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

[xico]

I would be cautious with adding anything into the jacket @itivino other than non flammable and abundant water. Air is not a good way to transfer heat compared to the liquid inside which means your difference in temps would have to be very intense. Controlling oven temp heat and its needed ventilation at your conical sounds dangerous and wildly difficult to control.

Hot oil would solve the heat transfer issue but leave you with the risk of pressurizing a material that can well exceed the temperature of boiling water but also is volatile with flame or water and sticks to things. If I can say so without offending this sounds like a truly bad idea.

What would you be hoping for by replacing the near-100% efficiency of an element in your wort?

 

[xico]

@cuda6pak
I have used the whirlpool method you mentioned and it works well. Like @RiverCityBrewer mentioned it cuts down on cooling time quite a bit. If you are willing to spring for it down the road, I had one of the good brewing Tri-clover folk make a whirlpool arm for me that inceased the flow, with an elbow bend and that gets the whole thing churning. It clamps onto one of the lid ports so the other can feed the hops.

 

[itivino]

I would be cautious with adding anything into the jacket @itivino other than non flammable and abundant water. Air is not a good way to transfer heat compared to the liquid inside which means your difference in temps would have to be very intense. Controlling oven temp heat and its needed ventilation at your conical sounds dangerous and wildly difficult to control.

Hot oil would solve the heat transfer issue but leave you with the risk of pressurizing a material that can well exceed the temperature of boiling water but also is volatile with flame or water and sticks to things. If I can say so without offending this sounds like a truly bad idea.

What would you be hoping for by replacing the near-100% efficiency of an element in your wort?

The main thinking was from looking at indirect fire systems (a few links below to the probrewer forums below talk about it) which look to be a forced air heater firing into a firebox below a kettle, heating both the bottom and sides with a pseudo jacket. One post mentions firing into a stainless coil like you'd have inside a hot liquor tank, which seems like a boiler setup.

Vs. heating elements, the main advantage would be less cleaning. With the Brewha BIAC, in a 3bbl+ system, you'd need lots of elements in each vessel that would be tied up during fermentation vs. a somewhat more portable/mobile heating system.


http://discussions.probrewer.com/sh...ment)-to-buy-for-a-1-5-BBL-system-on-a-budget
Post #8
http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?10731-BrewHouse-Direct-Fire-or-Steam
http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?51519-forced-air-vs-jet-burners-fire-boxes-etc
http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?1477-Blank-sheet-of-paper

 

[cuda6pak]

For those of you with the rotating TC racking arms installed in the rack port, I assumed you replaced the gaskets with high temp silicon? Anybody have a link to the correct part?

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

Actually I never thought about it... I assumed the sealing orings were BUNA-N or EPDM. The flange gasket is teflon. Mine has been in use for over a year and I haven't had any issues.

 

[cuda6pak]

I didn't think much about it until I was installing it and figured it was just regular rubber since it is for a fermentor and not necessarily a high temp application. Figured better safe than sorry.

FWIW my Brewers hardware conical looks to have similar o-rings and I transfer over straight after the boil and cool in there, haven't noticed any ill effects from it.

 

[farmbrewr]

Hi All, first post Haven't pulled the trigger, but I'm shopping around for a nano-brew setup and am considering 2 or 3 large (90L) biacs in the bottom of my barn for as a pilot set-up...this way I could do multiple brews in one day, as rapidly as a two vessel system, while enjoying the sanitation, ease of cleaning benefits of the biac, and having conicals to ferment in.

But there must be draw backs, one of which may be the amount of grain you can mash in. Really curious about what kind of high OG brews people are pulling on this system? any others?

Some people have touched on this:

I'm planning to brew a KBS clone to put into a 15gal whiskey barrel I'm getting. My grain bill will be 50lbs+ based on my expectations for lower efficiency (target OG is 1.092)

I was wondering what is the maximum grain bill anyone has used in a Medium BIAC? BREWHA website says 35lbs, but I have gone over 30lbs for a 10gal batch and still had plenty of extra space in the colander. This is my first time going for a 15gal batch. I have an old BIAB set up that I could do a separate mash in, but would prefer not to have the extra setup/clean up.

I've done 35 pounds and it was pretty full. You could do 50 lbs + if you pull the basket up and do a sparge after.

Any feedback would be appreciated,

Cheers.

 

[augiedoggy]

I'm just going to point out that biab type systems may work ok for home brewing but you will find very few single vessel systems in the actual for profit situations for a reason and That because they are simply not as efficient.
Or as consistent I believe.
To that said every start up and brewery I've visited said the started too small.. for that reason alone I would not consider anything smaller than 3 Barrel any type of system for anything but a very small town or rural area.

