeping my recipes at Brewmasters Warehouse and buying pre-crushed grains. Their packages were sealed and it had worked great for me for a few years. Now they are closed so I bought 3-roller mill. What are you guys using for the gap settings?

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

grain mill gap settings: I know this has been discussed but there are a lot of pages and I could not find it. I had been keeping my recipes at Brewmasters Warehouse and buying pre-crushed grains. Their packages were sealed and it had worked great for me for a few years. Now they are closed so I bought 3-roller mill. What are you guys using for the gap settings?

I have a 3 roller mill as well and I've only brewed twice with the BIAC. The first grist I milled at my old system setting of .040 and I managed to compact the grain pretty well and had a lot of material fall through to the bottom. The second brew I backed off to .045 and I had much better run off, and while I still had some husk material make it into the cone, the pump was able to handle it. I may try the double false bottom that you had shown and see if it makes a difference.

 

[limulus]

I have a 3 roller mill as well and I've only brewed twice with the BIAC. The first grist I milled at my old system setting of .040 and I managed to compact the grain pretty well and had a lot of material fall through to the bottom. The second brew I backed off to .045 and I had much better run off, and while I still had some husk material make it into the cone, the pump was able to handle it. I may try the double false bottom that you had shown and see if it makes a difference.

Thanks for the info. The stuff I was getting from BMW was also specifically ground for a spargeless system so it was a little fine.

I definitely did not have a stuck sparge/flow after I installed that second bottom. It helped quite a bit in my case.

 

[user 144271]

I Have one something like this
http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lb-capacity-hand-winch-65688.html

 

[cuda6pak]

any results to report?

Well, results are in, TK2000 could only handle 39°, checked the garage ambient and it was 90°, so I can't be too mad.

So, I did what anyone else would do and hooked the chillers up tandem, so I have the TK500 feeding into the TK2000. Just started it back up and we'll see how it goes. I can't be too mad since the garage is basically a sauna. Plus I went back to home depot and got the right size 1/2" rubber insulation that nets up against the silicon hose, unlike the 3/4" insulation I have now which is loose, and I'm sure losing quite a bit of thermal capacity due tonits loose fit, I'll install it before the next brew.

As far as mill gap settings settings I finally dialed into .045 with my cheap cereal killer grain mill, usually around 65-70% efficiency, bit occasionally would dip into low 60s without really any cause. So, I went ahead and bought a Monster Mill Pro-2 with the 2" rollers. Hoping this provides a better crush to keep the hulls intact and provide a faster lauter and recirc with rice hulls. My next batch will be with 6lbs of pumpkin in the mash so likely not a good indicator, but I will report back of course. I'll start with a 0.045 which is stock I believe.

 

[brianpedersen]

I meant to add to my previous post that this is what I use to pull the mash colander out of the unit:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BXJVNC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Seems to be an inexpensive alternative that I just attached to one of my floor joists and have not had any problems pulling the colander out with 35# of grain and the associated wort in it.

I used something similar with my previous brew rig, but I got tired of messing with it. So when I got the BIAC I went with a cheap hand winch, with plastic coated wire.

 

[cuda6pak]

I would be all over that winch setup if I had a relief somewhere close to where I brew to mount it.

 

[Jimmy82]

Curious what everyone else is doing for a mash/sparge process?

• How do you calculate strike temp?
• Do you recirculate during the mash?
• If you recirculate, how do you calculate strike temp?
• If you don't recirculate during the mash, do you recirculate before you raise the colander?
• Do you sparge?
• What is your mash efficiency?

Any other tips or tricks worth mentioning?

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

• How do you calculate strike temp?
  - I calculate based on the full volume of water in the conical
• Do you recirculate during the mash?
  - Yes
• If you recirculate, how do you calculate strike temp?
  - Same as #1
• If you don't recirculate during the mash, do you recirculate before you raise the colander?
  -N/A
• Do you sparge?
  - Yes, usually just use a few liters of water at the end of the mash to make boil volume... I'm still dialing this in.
• What is your mash efficiency?
  - About 75%, hoping to improve this with better sparging

 

[limulus]

Answers are below in blue.