 

[farmbrewr]

I'm just going to point out that biab type systems may work ok for home brewing but you will find very few single vessel systems in the actual for profit situations for a reason and That because they are simply not as efficient.
Or as consistent I believe.
To that said every start up and brewery I've visited said the started too small.. for that reason alone I would not consider anything smaller than 3 Barrel any type of system for anything but a very small town or rural area.

I didn't mention that the system I'm considering would function as a pilot setup to supply on-farm events for now (weddings etc) that consume about 40-60L a week... In two to three years a new building + nanobrewery / cidery may be in the works... So are the 3bbl biacs not a good idea? poor efficiency? And is consistency an issue with the system?

I think there could be cost advantages with time saving with the biac as well...the youtube video of 3dogs brew make the system sound great but I've just started my research on systems, so my opinion may change!

Cheers.

 

[augiedoggy]

If Baics we're truly a cost-effective solution you would see them being used in Nano breweries across the country I myself haven't seen them being realistically used anywhere besides in Homebrewing which is why I went in another Direction. That being said maybe there's some situations where they make sense that I am unaware of because it generally lower efficiency would drive me away from considering the solution. In fast out of all the Nano breweries I visited across New York State I've never seen even one consider such a simplified all-in-one compromise solution... And that's really all it is.
Pat said I think someone considering a 60 L system is not really considering the future and they're realistic aspect of what they may need in the changes involved in scaling those recipes up to something that could be used on a different system with with much more efficiencies. Even at that small of a volume and all-in-one system just simply does not make sense because you tie up your fermenter at the same time as your brew and boil kettles which realistically ties or system down to such a small system that even many homebrewers would be frustrated with the limitations

 

[cuda6pak]

FYI - Nathan just put up a dedicated forum for Brewha/BIAC products on the website -

https://brewhaequipment.com/community/brewha-forum

 

[hgearle]

FYI - Nathan just put up a dedicated forum for Brewha/BIAC products on the website -

https://brewhaequipment.com/community/brewha-forum

There is also a section where you can post recipes on how to make a delicious brew in the BIAC.

Also...for those that bought the medium BIAC in the past....it is now referred to on Nathan's site as a Large.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

I just looked and the medium I have is still listed. ???

 

[hgearle]

I just looked and the medium I have is still listed. ???

The old medium was 90l/24 gallons. The new large is 90l/24 gallons.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

View attachment 563462
The old medium was 90l/24 gallons. The new large is 90l/24 gallons.

Not sure about "old" but my medium has always been the 16 gallon just like the one advertised. Large has always been 24 gallon. What am I missing???

https://brewhaequipment.com/products/biac-all-in-one-brewing-system-package

 

[hgearle]

Not sure about "old" but my medium has always been the 16 gallon just like the one advertised. Large has always been 24 gallon. What am I missing???

https://brewhaequipment.com/products/biac-all-in-one-brewing-system-package

Cut and pasted from an email I received from Nathan......
ps. about a year ago we changed the naming as we added a new 60L/16gal size and called it 'Medium', so the 24gal/90L is now the 'Large' -- a little confusing for existing customers I know, I apologize, but the nomenclature seemed simplest this way going forward.

Additionally, he said that uploading images on his site should be up and running in a week or so. UPDATE...He said you can now upload images.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

Cut and pasted from an email I received from Nathan......
ps. about a year ago we changed the naming as we added a new 60L/16gal size and called it 'Medium', so the 24gal/90L is now the 'Large' -- a little confusing for existing customers I know, I apologize, but the nomenclature seemed simplest this way going forward.

Additionally, he said that uploading images on his site should be up and running in a week or so.

OK, thanks. That must have occurred about three years ago as I've always known the medium as a 16 gallon BIAC.

 

[ron8]

My brew day is pretty similar.

Often I have a second person helping pour the grain into the colander; one to pour, the other to stir during the pour. This method really reduces the potential for dough balls to form. Some immediate stirring occurs once the pour is done but that is the only time I stir the mash. No rice hulls used. More and more I've been brewing 15 gallon batches so my grain bill is somewhat greater than your 11 gallon recipe. Mash for an hour without disturbing it then (after raising the colander) open the bottom valve to empty sediment from the mash in order to avoid a clogged pump. Attach the pump to the bottom valve and sparge until clear. A couple gallons or so of hot water is added to completely rinse the grain bed for the 15 gallon recipes. Boil for an hour and follow hop additions schedule. Similar temps as the OP throughout.

I've read a few posts here that note an issue with the colander. I'm curious as to what the issue is. Is it the crush? Additional stirring? I've not had an issue with the ales I primarily brew and I've had great efficiency and great beer.

Hi JB. I have a question about your sparge. If you are sparging until clear then I guess you have very little solids after the fermentation, and so, there may be some beer that is below the racking port on your Brewha. Do you have some beer that sits below the racking port? And if so, how do you recover that?

My experience with clogging the pump, as you alluded to, was so bad in my first batch that it has discouraged me from using the pump to sparge again. I do a manual vorlauf of sorts by draining into a 2 liter measuring cup and pouring that into the colander, repeatedly until "clear". After fermentation I still have an amount of, let's call it slurry, that seems to always amount to a volume reaches just under the racking port.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

Hi JB. I have a question about your sparge. If you are sparging until clear then I guess you have very little solids after the fermentation, and so, there may be some beer that is below the racking port on your Brewha. Do you have some beer that sits below the racking port? And if so, how do you recover that?

My experience with clogging the pump, as you alluded to, was so bad in my first batch that it has discouraged me from using the pump to sparge again. I do a manual vorlauf of sorts by draining into a 2 liter measuring cup and pouring that into the colander, repeatedly until "clear". After fermentation I still have an amount of, let's call it slurry, that seems to always amount to a volume reaches just under the racking port.

You were more inventive than I when my first use of the BIAC resulted in a clogged pump. I thought it was the bottom valve that was clogged. Checked the pump and it was solid grain packed on the impeller. Since then I've been dumping a full large plastic cup and immediately connecting the hose and starting the pump. Maybe you should give a try again; lot easier than transferring smaller amounts.

Regarding solids, I use the stock and the hop baskets from Brewha so I have some fine particulates (grain and hop debris) that flocculate down to the cone. Hence, clearing the valve before attaching the pump hose.

And...Yes, I do have a small amount of beer below the racking valve but it is such a small amount (a quart, maybe two?) I don't spend the time to recover it. I usually dump trub well before the end of fermentation and harvest yeast prior to transferring to kegs and cold crashing. Hope this helps!

 

[hgearle]

So sad to see that this thread is dying, because I know ya'll are making amazing beer in the BIAC. Anybody interested in posting the recipes they love because brewing in the BIAC is different than the way most people brew?

 

[JB_Brewing2]

Yeah, we've all been too busy brewing on our BIAC's. Do you have a particular style of interest? It seems we have some variations in equipment (e.g., sans rigid colander, etc.) and methodology. I primarily brew ales so my recipes might be pretty boring, but happy to share.

 

[limulus]

My BIAC is about to become a pilot brew system. I have teamed up with a winery and will lease a space from them and install a brewery. I'll be ordering all the equipment by August. I will use a traditional 3 vessel brew house though for that project.

 

[bhchrist]

So sad to see that this thread is dying, because I know ya'll are making amazing beer in the BIAC. Anybody interested in posting the recipes they love because brewing in the BIAC is different than the way most people brew?

hgearle, despite my long hiatus from HBT, I have been brewing shared batches almost exclusively on my best friend's medium BIAC for the past 2+ years. For me personally, very little changed in my process, as I had been doing no sparge, full volume MIAB (mash in a bag) in my cooler. I personally do not find it any different from a recipe formulation than any other method. With all methods, it comes down to figuring out your system. For efficiency, we have found 60% for high malt bill beers and upper 67-70% for moderate malt bills seems to be close.

The other critical factor, IMO, is mash pH. This is particularly important for light beers, given you are using such a high water to grist ratio. For instance, I used 100mL of 10% Phosphoric in addition to the brewing salts in my Kolsch to get it into appropriate pH range (RO Water). Bru'n Water has been invaluable in recipe formulation.

As for recipes, we are rebrewing the Kolsch on Friday (Recipe HERE). Perfect time of year for it and the first batch kicked extremely quickly. Given it is around 4.5% ABV, it also allow us to squeeze 12 or so gallons out of it to fill a mini keg along with two corneys. The big things for me with the Kolsch is a large yeast pitch of WLP-029 (Pro Brewer 1.5M cells/ml (Lager)) and fermented at 58F the first 4 days. Target pH is 5.3. I varied from the recipe by using mostly Czech/Bohemian Pils, as I ran out of German. Will try all Bo Pils this Friday, as we liked it so much. Use the hops as you will. This was the second of a 3 style experiment with Triple Pearl Hops (Session IPA and Saison being the other two). Liked the Kolsch so much we are brewing it again and saving the Saison for next time.

 

[Willee]

This sounds like a very nice and well built system.
I really like my GrainFather for 5 or 6 gal batches.
Simple and easy to use.