Curious what everyone else is doing for a mash/sparge process?

• How do you calculate strike temp?
  I use BeerSmith and intentionally calculate temp a little low so I don't over run the temp. Sometimes, I use a simple calculator like this:
  http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php
• Do you recirculate during the mash?
  Always
• If you recirculate, how do you calculate strike temp?
  BeerSmith
• If you don't recirculate during the mash, do you recirculate before you raise the colander?
• Do you sparge?
  Ocasionally. I have a 10gal beverage cooler/former MT that uses a bucket heater and an STC1000 to warm sparge water. I also have a second Chugger pump and set of hoses to handle this task
• What is your mash efficiency?
  Normally 60-70%

Any other tips or tricks worth mentioning?
I bought a slottedd false bottom that sits on top of the perforated bottom of the mash colander and have had excellent luck draining the mash w/o getting stuck.
I have also bought additional triclamp fittings to make extra hoses.
I also wrote a complete SOP that works for me just based my previous experiences.

I do also dump trub after the wort is chilled and settled before pitching yeast. I also dump trub after primary fermentation and again after secondary. I also kept my two SS Brewtech conical fermenters so I can have a multiple brew weekend.

I think I'm going to start pressing my grainbed after the wort has stopped running out. I used to give my BIAB bags a squeeze and I think it helped. I am going to make some sort of press that fits into the colander.

 

[cuda6pak]

Curious what everyone else is doing for a mash/sparge process?

• How do you calculate strike temp?
  BeerSmith - using the profiles Nathan provided and changing to Infusion in mash.
• Do you recirculate during the mash?
  Always
• If you recirculate, how do you calculate strike temp?
  #1
• If you don't recirculate during the mash, do you recirculate before you raise the colander?
• Do you sparge?
  Never
• What is your mash efficiency?
  65-75%

Any other tips or tricks worth mentioning?

I am also considering having Jaybird build a custom low rise false bottom for a 2-stage filtering of the grainbed. I can recirculate pretty decent but would like to mill a little finer and still increase recirculation speed. Jaybirds False bottom on my old mash tun did wonders vs the stock slotted dome false bottom.

My biggest problem is that I always tend to have way more wort than I should before starting the boil - IE my grain absorption rate seems to be even lower than the usual 0.78 for BIAB. I need to go back through my notes again to see what the problem is. I usually just boil for an hour+ to reach my desired volume before throwing the 90 or 60 min hop addition.

 

[cuda6pak]

Also forgot to mention that I had a nightmare of a brewday, probably mostly my fault. Did a pumpkin beer with 6lbs of pureed pumpkin in the mash with 1lb of rice hulls. I dumped the hulls and pumpkin in first, and then the grain. Big mistake. Clogged up my Chugger with rice hulls as well as the bottom port even with a Glacier butterfly valve. Probably should have thrown those in last on top of the grain. Took 30 minutes to clear everything. Oh well, won't make that mistake again.

 

[limulus]

I am also considering having Jaybird build a custom low rise false bottom for a 2-stage filtering of the grainbed. I can recirculate pretty decent but would like to mill a little finer and still increase recirculation speed. Jaybirds False bottom on my old mash tun did wonders vs the stock slotted dome false bottom.

My biggest problem is that I always tend to have way more wort than I should before starting the boil - IE my grain absorption rate seems to be even lower than the usual 0.78 for BIAB. I need to go back through my notes again to see what the problem is. I usually just boil for an hour+ to reach my desired volume before throwing the 90 or 60 min hop addition.

Yeah, the extra wort thing is puzzling to me also. It caught me off guard the first time and had a pretty big impact on my OG

 

[JB_Brewing2]

Yeah, the extra wort thing is puzzling to me also. It caught me off guard the first time and had a pretty big impact on my OG

So the BIAC profiles for Beersmith are over estimating your pre-boil volume?

 

[kh54s10]

So the BIAC profiles for Beersmith are over estimating your pre-boil volume?

NO! Beersmith makes calculations based on parameters you set. If the parameters are wrong so is the result.