 

[hgearle]

Three months and no replies on this forum....I know y'all love your BIAC's and keep track of this forum.

In July, I asked if anybody was interested in sharing recipes, but there was no posts. I posted 4 IPA/IIPA recipes on the Brewha forum (brewhaequipment.com) and Nathan has them posted under "Sumptin Like Pliny IPA 11G Large BIAC recipe", so if you like IPA"s then check-em out. I would love to see others from this site post their favorite recipes (anywhere) as it is somewhat different brewing in the BIAC. The brewing knowledge on this forum is ridiculous and I would like to see more sharing of the corporate knowledge so we can all brew better beer.

 

[K_tile]

Three months and no replies on this forum....I know y'all love your BIAC's and keep track of this forum.

In July, I asked if anybody was interested in sharing recipes, but there was no posts. I posted 4 IPA/IIPA recipes on the Brewha forum (brewhaequipment.com) and Nathan has them posted under "Sumptin Like Pliny IPA 11G Large BIAC recipe", so if you like IPA"s then check-em out. I would love to see others from this site post their favorite recipes (anywhere) as it is somewhat different brewing in the BIAC. The brewing knowledge on this forum is ridiculous and I would like to see more sharing of the corporate knowledge so we can all brew better beer.

Anyone still brewing with their Brewha?

 

[jsmoon888]

Anyone still brewing with their Brewha?

Still brewing monthly on my medium Brewha. I love that it’s a lot less cleaning and sanitation than my old 3 kettle system. The temp control using the chiller is so much better than lifting car boys in and out of my chest freezer. Just finished a Mexican lager and my stand by IPA will be next followed by a cream ale.
Cheers[emoji482]

 

[K_tile]

Still brewing monthly on my medium Brewha. I love that it’s a lot less cleaning and sanitation than my old 3 kettle system. The temp control using the chiller is so much better than lifting car boys in and out of my chest freezer. Just finished a Mexican lager and my stand by IPA will be next followed by a cream ale.
Cheers[emoji482]

I just put a recipe together tonight for a mexican lager in Beersmith. Hope to brew in a few weeks when my chiller comes from Nathan. I have a hazy ipa on carb ready Friday.

 

[Solstice-Brewing]

I've been working on sours recently. I'm happy to share a recipe, but here, I think the process is more important. The BIAC is perfect for kettle souring in that everything the bacteria is touching in the souring process is going to be boiled - keeping everything clean. Here's my simplified process:

Mash as normal - perhaps leaving a bit more dextrines if I want to play with Brett later - I usually shoot for a 13G batch so I can put the extra 3 gallons in a better bottle for long term fermentation.

Give a quick boil to kill off all bugs - clean slate

Drop the temp to ~110F

Adjust the pH (lactic acid addition) to 4.5 or lower to inhibit unwanted bacteria (enterobacter - poo)

Blow CO2 back through my plate chiller/pump into the bottom of the conical to not only clear the lines, but blow off unwanted O2 and make a nice CO2 blanket on top (looking to discourage aerobic bacteria fermentation - acetobacter - vinegar).

Pitch bacteria (been mainly using L. Plantarum - Goodbelly or Simpson's - ~150B cells - use a starter or loads of SuperShots) seal and install a blow-off tube, set the temp control to 110F and let 'er rip for a day or two.

Once pH and taste are where I want them (~3.5-3.7 for my tastes - 24-48 hours - samples from the racking port), I'll rack off any live wort to a better bottle for Brett fermentations for more bugs for longer, funkier fermentation.

Bring back to a boil to kill everything, add hops, and proceed as with any other sacch. fermentation in your BIAC (I roll mine into a home made temp chamber). I haven't been brave enough to put Brett in the BIAC on the cold side yet. Anyone else try this?

I usually take down all my BIAC components every 5 brews (valves, pump, heating element, etc) and then run a cycle with PBW. After a kettle sour, though - unless I'm doing another sour next, I will break every everything down for a thorough clean. May not be necessary, but just a habit. Haven't soured a clean beer unintentionally ... yet.

This forum has been great and talked me into buying my BIAC back in 2015. I have about 60 batches through it so far, so yes, still brewing with the BIAC

Kent

ps. Nathan is awesome!

 

[limulus]

Hello All, I have not posted anything here in a while. I actually have been putting together a commercial brewery. However, I bought a small 60L jacketed fermenter that can hold pressure from China for $1150. It is an amazing little beast. I plan to use it with my BIAC for pilot or special batches. Here is a photo of the 60L and if interested a few of my new brewery which was just delivered on Wednesday.